liOTUMA. 
575 
They used to fight with spears and clubs, bows and arrows, white and 
black stones. They had also their war songs. Eor fifty years past 
-they have had firearms, and every bouse has one or two guns which 
they prize very much but use very little. Each of the seven tribes 
has had its boundaries altered again and again as the result of war. 
The last war occurred about eighteen years ago, in which four of the 
tribes were engaged and several men killed. Heathenism then tried 
to exterminate Christianity, but failed 
Copra , Sfc . — The men, women, and children are all more or less 
employed making copra, large quantities of which are exported. They 
generally husk the nut, crack it in two, cut out the flesh with a large 
knife, and expose it to the sun for three days, when it is thoroughly 
dried. 
Schools . — All the boys and girls on the island can read, write, and 
have some knowledge of arithmetic and geography. They meet their 
teacher in the school-house three days a week, from six in the morning 
until nine. Parents that fail to send their children arc liable to a fine. 
Teachers are supplied by the church. and uot by the State. Every 
householder in each town gives something quarterly towards the 
teacher’s support. 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
Men and Women . — All the people in Kotuma wear clothing of 
European manufacture. It consists of waist cloth and shirt for the 
men, and waist cloth, skirt, and pinafore for the women. The men 
sometimes succeed in picking up an old hat cast off by some white 
man. When any of the men return from sea they always wear home 
a European suit, including hat, collar, necktie, boots, and stockings. 
Within twenty-four hours these will have been put away, and the new 
arrival will appear in the ordinary dress of the country. Generally 
speaking, the men appear to be superior to the women. The men 
work their gardens alone, and when they reacli home cook the food. 
The women never cook. They mind the children, fetch water from 
the wells, make their mats, sweep out their house, sit, smoke, talk, and 
sleep. Kotuma is a lazy woman’s paradise. 
Cooking . — Almost all the food is cooked in the native ovens. 
This is a circular pit in the ground, containing a number of small 
stones, in which they make afire. When the fire has nearly exhausted 
itself, the food is placed on these hot stones and quickly covered with 
leaves and sand. This keeps in the heat and cooks the food. The 
Kotumans, unlike the Eijians, use no native pottery in their cooking. 
Latterly they are beginning to use kettles, saucepans, and crocks of 
European manufacture. 
Tattooing . — The Kotumans tattooed their body from the waist to 
the knee. None of this part was exempt. The dye they made them- 
selves from the bark of trees, using fish-bones for their needles. The 
process was an exceedingly painful one, some even dying through it. 
Only a little was done at a time, just as much as the person seemed able 
to bear. Tattooing only commenced when they were young men, and no 
one was considered to be a man and competent to marry until he had 
been tattooed. The women were not tattooed, excepting on their face 
and arms. 
