356 A MISSION TO VITI. 



of the Elagellaria Indica, Linn., split up in narrow 

 strips ; those of the former are the most easy to make, 

 but they do not last long, whilst those of the latter are 

 the neatest and last the longest. 



Fibre used for cordage is derived from three species of 

 Vau (Paritium tiliaceum, P. tricuspis, et P. purpuras- 

 cens), the cocoa-nut palm, the Yaka or Wayaka (Pacliy- 

 rliizus angulatus, Rich.), the Kalakalauaisoni (Hibiscus 

 diver sifolius, Jacq.), and the Sinu Mataiavi ( WiJcstrcemia 

 Indica, Meyer). Plaiting cocoa-nut fibre into " sinnet," 

 afterwards to be made into rope, or simply used for 

 binding material, and as such a good article of exchange 

 in the group, is a favourite occupation of the men, even 

 of high chiefs, when sitting in bures and discussing 

 politics or other topics of the day. According to Mr. 

 Pritchard, none of the Polynesians produce so great a 

 quantity of this article as the Fijians, though the Ton- 

 guese excel them in colouring it. I have seen he con- 

 tinues in the memorandum from which I quote a ball 

 of " sinnet " six feet high, and four feet in diameter. 

 Some heathen temples, Bure ni Kalou, used to be en- 

 tirely composed of such plaiting, and their completion 

 must have been a task extending over a considerable 

 period, since a model of them, four feet high, ordered 

 for the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew, could not 

 be finished in less time than six weeks, and at a cost of 

 5. The fibre of the Yaka or Wayaka (Pacliyrhizus 

 angulatus ~Rich.=Dolichus bulbosus, Linn.) is principally 

 sought for fishing-nets, the floats of which are the 

 square fruits of the Vutu rakaraka (Barringtonia spe- 

 ciosa, Linn.). The Sinu Mataiavi ( WiJcstrcemia Indica, 



