I had, of course, but one shirt with me, and that somewhat frayed and
worn. My boots, too, were almost useless from their prolonged immersion
in salt water. Yet I could not bring myself to adopt the peculiar dress
of the natives, though the young persons had left in the bath-room
changes of raiment such as are worn by the men of rank. These garments
were simple, and not uncomfortable, but, as they showed the legs from the
knees downwards, like kilts, I felt that they would be unbecoming to one
in my position.

Almost the chief distinction between civilized man and the savage, is the
wearing of trousers. When a missionary in Tongo, and prime minister of
King Haui Ha there, I made the absence of breeches in the males an
offence punishable by imprisonment. Could I, on my very first appearance
among the islanders to-morrow, fly, as it were, in the face of my own
rules, and prove false to my well-known and often expressed convictions?
I felt that such backsliding was impossible. On mature consideration,
therefore, I made the following arrangement.

The garments of the natives, when they condescended to wear any, were but
two in number. First, there was a long linen or woollen shirt or smock,
without sleeves, which fell from the neck to some distance below the
knees. This shirt I put on. A belt is generally worn, into which the
folds of the smock can be drawn up or "kilted," when the wearer wishes to
have his limbs free for active exercise. The other garment is simply a
large square piece of stuff, silken or woollen as it happens in
accordance with the weather, and the rank of the wearer. In this a man
swathes himself, somewhat as a Highlander does in his plaid, pinning it
over the shoulder and leaving the arms free. When one is accustomed to
it, this kind of dress is not uncomfortable, and many of the younger
braves carried it with a good deal of grace, showing some fancy and