644 



from it of about one- third of the total length of the shell, and 

 this second section forms the ring. 



The next stage consists of the removal of the outer 

 surface of this ring and of the polishing of its internal surface. 

 The former must be rubbed quite clear of all colouring matter, 

 even to the removal of the punctiform pattern, in order that 

 the arm-shell should be quite white when finished. The ring 

 is then polished on the inside, as far as may be — that is to say, 

 so long as it is not made too thin and weak. The object of 

 this process is to give the arm-shell the biggest possible aper- 

 ture, for the larger this is the larger the arm which the 

 arm-shell is able to fit, and consequently the greater is its 

 value. 



The polishing of the outer surface is done on a broad, flat 

 piece of sandstone, and a piece of the same kind of stone, 

 shaped into cylindrical form and pointed at each end, is used 

 to polish the inside by inserting it within the ring and working 

 it to and fro. During the polishing process of both inner and 

 outer surface the shell is kept moistened. ^"74) The same name, 

 Uru'a, is given to both the flat and the cigar-shaped sandstone, 

 the name denoting the material and not the form, as is always 

 the case in native technological nomenclature. The polishing 

 process is called Ururu. After the arm-shell is ready it is 

 perforated in two or three points, near the lateral opening 

 formed by the lip of the Contift shell, and is ornamented 

 ivith shell discs (Sdpisdjn, a universal Papuan term, probably 

 originally Motuan) and with the black wild banana seeds. C^^) 



Besides the arm-shells, the Mailu also manufacture the 

 shell discs called Sdjrisdpi, and another kind of red shell discs, 

 which differs from the former in that they are coloured on 

 one side only. The Sdpisdpi are worn strung on a string like 

 Chinese perforated coins, when they collectively form long 

 cylinders. C^^^ The Mailu red shell discs are worn fixed by 

 their flat surfaces to a string, thus showing one side only. 

 Xiarge white shell discs are ground down from the base of the 

 Conus millepunciatus, and the pearl oyster shell is used to 

 manufacture an ornament shaped like a half-moon, which is 

 worn as a breast ornament by men and women, but I failed 

 to record the technical details of the manufacture of these 

 last-named objects. 



In former times the Conus shell was used to make small 

 axes (OhcCna). After the upper ring had been detached in 



(74) See pi. xl., fig. 2. 



(75)Comp. the two arm-shells on the left side of pi. lix. in 

 Seligman's book. 



(76) See pi. Ix, in S?ligman, op. cif. 



