Ethnogmpliy of Micronesia. 



117 



Fig. 43. — Bag carried by 

 women, Palau. 



serves the purpose of a portable pocket, for the lack of proper 

 garments renders it difficult to carry things (PI. XXVI, fig. 2). 

 >.-^_ - The petticoats are made of stems of 



W\'- the Eleochar Is plantag Inea which are torn 



into thread-like pieces with a knife obtain- 

 ed from a pearl-shell (Fig. 44). To these 

 pieces the inner bark of the hibiscus, form- 

 ing tassels, is added for ornamentation. 

 They are dyed red, black, yellow, blue or 

 otherwise. The front and back pieces of 

 petticoats are the same in form ; but the 

 upper part of the latter piece has two knots 

 made of the hibiscus fibre, one at each corner, for the support of 

 the belt holding the petticoat. The front and back pieces are each 

 35 cm. wide, but not broad enough to cover the lateral sides of 

 the thighs. The specimen^ brought back by Captain Wilson was 

 made of fibres of coconut husk, a material not in common use 

 now. We are not sure whether the use of this material is still 

 found among the natives of Palau. 



In Palau, girls over sixteen or seventeen years 

 of age wear a belt plaited of pandanus leaves and 

 red or black w^oollen yarns or cotton cord, while a 

 black necklace is worn by the women of Yap, as 

 already stated (PI. XXVI). The two things may Fig. 44.-Sheii 



knife, Palau. 



have one and the same meaning. 



The petticoats above described are made by women, and it 

 seems that there are some who make their living by it. In Koror, 

 we saw a woman engaged in this work indoors, while a number 

 of half-finished petticoats were being dried in the sun. 



1 G. Keate, " Tlie Pelew Islands," p. 318 ; PI. V, fig. 4. 



