Each "Lodge" comprised three degrees: (1) The _Vere Matua_, all old men who acted as priests of the order; (2) the _Vunilolo_, the grown men; and the _Vilavou_ (_lit._, "New Year's men"), the youths who were novices. The great annual festival was the initiation of these youths, who were thus admitted to man's estate, and brought into communion with the ancestral spirits who controlled the destinies of their descendants. The word _Vila_ is the inland synonym for Mbaki, which, with the distributive affix _ya_ (ya-mbaki) is the coast word for "year." The _Vilavou_, or New year ceremony of initiation, was an annual festival, held in October-November, when the _ndrala_-tree (_Erythrina_) was in flower. The flowering of the _ndrala_ marked the season for yam-planting; the same seasons were observed by the Hawaiians and Tahitians as the New Year. The rites of the Veisina differed slightly from those of the Rukuruku, but as they were more tame and formal I will give precedence to the Rukuruku. Preparation for the _Vilavou_ began months before the appointed time by putting all kinds of food and property under a tabu. On the occasion of the last ceremony a number of pigs had been dedicated by cutting off their tails and turning them loose in the vicinity of the Nanga. _Masi_ was beaten, clubs and spears were carved, paint was prepared for the bodies of the worshippers, and a vast quantity of yams was planted. As the _Vere_ of Ndavotukia expressed it, "If any man concealed any of his property, designing not to give it, he was smitten with madness." The same fate awaited any that killed one of the tailless pigs, or dared to dig up any plant that grew near the Nanga. Invitations were sent to the members of other Nangas, who were called the _Ndre_, and they brought lavish contributions of property.