From some information we received, relative to the custom of _tattowing_,
we were inclined to think, that it is frequently intended as a sign of
mourning on the death of a chief, or any other calamitous event. For we
were often, told, that such a particular mark was in memory of such a
chief, and so of the rest. It may be here too observed, that the lowest
class are often _tattowed_ with a mark, that distinguishes them as the
property of the several chiefs to whom they belong.[8]

The dress of the men generally consists only of a piece of thick cloth
called the _maro_, about ten or twelve inches broad, which they pass
between the legs, and tie round the waist. This is the common dress of all
ranks of people. Their mats, some of which are beautifully manufactured,
are of various sizes, but mostly about five feet long and four broad. These
they throw over their shoulders, and bring forward before; but they are
seldom used, except in time of war, for which purpose they seem better
adapted than for ordinary use, being of a thick and cumbersome texture, and
capable of breaking the blow of a stone, or any blunt weapon. Their feet
are generally bare, except when they have occasion to travel over the burnt
stones, when they secure them with a sort of sandal, made of cords, twisted
from the fibres of the cocoa-nut. Such is the ordinary dress of these
islanders; but they have another, appropriated to their chiefs, and used on
ceremonious occasions, consisting of a feathered cloak and helmet, which,
in point of beauty and magnificence, is perhaps nearly equal to that of any
nation in the world. As this dress has been already described with great
accuracy and minuteness, I have only to add, that these cloaks are made of
different lengths, in proportion to the rank of the wearer, some of them
reaching no lower than the middle, others trailing on the ground. The
inferior chiefs have also a short cloak, resembling the former, made of the
long tail-feathers of the cock, the tropic and man-of-war birds, with a