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Easter Island: Early Witnesses
William Thomson
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by a stem. From the coronet, a line extended around the outside edge of the ear, with a circle on the lobe. The lips were freely tattooed, after the manner of the Maoris, with lines curving around the chin and extending towards the cheek-bones; the entire neck and throat covered with oblique or wavy lines, with occasional patches of solid coloring; a broad, wide girdle (Fig. 4, a) about the waist, from which bands rise in front and behind, representing trees and foliage, surmounted by large faces on the breast and back, and smaller ones on each side of the body. Below from the thigh to the knee the appearance was that of silk tights with variegated pattern. Below the knee there were various designs, terminating in a point at the feet.
SALUTATION.
The form of salutation is "Kohomai," literally interpreted, "Come to me." This is always heartily expressed, and parties meeting often shout out the kohomai while some distance apart. The greeting is varied by the addition of a word of respect when addressed to a superior in rank, or a stranger, and by a term of endearment, when to a child or to a relation.
DRESS.
The costume of the natives is at present made up of the cast-off clothing obtained front ships of all nations that have called at the island, but principally old uniforms of the French, Spanish, and English vessels of war. Brass buttons appeal strongly to the native love for adornment, and many were made happy by the liberal contributions from the Mohican. Very little tappa cloth is made on the island at present, but specimens of the ancient handiwork are treasured up in every family. The mode of manufacture is quite similar to that practiced on the various groups of the South Sea, but the patterns are much less elaborate. The bark is stripped from the branches of the Hibiscus, in a manner to obtain the greatest possible length, and rolled into coils with the inner bark outside, in order to make it flat and smooth. It is then scraped with a piece of obsidian to remove the bark, the coils being occasionally soaked in water to remove the resinous substances. The strips are laid across a log and beaten for many hours with a heavy mallet. The mallets are made of the heaviest and hardest wood that can be obtained (toromiro), about a foot long and 3 inches on each face, some of which are smooth and others carved into grooves or ribs, to suit the different stages in the process of manufacture. Several strips of bark are beaten into one thickness of cloth, according to the purpose for which it was intended, some being made quite fine and others coarse and heavy. No gum is used except that naturally contained in the bark, and the fibers adhere closely when kept dry. The fabrication of the tappa speaks well for the native
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