282 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
made, being hollowed out from one end, remaining 
solid at the other, and having the top covered with 
a piece of shark’s skin, occasioned their frequently 
resembling, in construction and appearance, a kettle¬ 
drum. The pua and the reva, which are remarkably 
close-grained and durable, were esteemed the most suit¬ 
able kinds of wood for the manufacture of their drums. 
The pahu ra^ sacred drum, which was rutu^ or beaten, 
on every occasion of extraordinary ceremony at the idol 
temple, was particularly large, standing sometimes eight 
feet high. The sides of one, that I saw in Tane’s marae 
at Maeva, was not more than a foot in diameter, but 
many were much larger. In some of the islands, these 
instruments were very curiously carved. One which I 
brought from High Island, and have deposited in the 
Missionary Museum, is not inelegantly decorated; 
others, however, I have seen, exhibiting very superior 
workmanship. 
Tahitian Drums, 
The drums used in their heivas and dances were 
ingeniously made. Their construction resemhled that 
of those employed in the temple, the skin forming the 
