17^9. ROUND THE WORLD. 215 



dipped into it. The Morinda, of which this is a spe- 

 cies, seems to be a good subject for examination with 

 a view to dyeing. Brown, in his history of Jamaica, 

 mentions three species of it, which he says are used 

 to dye brown ; and Rumphius says of the Bancuda 

 Angustifolia, which is nearly allied to our Nono, that 

 it is used by the inhabitants of the East Indian is- 

 lands, as a fixing drug for red colours, with which it 

 particularly agrees. 



The inhabitants of this island also dye yellow with 

 the fruit of the Tamanu ; but how the colour is ex- 

 tracted, we had no opportunity to discover. They 

 have also a preparation with which they dye brown and 

 black ; but these colours are so indifferent, that the me- 

 thod of preparing them did not excite our curiosity. 

 Another considerable manufacture is matting of 

 various kinds ; some of which is finer, and better, 

 in every respect, than any we have in Europe : the 

 coarser sort serves them to sleep upon, and the finer 

 to wear in wet weather. With the fine, of which 

 there are also two sorts, much pains is taken, espe- 

 cially with that made of the bark of the Poerou, the 

 Hibiscus tiliaceus of Linnaeus, some of which is as 

 fine as a coarse cloth ; the other sort, which is still 

 more beautiful, they call Vamie ; it is white, glossy, 

 and shining, and is made of the leaves of their Whar- 

 rouy a species of the Pandanus, of which we had no' 

 opportunity to see either the flowers or fruit : they 

 have other matts, or as they call them Moeas, to sit. 

 or to sleep upon, which are formed of a great variety 

 of rushes and grass, and which they make, as they 

 do every thing else that is plaited, with amazing fa- 

 cility and dispatch. 



They are also very dexterous in making basket and 

 wicker work ; their baskets are of a thousand diffe- 

 rent patterns, many of them exceedingly neat ; and 

 the making them is an art that every one practises, 

 both men and women : they make occasional baskets 

 and panniers of the cocoa-nut leaf in a few minutes> 



p 4 



