264 



FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



and scraping from the edge downwards, the left forefinger pressing 

 on and assisting the others in the operation."* 



On Nukulailai I procured a specimen, called 

 " twai," cut from Meleagrina, one ounce in 

 weight, three and three-quarter inches long, and 

 tapering in width from an inch to an inch and a 

 half. On Funafuti pearl shell was a material 

 too precious for this use, and hard coconut 

 shell was employed in the specimen drawn in 

 fig. 27, which is three-quarters of an ounce in 

 weight, four inches in length, and tapers from 

 a broken point to an edge an inch and three- 

 .. ^ quarters broad, denticulated by thirty small 



teeth. 



The ribs and carapace of Chelone midas are formed into 

 scoops " sesefonu," for paring the kernel of coconuts. No two 

 of the series collected at Funafuti are 

 quite alike. Variations selected for 

 illustration show the former, (fig. 28) 

 a double-ended scoop, an ounce and 

 a half in weight, an inch broad, and 

 seven and a half long ; the latter, 

 (fig. 29) two and a half ounces in 

 weight, eleven inches in length, and 

 one and a half in width, at one end 

 it tapers to a point and at the other 

 is bevelled three inches on the concave 

 surface to the blade. 



To this category probably belongs a 

 Fijian article sketched by Edge-Parting- 

 tonf described in the margin as 'a 

 " taro spade of bone," but corrected 

 by Sir Arthur Gordon in " Additional 

 Notes" to "implement of turtle bone 

 used for preparing puddings." 



A scoop was occasionally improvised from a valve of the 

 common Asaphis deflorata. 



IMPLEMENTS FOR FISHING AND HUNTING. 



FISH-HOOKS. 



The fish-hooks used by the Ellic.e Islanders may conveniently 

 be grouped under three heads ; firstly, those made in one piece 

 and used baited in the ordinary way, secondly, those made with 



* Lament Joe. dt., p. 117. 



t Edge-Partington loc. cit., i., pi. cxix., fig. 16; see also ii., pi. lix., fig. 7. 



Fig. 28. Fig. 29. 



