186 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
out the islands, and is beaten out with a wooden 
mallet about a foot long and two or three inches 
thick. The bark is at first soaked for a couple of days 
in water, and is usually so prepared in strips of from 
2 to 3 feet in length, and from 1 to 3 inches in 
width ; it is then laid on a beam about 10 feet long, 
and about 1 foot in breadth and thickness, supported 
at each end, a few inches from the ground, on a 
couple of stones, so as to allow a certain amount of 
vibration. Two or three women generally sit at the 
same work : each places her strip of bark transversely 
on the beam, and while beating with her right hand, 
with her left she moves it to and fro, so that every part 
becomes alike. The grooved sides of the mallet are 
used first, the finishing touches being given with the 
smooth side. In the course of half an hour it is 
brought to a sufficient degree of thinness. Piece after 
piece is thus made, and eventually stuck together. 
Many I saw were from 40 to 50 yards long by 
20 wide. It is then printed on with a dye obtained 
by scraping the soft bark of the cocoa- tree, or the 
tooi-tooi-tree, which gives, on being pressed, a 
reddish-brown liquid. The stamps used are made in 
various devices for ornamenting the native cloth. 
While they are at work, a very pleasing effect is pro- 
duced, when the air is calm, by the beating of the 
tapa : some sound near at hand, others in the dis- 
tance, but all with singular regularity, the whole 
producing a remarkable and agreeable sound. 
