538 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



aiiced by wide blades ornamented with outlined faces. Used in the 

 ancient canoes in a similar manner to that practiced by the Indians of 

 America. (Plate LII, fig. 3.) 



Ancient scull oars — Called Mata Kao. Angular float of peculiar 

 shape and unique design attached to a long handle. Used for steering 

 and sculling very large canoes. Very old and highly prized by the 

 islanders as the only specimen of the scull-oar used by their ancestors. 

 (Plate L1X ) 



Human skulls.— Called Puoko Iri. An examination of these skulls 

 shows very little difference between the crania of the present people and 

 those found in the most ancient tombs. Three specimens obtained from 

 the King's platform have hieroglyphics engraved upon them, which sig- 

 nify the clan to which they belonged. (Plate L.) 



Native cloth. — Called Hami Nua. Made of the inner bark of the hi- 

 biscus and paper-mulberry trees. The manufacture of the " tappa " has 

 now ceased altogether. (Plate LI, fig. 7.) 



Tattooing implements. — Called Ta Koua. Tools used for puncturing 

 the skin. Made of bird bones. 



Needles. — Called Iri. Both bone and wooden needles used for sewing 

 tappa cloth, and other varieties for knitting meshes of nets. (Plate 

 LX, fig. 1.) 



Fetish stones. — Called Atua Maugaro. A collection obtained by dig- 

 ging beneath the. door- posts of the ancient dwellings. The majority are 

 simply beach pepples; others have been formed by rubbing; and one is a 

 triangular-shaped stone with a face outlined upon it. These were placed 

 beneath the houses, with much ceremony, and were supposed to ward 

 off evil influences. (Plate LX, fig. 2.) 



Neck ornaments. — Called Hoko Ngao. Carved w T ood in fanciful de- 

 signs worn duriug the dance. 



Pigments. — Called Penetuli. Natural paints used by being ground 

 down in the heated juice of the sugar cane. 



Frescoed slabs. — Taken from the inner walls and ceilings of the stone 

 houses at Orougo. (Plate XXIII.) 



Fetish stones. — Buried under the corner-stones of the houses. 



POLYNESIAN ARCHEOLOGY. 



The most aucient monuments of Polynesia are the lithic and mega- 

 lithic remains, coincident in style and character with the Druidical 

 circles of Europe, and the exact counterpart of those of Stonehenge and 

 Carnac in Brittany. These earlier efforts of the human art are invaria- 

 bly the remains of temples, places of worship, or of edifices dedicated 

 in some way to the religion and superstitions of extinct generations, 

 whose graves cover every island and reef. The most numerous, and 

 perhaps the most ancient structures, are quadrangular in shape, and 

 are composed of loose lava stones, forming a wall of great firmness and 

 strength. These temples frequently exceed 100 feet in length, with a 



