ir short, leaving a
small twisted lock hanging down towards the breast from either temple.
Their hair is naturally black; but they were fond of dyeing it a light
brown colour, by the application of lime, which they made by burning
the coral. To dye hair, and also to rub and blind the eyes of pigs
which trespassed into neighbouring plantations, were the only uses to
which they applied lime in the time of heathenism.

The beard they shaved with the teeth of the shark. Armlets of small
white shells were worn by the men above the elbow-joint. Some pierced
their ears with a thorn, and wore a small flower for an earring; but
this was not very common. A long comb, made from the stem of the
cocoa-nut leaflet, was a common ornament of the women, and worn in the
hair behind the ear. For a looking-glass, they sometimes used a tub of
water; but in arranging the head-dress, they were more frequently
guided by the eyes and taste of others. The tattooing, which we
described in a previous chapter, was also considered one of their
principal ornaments.

There is a story told of a Fijian chief called Fulualela,
_Feathers-of-the-Sun_, who came with his daughter to visit Samoa. He
had heard of the beauty of the islands and their handsome inhabitants,
and thought he might find here a husband chief for his daughter. He
was greatly surprised, however, to discover that while the islands
were lovely, and the people attractive, they had no mats in their
houses, but slept on dried grass like the pigs. He could not think of
leaving his daughter; but when he returned to Fiji he made up a
present of fine mats, native cloth, and scented oil, as if it were his
daughter's dowry, and went back to Samoa with the generous gift,
adding also pandanus and paper mulberry plants with which to stock
Samoa with material for making such household comforts as mats and
native cloth. And hence it is said that ever since the gift of
Feathers-of-the-Sun from Fiji, Samoa has had the luxuries of mats to
sleep on, and sheets of native cloth to cover them.

CHAPTER X.

AMUSEMENTS.

Under the head of _amusements_, dancing, wrestling, boxing, fencing,
and a variety of games and sports, call for description, and to these
we shall briefly advert.

_Dancing_ was a common entertainment on festive occasions, such as a
marriage. Some of their dances were in the daytime, and, like
dress-balls of other countries, were accompanied with a display of
fancy mats and oth