42 Art. VU. — A. Matsnmum : 



burnt candle-nuts, while the red-brown is obtained from the scraped 

 and pounded bark of the mangrove roots. ^ In Hawaii dye-stufl's 

 obtained from leaves, bark and roots of indigenous plants are used 

 for colouring tapas. '^ Most of the bands were originally worn as orna- 

 mental belts, the narrower ones being employed as ribbons for hats, 

 bnt there are at present scarcely any who use them for these pur- 

 poses. In recent years, quantities of these bands came to bo exported 

 to America and Hawaii, perhaps on account of their quaint originality. 

 Excepting Micronesia and the Malay Archipelago, there ai'o few 

 islands in the whole South Sea regions where the natives know 

 the art of weaving. In Polynesia they use tapas instead of woven 

 fabrics, while in Melanesia weaving is unknown in the islands with 

 the exception of one or two, such as Santa Cruz (formerly the 

 Banks Islands also) and a part of New Guinea. But then in that 

 part of New Guinea the art is only elemental. The method of 

 weaving recently witnessed by Xan der Sande^ in Dutch New 

 Guinea was a very primitive one. " Although until now no weav- 

 ing industry has been described of New Guinea," he says " still 

 some articles are found, .... Nothing is known of any weaving 

 instruments for the manufacture of the cloth ; on the other hand 

 it can hardly be imagined that the whole of it can be made by 

 hand. It is rather remarkable that the first real tissues of island 

 niake, used for clothing, are met within Papuan Talandjang, the 

 land of the naked Papuans. The only weaving frame, the first 

 mentioned from New Guinea, was met with by the expedition at 

 Tarfia. It is used in the manufacture of brow bands, girdles, 

 armlets, etc., which form the monopoly of this village. In its 

 highly primitive form, it represents the loom in its most primitive 



1 F. \V. Christian, "The Caroline Islands.." p. 158. 



2 W. Ellis, "Hawaii." p. 97. 



3 G. A. J. Van der Sande, " Nova Guinea, III. Ethnog. and Autlir.,'" pp. '236, 237 ; PI. XXV. 



