120 



COLLECTIONS FROM THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 



Southwest Pavilion 

 COLLECTIONS FROM THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 



Australia. 



On entering the Southwest 

 Pavilion beyond the Hall of 

 Minerals the visitor faces 

 groups representing the 

 natives of the Pacific 

 Islands. Directly in the 

 center is a Tahitian priest 

 taking part in the fire-walk- 

 ing ceremony, in which 

 the participants walk over 

 heated boulders of lava. 

 On each side is a group 

 showing natives engaged in 

 typical activities, — grating 

 coconut, preparing kava, 

 or weaving mats. 



Attached to a pillar near 

 the entrance there is a fine 

 Hawaiian feather cape, such 

 as was formerly worn by 

 the highest ranks of 

 Hawaiian society. Red and 

 yellow honeysucker feathers 

 completely hide the netted 

 twine foundation. The 

 value of these garments was 

 proportionate to the enor- 

 mous labor expended on 

 their manufacture. 



The hall is roughly di- 

 vided into two main sec- 

 tions. In the eastern half 

 are exhibited the collections 

 from Polynesia and Micro- 

 nesia, while the western 

 half is devoted to New 

 Guinea, Melanesia and 

 However, it proved impossible to separate Melanesian Fiji 



TAHITAN FIRE WALKER 



