TAU-RA. 
21 
or frame, with surprising regularity and exactness; 
they are made with a fine kind of rush, part of 
which they stain of a red colour with vegetable 
dyes, and form their beautiful patterns by weaving 
them into the mat at its first fabrication, or working 
them in after it is finished. 
The natives of these islands are also distin¬ 
guished for the cultivation of the yam, which 
grows very large, both at Tauai and Nihau, and 
contributes essentially to the support of the inha¬ 
bitants. As they are not cultivated to any extent 
in the other islands, many ships are induced to 
visit these, principally for the purpose of procuring 
a supply; they are not only an excellent root, but 
will keep a long time at sea without deterioration. 
Tau-ra, is another small island belonging to 
the group, lying in a south-western direction from 
Tauai; but it is only a barren rock, the resort of 
vast numbers of aquatic birds, for the purpose of 
procuring which, it is occasionally visited by the 
natives of the windward islands. 
Adjacent to the shores of most of the islands, 
small reefs of white coral, common throughout the 
Pacific, are occasionally found; but they are not 
so varied in their kind, so frequently met with, nor 
so extensive, as in all the southern islands. 
The climate is not insalubrious, though warm, 
and debilitating to an European constitution. 
There is no winter; and the principal varia¬ 
tion in the uniformity of the seasons, is occa¬ 
sioned by the frequent and heavy rains, which 
usually fall between December and March, and 
the prevalence of southerly and variable winds 
during the same season. The following tabular 
view of a meteorological journal, kept by the Ame« 
rican Missionaries, will shew more fully the state 
