186 REMARKS AND OPINIONS. 



which is Hkewise used in some islands for similar 

 stuffs.* 



The paper-mulberry-tree, and the bast-stuffs of 

 Ovvliyee, were equally unknown to Kadu.t The 

 curcuma-root, which is rasped to a powder, forms 

 a considerable branch of the trade of Eap. The 

 custom of dyeing the skin with this powder, is 

 general, from Tuch in the east, to Pelli in the west, 

 but is not prevalent in the groups to the south- 

 west of the Pelew islands, neither did it prevail in 

 the Mariana islands. The women always ornament 

 themselves in this manner, and the men only on holi- 

 days, or in war, for battle j and thus too the bodies 

 of the dead are adorned. The custom of chewing 

 the betel, and of dying the teeth black, is exclu- 

 sively confined to Pelli, Ngoli, Eap, and the Ma- 

 riana islands, where it formerly also prevailed. It 

 is only in the Pelew islands that a sweet syrup is 

 obtained from the cocoa-palm. The drinking of 

 kava, and the use of salt, are equally unknown in 

 these islands. 



* A passage in Cantova's letter confirms us in the conjecture, 

 that the stei'ile banana, which is only cultivated in the Philip- 

 pines on account of the flax, also grows in the Carolinas. 

 " Mettre en oeuvre une espece de Plane sauvage et un autre 

 arbre qui s'appelle Balibago pour en faire de la toile." 



-j- A passage in Pigafetta might lead us to conjecture, that 

 the little apron which the women wore in the Mariana islands, 

 was of stuff made of bast. " Toile ou plutot <^corce mince 

 comme du papier que I'on tire de I'aubier du pnlmier." — Page 

 61. oj' the French edition. 



