FEJEE GROUP. 181 



Their arms consist of clubs, spears, bows and arrows. 

 There are two kinds of clubs one kind about four feet long, 

 and five or six inches in circumference ; the other about 

 eighteen inches long, and fashioned like a drum-stick. The 

 latter sort are intended for throwing, and are said to be a very 

 formidable weapon. Every man is furnished with two of 

 these when he goes into battle ; some of them are beautifully 

 carved. 



Their manufactures are mats, tapa, baskets, &c. This is 

 exclusively the work of women. The tapa is made, as at the 

 other islands, from the Chinese mulberry, and by a similar 

 process. They make some that is very neatly and tastefully 

 printed. On several of the islands they also manufacture large 

 quantities of pottery ; they make it into pots, jugs and lamps, 

 and it appears to be of as good quality as that which is manufac- 

 tured for common use at home. The men have the reputation 

 of being the best native mechanics in the South Seas. Their 

 canoes are constructed with much judgment and ingenuity ; I 

 saw some that were upwards of one hundred feet in length, and 

 proportionally wide. The double-canoes are capable of carry- 

 ing from one hundred to two hundred men each. 



As they are unacquainted with the use of money, they 

 barter commodities chiefly for muskets, powder, whales' teeth, 

 cotton cloths, hatchets, knives, scissors, razors, glass bottles, 

 and red paint. Among themselves, mats and tapa-cloth form 

 the principal currency and personal property. They wear the 

 whales' teeth around their necks as ornaments, which are 

 highly prized. 



The foreign trade with these islands is much more limited 

 than it was some twenty years ago. Sandal- wood is now 

 exhausted, or only found in small quantities ; tortoise-shell is 

 so scarce as to be of small account, and these, with the smaller 



