POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
160 
CHAP. VII. 
Description of the vaa motu, or island-canoe—Methods of 
navigating native vessels—Danger from sharks—Affect¬ 
ing wreck—Accident in a single canoe—Tahitian archi¬ 
tecture—Materials employed in building—Description of 
the various kinds of native houses—Dress of the Tahi¬ 
tians—Manufacture of native cloth—Variety of kinds— 
Durability and appearance—Methods of dyeing—Mat¬ 
ting of Society and Paumotu islanders—Native pillow, 
seat, dishes, and other articles of household furniture. 
The vaa motu , island-canoe, is generally a large, 
strong, single vessel, built for sailing, and princi¬ 
pally used in distant voyages. In addition to the 
ordinary edge, or gunwale, of the canoe, planks, 
twelve or fifteen inches wide, are fastened along 
their sides, after the manner of wash-boards in a 
European boat. The same are also added to 
double canoes, when employed on long voyages. 
A single vaa is never used without an outrigger, 
varying in size with the vessel; it is usually 
formed with a light spar of the hibiscus, or of the 
erythrina, which was highly prized as an ama> or 
outrigger, on account of its being both light and 
strong. This is always placed on the left side, 
and fastened to the canoe by two horizontal poles, 
from five to eight feet long; the front one is 
straight and firm, the other curved and elastic; 
it is so fixed, that the canoe, when empty, does not 
float upright, being rather inclined to the left; 
but, when sunk into the water, on being laden, it 
is generally erect, while the outrigger, which 
