HELMETS. 
299 
Rurutuan helmet* is graceful in appearance, and 
useful in the protection it affords to the head of the 
wearer. It was a cap fitted to the head, and reach¬ 
ing to the ears, made with thick stiff native cloth, 
on a cane frame-work. The lower part of the 
front is ornamented with bunches of beautiful red 
and green feathers, tastefully arranged, and above 
these a line of the long slender tail-feathers of the 
tropic, or man-of-war bird, is fixed on a wicker- 
frame ; the hinder part of the cap is covered with 
long flowing human hair, of a light brown or tawny 
colour, said to be human beard; this is fastened to 
a slight net-work attached to the crown of the 
helmet, and, being detached from any other part, 
often floats wildly in the wind, and increases the 
agitated appearance of the wearer. 
On each side, immediately above the ears, 
numerous pieces of mother-of-pearl, and other 
shells, are fastened, not as plates or scales, but 
depending in a bunch, and attached to the helmet 
by a small strong cord, similar to those passing 
under the chin, by which the helmet is fastened to 
the head. These shells, when shaken by the 
movements of the wearer’s head, produce a rattling 
noise, which heightens the din of savage warfare. 
The Rurutuan helmet, though more complete 
and useful, was far less imposing than the fau 
worn by the Georgian and Society Islanders. This 
was also a cap fitted closely to the head, sur¬ 
rounded by a cylindrical structure of cane-work, 
ornamented with the dark glossy feathers of aqua¬ 
tic birds. The hollow crown frequently towered 
* A Rurutuan helmet, a number of spears, a paeho, and 
many of the implements of war here described, have been 
deposited in the Missionary Museum, Austin Friars, 
London. 
