26 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



indulgence in toddy was the usual prelude to murderous fights. 

 The manufacture of toddy is an art unknown to either Polynesians 

 or Melanesians, and was certainly derived from Micronesia, reach- 

 ing in the Ellice its furthest extension southward. 



The green heart of a coconut palm being only to be obtained by 

 sacrificing the tree, was a dainty seldom eaten by the islanders. 



The timber of the palm was not as far as my observation went 

 ever employed by the natives. The only insect foes to the palm 

 in Funafuti were the white ants, which committed much damage 

 by eating away the trunk a few feet from the ground. I saw 

 several tall palms snapped by the wind where these pests had 

 weakened the stem. My colleague, Mr. W. J. Rainbow, recognised 

 in this pest Calotermes margrinipennis, Latr. 



The cultivation of the coconut is confined to the simple opera- 

 tions of placing a sprouting nut where it is to grow, of clearing 

 the shrubs and vines from around it, and of gathering the produce. 

 The work of collecting and husking the nuts devolves solely upon 

 the men. For climbing the palms a stout rope loop, " kaf unga," 

 is twisted into a figure of eight, into this each foot is thrust as 

 far as the instep. Placing his hands around the stem the man 

 leaps on to the trunk, resting his manacled feet on either side of 

 it. Raising his hands to a higher grasp he makes another leap, 

 and ascends the tree by bounds of a couple of feet or so. Arrived 

 at the summit he plucks from his belt a short notched stick and 

 attached cord, " kouteki." Applying the stick against the palm 

 stem like a ship's crosstrees against her mast, he winds the rope 

 half round the trunk, over the notch on the stick, back round the 

 tree and over the other notched end. Repeating this twice or 

 thrice the stick is securely hitched to the trunk, and the native 

 standing upon the crosstrees may conveniently do his work. A 

 nut is gathered by seizing the apex with the fingers and twirling 

 it round till the twisted stalk breaks, when the nut is allowed to 

 drop to the ground. 



Husking is effected by fixing a stout stake, which presents a 

 sharp spear point, in the ground at an angle of about 45. The 

 nut held in both hands is driven against the stake so that the point 

 penetrates the husk but not the shell, and with a twist a strip of 

 husk is wrenched off. After two or three repetitions the husk is 

 torn off, except a strip by which it is fastened to another nut. 

 The labourer returns from his work with his plane iron adze 

 caught in a loop of the kafunga, and these with the koutekei 

 slung' with his freshly husked nuts from the husking stake, a 

 valued implement and potential weapon, over his shoulder. 



A proprietor wishing his tree to be untouched resorts to the 

 " Niu tabu," (Fig. 2) effected by tying a coconut frond around the 

 stem. This widespread South Sea warning, equivalent to our 

 " Trespassers will be prosecuted," I saw in use throughout British 



