Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/216

 than the allotted share. It was considered a crime to search the head of a child, as that was considered to be  the particular province of the parents.

The women wore their hair in long locks, few or many in number according to their fancy. These locks were in cork-screw form, and were called tombi. The head was dipped in lye made from the ashes of the leaves of the  bread-fruit tree. When the head was raised the lye ran down in little zigzag rivulets over face, neck, and body,  showing, when dry, in distinct lines, which were considered very ornamental, and were called ulu-lase.

The dress of the women was very scanty. It consisted of a kind of band about eight inches in width, and bordered with a fringe dyed in various colors. Some of these garments were quite pretty. They were made from the bark of the hibiscus and were very elastic. This dress was called the liku, and it was worn around the waist. The Fiji dressmaker used neither needles, thread, thimble, nor wax, but simply moistened the bark,  tore it into long, thin strips, then tied one end to the  great toe of her right foot and braided the strips together  toward her.

In upper Fiji society, in asking a woman in marriage the consent of the father, mother, and brother had to be  obtained. The refusal of the brother was sufficient to prevent the marriage. If the suit was accepted, rolls of tapa, whale’s teeth, provisions, etc., were presented to  the parents. Marriages among the "blue blood" Fijians were sanctioned by religious ceremonies. After parties had become engaged they might often be seen strolling  about arm-in-arm. Several times we saw the bride, after