[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
CHAPTER XXI » AMB/1T, KABAT, AND HAMBAT i i In the South-West districts, in Mewun, Larnbunibu, and Lagalag, and to the north-east, in the Small Islands, there are tales of an individual or group of individuals, who differed from the modern inhabitants of those regions in their white skin and their superhuman powers. The stories, particularly those of Mewun and Seniang, show in many respects very great similarities to each other and, as will be noticed, also to those of Qat and Tagaro of the Banks Islands and Northern New Hebrides. , The Ambal rf Seniang In the‘ southern districts these beings are called the /lmbut and they are the great ï¬Ågures in much oi the mythology of that area. In the absence of any tradition to the contrary a native will, on being questioned, ascribe any element of his culture to the Ambat, and certain outstanding natural features of the landscape are attributed to their activities. In particular the practice of ‘making cfligies of the dead (rambaramp) the sacred pottery (ndarhboi), and the existence of certain sacred stones su'ch"asthe "penis of the Ambat â€ù at Iumoran are considered tdbe due to them. They are also said to have introduced the dog into Malekula, but it is said to have disappeared later. The tradition of such. an animal was, however, retained, and according to one informant the people continued to make it in eiligy as theprineipal-object oonnected with the Ni-mbui, which of the two societies of this name is not clear, from which the dog was recognized when brought by the ï¬Årst man-of-war that came to this island. The Ambat are described as having had white skins and, further, the information was volunteered that their noses were narrowl and thatthey were not cannibals. In speaking of the Ambai, however, a certain confusion arises, 1 In view oi this Staternent it is interï¬Åting that one of the modelled hurls in the Museum 01 Archeology and Ethnology at Cambridge has a distinctly narrow nose.—C. H4 w. 617
