[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
THE SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS 283
full of implements of all sorts, and over the fire
there was a stand and shelves, where coprah was
roasted and food preserved.
The natives are expert fishermen, and know how
to make the finest as well as the coarsest nets.
They frequently spend the mornings fishing, a
flotilla of canoes gathering at some shallow spot
in the bay.
The afternoons are mostly spent in the village
in a dolce far m'ente. Each village has its special
industry: in one the arm-rings of shell are made,
in another the breastplates, in a third canoes, or
the fine mats which are woven on a loom of the
simplest system, very similar to a type of loom found
in North America. Weaving, it will be remembered,
is quite unknown in the New Hebrides.
An object peculiar to these islands is feather
money. This consists of the fine breast-feathers of
a small bird, stuck together to form plates, which
are fastened on a strip of sinnet, so that a long
ribbon of scarlet feathers is obtained of beautiful
colour and brilliancy. These strips are rolled and
preserved in the houses, carefully wrapped up and
only displayed on great occasions. Considering
how few available feathers one little bird yields,
and how many are needed for one roll, it is not
surprising that this feather money is very valuable,
and that a single roll will buy a woman. At great
dances the circular dancing-grounds along the shore
are decorated with these ribbons.
