. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . costumes does notentail the casting off of the old, and thetwo Fijian girls on p. 97 wear the nativeand the imported garments in somewhatincongruous juxtaposition. Bark-cloth is made and worn in someof the islands, although it does not playsuch an important part in Melanesia asin Polynesia, nor is it so artisticallytreated. It only comes into common use In the Solomon Islands the bark of thepaper mulberry (Broussonctia papyrifcra)is stripped off, steeped in water,hammered to the required size a

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. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . costumes does notentail the casting off of the old, and thetwo Fijian girls on p. 97 wear the nativeand the imported garments in somewhatincongruous juxtaposition. Bark-cloth is made and worn in someof the islands, although it does not playsuch an important part in Melanesia asin Polynesia, nor is it so artisticallytreated. It only comes into common use In the Solomon Islands the bark of thepaper mulberry (Broussonctia papyrifcra)is stripped off, steeped in water, hammered to the required size and flexi-bility, and worn in various ways. Com-monly the narrow strip of cloth iswound round the waist, and the endsare first tied in front and then passedbetween the legs and fastened into thebelt behind. In Ysabel the cloth is dyeda blueish tinge, and a broad strip woundround and round the loins, reaching nearlyto the knee. The bark of the bread-fruittree is also made into cloth. Large pieces of bark-cloth are made inNew Britain (Blanche Bay) and in partsof the New Hebrides, where they form an. .l/ SOLOMON ISLANDS GIRLSWilh fibre petticoats, and ornaments olbeads and shells. Their hair, frombeing constantly plastered with lime, isbleached to a reddish hue. 94 WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS important article of commerce between theislands. In the New Hebrides and also inNew Caledonia the bark of the banyan fig{Fictis prolixa) is treated like the papermulberry, and made into cloth. Pieces ofbark-cloth are imported into Vanikoro(Santa Cruz), and worn in the following way.A piece of slit cane or rattan is polishedhighly to a fine black, and forms the belt bybeing twisted into a concatenation of smallhoops. To this the piece of cloth is fastenedto form a kilt reaching to the knee. In New Caledonia a herbaceous plant ischewed and expectorated, and produces aviolet dye for the bark-cloth. The wearingof this is the special prerogative of marriedwomen, who have a strip wound round andround thei