542 



nose ornament (now nearly in disuse) was apparently worn on 

 festive occasions only. 



The perforated lobe of the ear (called Ope) is decorated 

 with split tortoise-shell rings, strung into the lobe one after 

 ,the other, thus collectively forming a cylindrical body hanging 

 beneath the ear conch. Sometimes these tortoise-shell rings 

 are alternated with perforated discs of the red ground shell, 

 well known as "native money of the Pacific." These are placed 



^> /^ 



^'> 



13. 



Ear Lobe Attachments. 

 Fig. 12. Ear lobe, decorated with tortoise-shell rings. 



Fig. 13. "Sdpisdpi,^' red shell discs attached to the ear lobe" 

 by means of tortoise-shell rings. 



Fig. 14. White, serrated shell disc, used as a decoration of 

 the ear lobe. 



with their plane perpendicular to that of the tortoise-shell disc, 

 so that they present their broad surfaces to the eye. Rather 

 uncommon is a fairly large white shell-disc, with a serrated 

 external border placed in the lobe. 



All of these ornaments, the tortoise-shell rings (Gehore), 

 the shell-discs (Ar/eva), and the white, serrated disc (Kiire) 

 are of local manufacture. 



The teeth are sometimes artificially blackened to a jet 

 black colour. To effect this they mix the decayed root of the 

 BadiJa tree with the green leaves of some other kind of tree^ 

 This mixture they apply to the teeth with a piece of bast, 

 allowing it to remain over night. The process is repeated from 

 time to tim.e. 



