186 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
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 neces¬ 
sary, 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 secondary chiefs, wore a kind of mat 
made with the bark of the hibiscus, which they 
call purau ; and the preparation of this, as well as 
the beds or sleeping mats, occupied much of the 
time of the females. Great attention was paid to 
the manufacture of these fine mats. They chose 
for this purpose, the young shoots of the plant, 
and having peeled off the bark, and immersed it in 
water, placed it on a board, the outer rind being 
scraped off 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 project¬ 
ing ends of the bark were carefully removed, 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 the ends where 
they commenced, while the remaining part was 
rolled up like a riband. These they unrolled, and 
