 that the original suspensory element had decayed and has been replaced by the single length of braid.
Skinner (62, p. 187) figures another pearl-shell breast ornament submitted to him for inspection by the owner Samuela Ariki of Mauke (fig. 66, c). page 123The pearl shell has been cut down to a much smaller size with a markedly concave upper border. Like the other Mauke ornament, it has a hole near the upper corners, but it has an additional hole in the middle. This ornament is supported by a single piece of human hair braid; and Skinner remarks that, although neatly done, the braid is quite modern, as are the holes which were drilled with a steel drill. It is probable that the ornament was made after I derived information from Samuela Ariki during my stay on Mauke in 1929. The recent origin of the second Mauke ornament casts doubts upon the age of the first one. It is evident that the Mauke people, like the Rarotongans, have engaged in manufacturing curios for the market but that they lack old original specimens to provide the true pattern. Skinner quotes W. Drury Low as saying that in pre-European times these pendants were sometimes fastened to the head by plaiting with the uncut hair. This is undoubtedly a neo-myth, for the Polynesians were too good as craftsmen to attempt any such inconvenient method.
Figure 67.—Ornamental body cord from Mangaia (British Mus.). a, looped end: elements in looped end are loop of well-plaited sennit (1), 8 mm. wide and 5 mm. thick, loop of sennit closely wrapped with human hair (2), and a single length of hair-wrapped braid (3) with its end (4) neatly seized with fine sennit. Seized elements are three lengths of sennit, each 4 mm. wide, laid together in triangular form and seized closely with black hair twisted into a tight roll about 2 mm. thick. Seizing extends throughout length of triple braids making them about 8 mm. in diameter. About 78 mm. from end of loops, the five elements are lashed together (5) with fine sennit from below upward, and braid is passed under some loose upper turns which are drawn taut. Another lashing is made a little lower down in same way. Four spaced lashings are made in a length of 125 mm. Lashing sennit is 2 mm. to 2.5 mm. in width, and composite cord of fine elements is 19 mm. by 16 mm. thick. At a distance of 5,620 mm. from looped end, one end of doubled sennit (1) appears and is seized with fine sennit. Composite cord for four elements, three hair covered and one uncovered, continues for another 1,450 mm. Near end, four elements are lashed five times with fine sennit, as at commencement end. Single ends of uncovered and of hair-wrapped elements are seized with fine sennit which passes over from uncovered sennit to take eight turns around hair-covered loop, where it is fixed, b, figure on label, showing that turns were over both shoulders and around the waist.
At feasts and festivals, fragrant leaves and the yellow fading leaves of the ti were worn around the upper arm. Beyond this, nothing is known of special armlets outside of Mangaia.
Human-hair Armlets (Mangaia)
Gill (32, p. 337) states that plaited human hair (manoa) was wrapped around the arms as ornamentation by the chiefly class.
Shell Armlets (Mangaia)
Figure 68.—Shell armlet (British Mus., E. Polynesian case): white cowrie shell (Ovula ovum),90 mm. long, showing two holes for attachment to arm.
Scented leaves and yellow ti leaves were tied around the ankles during festivals by the masses of the people.
Hair Anklets (Mangaia)
Mangaia again appears peculiar in the use of finely plaited human hair braid, which, according to Gill (32, p. 337), was wound repeatedly just above the ankles by the better classes. As in the similar use of hair braid on the arms and breast, the amount indicated rank and wealth. It is probable that sennit wrapped with human hair (as in fig. 67, a), was also used. This form of hair wrapped sennit was also used to wind around the stand of one of the Mangaian gods (fig. 240).
An ornamental staff carved with five sets of fairly evenly spaced human figures and with the spaces 