376 FEEJEE GROUP. 



mand of the gods, would meet them, if not tattooed, and, armed with 

 sharp shells, would chase them continually through the lower regions. 

 So strong is this superstition, that when girls have died before being 

 tattooed, their friends have painted the semblance of it upon them, in 

 order to deceive the priest, and thus escape the anger of the gods. 



Besides the parts covered by the liku, the corners and sometimes 

 the whole circuit of the mouth are tattooed, which is said to be done 

 for the purpose of preventing wrinkles. 



The Feejee word for tattooing is ngia. It is performed by women 

 only, who use an instrument called bati ni ngia. This is dipped in 

 a pigment formed by mixing the charcoal of the laudi-nut with oil, and 

 is stuck in by blows from a piece of sugar-cane. The common women 

 are tattooed about the age of puberty (fourteen), but women of rank 

 later, and sometimes not until they have borne their first child. 

 After being tattooed, they are tabooed for a time. 



Both sexes have the lobe of the ear bored ; the women that of only 

 one ear, the men both. For the purpose of distending the holes, 

 rolls of tapa, pieces of wood, or shells, are inserted, which some- 

 times are so large as to tear the parts asunder. In one instance the 

 hole in the lobe of the ear was so large that the person could pass his 

 hand through it. 



The women manufacture wreaths both of natural and artificial 

 flowers. With these, they adorn their own persons, and the salas of 

 their husbands. This custom, however, is not as common here as at 

 Tahiti. 



Both men and women are extremely fond of using red pigment, and 

 a small quantity of vermilion, or croom, as they call it, is esteemed as 

 the greatest possible acquisition. 



Whole hours are taken up adorning and ornamenting themselves. 

 At times one sees them with their heads entirely covered with lime, 

 while others have it shorn quite close, leaving a single lock on one 

 side, that has a very droll appearance. 



Though almost naked, these natives have a great idea of modesty, 

 and consider it extremely indelicate to expose the whole person. If 

 either a man or woman should be discovered without the maro, or 

 liku, they would probably be killed. As an instance of this feeling, 

 we may cite a circumstance which occurred during the stay of the 

 French Expedition at Levuka. A party of French sailors were sent 

 on shore to fill their casks with water at the stream which passes 

 through the town. Being employed in the water, they had removed all 



