WOODEN DISH. 19 
mortar for pounding bread-fruit, plantains, of 
bruising taro; which is done by placing these 
upon the papahia, and beating them with a short 
stone pestle called a penu. This is usually made 
with a black sort of basalt, found chiefly in the 
island of Maurua, the most western of the group. 
The penu is sometimes constructed from a species 
of porous coral.* 
The water used for washing their feet is kept in 
bottles called aano, made from the shells of large 
and full-grown cocoa-nuts. That which they 
drink is contained in calabashes, which are much 
larger than any I ever saw used for the same pur- 
pose in the Sandwich Islands, but destitute of 
ornament. They are kept m nets of cinet, and 
suspended from some part of the dwelling. It is 
customary with them to wash their hands both 
Wooden Dish. 
before and after eating. The dishes used for this 
purpose were often curiously carved. One I 
brought from the Austral Islands, of which the 
* A fine specimen of that kind of penu which I pro- 
cured at Rurutu, is deposited in the Missionary museum 
at Austin Friars. 
