Linton — The Marquesas Islands 385 



The outer end of the fan, which was similar in shape to the coconut fans just de- 

 scribed, was finished with a straight band twilled over three and under three. The body of 

 the fan was also twilled, but the weft strands passed under one and over two. The warp 

 strands radiated from the outer end, those next the handle being vertical and parallel while 

 those of the wings diverged more and more as the tips were approached. The exact method 

 of finishing the edges could not be determined. The upper end of the handle was provided 

 with a long spike which was incorporated into the fan, the weft threads being interwoven 

 about it. Xear its base it was encircled by ornamental lashings of fine sennit laid on in a 

 simple diamond pattern. The strips used in the woven part of the fan were one-eighth of an 

 inch or less in width. The lower end of the handle might be either a continuation of the 

 wooden spike or a separate piece of human bone or whale ivory. In most cases it was elab- 

 orately carved with four small tiki figures ar ranger' in two pairs, superposed upon one an- 

 other, the figures of each pair being back to back. These fan handles rank among the finest 

 products of the Marquesan artist and it would be difficult for Europeans to better some of 

 them either in design or execution. The woven portion of the fan was whitened by rubbing 

 with lime or with a white clay found in Xuku Hiva, the application being heavy enough in 

 many cases to fill the interstices of the weaving and make determination of the technique and 

 material difficult. The material appears to have usually been the young leaflets of the coco- 

 nut palm, but it is possible that pandanus was also used in a few instances. 



These elaborate fans were made by special tuliuna and seem to have had 

 a distinct ceremonial significance, being carried bv chiefesses at koina, and by 

 chiefs and fa'ua. Those of chiefesses at least were inherited in the female line, 

 and appear to have been almost insignia of rank. 



It seems well to describe here a very curious fan of tortoise shell, collected 

 in Atu Ona, Hiva Oa. (See PI. lxvii, C.) 



The fan consists of a rather rough wooden handle to which plates of tortoise shell 

 have been attached. The object is in bad condition, but the original shape appears to have 

 been rectangular. The handle is decorated with a few tresses of human hair tied with coco- 

 nut fiber, like those used in hair ornaments. Fans of this sort are said to have been used to 

 keep flies off a dead body while it was undergoing mummification. Ihe specimen obtained 

 had been partially cut up for the sake of the tortoise shell, a good indication that these objects 

 had no religious significance. 



1 125] 



