Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (1916), No. 12. 41 



interesting account of their manufacture and distribution 

 in the various islands of the Pacific. The pearl-shell 

 hooks he remarks, " represented to the Ellice Islanders 

 of past generations their most valued treasures. Apart 

 from their intrinsic worth they acquired, as conveying a 

 maximum of wealth in a minimum of space, an artificial 

 value approximating to the coins of more advanced 

 civilisations." They were appreciated to such an extent 

 that they were frequently offered to the gods, and on 

 Vaitupu, or Tracey Island, where the dead were buried 

 inside the houses, they were deposited in the grave with 

 the body, accompanied by necklaces and other ornaments. 

 In former times messages were transmitted from atoll to 

 atoll by means of pearl fish-hooks attached to the wings 

 of Frigate-birds. 108 



According to Hedley the value of these hooks in the 

 Ellice Archipelago was heightened by the rarity and 

 inaccessibility of the shell {Avicula cumingii) from which 

 they are made, the supply being principally from a bed 

 in the Lagoon of Nukulailai. This type of hook, he 

 informs us, is universal throughout the Pacific, being used 

 alike by Melanesians, Polynesians, and Micronesians. 

 Examples are recorded from Manihiki and Mortlock 

 Islands, the Gilbert and Hawaiian Groups, Danger Island, 

 Strong's Island, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and the Solomons; 

 also from the Carolines, the Marshalls, and the Marquesas. 

 In New Zealand, owing to the absence of the true pearl- 

 shell, the Maories made use of " pawa " (Haliotis iris) as 

 a substitute for the flashing nacre of the Avicula. 



Turner 109 informs us that at Nukulailai offerings con- 

 sisting of pearl-shell were taken to the temple, and at 



1 os Hedley, op. cit., p. 266 ; see also pp. 47, 53 and 59 ; and G. Turner, 

 "Samoa, etc.," London, 1884, pp. 282 and 284. 



109 G. Turner, op. cit., pp. 280 and 288. 



