Ask Me Everything"2

Coconuts

01: Coconut palms are usually founcł in the tropics and grow best in warm, wet, and sunny, conditions.

02: A coconut is not a nut, but a big seed.

03: The seed is covered in a thick coat of fibers, called a husk, which protects the seed when it’s ripe and drops from the tree.

04: The seeds float and

often wash up on distant beaches and take root.

05: Coconut palms can survive in salty water or sandy soil, and their roots help to hołd the soil together, making it possible for other plants to survive around them.

06: The fibers from the husk, called coir, can be used to make ropę, matting, and bedding, and the shells make good fuel.

In 1777, the British explorer, Captain James

Cook saw islanders surfing on long wooden surfboards in Tahiti.

He noted in his diary

how much fun they

^—

seemed to be having!

Rugby

The islands of Samoa and Tonga may be smal! nations, but they have world-class rugby teams.

Surfing

Big beaches mean giant waves and some of the best surfing in the world.

Body beautiful?

I dont believe it

Tattoos became fashionable among the European aristocracy after the Prince of Wales, the futurę King Edward VII of England, got a tattoo on his arm in 1862.

_the Pacific

olhng World

(1939-1945). rn° ^ ^ _and

anflict betweenh ■ _South ^JaP^ant°to^PthsSesfoughtto

Pacific, ^aS.^b0V.«l_rent islands.

^contr°'Terfa®e'i«eredwith

^ewr^otwarships

and planes.

/£) The word “tattoo” comes from the Polynesian word tatau and was probably picked up by European sailors visiting the South Pacific in the 1700s.

It soon became the fashion /T* for sailors to have tattoos.

In the South Pacific, having a tattoo marks a boy’s passage to manhood.

Jg\ On some Pacific Islands, yT* full-body tattoos used to be common. Today, some men have complex tattoos around their buttocks and thighs, which look like britches.

Having a tattoo done is a yT^ long and painful process, as indelible (permanent) ink is inserted under the skin with needles.

/Jj) Complex tattoo patterns yT* are designed to inspire fear in enemies and are believed to act like armor, giving the bearer the powers of his ancestors.

It is also traditional for women in the South Pacific to have tattoos, but the designs are usually much smaller.

Kirititi

A Samoan version of cricket-kirititi—\s played with colorful clubs and involves dancing.

South Pacific 220|221

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. Ali Rights Reserved