no THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



Ear ornaments are used by both sexes ; they are not mere 

 pendants, but are passed horizontally through the lobe of the 

 ear, which is greatly distended for that purpose, the size of the 

 ' boring ' varying from the thickness of the finger to that of 

 the wrist. A white cowrie is sometimes inserted in the open- 

 ing. Some of the more ambitious have the opening distended 

 so as to admit a ring of 10 inches in circumference. 



The natives display great taste in adorning themselves with 

 natural shrubs, vines, dried grasses, and flowers made into 

 wreaths, necklaces, or scarves worn over one shoulder. 



Tattooing proper, however, is confined to the women, and to 

 those parts that are covered by the liku or dress. The women 

 also have their fingers interlined, for the admiration of the 

 chiefs to whom they may have to hand food. The old and 

 middle-aged women used to have patches of blue at the 

 corners of the mouth, some say in order to notify that the 

 woman has been a mother ; scandal occasionally attributes 

 it to vanity, in order to hide wrinkles and conceal the ravages 

 of age. 



The tattooing process often takes months to complete, and 

 is a painful and tedious operation, only submitted to from 

 mingled reasons of vanity and fear. The tattooing is per- 

 formed with an instrument called a ' tooth,' which consists of 

 four or five teeth inserted in a light handle. The pattern is 

 cut into the flesh with this instrument, and the colours ren- 

 dered permanent by means of a pigment composed of charcoal 

 and candle-nut oil. 



The custom of tattooing was instituted in accordance with 

 an ordinance of their God Ndengei, and a neglect of this 

 custom would entail punishment in the future state. 



In Fiji, the practice of tattooing is confined to the women ; 

 but in Tonga the practice is reversed, the men only are 



