24 



Mat and Baxkel W'ca'c'iiiff. 



The rootlets of the coco palm are small aud of nearly uniform size, well adapted 

 for basket work. A fish trap that I once purchased at Pagopago was made of these 

 white rootlets aud measured 20 in. in diameter and 10 in. in depth. As I carried it 



from the canoe up the accom- 

 modation ladder of the 

 steamer, the Samoans, assem- 

 bled in their canoes about 

 the ship, set up a shout, 

 imagining the foreigner was 

 going a fishing. 



The native palm, of which 

 there are two species on the 

 Hawaiian group — Pn'tclnvdia 

 gaudichaudi and P. inaitii — 

 is much used for hats, bas- 

 kets, mats and fans. The leaf 

 FIG. 30. BASKET OF PAi,M i,EAF, SOLOMON IDS. -^ pahuatc and sometimes 4 ft. 



in diameter; the young leaves are used before they have become green, and usually 

 are split into strips not exceeding ^8 in. in width, and for hats these are much narrower. 

 Young leaves of the date palm are used in the 

 same way, but they have less flexibility than the 

 loulu or native palm, and so are not as well adapt- 

 ed for hats. As in ancient times the Hawaiians 

 wore no hats, this industr}- is modern, aud .so far 

 as hats are concerned it exteuds without much 

 variation through Micronesia. Fig. 29 shows two 

 hats of palm leaf, one of fine texture finished, the 

 other coarser, partly braided. Natives of Hawaii 

 making similar, though not so fine, hats of loulu 

 palm are shown in the figure .on the title page, a 

 view taken in 1888 at Napoopoo, Hawaii, by Mr. 

 Acland Wansej', formerly of the Museum staff. 



For a very interesting basket of palm leaf 

 we must turn to the western Pacific. On the Solo- 

 mon Islauds is made a basket of bowl shape, f,c.. 31. bottom of no. 8312. 

 flexible, so that when empty it can be folded together like a good Panama hat. It is 

 tastefully decorated with red and yellow strips, as can be seen in Fig. 30. The curious 

 matter in its construdlion is that it has neither beginning nor end ; it is a ring. Where 



