The clothing of both sexes is a species of cloth made from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree, called _tapa_ or _gnatoo_. The common class wear a strip of this cloth fastened about the hips and falling below the knees. The wealthy sometimes have their garments trailing on the ground, because an ample drapery, particularly if it be very fine and delicate, is considered an indication of high rank. The upper part of the person is usually entirely exposed; but on some occasions a mantle of _tapa_ is thrown over the shoulders. In some places mats are worn, one before and the other behind, fastened about the hips with a cord of curious straw work. These mats are made of native flax, very fine and silky, and woven with great neatness and ingenuity. Sometimes the edges are ornamented with stripes of various colors, or with black diamonds, colored with the husk of cocoa-nuts. In several of the islands, one small square apron of this description constitutes all the clothing; and a broad leaf, or a wreath of leaves, often supplies the place even of this slight garment. The women of New Caledonia and New Hebrides wear a short, clumsy-looking petticoat made of the filaments of the plantain tree, about eight inches long, fastened to a very long cord which is passed several times around the waist, until the filaments lie one above another, several inches in thickness. The queens in the Sandwich islands sometimes wear cloaks, or mantles, made of feathers of various colors, and arranged in all manner of beautiful patterns; but this magnificent dress is worn only by people of the highest rank. In some of the islands, the women, when they go abroad, hold a green bough, or a banana leaf, over their heads, by way of parasol; or sit down and weave little bonnets of matting or cocoa-leaves, whenever they have need of them. The belles occasionally decorate themselves with fanciful turbans of fine white _gnatoo_, among which their shining black ringlets are very tastefully arranged. Sometimes they wear a curious kind of head-dress made of human hair, in braids nearly as fine as sewing silk; these braids have been seen more than a mile long, without a knot. Superb coronets of plumes are worn on state occasions by people of distinction. European fashions were adopted with great eagerness; and their ignorance of the appropriate use of imported articles often led them into the most grotesque blunders. Mr. Stewart says he has seen a native woman of high rank, and monstrous size, going to church in a fine white muslin dress, with a heavy silver-headed cane, an immense French chapeau, thick woodman’s shoes, and no stockings. But they soon learned better. In those islands that carry on a traffic with Europe and America, the royal family now have their walking dresses, dinner dresses, and evening dresses, of velvet, satin, or crape, in the most approved style; and their wooden stools are changed for sofas and pillows covered with morocco or damask.