MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING. 349 
boys are allowed to run naked until they have attained 
the age of puberty, and publicly assumed what may be 
termed their toga virilis—a narrow strip of native cloth 
(Malo) passing between the legs, and fastened either to 
a waistband of string or toa girdle formed by one of 
the ends of the cloth itself. The length of the Tapa 
hanging down in front denotes the rank of the wearer ; 
the lower classes not having it longer than is absolutely 
necessary for the purposes of securing it to the waist- 
band, whilst the chiefs let it dangle on the ground, and 
when incommoded by it in walking, playfully swing it 
over their shoulder. In the christianized districts of 
the coast, a piece of Tapa, at least two yards long and 
one yard broad, is worn around the loins, and distin- 
guished persons envelope their body in pieces many 
yards long, and allow long trains to drag after them on 
the ground. A fine kind of Tapa (Sala) is worn in the 
shape of a turban by those who still adhere to the old 
custom of letting their hair grow long. From a laud- 
able desire to promote cleanliness the missionaries have 
pronounced against long hair and the use of the Sala, 
but in doing so they deprived the natives of a capital 
protection against the sun; the immense mass of hair 
curled and frizzled to make it stand off many inches, 
and covered by a piece of snow-white Tapa, must have 
kept the head cool. Now most of the Christian natives 
move about without any covering for their head, and 
with their hair cut short, which, in a tropical climate, 
cannot improve their intellect. The abolition of the 
old custom might have proved more beneficial if imme- 
diately followed by the institution of some kind of head- 
