358 POTTERY. GAMES. 



sides were fitted by dovetailing, and closely united by 

 lashings passed through flanges left on each of the pieces. 

 The joints were closed by the gum of the bread-fruit tree. 

 The sails were large, and made of mats. The mast was gene- 

 rally about half the length of the canoe, and the yard and 

 boom usually twice as long as the mast. Their principal tool 

 was an adze, formerly of stone, but now generally of iron. 

 For boring holes they used the long spines of the echina, 

 pointed bones, and, when they could get them, nails. Small 

 teeth, such as those of rats and mice, were used for carving ; 

 and their knives were made of the outside of a piece of 

 bamboo, shaped into form while green. After being dried 

 it was charred, and thus became very hard and sharp, so 

 that it might be used in surgical operations. They differed 

 from the Polynesians in using earthenware pots for cooking. 

 These were graceful and well made, though the potter's wheel 

 was unknown. The pottery was all made by women. Their 

 tools were very simple, consisting of a small round flat stone 

 to fashion the inside, and a flat mallet or spatula for the 

 surface, which they made almost as round as if it had been 

 turned in a lathe. Forks appear to have been long in use 

 among the Feegeeans; a remarkable fact, if we remember 

 that they were unknown in Northern Europe until the seven- 

 teenth century. 



The Feegeeans have several kinds of games. They are 

 fond of swinging, and of throwing stones or fruits at a mark. 

 They have also a game resembling skittles. Their dances, 

 like those of so many other nations, are anything but decorous. 

 Their musical instruments are the conch-shell, the nose-flute, 

 pipes, a Jew's-harp made of a strip of bamboo, and several 

 sorts of drums. They are also fond of poetry. 



Their agricultural implements have been described by 

 Mr. Williams. The digging- sticks are made of a young 

 mangrove tree. They are about the size of an ordinary hay 



