Nineteen years in Polynesia: missionary life, travels, and researches in the islands of the Pacific . the vagaries of Samoan superstition,there was much to prepare the heathen mind for thepure and holy doctrines which the Christian mis-sionary came to make known—much calculated tofacilitate his labours. To give thanks before meals,to unite in prayer, and to be quiet and orderly duringreligious services did not seem at all strange or un-natural. Now, the evening meal is commenced bythanking the one living and true God for his good-ness, and is generally followed by family worship,in conducting
Nineteen years in Polynesia: missionary life, travels, and researches in the islands of the Pacific . the vagaries of Samoan superstition,there was much to prepare the heathen mind for thepure and holy doctrines which the Christian mis-sionary came to make known—much calculated tofacilitate his labours. To give thanks before meals,to unite in prayer, and to be quiet and orderly duringreligious services did not seem at all strange or un-natural. Now, the evening meal is commenced bythanking the one living and true God for his good-ness, and is generally followed by family worship,in conducting which they praise God, read theScriptures, and unite in prayer. 202 NINETEEN YEARS IN POLYNESIA. CHAPTER XX. CLOTHING. In our last chapter we alluded to the food of theSamoans, and now proceed to a description of theirclothing, the materials of which it is made, theirmodes of ornament, etc. Previous to the introduction of Christianity, theirwants for clothing were few, and amply supplied bythe produce of their own islands and labour. Duringthe day, a covering of ti leaves (Draccena terminalis). was all that either sex thought necessary. Theysewed ti leaves together, and made themselvesaprons. The men had a small one about a foot CLOTHING. 203 square, the women had theirs made of longer ti leaves,reaching from the waist down below the knee, andmade wide, so as to form a girdle covering all had no regular covering for any other part ofthe body. Occasionally, during rain, they would tiea banana-leaf round the head for a cap, or holdone over them as an umbrella. They made shadesfor the eyes, of a little piece of plaited cocoa-nutleaflet; and sometimes they made sandals of theplaited bark of the Hibiscus tiliaceus, to protect thefeet while fishing among the prickly coral about thereef. Native Cloth.—At night they slept on a mat, usingas a covering a sheet of native cloth, and inclosed allround by a curtain of the same material to keep outmusquitoes. In sickness, also,
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