The vanquished, who were made prisoners, became slaves, and their posterity inherited their condition.
From time immemorial the islanders have clothed themselves, the men with the _malo_, the women with the _pau_.

The malo is bound around the loins, after having passed between the legs, to cover the pudenda.

The pau is a short skirt, made of bark cloth or of the ki leaves, which reaches from the waist half down to the knees.

The old popular songs show clearly that this costume has always been worn by the natives.

To go naked was regarded as a sign of madness, or as a mark of divine birth.