Linfoii — Tlie Marquesas Islands 393 



coconut fiber cord, to which tufts of white beard are attached at irregular in- 

 tervals. 



An example of a chief's son's scepter (koitz'ai) (PL lxix, G) was ob- 

 tained from a burial cave in the valley of Atu Ona, Hiva Oa. According to in- 

 formants a konvai was made for the son of a chief at the time a new house was 

 built for him. It was thrust into the thatch and left there, and was never carried 

 or used. Elaborately carved clubs resembling the uu, but degenerate in form, 

 are still made by the natives and sold as chiefs' scepters or insignia, but it seems 

 doubtful whether the form is an ancient one. 



The staffs carried by chiefs and persons of importance were made of toa 

 wood, with a shaft diameter of J4 to 1^4 inches and a length varying from 5 to 

 10 feet. They were rarely carved, but a specimen in the Bishop Museum bears 

 two pairs of small tiki figures carved upon the shaft at considerable intervals. 

 The lower end was flattened and expanded to form a narrow flat edged blade, the 

 amount of this expansion being highly variable (PI. lxix, P). One specimen in 

 the Salem Museum is really a narrow paddle club. 



The upper end of the staff was decorated with a band of woven coconut fiber and 

 terminated in a pompom of human hair which was attached as follows (PI. lxix, C) : The tip 

 of the shaft was carved into a projecting pin about !]/> inches long. The hair, in the form of 

 small locks attached to coconut fiber cords, was then applied piece by piece, the cords being 

 tightly interwoven about the pin. In one specimen in the Salem Museum a tress of white 

 beard is attached to the tip of this braiding. The sleeve of coconut fiber enclosing the upper 

 end of the shaft consisted of a weft of single fibers applied upon a longitudinal warp of thin 

 cords of plaited fiber in a very close wrap weave. This sleeve was usually decorated with 

 simple designs produced by variations in the weaving or with geometric figures in black pro- 

 duced by embroidery in human hair. The technique of this embroidery is rather interesting, 

 a warp strand being detached from the fabric and wrapped closely with the hair, then re-incor- 

 porated. The figures are as a rule large and simple. 



It was not determined whether or not these staffs were over used as 

 weapons. 



The only Marquesan weapon suitable for close combat was the ake henua 

 which, according to Handy, was a double pointed spike of toa wood having about 

 the center a loop of cord through which the wearer's wrist was passed. This 

 weapon was carried only by toa or great warriors. It is said sometimes to have 

 been thrown. 



HEAD TROPHIES 



Marquesan warriors preserved and elaborately decorated the heads of slain 

 enemies, although no trace of these trophies was found either in the Marquesas or 

 in American museums. What appears to be an accurate description is given by 

 Desgraz (15, pp. 296-298). He says: 



[133] 



