Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/75

 INDrSTEIAL PKODUCE, ETC. 51 board, several feet long, are arranged parallel, at about a finger-width apart, thin straight strips of bamboo, a quarter of an inch wide : by the side of these, curved pieces, formed of the mid-rib of cocoa-nut leaflets, are arranged. Over the board thus prepared the cloth is laid, and rub- bed over with a dye obtained from the laud (Aleuriies triloba). The cloth, of course, takes the dye upon those parts which receive pressure, being supported by the slips beneath, and thus shows the same pattern in the colour employed. A stronger preparation of the same dye, laid on with a sort of brush, is used to divide the square into oblong compart- ments, with large round or radiated dots in the centre. The kesa, or dye, when good, dries bright. Blank borders, two or three feet wide, are still left on two sides of the square ; and to elaborate the ornamenta- tion of these, so as to excite applause, is the pride of every Fijian lady. There is now an entire change of apparatus. The operator works on a plain board ; the red dye gives place to a jet black ; her pattern is now formed by a strip of banana leaf placed on the upper surface of the cloth. Out of the leaf is cut the pattern — not more than an inch long — which she wishes to print upon the border, and holds by her first and middle finger, pressing it down with the thumb. Then taking a soft pad of cloth steeped in the dye in her right hand, she rubs it firmly over the stencil, and a fair, sharp figure, is made. The practised fingers of the women move quickly, but it is, after all, a tedious process. When finished, these large squares are used as mosquito-curtains, a comfort which the Fijian enjoys, but of which his neighbours are ignorant. In the work above described the Lakemba women excel. On the island of Matuku very pretty curtains are made ; but the pattern is large and covers the entire square, while the spaces between the black lines are filled in with red and yellow. On Kandavu a strong kind of 7nasi is made, called liti, which is the work of men, who leave the women to do the garden labour. The becoming turban worn by Fijian men is a finely prepared masi of only one thickness, and of a gauze-like appearance. Women's dresses — liJcu — are braided by the women. The bark of the vau, (a kind of hibiscus,) the fibre of a wild root, and some kinds of grass, are used in making the liku, which, while in progress, the women hold by the great toe of the right foot. This dress is a cincture, or broad band of beautiful variegated braid-work, with a fringe from three to ten inches deep. A variety of this dress is made from the stem' of a parasite, called waloa, which, when in use, is a bright jet black, and very pliable. Second in importance to the beating of cloth, is the making of matS;