ABSTRACT
The Kula is a form of exchange, of extensive, inter-tribal character; it is carried on by communities inhabiting a wide ring of islands, which form a closed circuit. Every movement of the Kula articles, detail of the transactions is fixed and regulated by a set of traditional rules and conventions, and some acts of the Kula are accompanied by magical ritual and public ceremonies. On every island and in every village, a more or less limited number of men take part the Kula - that to say, receive the goods, hold them for short time, and then pass them on. Every man who is in the Kula, periodically though not regularly, receives one or several mwali, or a soulava, and then has to hand it on to one of his partners, from whom he receives the opposite commodity in exchange. A few words must be said about the two principal objects of exchange, the arm-shells and the necklaces.
