MATERIALS FOR MATS AND BASKETS. 355 
hardly ever fails to record it. The Voivoi or Kiekie 
(Pandanus caricosus, Rumph.) is a stemless species, with 
leaves ten to twelve feet long, which delights in swampy 
localities of the forests, and is occasionally cultivated to 
meet the demand. Fans, baskets, and the finest mats 
—even those on which newly-born babes, naked as they 
are for more than a twelvemonth, are carried—are made 
of its bleached leaves. Occasionally neat patterns are 
worked in, by introducing portions of the material dyed 
black, whilst the borders of highly-finished mats are 
tastefully ornamented with the bright-red feathers of 
the Kula,—a parroquet (Coriphilus solitarius, Latham) 
not found in the groups eastward of Fiji, and therefore 
highly esteemed by the inhabitants of those islands. The 
bleached leaves are also employed for decorating the 
body, being tied by the men over their head-dress (sala), 
around their breast, upper part of the arms, wrists, and 
above the calves. The custom is not restricted to any 
particular class, but freely practised by all, serfs, com- 
moners, and chiefs, when they go to war, or wish to 
look smart. The bright-coloured leaves of the Ti kula 
(Dracena ferrea, Linn., var.), and a number of flowers, 
ferns, and leaves, are used by both sexes as wreaths, 
garlands, necklaces, and similar ways, evidently showing 
their great love for flowers and graceful foliage. A cer- 
tain kind of mats, worn as articles of clothing, are called 
“ Kuta,” from a species of sedge (Eleocharis articulata, 
Nees ab Esenb.), supplying materials for them, growing 
in swamps to the height of six feet or more, and going 
either by that name or by that of Ya. Baskets are also 
made of the leaves of the cocoa-nut palm, and the stem 
2A2 
