Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/72

50 FIJI AND THE FIJIAl^S. sional drainage or irrigation, constitute the entire system of tilth through- out the islands. While the men are busy gardening, the women have important work to perform in-doors, a great part of the manufactured produce of Fiji coming from their hands, though receiving some addition from the mechanical skill of the men. Li respect of its manufactures, also, Fiji has always had a pre-eminence over other groups ; a fact which did not escape the observant eye of Captain Cook, who thus writes about some Fijians whom he saw at Tonga : " It appeared to me that the Teejee men whom we now saw were much respected here : they seem to excel the inhabitants of Tongataboo in ingenuity, if we might judge from several specimens of their skill in workmanship which we saw ; such as clubs and spears, which were carved in a masterly manner, cloth beautifully checkered, variegated mats, earthen pots, and some other articles ; all of which had a cast of superiority in their execution." The Captain certainly formed a correct idea of the points wherein the Fijian is superior to his neighbours. In printing cloth he particularly excels ; but very large quantities of this article are used in its white state. The process of manufacturing the native cloth, or masi, has peculiar interest, inasmuch as in some parts — New Zealand, for instance, — where it was once made, the art is now lost ; and among the Fijians, also, the manu- facture must uievitably cease, as the demand for the masi declines before the more durable textures of English looms. The bark of the malo tree is taken off in strips as long as possible, and then steeped in water, to facilitate the separation of the epidermis, which is effected by a large volute shell. In this state the masi is kept for some time, although fit for immediate use. A log flattened on the top side is so fixed as to sprmg a little ; and on this the strips of 7nasi are beaten with an iki, or mallet, about two inches square, and grooved longitudinally on three of its sides. Two lengths of the wet masi are generally beaten together, in order to secure greater strength ; the gluten which they contain being sufficient to keep their fibres united. A two-inch strip can thus be beaten out to the width of a foot and a half ; but the length is at the same time reduced. The pieces are neatly lapped together with the starch of the taro, or arrow-root boiled whole, and thus reach a length of many yards. I measured a dress intended for a King on a festive day, and found its length to be one hundred and eighty yards. The " widths " are also joined by the same means later- ally, so as to form pieces of fifteen or thirty feet square ; and upon these the ladies exhaust their ornamenting skill. Tlie middle of the square is printed with a red brown, by the following process. Upon a convex