THE KINGSMILL ISLANDERS. 95 



plucked, till they are withered ; they are then roasted, by holding them 

 in the hand over the fire, and afterwards laid in the sun for three or 

 four days, to insure them being sufficiently dried. During the latter 

 part of the process, they are brought every evening into the house, to 

 protect them from the dew or rain. When the leaves are sufficiently 

 dry, they are left all night to bleach in the dew; they are then rolled 

 up in balls, and pounded with a mallet to render them soft and pliable, 

 and when this is accomplished, they are slit with a shell and are ready 

 for use. The brown and white slips are braided together, so as to 

 form regular figures, square or diamond-shape, which have a pretty 

 effect. The colours being in the material itself, are retained as long 

 as the fabric lasts. The mode of weaving this matting has been 

 described. The conical cap of the men is at times quite becoming. 

 They cover their shoulders with a small oblong mat, having a slit in 

 the middle through which the head is passed. This part of their dress 

 resembles a " poncho" of small size. The women's dress, which they 

 call " iriri," is quite becoming and graceful : it is a kind of fringe, made 

 of cocoanut-leaves, cut into slips about a foot long, and tied by one end 

 to a string, which goes round the middle: the young leaflets are se- 

 lected for this purpose, and the rib of the leaf is removed by slitting it 

 down on each side. The leaves are next rolled up and beaten with a 

 mallet, after which they are chewed until they become quite flexible ; 

 these narrow ribands are then knotted to a double cord. The dress is 

 fitted on the person, and is then clipped off at equal lengths all around : 

 it has a light and elegant appearance, and yields to any motion of the 

 body, yet never becomes entangled or out of order. 



At Apamarna, they dip the iriris in cocoanut-oil ; at Taputeouea, 

 they steep them in an infusion of the juice which is obtained from a 

 small tree, with large green leaves, called meo : of these leaves a num- 

 ber are pounded in a shell, and a little water poured on them, which is 

 then filtered through the pellicle of the cocoa-nut tree and mixed with 

 molasses. After being steeped in this liquid for some time, the iriri is 

 rolled up in a mat with some leaves of the meo and pandanus-nuts, and 

 roasted in a native oven. By this process it acquires a soft and flexible 

 appearance, and a peculiar odour, which our gentlemen thought was 

 like that of a mixture of tobacco and molasses. Both of these qualities 

 it retains until it is worn out. 



The natives are very fond of ornamenting themselves : in the lobes 

 of their ears they wear strings of small leaves of the mangrove, and 

 the pith of a large species of Scaevola, which is common in the low 

 islands. This pith is cut into strips and put up into a long roll ; a 

 wreath of which surrounds the neck, and to which a white ovula-shell, 



