ETHNOLOGY HEDLEY. 245 



EYE-SHADE. 



The skill of the Polynesians in plaiting has already been shown 

 by various articles discussed in this essay, and this aptitude is 

 further exemplified by their eye-shades. In the case of this 

 object I am beset by the usual difficulty encountered in the study 

 of the lesser possessions of the Polynesians. Consequent on few 

 writers having descended to the notice of such apparent trifles, 

 there are but scanty records available of variation or of geographical 

 distribution. 



The Polynesian eye-shade appears to have been adopted by the 

 Melanesians, for Edge-Partington pictures it from Papua,* and 

 it is frequently recorded from the Solomons. Dr. H. B. Guppy 

 observed that " sunshades in the form of a peak of plaited 

 grass bound to the forehead and projecting over the eyes are 

 occasionally worn by the natives of Bougainville Straits, whilst 

 fishing in canoes, in order to protect their eyes from the sun's 

 glare on the water. In Ugi, these sun-shades are sometimes worn 

 on gala days. They did not, however, appear to be in constant 

 use in any part of the group which we visited." This account is 

 illustrated by a photograph of "Men of Ugi wearing sun-shades."f 

 Woodford pictures a Rubiana native wearing one.J From Savo 

 there is a specimen in the Australian Museum, and Edge- 

 Partington figures others from Ysabel and San Christoval. 



Wilkes shows some of the individuals of a group of Fakaafu 

 natives wearing the eye-shade, and at Atafu the men wore " on 

 their head a piece, made in some cases of matting, in others of 

 tortoiseshell, and occasionally this ornament resembled an eye- 

 shade, or the front of a cap, to protect the face from the sun."|| 

 A sketch by Webber, in the British Museum, is reproduced by 

 Ed-ge-Partington, showing Tahitian women making bark cloth, 

 two of the figures in which are wearing sun-shades. " A sun-shade 

 from Tahiti made of finely plaited coconut fibre " is also drawn 

 separately.^! "Here, says Ellis, itiscalled 'taupoo/or'taumata.'"** 



The eye-shade of Funafuti, " mataili," was only used when line 

 fishing from a canoe. It was plaited indifferently from coconut 

 palm frond or pandanus leaf, was thrown away at the end of the 

 day's work and made anew as wanted. The specimens that I have 

 examined of the eye-shades of the Solomon natives are all of coco- 

 nut frond, they differ from the Ellice Island pattern in having 



* Edge-Partington loc. cit , i.,pl. cocvii., fig. 6 and pi. cccxxv., fig. 4; 

 see also : Eatzel The History of Mankind (English ed.) i., 1896, plate 

 facing p. 214, fig. 15, and p. 224. 



t Guppy Joe. cit., p. 139, and pi. facing p. 102. 



J "Wnodford A Naturalist among the Head-hunters, 1890, p. 150. 



Edge-Partington Joe. cit., i., pi. cci., fig. 4, and ii., pi. cvii., figs. 7,8. 



|| Wilkes loc. cit., v., pp. 6 and 36. 



1 Edge-Partington Joe. cit., i., pi. xxxi. and pi. xxxiii., fig. 5. 



** Ellis loc cit., ii., p. 399. 



