THE TAHITIAN. 



137 



SOUTH PACIFIC. 



cured by rubbing a blunt- 

 pointed stick in a groove 

 made in another, as if in 

 order to deepen it, until by 

 the friction the dust was 

 ignited. A peculiarly white 

 and very light wood is alone 

 used for this purpose. The 

 fire was produced in a few 

 seconds; but, to a person 

 who does not understand 

 the art, it requires, as I 

 found, the greatest exertion ; 

 but at last, to my great pride, 



FIKK BY FK1CT1ON. 



BANANA LEAVES AND FRUIT-STALK. 



I succeeded in igniting the 

 dust. The Gaucho in 

 the Pampas uses a dif- 

 ferent method : taking 

 an elastic stick, about 

 eighteen inches long, he 

 presses one end on his 

 breast, and the other 

 pointed end into a hole 

 in a piece of wood, and 

 then rapidly turns the 

 curved part, like a car- 

 penter's centre-bit. The 

 Tahitians, having made 

 a small fire of sticks, 

 placed a score of stones, 



