SAMOA. 637 



stranger passing near the house at the time of the meal 

 would be cheerfully invited in to partake with them. 



Samoans do not wear ornaments in any profusion. The 

 men are proud of their tataued limbs and head of long hair. 

 The hair is mostly gathered up in a knob on one side of the 

 head. As a mark of respect, in the presence of a sujjerior 

 they unfasten the cord and let the hair flow down. The 

 clothing of males was a girdle of dracsena leaves, sometimes 

 very scanty. The women wore a longer girdle or a wrapper 

 of native cloth. On state occasions they put on their fine 

 mats, and ornamented their necks with a (circlet of scented 

 flowers or a necklace of shells or pandanus seeds. Some- 

 times they covered the forehead with a jjretty coronet made 

 from the innermost septa of nautilu;? shells in a double row. 

 Girls were fond of wearing flowers in their hair, and tucked 

 behind the ears. The heads of boys and girls were often 

 shaved closely, just leaving a few locks pendent on the side 

 of the head. The figure of the Samoans is commanding, 

 tall, and well-nourished, with well-formed features. 



The Papuans of the Loyalty Islands are far less sociable 

 than the Samoans, and live more isolated. The women 

 were little respected, and often barbarously treated. Upon 

 Ihem were imposed all the labour of the household, the culti- 

 vation of the soil, and the bearing of heavy burdens. Their 

 position in the family was a degi'aded and isolated one. 

 They took their meals apart from the males, and had to wait 

 till the " lords of creation " were satisfied, and then be content 

 with what was left for their re]iast. There was very little 

 kindliness or hospitality shown in their social intercourse. 

 They were less cleanly in their habits and in the preparation 

 of food; the ovens were covered in with heated earth instead 

 of stones — jirobably from lack of basalt, and coral stones are 

 utterly unsuitable for the purpose. The natives are a hardier 

 people than the Samoans, though not so well nourished. 

 Times of famine or great scarcity wei'e of fre([uent occurrence, 

 and borne with patient endurance. 



The Loyalty Islanders wore no clothing except a headdress. 

 They perforated the ears, and wore sticks, rings, feathers, or 

 shell ornaments in them. Some carried a small shell in the 

 septum of the nose. The married women wore a narrow 

 fringe around the hips, and ornamented their arms with 

 white cowries, rings of tortoise shell, or pearl shell, and their 

 necks and chests with strings of snudl shells or scented 

 vines. 



