MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING. 3538 
held out by us as a reward, induced two young men to 
procure a quantity of this singular production sufficient 
for scientific examination ; proving it to be, not the root 
of a tree, as had been believed, but the entire body of 
a species of Rhizomorpha. The plant is vernacularly 
termed “Wa loa,” literally, black creeper, from wa, 
creeper, and doa, black—a name occasionally applied to 
the Liku made of it also. The Wa loa is confined to 
the south-western parts of Viti Levu, where it grows in 
swamps on decaying wood fallen to the ground; the 
threads of which it consists are several feet long, leafless, 
not much branched, and they are furnished here and 
there with little shield-like expansions, acting as suckers, 
by means of which the plant is attached to the dead 
wood upon which it grows. ‘The threads, having been 
beaten between stones in order to free them from im- 
purities adhering, are buried for two or three days in 
muddy places, and are then ready for plaiting them to 
the waistband. 
The Liku worn by the women, always speaking of 
those who have not as yet adopted foreign calico, are 
principally made of the fibres of the different species of 
Vau, the Vau dina (Paritium tiliaceum, Juss.), the Vau 
dra (Paritium tricuspis, Guill.), and the Vau damudamu 
(Paritium purpurascens, Seem.). The bark of these trees 
is stripped off, steeped in water to render it soft and 
pliable, and allow the fibres to separate. The fibres are 
either permitted to retain their original whiteness, or 
they are dyed yellow, red, or black. The yellow colour 
is imparted with turmeric, the black with mud and the 
leaves of the Tavola (Terminalia Catappa, Linn.), and 
2A 
