They have also brought special ornamental bags to be used in the
dance as mentioned below.

The people of the village in the meantime erect one, two, or three
(generally three) trees in a group in the very centre of the village
enclosure.

And now come the successive ceremonies of the feast, in which both
married and unmarried men and women take part; in describing these
ceremonies I will call the people of the community giving the feast
the "hosts," and the visitors attending it the "guests."

First: All or nearly all the men hosts go in a body out of the
village to the guests' houses, singing as they go. They are all
fully ornamented for a feast, but do not wear their special dancing
ornaments, and they do not carry their spears, or as a rule any other
weapons. Each chiefs ornaments include a bunch of black cassowary
feathers tied round his head behind, and falling down over his
shoulders, this being his distinctive ornament; but otherwise his
ornaments do not differ from those of the rest, except probably as
regards quantity and quality. The object of this visit is to ascertain
if the guests are ready, and if they are not ready the men hosts
wait until they are so. Then the men hosts return to the village,
singing as before, and all the guests, men and women, follow them; but
they do not sing, and they do not enter the village. The men hosts,
on returning, retire to their houses and the view platforms, where
also are the women hosts, thus leaving the village enclosure empty.

Second: All the women guests, except two, then enter the village. They
are fully ornamented for the feast, but do not wear their special