112 



Tattooing. Manufacture of tapa 

 and mats. 



THE SAMOANS 



Their canoes. 

 Their boat-songs. 



flowers, which gave them a picturesque and plea- 

 sant appearance ; but the use of flowers as orna- 

 ments has been interdicted by the missionary 

 teachers. , 



Tattooing, if not in reality, at least in appear- 

 ance, may be said to form a part of dress. It is 

 performed by persons who make it a regular busi- 

 ness. The age at which it takes* place is from 

 fourteen to eighteen, and is usually considered the 

 initiation to manhood. The usual colouring matter 

 is obtained from the kernel of the candle-nut. Tat- 

 tooing is here called ta-ta-tau, and is tastefully 

 drawn. The natives are very fond of it. It is 

 expensive to the family, for the operator always 

 receives a high price for his labour, consisting of 

 the finest mats, siapo, and other property, as agreed 

 upon before the operation is begun. The instru- 

 ment used is made of bone, sharp like the teeth of 

 a comb, and requires but a slight blow to enter the 

 skin. The part tattooed on the males is from the 

 loins to the thighs, but the women have only a few 

 lines on their hands and bodies. 



The articles of which their dress is composed are 

 manufactured by the females, who are exceedingly 

 industrious. The common cloth or tapa is made of 

 the inner bark of the paper-mulberry, which is cul- 

 tivated for the purpose in nurseries. It is cut when 

 the stem is about one and a half inches in diameter; 

 the inner bark is separated and washed in water, 

 which deprives it of some of its gum ; it is then 

 beaten until the adhesion of the fibres forms many 

 of the strips into a single mass. The mallet used 

 for this purpose is about two inches square, and 

 about fourteen inches long, with a handle at one 

 end; two of its faces are grooved and the other two 

 smooth ; the bark is laid on a board, and struck 

 with the mallet in a direction at right angles with 

 its fibres ; the grooved sides are used to spread out 

 the fibres, and the smooth ones to knit them 

 together. The grooves also give a thready appear- 

 ance to the surface. 



This method differs from that practised at Tahiti, 

 where the bark is beaten with a smaller mallet, 

 upon a spring-board ; and the tapa made here is of 

 inferior quality. The tapa is often printed with 

 colours in patterns. This is performed in a mode 

 similar to that practised in Europe before the 

 introduction of copper rollers. Instead of engraved 

 blocks, they form tablets, about as thick as binders' 

 boards, of pieces of large cocoa-nut leaves, by sew- 

 ing them together. One side of the tablet is kept 

 smooth and even, and upon this cocoa-nut fibres 

 are sewed so as to form the required pattern, which 

 is of course raised upon the surface of the tablet. 

 These tablets are wet with a piece of cloth well 

 soaked in the dye, after which the tapa, which for 

 this purpose is well bleached and beautifully white, 

 is laid upon them and pressed into close contact. 

 The dye is made from herbs and roots, and is of 

 various colours. 



The women also manufacture the mats. Some of 

 these have been mentioned in describing the dress 

 of the natives : the finest kinds are made of the 

 inner bark of the paper-mulberry; those of coarser 

 texture of the leaves of the pandanus, which are 

 nicely scraped and bleached. The mats are all 

 made by hand, and by interlacing the fibres; one of 

 the finest description will require the industrious 

 labour of a year. 



Among the mats are some of as fine a texture 



and as soft as if made of cotton. These are rarely 

 or never manufactured at present, and are solely 

 possessed by the chiefs, in whose family they are 

 handed down from father to son, as heir-looms. 

 They are considered as their choicest treasures, 

 and are so much coveted that wars have been 

 made to obtain possession of them. 



There are several distinct trades among the 

 men besides that of tattooing; among the most 

 esteemed is that of canoe-building, in which there 

 is no little skill displayed. 



The usual fishing-canoe is made of a single tree, 

 with a small out-rigger to balance it. They have 

 no large double canoes, such as are seen in Tonga 

 and Feejee. 



The largest canoes are from thirty to sixty feet 

 long, and capable of carrying from ten to twelve 

 persons. They are formed of several pieces of 

 plank, fastened together with sennit. These pieces 

 are of no regular size or shape. On the edge of 

 each plank is a ledge or projection, which serves to 

 attach the sennit, and to connect and bind it closely 

 to the adjoining one. It is surprising to see the 

 labour bestowed on uniting so many small pieces, 

 where large and good planks might be obtained. 

 Before the pieces are joined, the gum from the 

 bark of the bread-fruit tree is used to cement them 

 close and prevent leakage. These canoes retain 

 their form much more truly than one would have 

 supposed, and I saw few whose original model had 

 been impaired by service. On the outside, the pieces 

 are so closely fitted as frequently to require close 

 examination before the seams can be detected. 

 Tli is perfection of workmanship is astonishing to 

 those who see the tools with which it is executed. 

 They are now made of no more than a piece of iron 

 tied to a stick, and used as an adze. This, with a 

 gimlet, is all they have, and before they obtained 

 these iron tools, they used adzes made of hard i 

 stone or fish-bones. These canoes are built with a j 

 deck forward and aft. They are long and narrow, i 

 and their shape is elegant. They are paddled by 

 natives, who sit two abreast, and are guided by a ; 

 steersman. The seat of honour is on the forward | 

 deck, in the centre of which is a row of pegs, to 

 which the large white ovula shell is attached by 

 way of ornament. The natives find no difficulty in 

 occupying this place, as they manage to sit in 

 almost any position with ease to themselves; but a 

 stranger who attempts it, and is for any time con- 

 fined to one of these places of honour, will repent 

 of the distinction he enjoys before many minutes 

 are over. One of our gentlemen was treated with 

 this distinction, and will long recollect the words 

 of the song they sing. 



" Lelei tusilava le tau mua, 

 Leango tusilava le tau muri." 



" Good above all is the part before, 

 Bad above all is the part behind." 



The uneasiness, from his account, does not only 

 proceed from the small place left to sit upon, but 

 also from the constant apprehension of being pre- 

 cipitated into the sea. This faa Samoa, or Samoan 

 fashion, is any thing but agreeable. 



Having both a prow and stern, these canoes can- 

 not be manoeuvred without tacking; consequently 

 the out-rigger, that constitutes their safety, is, in 

 using their sail, alternately to leeward and wind- 

 ward, and does not, when to leeward, add much to 



