40 9 POLYNESIAN &ESEARCHES. 
there, was one the same individual made for me at 
Huahine, with the same kind of leaves, which were 
platted by a sailor in Eimeo. Hats and bonnets 
were, however, introduced among the natives by 
our friends in Raiatea, with whom many valuable 
improvements have originated; and the first hats 
and bonnets ever made in the islands, and worn 
by the natives, were made by Mrs. Williams and 
Mrs. Threlkeld, in the spring of 1820. Their ap¬ 
pearance on the heads of the natives of Raiatea 
produced no slight sensation there; and the report 
of their use, as it spread through the islands, occa¬ 
sioned a considerable stir. 
Highly approving of whatever had a tendency 
to civilize the natives, or to furnish them with 
useful employment, we rejoiced at their introduc¬ 
tion, and endeavoured to persuade the natives of 
Huahine to follow the example of their Raiatean 
neighbours. Whether, however, they were influenced 
by a feeling of pride which made them averse to 
imitate the Raiateans, or an unwillingness to in¬ 
crease their domestic employments, we do not 
know ; but the females in general, the queen and 
chief women in particular, seemed at first deter¬ 
mined to resist the innovation. The men rejoiced 
at the idea of making hats; and yet, notwith¬ 
standing this, and the repeated offers of Mrs. 
Barff and Mrs. Ellis to teach the females to 
plat, and to make the plat into bonnets and 
hats, they were exceedingly averse to learn. Fol¬ 
lowing the example of those in Raiatea, their 
teachers made bonnets for themselves with the 
bark of the purau ; and though the chief women 
acknowledged that they looked very well on them, 
they said they had not yet procured the articles 
necessary to form a complete European dress, that 
