POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
179 
tiputa, or a good strong pareu, when preserved from 
wet, would last several months. Though the native 
cloth worn by the inhabitants was made by the women, 
there were some kinds used in the temples, in the service 
of the idols, which were made by men, and which it was 
necessary, according to the declarations of the priest, 
should be beaten during the night. 
Although the manufacture of cloth was formerly the 
principal, it was not the only occupation of the females. 
Many of the people, especially the raateiras, or secon¬ 
dary chiefs, wore a kind of mat made with the bark 
of the hibiscus, which they call purau; and the prepa¬ 
ration of this, as well as the beds or sleeping mats, 
occupied much of the time of the females. Great atten¬ 
tion was paid to the manufacture of these fine mats. 
They chose for this purpose, the young shoots of the 
hibiscus, and having peeled oif the bark, and immersed 
it in water, placed it on a board, the outer rind being 
scraped olf with a smooth shell. The strips of bark were 
an inch or an inch and a half wide, and about four feet 
long, and when spread out and dry, looked like so many 
white ribands. The bark was slit into narrow strips 
frequently less than the eighth of an inch wide. They 
were woven by the hand, and without any loom or 
machinery. They commenced the weaving at one 
corner, and having extended it to the proper width, 
which was usually three or four feet, continued the work 
till the mat was about nine or ten feet long, when 
the projecting ends of the bark were carefully re¬ 
moved, and a fine fringe worked round the edges.—- 
Only half the pieces of bark used in weaving were 
split into narrow strips throughout their whole 
length. The others were slit five or six inches at 
