274 Mr. E. Lovett on Native Cloth, Fiji Islands. 



seen any with glauconite casts. They have exhibited in abun- 

 dance circular depressions, which in some cases communicate 

 with the central canal, and are sometimes so numerous that the 

 spicule is almost broken up. The central canal itself is frequently 

 hollowed out in various forms, but no sign of glauconite. On 

 the other hand, I have some Foraminifera dredged from no great 

 depth in the Macassar Straits, which exhibit perfect casts of a 

 siliceous mineral. On the whole I think that the evidence is in 

 favour of their being formed through the medium of water. 



In conclusion, as their composition is so similar, we may 

 regard firestone as an immature form of chert, and the beds at 

 Oamaru as immature forms of firestone. 



88. — Nathi; Cloth, Fiji Islands. 



By Edward Lo\'ett. 



(Eead September 10th, 1890.) 



One of the most primitive kinds of cloth perhaps ever made is 

 that manufactured and used until very recently by many of the 

 islanders of the South Pacific, but whence it is now almost 

 entirely displaced by Manchester goods and other cheap fabrics. 

 This very remarkable material, which is known as " tappa," is 

 made chiefly from the inner bank of the bread-fruit tree, Arto- 

 carpus incisa, a native of the islands and of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago. This bark is very fibrous, and the modus operandi is as 

 follows : — A huge block or log of hard, well-polished wood lies in 

 an open-sided shed ; the upper surface of the log is convex, and on 

 this is laid the fibrous bark, which is beaten with grooved mallets 

 of iron-wood by women who sit in rows on each side of the log. 

 Originally only two or three inches wide, by beating and welding 

 together, very large sheets of this cloth are produced, many feet 

 square. 



The patterns and colouring are also very curious, the former 

 being of the most primitive form known, and the latter being 

 always some native pigments of black or brown. The pattern 

 is produced by means of perhaps the most original stencil plate 

 known, fij;., a plantain-leaf with the desired marks cut out on it; 

 this is laid on the cloth, and the crude colour brushed or smeared 

 over it. 



A superior kind of cloth is made also from the paper mulberry, 

 Broussonetia papyrifcra, the young branches of which are mace- 

 rated in water, and beaten and welded togetherj as in the case of 

 the bark of the bread-fruit tree. 



