MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING. 349 



boys are allowed to run naked until they have attained 

 the age of puberty, and publicly assumed what may be 

 termed their toga virilis a narrow strip of native cloth 

 (Malo) passing between the legs, and fastened either to 

 a waistband of string or to a girdle formed by one of 

 the ends of the cloth itself. The length of the Tapa 

 hanging down in front denotes the rank of the wearer ; 

 the lower classes not having it longer than is absolutely 

 necessary for the purposes of securing it to the waist- 

 band, whilst the chiefs let it dangle on the ground, and 

 when incommoded by it in walking, playfully swing it 

 over their shoulder. In the christianized districts of 

 the coast, a piece of Tapa, at least two yards long and 

 one yard broad, is worn around the loins, and distin- 

 guished persons envelope their body in pieces many 

 yards long, and allow long trains to drag after them on 

 the ground. A fine kind of Tapa (Sala) is worn in the 

 shape of a turban by those who still adhere to the old 

 custom of letting their hair grow long. From a laud- 

 able desire to promote cleanliness the missionaries have 

 pronounced against long hair and the use of the Sala, 

 but in doing so they deprived the natives of a capital 

 protection against the sun ; the immense mass of hair 

 curled and frizzled to make it stand off many inches, 

 and covered by a piece of snow-white Tapa, must have 

 kept the head cool. Now most of the Christian natives 

 move about without any covering for their head, and 

 with their hair cut short, which, in a tropical climate, 

 cannot improve their intellect. The abolition of the 

 old custom might have proved more beneficial if imme- 

 diately followed by the institution of some kind of head- 



