354 A MISSION TO vm. 



the red with the bark of the Kura (Morinda citrifolia, 

 Linn.), and that of the Tiri (Guttiferce ?). The Liku 

 worn by the common women consists of one row of 

 fibres, all of the same colour; whilst those worn by 

 ladies of rank are often composed of two or three rows 

 or layers flounces, I suppose, would be the proper term 

 every one of which exhibits a different colour. 



Mats, with which the floors of houses and sleeping- 

 places are thickly covered, are made of two kinds of 

 screw-pines : the coarsest, of the leaves of the Balawa 

 (Pandanus odoratissimus, Linn.) ; the finest, of those of 

 the Voivoi (Pandanus caricosus. Rum ph.). The Balawa, 

 or Vadra, as it is termed in some districts, is a tree 

 twenty-five feet high, indicative of poor soil, growing in 

 exposed positions, and being one of the first plants ap- 

 pearing on newly-formed islands. Its singular habit has 

 often been dwelt upon. The smooth white branches, 

 with their dense heads of foliage, not inaptly compared 

 to the arms of a huge candelabrum ; the strong aerial 

 roots, covered with minute spines, and serving as so 

 many props ; the curious corkscrew-like arrangement of 

 the leaves, the leathery, sword-shaped leaves them- 

 selves, and their spiny edges ; the long spikes of male, 

 and the shorter branches of female flowers, their deli- 

 cious perfume strongly recalling to mind that of the 

 vegetable ivory of South America ; finally, the bright 

 orange-coloured drupes, formed into large heads of 

 fruit, to say nothing of their insipid taste, appreciated 

 only by natives, are all so essentially different from what 

 a European traveller is accustomed to in his own coun- 

 try, that his attention is involuntarily arrested, and he 



