ETHNOLOGY HEDLEY. 



289 



to roll together a dozen loukafa threads upon the bare thigh 



under the extended palm, at the finish of each up and down rub 



a slight twist is given by a sideways motion of the hand. The 



short strings so produced are "amo," two of which are laid 



together, one projecting half its length beyond the other, and 



these are rolled together as before. A third 



string is applied to the second, so that one 



end lies in a fork between the end of the 



first and the middle of the second, while the 



other end projects by half its length beyond 



the end of the second, and the whole is again 



rubbed. By the similar addition of amo 



strings the strand continuously grows. Two 



such strands are again rolled together to 



produce the finished article, the ordinary 



two-ply cord " korokoro." (fig. 47). The fibre 



of the Broussonetia is treated in the same 



Way ' 47 48 



Men and women are equally proficient at 



this work, which is regarded as a pleasant 



light employment suitable to gossip over when detained indoors 



by inclement weather. 



A hank of two-ply coconut cord from Funafuti, which weighs 

 three and a half ounces, measures fourteen fathoms, the diameter 

 of the cord is an eighth of an inch. This type is laid up tighter 

 than others, and is the commonest pattern for general use, serving 

 for twine and fishing lines. 



The two-ply cord, the most simple and wide-spread form of 

 cordage, is probably the most primitive. The degraded natives 

 of Tierra del Fuego made a two-ply cord of gut strands ; a specimen 

 of which in a shell necklace has been shown to me by the Hon. 

 P. O. King, of this city, who procured it during the historical 

 voyage of the " Beagle." The Australian Aborigines seem only 

 to have known a two-ply cord, though they elaborated a complex 

 form of it by rolling up a two-ply with another two-ply. 



An ornamental form of two ply cord is of a strand of human 

 hair laid up with a strand of bark. Of this pattern is the string 

 of the Funafuti dance armlet. The same pattern may be observed 

 in the decoration of the elaborate dance masks of New Britain 

 and of New Ireland, these masks also carry a variation of the 

 same where a strand of red coloured bark is laid up with a strand 

 of natural yellow bark. 



A cord, not to be distinguished from the ordinary two-ply coir 

 cord except by unravelling, was made in Hawaii, of three strands. 



The treble stranded cord, " kafa," of Funafuti, is a flat braid, 

 loosely twisted direct from the yarn and made large or small as 



