Linton — The Marquesas Islands 355 



CONTAINERS 



The Marquesans use a great variety of containers which may be divided 

 into two main classes : natural containers, such as bamboos, coconut shells and 

 gourds, which need little preparation for use; and wooden containers, which re- 

 quire considerable skill in manufacture. The wooden containers are by far the 

 more important in the Marquesas and are well represented in most museum col- 

 lections. 



NATURAL CONTAINERS 

 JOINTS OF BAMBOO 

 The Marquesans, like all peoples living in regions where the larger species 

 of bamboo grow, used joints of bamboo to transport and store fluids. Small 

 bottles, made from a single joint, do not appear to have been used, as their place 

 was taken by more convenient utensils of gourd or coconut shell. Large bottles 

 were made by cutting bamboo shoots three inches or more in diameter into sec- 

 tions from 10 to 20 feet long and piercing the septa between the joints, forming 

 a pipe closed at one end. The piercing is now done with an iron rod heated red; 

 the ancient method could not be ascertained. When in use the upper end of the 

 tube was filled with a plug of green leaves. Bamboo bottles were purely utilitar- 

 ian and were never decorated. 



COCONUT SHELLS 



The climate and soil of the Marquesas are ideally adapted for the growth 

 of coconuts, the trees bearing profusely and producing nuts of remarkable size. 

 It is not surprising, therefore, that the natives made an extensive use of coco- 

 nut shells as containers and that they developed considerable skill in the manu- 

 facture and decoration of utensils of this kind. 



The half shell of a coconut constituted a natural cup which could be used 

 without preparation. The first improvements upon this original form appear to 

 have been the smoothing of the edge by grinding and the removal, also by grinding, 

 of the small external point which prevented the cup from standing upright. 

 Cups and bowls made in this way are still occasionally used. The next step is 

 to remove the tough inner skin and rub the outer surface smooth; rubbing- 

 stones and burnishers are used for this work. As a final improvement the cups 

 were either carved or ground thin. Carved cups were given a smooth finish and 

 then decorated by the same methods and with the same designs as wooden con- 

 tainers. To make the thin, uncarved cups both the outer and inner surfaces were 

 ground away until the walls were only slightly thicker than tgg shell china. Thev 

 were then thoroughly impregnated with oil, making them elastic and capable of 

 withstanding quite heavy usage. When first finished, the surfaces of coconut 



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