MATS. 61 



being found in New Guinea, in tbe Philippines, amongst the tribes 

 on the north-eastern frontier of India, and in Guiana^ 



With resrard to the internal arrano-ements of the houses in this 

 part of the Solomon Group, but little remains to be said. In many 

 houses a portion of a space is partitioned off for sleeping purposes, 

 usually one of the corners ; in othei's, again, the interior is divided 

 into two halves by a cross-partition. More attention is here paid to 

 the comfort of repose than in the eastern islands. In the place of 

 the single mat laid on the ground, they have low couches, raised a 

 foot to eighteen inches above the floor, on which the}^ lay their mats ; 

 whilst a round cylinder of wood serves them as a pillow. These 

 couches, which the natives can improvise in the bush in a few 

 minutes, are usually nothing more than a layer of stout poles, such 

 as the slender trunks of the areca palms, resting at their ends on 

 two logs. 



Mat-making is one of the occupations of the women of the 

 Straits, the material employed being the thick leaves of a species of 

 Pandanus which is known by the natives as the pota. The leaves 

 are first deprived of their thin polished epidermis by being rubbed 

 over with the leaves of a plant, named sansuti, which have a rough 

 surface giving a sensation like that caused by fine emery paper 

 when passed over the skin. The pandanus leaves are then dried in 

 the sun, when they become whitened and leathery, and are then 

 sewn together into mats. These mats are not only used to lie upon, 

 but are also worn by the women over their shoulders as a 

 protection in wet weather. They are especially useful, as I 

 have myself found, when sleeping out in the open in wet 

 weather. They are sufficiently long to cover the whole length 

 of a native ; and Avhen he is sleeping out in the bush, he lies 

 down on his couch formed, as above described, from the slender 

 trunks of areca palms ready at his hand, and covering himself com- 

 pletely with his mat, he may sleep through a deluge of rain without 

 being touched by the wet. The mat has a crease along the middle 

 of its length, so that when placed over the body it resembles a 

 " tente d'abri ; " and the rain runs off as from the roof of a house. 

 To intending travellers in these islands, I strongly recommend this 

 form of couch, A native mat and a blanket are all he requires to 

 carry. Almost anywhere in the bush he can find the areca palms, 



1 Those of my readers who desire further information on this subject shoukl refer to the 

 works of Tyler, Mosely, etc., and to " Nature '" for the last few years. 



