Note 49 — WILLIAM ENDICOTT’S NARRATIVE

Tapa cloth, masi of the Fijians, siapo of the Samoans, kapa of the Hawaiians, was the substitute for cloth and paper. It was made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). The plants were carefully cultivated and when about one inch in diameter were cut down and soaked in water. The bark was removed and beaten. Different pieces were joined together and beaten into one piece so that sheets of almost any size could be made. The finished masi was then decorated by printing or stencilling with dyes of red-brown and black.