Nineteen years in Polynesia: missionary life, travels, and researches in the islands of the Pacific . The beard they shaved with the teeth of theshark. Armlets of small white shells were worn by CLOTHING. 207 the men above the elbow-joint. Some pierced theirears with a thorn, and wore a small flower for anearring; bnt this was not very common. A longcomb, made from the stem of the cocoa-nnt leaflet,was a common ornament of the women, and worn inthe hair behind the ear. For a looking-glass, theysometimes nsed a tnb of water ; but in arranging thehead-dress, they were more frequently guided by t
Nineteen years in Polynesia: missionary life, travels, and researches in the islands of the Pacific . The beard they shaved with the teeth of theshark. Armlets of small white shells were worn by CLOTHING. 207 the men above the elbow-joint. Some pierced theirears with a thorn, and wore a small flower for anearring; bnt this was not very common. A longcomb, made from the stem of the cocoa-nnt leaflet,was a common ornament of the women, and worn inthe hair behind the ear. For a looking-glass, theysometimes nsed a tnb of water ; but in arranging thehead-dress, they were more frequently guided by theeyes and taste of others. The tatooing, which wedescribed in a previous chapter, was also consideredone of their principal ornaments. Changes of Modern Times.—Soon after the arrivalof the missionaries, a marked change took few exceptions, the men cut their hair short,abandoned the short and narrow leaf-apron, wore,while at work, the deep leaf-girdle of the women,. and, when they appeared at public worship, dressed,if possible, in a regatta or white shirt, and a piece of 208 NINETEEN YEARS IN POLYNESIA. calico round the loins. Coats, waistcoats, trousers,neckerchiefs, and straw hats came into use. Thewomen, too, commenced wearing loose calico dresses,and were rarely seen without a tiputa or upper gar-ment of some kind. The tiputa was introduced fromTahiti. It is simply a couple of yards of cloth witha hole in the middle, through which they put thehead, letting the ends hang down before and behindlike a Spanish poncho. Straw bonnets and shawlswere also soon in demand. In the lack of the former,some of the women showed great ingenuity inmanufacturing a novel and very durable articlefrom tortoise-shell. Every missionary had a supplyof calico, prints, etc. ; not that he might set upas a missionary trader—a system which in ourmission we have ever strongly deprecated—butsimply because clothing and such things were thecurrency of the islands, and t
Size: 1750px × 1428px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade186, booksubjectmissions, bookyear1861
