30 



Mat and Baskrt Weaving. 



In size tlic hala leaves differ greatly and some exceed 6.5 ft. with a width of 7 in. 

 In the groves like the one figured (Fig. 37) the ground is thickly covered with the 

 deciduous leaves. The base of the leaf which broadly clasps the stem, is cut off and 

 the very pricklv margin also removed. This was especially the work of the old women, 

 and as late as 1888 I saw an ancient dame near Kailua, on the western side of Hawaii, 

 continuing the work of her ancestors. She was reputed to have outlived the century 

 mark, cramped in every joint, unable to stand erect, kenneled in a grass hut not four 

 feet high, she was still busily and cheerfully trimming hala leaves with a sharp 

 shell. As I watched her slowly completing her task there came back to my memory 



most vividly the 

 groups of old 

 women I had 

 seen in Puna 

 doing the same 

 thing while the 

 children gather- 

 ed up the refuse 

 or laid aside the 

 neat rolls (Fig. 

 38) into which 

 the prepared 

 leaves were roll- 

 ed to keep them 

 flat. Drying the 

 leaves was done 



in the sun or in the shade to secure the differing tints of brown so ornamental in combina- 

 tion in the more elaborate mats. The leaves are readily split longitudinally, and in mat 

 making strips from y% in. to 1.5 in. are used. If the full width of the leaf is needed the 

 midrib must be trimmed down, otherwise the blades on either side are alone used. 



Fir,. 39. PANDANl-.S HATS FROM THE CAROI.INK.S. 



Pandanus Hats. — While the natives of the Pacific were not a hat-wearing 

 race, on certain occasions some shade or protedlion was required in spite of the usually 

 thick crop of hair. vSuch are the long exposures to the tropical sun above and to the 

 gleam from the water beneath in reef-fishing, and from Guam through Micronesia the 

 pandanus leaf is made into a single pattern of conical hat for the fisher's use. Fig. 39 

 will show the simple stnuflure. The leaves in several layers are stitched together with 

 two-ply coco cord and are bound solidh- and neatly at the apex and around the rim. 

 The hats illustrated arc from Ruk in the Carolines, but specimens in the Museum from 



