Both sexes wear necklaces, made of strings of small variegated shells; and an ornament, in the form of the handle of a cup, about two inches long, and half an inch broad, made of wood, stone, or ivory, finely polished, which is hung about the neck by fine threads of twisted hair, doubled sometimes an hundred fold. Instead of this ornament, some of them wear on their breast a small human figure made of bone, suspended in the same manner.
The fan, or fly-flap, is also an ornament used by both sexes. The most ordinary kind are made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut, tied loose in bunches to the top of a smooth polished handle. The tail-feathers of the cock, and of the tropic-bird, are also used in the same manner; but the most valuable are those which have the handle made of the arm or leg bones of an enemy slain in battle, and which are preserved with great care, and handed down from father to son, as trophies of inestimable value.
The custom of _tattowing_ the body, they have in common with the rest of the natives of the South Sea islands; but it is only at New Zealand and the Sandwich Islands, that they _tattow_ the face. There is also this difference between the two last, that in the former it is done in elegant spiral volutes, and in the latter in straight lines, crossing each, other at right angles. The hands and arms of the women are also very neatly marked, and they have a singular custom amongst them, the meaning of which we could never learn, that of _tallowing_ the tip of the tongues of the females.
From some information we received, relative to the custom of _tattowing_, we were inclined to think, that it is frequently intended as a sign of mourning on the death of a chief, or any other calamitous event. For we were often, told, that such a particular mark was in memory of such a chief, and so of the rest. It may be here too observed, that the lowest class are often _tattowed_ with a mark, that distinguishes them as the property of the several chiefs to whom they belong.[8]
The dress of the men generally consists only of a piece of thick cloth called the _maro_, about ten or twelve inches broad, which they pass between the legs, and tie round the waist. This is the common dress of all ranks of people. Their mats, some of which are beautifully manufactured, are of various sizes, but mostly about five feet long and four broad. These they throw over their shoulders, and bring forward before; but they are seldom used, except in time of war, for which purpose they seem better adapted than for ordinary use, being of a thick and cumbersome texture, and capable of breaking the blow of a stone, or any blunt weapon. Their feet are generally bare, except when they have occasion to travel over the burnt stones, when they secure them with a sort of sandal, made of cords, twisted from the fibres of the cocoa-nut. Such is the ordinary dress of these islanders; but they have another, appropriated to their chiefs, and used on ceremonious occasions, consisting of a feathered cloak and helmet, which, in point of beauty and magnificence, is perhaps nearly equal to that of any nation in the world. As this dress has been already described with great accuracy and minuteness, I have only to add, that these cloaks are made of different lengths, in proportion to the rank of the wearer, some of them reaching no lower than the middle, others trailing on the ground. The inferior chiefs have also a short cloak, resembling the former, made of the long tail-feathers of the cock, the tropic and man-of-war birds, with a broad border of the small red and yellow feathers, and a collar of the same. Others again are made of feathers entirely white, with variegated borders. The helmet has a strong lining of wicker-work, capable of breaking the blow of any warlike instrument, and seems evidently designed for that purpose.