52 Ka Hatta Kapa. 



by beating them with a grooved mallet. When siifficiently bleached and dried, the 

 cloth is folded along the whole length, rolled up into a bale and covered with a piece 

 of matting — this is called noii vche. The wealth of a chief is sometimes estimated 

 by the number of these covered bales which he possesses. The more valuable kinds 

 of cloth are rolled up in the same wa^-, covered with matting or cloth of an inferior 

 kind, and generallj- suspended from some part of the roof of the chief's house. The 

 estimation in which it was held has been greatlv diminished since thev have become 

 acquainted with European cloth and large quantities are now seldom made. It is, 

 however, still an article in general use among the lower classes of societv, and the 

 mother yet continues to beat her parure, or native pareu, for herself and children. 



" A number of smaller pieces are still made, among which the tiputa is one of 

 the most valuable. It is prepared by beating a number of layers of cloth together, to 

 render it thicker than the common cloth : for the outside layer they select a stout 

 branch of the auti or bread-fruit, about an inch and a half in diameter: this thev pre- 

 pare with great attention, and, having beaten it to the usual width and length, which 

 is about ten feet long and three feet wide, thev fix it on the outside and attach it to the 

 others by rubbing a small portion of arrow-root on the inner side before beating it 

 together. The tiputa of the Tahitians corresponds exactly with the poncho of the 

 South Americans. It is rather longer, but is worn in the same manner, having a hole 

 cut in the centre, through which, when worn, the head is passed; while the garment 

 hangs down over the shoulders, breast and back, usually reaching, both before and 

 behind, as low as the knees. Next to the tiputa, the almfara is a general article of dress. 



" These are either square like a shawl, or resemble a scarf. The}- are sometimes 

 larger and correspond with a counterpane more than a shawl, and are alwa3-s exceed- 

 ingly splendid and rich in their colours. 



"The natives of the Society Islands have a variety of vegetable dves, and dis- 

 play more taste in the variations and patterns of the cloth, than in au}- other use of 

 colours. Much of the common cloth is dj-ed either with the bark of the aito, casuatina, 

 or tiari, alcurites. This gives it a kind of dark red or chocolate colour, and is sup- 

 posed to add to its durabilit}-. The leaves of the arum are sometimes used, but 

 brilliant red and j^ellow are their favorite hues. The former which they call mati, is 

 prepared by mixing the milky juice of the small berry of the mati, fiais pro/ixa, with 

 the leaves of the toil, a species of cordi'a. When the dye is prepared bv this combina- 

 tion, it is absorbed on the fibres of a kind of rush, and dried for iise. It produces a 

 most brilliant scarlet d^-e, which, when preserved with a varnish of gum, retains its 

 brightness till the garment is worn out. The yellow is prepared from the inner bark 

 of the root of the nono morinda citrifolia^ and though far more fugitive than the scar- 

 let of the mati, is an exceedingly bright colour. The vellow dve is prepared by infusing 



