298 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and they frequently fell one over the other in the greatest 
confusion. Amidst the shouts^ and din, and disorder 
that followed, arms or legs were sometimes broken be¬ 
fore the ball was secured. As the pastime was usually 
followed on the beach, the ball was often thrown into 
the sea; here it was fearlessly followed, and, with all 
the noise and cheering of the different parties, forty or 
fifty women might sometimes be seen, up to their knees 
or their waists in the water, splashing and plung¬ 
ing amid the foam and spray, after the object 
of their pursuit. These are only some of the games 
that were followed by the adults, at their great meetings 
or national festivals. In these, and in feasting, the 
hours of the day were spent. 
Their dances were numerous and diversified; the 
heiva was performed by the men and women—in many 
the parties did not dance together. The dress of the 
women was remarkably curious, and not inelegant; their 
heads were decorated with fillets of tamau, or plaited 
human hair, and adorned with wreaths of the white 
sweet-scented teairi flower. The arms and neck were 
uncovered, the breasts ornamented with shells or cover¬ 
ings of curiously wrought net-work and feathers. The 
native cloth they wore was always white, sometimes 
edged with a scarlet border. Their movements were 
generally slow, but remarkably regular and exact; the 
arms, during their dances, were exercised as much as 
their feet. The drum and the flute were the music by 
which they were led; and the dance was usually accom¬ 
panied by songs and ballads. There were other kinds 
of dances, in which smaller parties engaged; and, 
although sometimes held in the open air, they were 
more frequently performed under the cover of the 
