294 



FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



lack of ornament, this is nowhere more noticeable than in the 

 pillows. A characteristic specimen of a Funafuti head-rest is 

 shown by tig. 59. It is a rough hewn, unsymmetrical, slightly bowed 



Fig. 59. 



Fig. 60. 



slab, supported by two rough, crooked legs, carved in one piece. It 

 is of a hard heavy wood, in parts highly polished by use ; its weight 

 is three pounds ; length twenty, breadth three and a half, and 

 height five inches. Another specimen is more ornate and symmet- 

 rical, consisting of a flat board supported by two horse-shoe legs. 

 This (fig. 60) is of a hard wood, probably Calophyllum, weighs one 

 pound fourteen ounces, is fourteen inches long, five wide and four 

 high. The more graceful design of this article suggests to me 

 that it may have been made by a native of another archipelago. 



In use these articles are not so uncomfortable as an untravelled 

 observer might imagine. For in a hot moist climate the constant 

 perspiration renders a soft, absorbent pillow less acceptable than 

 a cool, smooth, though hard, surface. Besides, sleeping on his 

 back, the Polynesian does not rest his cheek, like the European, 

 but the back of his head, on his pillow. 



On Vaitupu, Bridge* noticed couches carved out of single pieces 

 of wood, with four legs, and a solid block like a pillow at one end. 

 Under the regime of the Native Teacher every effort is made 

 to Europeanise the Polynesian. If, after cricket and football, the 

 pupils be introduced to the English schoolboy's " pillow fight," 

 serious consequences would ensue. 



Though upon Funafuti the mat 

 cushion did not seem to be em- 

 ployed, it was well known there, 

 and a model of it was made for a 

 member of our party. On Nuku- 

 lailai, however, I found them in 

 common use. A well-worn speci- 

 men procured there is shown by 

 fig. 61. It is formed of woven 

 pandanus leaf, weighs one pound 

 ten ounces, is nine inches long, 

 six high, and four thick. 



Fig. 61. 



* Bridge Proc. Eoy. Geogr. Soc., viii., 1886, p. 554. 



