and Kwamkwam, as they are generally called on the maps, who
together number about five hundred souls. They belong to the Papuan
stock and subsist chiefly by the cultivation of yams, which they plant
in April or May and reap in January or February. But they also cultivate
sweet potatoes and make some use of bananas and coco-nuts. They clear
the land for cultivation by burning down the grass and afterwards
turning up the earth with digging-sticks, a labour which is performed
chiefly by the men. The land is not common property; each family tills
its own fields, though sometimes one family will aid another in the
laborious task of breaking up the soil. Moreover they trade with the
natives of the interior, who, inhabiting a more fertile and
better-watered country, are able to export a portion of their
superfluities, especially taro, sweet potatoes, betel-nuts, and tobacco,
to the less favoured dwellers on the sea-coast, receiving mostly dried
fish in return. Curiously enough the traffic is chiefly in the hands of
old women.[395]

[Sidenote: Propitiation of ghosts and spirits. The spirit Mate. Spirits
called _Nai_.]

With regard to the religion of these people Mr. Stolz tells us that they
know nothing of a deity who should receive the homage of his
worshippers; they recognise only spirits and the souls of the dead. To
these last they bring offerings, not because they feel any need to do
them reverence, but simply out of fear and a desire to win their favour.
The offerings are presented at burials and when they begin to cultivate
the fields. Their purpose is to persuade the souls of the dead to ward
off all the evil influences that might thwart the growth of the yams,
their staple food. The ghosts are also expected to guard the fields
against the incursions of wild pigs and the ravages of locusts. At a
burial the aim of the sacrifice is to induce the soul of the departed
brother or sister to keep far away from the village and to do no harm to
the people. Sacrifices are even offered to the souls of animals, such as
dogs and pigs, to prevent them from coming back and working mischief.
However, the ghosts of these creatures are not very exacting; a few
pieces of sugar-cane, a coco-nut shell, or a taro shoot suffice to
content their simple tastes and to keep them quiet. Amongst the spirits
to whom the people pay a sort of worship there is one named Mate, who
seems to be closely akin to Balum, a spirit about whom we shall hear
m