458 DRESS. TATTOOING. BURIAL. 



Although but scantily clothed, the Fijians were very par- 

 ticular about their garments and their paint. They were 

 specially proud of their hair, and if it was short they wore a 

 wig as a substitute. Some of these wigs were most elaborate. 

 The men wore " tapa," which is a kind of cloth obtained from 

 the inner bark of the paper-mulberry, and made into a sash, 

 from three to one hundred yards in length. Six or ten yards 

 is, however, the usual quantity, and it is passed between the 

 legs and round the waist.* The women are not permitted 

 to use " tapa," and their dress is more scanty than that of the 

 men, consisting, indeed, only of the " liku," a kind of band, 

 made of the bark of the hibiscus, and fastened round the 

 / waist. It ends in a fringe, which is worn short by the girls, 

 but longer after marriage. Nevertheless, though almost naked, 

 the Fijians are said to have been very modest, and if any one 

 were found entirely without clothes, Captain Wilkes thinks 

 that the offender would be immediately put to death. 



Tattooing is confined to the women, who are ornamented 

 in this maner on the fingers, the corners of the mouth, and, 

 oddly enough, on those parts of the body which are covered 

 by the " liku." The process is very painful, but submission 

 to it is regarded as a religious duty,-f- any neglect of which 

 will assuredly be punished after death. :[ 



The graves of the common people are only marked by a 

 few stones, but over those of chiefs they build small houses, 

 from two to six feet high, or in some cases erect large cairns 

 of stone ; these also are sometimes " set up to mark the spot 

 where a man has died." The body is buried in a sitting 

 posture. The usual sign of mourning is to crop the hair or 

 beard, or both. Very often, also, they burn the skin into 



* Figi and the Figians, vol. i. J A Mission to Viti, p. 112. 

 p. 156. Figi and the Figians, vol. i. 



t Ibid. p. 160 ; Wilkes, 1. c. p. 192. 

 p. 355. 



