84 



Mat atid Basket Weaving. 



Coarser mats were made from akaakai {^Scirpus laciistris) of which abundance 

 is found in the marshes around Honolulu. These were used as mats for temporary 

 purposes, or sometimes for the lower layers of the hikiee bed, but they were not 

 durable and the surface was soon destroyed. The following are examples from the 

 Museum colleAion. 



FIG. 84. GRASS MAT. 



MoENA Akaakai in the Bishop Museum. 



2596. 20 ft.X 10 ft. 



2597- 9-5 ft-X7 ft. 



6635. 11.6 ft.X9-3 ft. — 7 to inch. Heavy 

 floor mat. 



Grass Baskets are not much in evidence as an Hawaiian product, but in the 

 Bishop Museum is a very pretty basket from Maloelab (Calvert's Id.) in the Marshall 

 group. No. 3347 in PI. I. This is said to have been produced in 1849 and has been 

 somewhat of a puzzle as to its constituents. It is small, height 4.7 in., diameter 

 3.2 in., and the bottom is a close ordinary weave of a dark brown grass which also is 



