32 Director's Annual Report. 



Islands in former years. It is worthy of remark that at Ponape 

 (Carolines) the labia minora were stretched until they were more 

 projecting than the labia tnajora. No detailed account of the cere- 

 mony could be obtained, except that the operator, who was always 

 an old man or "tuhunga" (lit., priest or wise man) pinched the 

 clitoris with finger and thumb, or between pieces of reed or bamboo, 

 so as to make the end swell. Having thus enlarged the end of the 

 organ so that a string could be fastened to it, he proceeded to put a 

 noose of fine twine over the swelled end with a slip-knot, and fastened 

 a small stone as a weight to the twine, which gradually elongated 

 the clitoris until it was, in course of time, two to three inches long. 

 Care had to be taken, said the narrators, to relax the noose occasion- 

 ally, lest the end of the organ should drop off ; in which case no one 

 would take the girl to wife, as she would be "kopiri" (lit., adhering 

 together) , also conveying the idea of deformity or being misshapen. 



The part played by the "Maea momoa" in the ceremony is ob- 

 scure : the narrators declared, however, that it was a necessary 

 adjunct to the funcflion, and that without its presence the rite could 

 not be performed. It was "taouga tuhunga"^the valued imple- 

 ment or amulet of the priest. It was also stated that each clan or 

 "manga"=:division or family, of a tribe had a separate stone, called 

 by the name of the ancestress, as the carved staves were, but identifi- 

 cation of the stones as belonging to any one clan could not be obtained . 

 Very few of the old men are left, and most are quite unreliable. 



It may be remarked that the writer knows of only five original 

 "Maea momoa" (there are imitations, made some years ago): of 

 these, one is in the U. S. National Museum, one in Santiago de Chile, 

 and three in the possession of the writer — one of which is at present in 

 the Bishop Museum. Of the two others, now in x\uckland, one is 

 somewhat similar in .shape to that in the Bishop Museum ; the other 

 is a re(5tangular bar of hard stone, 20 in. in length by 4 in. square, all 

 of one side being covered with the figure of the pudendum. 



It is said that the rite described was ordained by Tane Harai, 

 the father of Hoatumetua, who, before his son left the land of 

 Maraetoehau, said, "Forget not the pracflice of Hakatoro, for by 

 that shall it be known whose sons ye are." 



All foregoing has been obtained from time to time during past 

 eighteen years from natives of Rapanui. The writer obtained the 

 first stone in 1885, and the two others in 1887. 



[172] J. L. Young. 



