How the Tahitians Use Tapa. 



II 



by the beating, and with the paste the}^ fasten down others which are less ragged, and 

 also put patches on an}^ part which may be thinner than the rest, generall}' finishing 

 their work, if intended to be of the best kind, b}' pasting a complete covering of the 

 finest thin cloth or Iwboo over the whole. Thev sometimes make a thick cloth also 



FIG. 3. A TAHITIAN TIPL'TA (TEBVTA) IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



of only half-worn cloth, which, having been worn by cleanly people, is not soiled 

 enough to require washing; the thick cloth made in either of these ways is used 

 either for the garment called maro, which is a long piece passed between the legs and 

 around the waist, and which serves instead of breeches, or as the lebula, a garment 

 used equally by both sexes instead of a coat or gown, which exactly resembles that 

 worn by the inhabitants of Peru and Chili, and is called by the Spaniards /y«^//6'. 



