OF THE TONGA PEOPLE.

269

Formerly the whole of the clubs used to be en-graved, but now this ornamental work is con-fined to the handle: it is executed with a greatdeal of neatness. A shark’s tooth used to bethe instrument, but now they make a sort ofgraver out of a nail flattened, sharpened, andfixed in a handle. Instances of their neatnessin this sort of workmanship may be seen in ourmuseums, and in the engraved representationsof other works.

Fy cava, shaving the beard. They havetwo modes of performing this operation, viz.with the two valves of a certain kind of shell,which they call bi'bi, and with pumice-stone:the latter is used by the party himself whorequires the operation ; the former by thosewhose profession it is to shave others. Theedge of one valve being pressed horizontallyagainst the chin or lip by the left hand, thatportion of the beard which appears upon it isrubbed or filed off by the rough back of theother valve. This operation is generally per-formed once in about eight or ten days. Theheads of infants are always kept closely shaved ;but this is done with a shark’s tooth by themother.

Fe oomoo, the art of cooking. If refine-ment in cookery be one proof of the civilizationof a people, the natives of the South Seas have