544 



fern vine, which has a very fine brown colour in the finished" 

 article. The better class of armlets had on them designs 

 interwoven with the golden-yellow cortex of an orchid (Gaile), 





•^ till V*-^ //ff '/^ ' r r 





Fig. 16. 

 Native Armlets. 

 Fig. 15. Plaited and ornamented with yellow orchid straw 

 in a zigzag line. 



Fig. 16. Decorated with yellow orchid straw. 



the two most usual designs being in the one case a zigzag line 

 (called Ga'ile turi loho loho kdo), and in the other consisting 

 of three or four lines parallel to the edge of the armlet (this 

 is called Gaile turi lauroro). The armlets, the belt, and 

 sometimes the perforated lobes of the ears are habitually used 

 as receptacles for trade tobacco, plants, sticks, string, 

 and other small articles. Whenever bulkier things have 

 to be carried for a long distance both men and women use- 

 baskets (comp. chap, iv., sec. 7). The women wear "grass" 

 petticoats, and this dress is still universally in use, though it 

 is sometimes supplemented by a singlet worn on the upper 

 part of the body, or, exceptionally, by a ragged, shapeless" 

 cloak put over everything. 



The so-called "grass" petticoats are made of coconut palm' 

 leaves, which are cut into narrov/ strips with a small sharp 

 shell. The narrower and finer the strips the better the quality 

 and the more festive the garb. The very best examples are 

 very supple, and have the flexibility of a fine fabric. After 

 the leaf has been split into a number of strips it is inserted 

 between two bands of the same kind of native bark (Varu) 

 as is used for making native rope. These form the top of the 

 skirt. The bottom is cut into a straight line. Several of such 

 petticoats are worn one over the other, and the greater the gala 

 the more petticoats are used, so that a fully-dressed native girl 



