Buttoturntosomethingalittlemoreimportant。Althoughthewholeexistenceoftheinhabitantsofthevalleyseemedtopassawayexemptfromtoil，yetthereweresomelightemploymentswhich，althoughamusingratherthanlaboriousasoccupations，contributedtotheircomfortandluxury。Amongthese，themostimportantwasthemanufactureofthenativecloth-“tappa“-sowellknown，undervariousmodifications，throughoutthewholePolynesianArchipelago。Asisgenerallyunderstood，thisusefulandsometimeselegantarticleisfabricatedfromthebarkofdifferenttrees。But，asIbelievethatnodescriptionofitsmanufacturehaseverbeengiven，IshallstatewhatIknowregardingit。
InthemanufactureofthebeautifulwhitetappagenerallywornontheMarquesanIslands，thepreliminaryoperationconsistsingatheringacertainquantityoftheyoungbranchesofthecloth-tree。Theexteriorgreenbarkbeingpulledoffasworthless，thereremainsaslenderfibroussubstance，whichiscarefullystrippedfromthestick，towhichitcloselyadheres。Whenasufficientquantityofithasbeencollected，thevariousstripsareenvelopedinacoveringoflargeleaves，whichthenativesusepreciselyaswedowrapping-paper，andwhicharesecuredbyafewturnsofalinepassedroundthem。Thepackageisthenlaidinthebedofsomerunningstream，withaheavystoneplacedoverit，topreventitsbeingsweptaway。Afterithasremainedfortwoorthreedaysinthisstate，itisdrawnout，andexposedforashorttimetotheactionoftheair，everydistinctpiecebeingattentivelyinspected，withaviewofascertainingwhetherithasyetbeensufficientlyaffectedbytheoperation。Thisisrepeatedagainandagain，untilthedesiredresultisobtained。
Whenthesubstanceisinaproperstateforthenextprocess，itbetraysevidencesofincipientdecomposition；thefibresarerelaxedandsoftened，andrenderedperfectlymalleable。Thedifferentstripsarenowextended，onebyone，insuccessivelayers，uponsomesmoothsurface-generallytheprostratetrunkofacocoa-nuttree-andtheheapthusformedissubjected，ateverynewincrease，toamoderatebeating，withasortofwoodenmallet，leisurelyapplied。Themalletismadeofahardheavywoodresemblingebony，isabouttwelveinchesinlength，andperhapstwoinbreadth，witharoundedhandleatoneend，andinshapeistheexactcounterpartofoneofourfour-sidedrazor-strops。Theflatsurfacesoftheimplementaremarkedwithshallowparallelindentations，varyingindepthonthedifferentsides，soastobeadaptedtotheseveralstagesoftheoperation。Thesemarksproducethecorduroysortofstripesdiscernibleinthetappainitsfinishedstate。AfterbeingbeateninthemannerIhavedescribed，thematerialsoonbecomesblendedinonemass，which，moistenedoccasionallywithwater，isatintervalshammeredout，byakindofgold-beatingprocess，toanydegreeofthinnessrequired。Inthiswaytheclothiseasilymadetovaryinstrengthandthickness，soastosuitthenumerouspurposestowhichitisapplied。
Whentheoperationlastdescribedhasbeenconcluded，thenew-madetappaisspreadoutonthegrasstobleachanddry，andsoonbecomesofadazzlingwhiteness。Sometimes，inthefirststagesofthemanufacture，thesubstanceisimpregnatedwithavegetablejuice，whichgivesitapermanentcolour。Arichbrownandabrightyellowareoccasionallyseen，butthesimpletasteoftheTypeepeopleinclinesthemtopreferthenaturaltint。
ThenotablewifeofKammahammaha，therenownedconquerorandkingoftheSandwichIslands，usedtoprideherselfintheskillshedisplayedindyeinghertappawithcontrastingcoloursdisposedinregularfigures；and，inthemidstoftheinnovationsofthetimes，wasregarded，towardsthedeclineofherlife，asaladyoftheoldschool，clingingasshedidtothenationalcloth，inpreferencetothefripperyoftheEuropeancalicoes。ButtheartofprintingthetappaisunknownupontheMarquesanIslands。