DRESS. 131 



The men of these islands are always very anxious to become the 

 possessors of European articles of clothing, such as shirts, coats, hats, 

 etc. ; but the happy owners seldom don them except during the 

 visit of a ship, when they strut about clad in some solitary 

 garment, such as a shirt or a waistcoat, or often only a hat. I had 

 often some difficulty in preserving my gravity when I met some 

 sedate individual, as naked as on the day when he was born, wear- 

 ing a round hat on his head, and carrying his shirt on his arm. 

 The fortunate possessor of a shirt usually regards it as a kind of 

 light overcoat, to be worn on especial occasions; and in some islands 

 the possessors seem to prefer carrying their shirts on their arms 

 wherever they go. A few men, who have these articles of clothing, 

 never take them off after they have begun to wear them. Such a 

 practice, however, is quite opposed to the u.«*ual cleanly habits of 

 these islanders. Whilst we were in Bougainville Straits, three 

 natives were employed on board as interpreters, who were dubbed 

 by the men, Jacket, Waistcoat, and Trousers, as they used to wear a 

 suit between them. On one occasion, when I had induced some 

 Fai'o men to take me in their canoe to an island some distance awa}^ 

 I was amused at the appearance of my crew, to whom I had pre- 

 viously given shirts. We were, for all the world, like a party of 

 nigger-minstrels. Following the waggish advice of the quarter- 

 master, the natives turned up their large collars. Off we started, 

 and the sight of their serious countenances, iialf buried in their 

 collars, was too much for my gravity : but when we landed, and my 

 men proceeded in a dignified manner to disembark, they looked so 

 ludicrously sedate in their long-tailed shirts, that I roared with 

 laughter. 



The most picturesque of the personal ornaments of the natives 

 of the eastern islands is a Irontlet of the handsome white cowries 

 {Ovuhim ovuvi). About a dozen of these .shells, rather small in size, 

 are strung together, and bound across the forehead. A single shell 

 is sometimes worn on the front of the leg just below the knee 

 Many men possess large crescent-shaped plates of the pearl shell 

 found in these seas, and which they wear on the breast. Resident 

 traders, such as Captain Macdonald at Santa Anna, have largely 

 supplied the natives with these ornaments. Necklaces made of the 

 teeth of dogs, porpoises, fruit-bats, and phal angers (Cuscus), are 

 commonly worn. The seeds of the Coix Lachryma are also era- 

 ployed for this purpose. Various articles are used as necklace- 



