238 CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS. 



any kind of hard stone, they make, out of the teeth of the 

 sharks caught about the reefs, a sharp, jagged edging for long 

 knives, swords, and spears; and the women, jealous of one 

 another, sometimes, as Mr. Hale says, carry about with them 

 for months a small weapon of shark's teeth concealed under 

 their dress, watching for an opportunity to use it; and des- 

 perate fights sometimes take place. The same author mentions 

 also some good points in them : observing that the women are, 

 for the most part, better treated than is common among un- 

 civihzed people ; that the men do the hard out-door work, while 

 the women clear and weed the ground, and attend to the 

 domestic duties that naturally fall to them. " Custom also re- 

 quires that when a man meets a female he shall pay her the 

 same mark of respect that is rendered to a chief, by turning 

 aside to let her pass," — a rule that probably does not always 

 hold in practice. He adds : " The word nianda signifies 

 among the Gilbert Islanders a man thoroughly accomplished 

 in all their knowledge and arts, and versed in every noble 

 exercise ; a good dancer, an able warrior, one who has seen 

 life at home and abroad, and enjoyed its highest excitements 

 and delights — in short, a complete man of the world. In their 

 estimation this is the proudest character to which any person 

 can attain ; and such a one is fully prepared to enter, at his 

 death, on the highest enjoyments of their elysium." 



Thus much for the human productions of coral islands. 



Although the vegetation of coral islands has the luxuriance 

 that characterizes more favoured tropical lands, the number of 

 species of land plants is small. When Gray's " Botany of the 

 Paumotus " shall appear, it will contain descriptions of only 

 twenty-eight or thirty species. The most common kinds are 

 the following : — 



Portulacca oleracea Z. (lutea Lepidium piscidium Forst. 



of Solander). Pemphis acidula Forst. 



Triumfetta procumbens Forst. Pandanus odoratissimus L. J. 



Tournefortia argentea L. Pisonia grandis Parkinson. 



Scgevola Konigii Vahl. Morinda citrifolia L. 



Ipomsea longiflora t'v. Br. Guettarda speciosaZ. 



