POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
123 
favourite articles of barter with the natives^ on account 
of their durability compared with native manufacture^ 
their adaptation to the climate, variegated and showy 
colours, and the trifling injury they sustained from wet. 
They no longer traded for ardent spirits, muskets, pow^ 
der, &c. and were consequently enabled to procure larger 
quantities of British woven cloth. Hitherto, however, 
they had generally worn the European cottons, &c. in 
the native manner, either as a light tehei^ thrown over 
the shoulder, a pareu wound round the waist; or ahii 
buu, a kind of large scarf or shawl, loosely covering the 
greater part of the body. They were now desirous to 
assimilate their dresses in some degree to ours. Mrs. 
Nott and Mrs. Crook made one or two loose dressing- 
gowns for Pomare, after a pattern from us. This intro¬ 
duced the fashion, and many of the women made others 
for their husbands. 
The first garment in general use among the females, 
was a kind of Roman tunic, usually of white or blue 
calico, these being their favourite colours. It \yas fast-^ 
ened round the neck with a short collar, which, if possi¬ 
ble, was united by a bright gilt or plated button. The 
sleeves were long and loose, and buttoned at the wrists, 
while the lower parts reached nearly to the ankles. Or 
the outside of this, they wore the pareu round the waist, 
and reaching below the knees. The colour of these 
articles was generally in perfect contrast. When the 
loose European dress was white, the pareu, worn round 
the waist on the outside of it, was of dark blue; one 
end of it was sometimes thrown carelessly over the 
shoulder, or hung loosely on the arm, heightening the 
novel and not unpleasing effect produced by their blende 
ing, in the apparel of the same individual, the ancient 
