356 A MISSION TO VITI. 
of the Flagellaria Indica, Linn., split up in narrow 
strips; those of the former are the most easy to make, 
but they do not last long, whilst those of the latter are 
the neatest and last the longest. 
Fibre used for cordage is derived from three species of 
Vau (Paritium tiliaceum, P. tricuspis, et P. purpuras- 
cens), the cocoa-nut palm, the Yaka or Wayaka (Pachy- 
rhizus angulatus, Rich.), the Kalakalauaisoni (Hibiscus 
diversifolius, Jacq.), and the Sinu Mataiavi ( Wikstramia 
Indica, Meyer). Plaiting cocoa-nut fibre into “ sinnet,” 
afterwards to be made into rope, or simply used for 
binding material, and as such a good article of exchange 
in the group, is a favourite occupation of the men, even 
of high chiefs, when sitting in bures and discussing 
politics or other topics of the day. According to Mr. 
Pritchard, none of the Polynesians produce so great a 
quantity of this article as the Fijians, though the Ton- 
guese excel them in colouring it. I have seen—he con- 
tinues in the memorandum from which I quote—a ball 
of “sinnet” six feet high, and four feet in diameter. 
Some heathen temples, Bure ni Kalou, used to be en- 
tirely composed of such plaiting, and their completion 
must have been a task extending over a considerable 
period, since a model of them, four feet high, ordered 
for the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew, could not 
be finished in less time than six weeks, and at a cost of 
£5. The fibre of the Yaka or Wayaka (Pachyrhizus 
angulatus Rich. Dolichus bulbosus, Linn.) is principally 
sought for fishing-nets, the floats of which are the 
square fruits of the Vutu rakaraka (Barringtonia spe- 
ciosa, Linn.). The Sinu Mataiavi (Wikstremia Indica, 
