Marshall Islands Mats. 



43 



are laid aside for two or three days after they are plucked, till they are withered : they are 

 then roasted by holding them in the hand over the fire, and afterwards laid in the snn for 

 three or four days to insure them being sufficiently dried. During the latter part of the 

 process they are brought every evening into the house to protect them from the dew or 

 rain. When the leaves are sufficiently dry, they are left all night to bleach in the dew: 

 they are then rolled up in balls and pounded with a mallet to render them soft and pliable, 

 and when this is accomplished, they are slit with a shell and are read}' for use." 



It may be stated that the pandanus mats of the Marshall Ids. have long been 

 an important article of commerce among the islanders, and the low coral islands of the 





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^-^^^S^^-^M-J=?i>^^^^ 



Fig. 49. MARSHAI.I. ISLANDS MAT AS USUAI,I.V FOLDED. NO. 8o6l. 



group are largely dependent on the sale of their mats and the produAs of the cocouut 

 for such things as their low and sand}' soil cannot produce. Hence these mats 

 are found on most of the groups in the Pacific, and half a century ago they were often 

 brought to Honolulu in the missionary vessels, and I have at times been led to sup- 

 pose that they were of native Hawaiian manufacture. While the Hawaiians did make 

 similar mats, those of the Marshall and Gilbert Islanders can generall}^ be distinguished 

 from most other products of the mat makers. The mat figured is one of the better class, 

 and measures 11 ft. 2 in. by 9 ft., with a fineness of four to the inch. The dark and 

 light leaves mentioned b}- Wilkes are ver}- distinct, and by ingenious combinations 

 3neld very attradlive mats. 



The custom of keeping fine mats for a long time, using them only on great 

 occasions, seems very ancient, and, if the word of some native Sanioans may be trusted, 

 mats several hundred years old are now in existence. The Samoan legend of the 

 origin of one of these mats is sufficientl}' quaint to warrant its translation here, although 



