Linton — The Marquesas Islajids 353 



ventional difference in the method of straining the two substances, kava being squeezed with 

 one hand only while coconut milk is wrung out with both hands.) 



Copra, the dried kernel of the coconut, although not a food, plays an im- 

 portant part in jNIarquesan domestic economy. The old method of copra rarik- 

 ing was as follows : ^ 



The ripe nuts were husked and broken into two equal halves by the methods just de- 

 scribed. These halves were tied together, back to back, by wisps of the husk left attached 

 to them for the purpose. They were then hung up high enough to be out of the reach of pigs 

 and left until the kernel was partly dry and had begun to separate from the shell. The meat 

 was then removed with a special tool made of toa wood. 



These tools (PI. lvi, D) have a smoothly tapering handle whose outer end is pointed, and 

 a flat or slightly concave blade which curves upward toward its tip. In length they range from 

 10 to 14 inches and in blade width from ij^ to 234 inches. In modern copra making these 

 wooden knives have been largely replaced by tools having an iron blade of somewhat similar 

 form. 



Tree cotton appears to have been introduced into the INIarquesas in post- 

 European times and the appliance used to separate the fiber of this tree from the 

 seeds is probably an introduction (PI. lvi, F). There is some uncertainty on 

 this point, however, and it seems well to describe the tool as though it were a 

 Marcjuesan invention. 



The instrument consists of a straight piece of fan wood about 20 inches long and 

 % of an inch in diameter whose lower end is split into four equal parts. Two slivers of bam- 

 boo, each about four inches long, are placed in the splits at right angles to each other about 

 two inches above the tip of the shaft and lashed with thin string. The tips of the bamboo and 

 of the splints of the shaft are sharply pointed. To use the implement the lower end is placed 

 in a mass of mixed fiber and seeds and the shaft twirled rapidly back and forth between the 

 palms until a mass of fiber has collected around the points. This clear fiber is then removed 

 and the process repeated until only the seeds remain. It should be remarked that the seeds 

 of tree cotton are not covered with lint and separate from the fiber much more readily than 

 the seeds of the commercial cotton. 



MISCELLANEOUS DO^IESTIC IMPLEMEXTS 



Digging sticks were employed in agriculture, also in digging earth ovens 

 and ijia pits. Thev appear to have been simply poles four to five feet long made 

 of some hard wood, toa, kookun. and piapian being the species preferred. The 

 shaft was about three inches in diameter and was sharpened at the lower end 

 into a broad flat edge. In view of the close resemblance between ]\Iarquesan stilt 

 steps and the foot rests of [Maori digging sticks, it seenis rather curious that 

 the ]Marc[uesans never hit upon this simple improvement. Digging sticks are 

 no longer used in the group, and no information was obtained as to their exact 

 method of use. 



Before the introduction of iron, bamboo knives were used for cutting a 

 variety of soft non-fibrous svibstances. These knives are now obsolete and no 

 specimens were collected. 



[93] 



