MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING. 353 



held out by us as a reward, induced two young men to 

 procure a quantity of this singular production sufficient 

 for scientific examination ; proving it to be, not the root 

 of a tree, as had been believed, but the entire body of 

 a species of EMzomorpha. The plant is vernacularly 

 termed " Wa loa," literally, black creeper, from wa, 

 creeper, and loa, black a name occasionally applied to 

 the Liku made of it also. The Wa loa is confined to 

 the south-western parts of Viti Levu, where it grows in 

 swamps on decaying wood fallen to the ground ; the 

 threads 'of which it consists are several feet long, leafless, 

 not much branched, and they are furnished here and 

 there with little shield-like expansions, acting as suckers, 

 by means of which the plant is attached to the dead 

 wood upon which it grows. The threads, having been 

 beaten between stones in order to free them from im- 

 purities adhering, are buried for two or three days in 

 muddy places, and are then ready for plaiting them to 

 the waistband. 



The Liku worn by the women, always speaking of 

 those who have not as yet adopted foreign calico, are 

 principally made of the fibres of the different species of 

 Vau, the Vau dina (Paritium tiliaceum, Juss.), the Vau 

 dra (Paritium tricuspis, Guill.), and the Vau damudamu 

 (Paritium purpurascens, Seem.). The bark of these trees 

 is stripped off, steeped in water to render it soft and 

 pliable, and allow the fibres to separate. The fibres are 

 either permitted to retain their original whiteness, or 

 they are dyed yellow, red, or black. The yellow colour 

 is imparted with turmeric, the black with mud and the 

 leaves of the Tavola (Terminalia Catappa, Linn.), and 



2 A 



