60 Art. VIL— A. Mfttstimnra: 



least three couples living together. It is usual in Truk, as evi- 

 denced by this fact, that two or three families live together in a 

 house, the inmates often numbering more than ten. 



Mosquito-nets. Only couples use mosquito-nets, though it is 

 said that these are not intended primarily for keeping off gnats. 

 »Some of the islanders now employ imported nets with compara- 

 tively large meshes like those found in Japan, but nets of hibiscus 

 cloth, of which they make their clothing, are used in most cases. 

 These nets present the appearance of large sacks hung upside- 

 down. It is stated that this comes from the requirements of 

 decency, since the natives sleep with no clothing on. According 

 to Christian,^ however, a cloth woven from the bark of ficoid trees 

 allied to the banyan was formerly in use in Ponapé, so the original 

 object of such nets was possibly to keep off gnats. In Samoa, too, 

 the inhabitants use tapa, of which their clothes are made, as a 

 protection against mosquitoes, besides employing it as a curtain. 

 The size of the latter is 5 ft. high, 8 ft. long, and 5 ft. wide.'^ The 

 custom of lying naked also exists among the Igorot tribe in Luzon. 

 " All Igorot men, women, and children,"' says A. E. Jenks, " sleep 

 without breech-cloth, shirt or jacket. If a woman owns a blanket 

 she uses it as a covering when the nights are cold.'*-^ 



Liglüs. In Truk we find foreign- made lamps, and petroleum 

 is the oil used. Formerly, w^e were told, coconut shells and a 

 certain oil obtained from the nuts W'Cre employed, coconut fibres 

 supplying the wicks. The same custom is found in Polynesia.^ 

 In Palau the islanders use earthen lamps. For particulars the 

 readers are referred to the section for the West Caroline Islands. 



1 F. W. Christian, " The Caroline Islands," p. 128. 



2 G. Turner, " Samoa," p. 155. 



3 A. E. Jenks, " The Bontoc Igorot," Department of the Interior Ethi^ological Survey Publi- 

 <',ation, Vol. I, Manila, 1905, p. 113. 



■» J. Deniker, " The Eaces of Man," p. 1C9. 



