{"id":"01KG8AKTA8WVF35PRNXDAH3Q2P","cid":"bafkreiat2sdwb3fdwg3zp4a7ldiawshvlarc644fivva7rnrxsqolxzzta","type":"section","properties":{"description":"# PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA\n\n## Overview\nThis section, titled \"PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA,\" details the traditional method of creating \"tappa,\" a native cloth widely known across the Polynesian Archipelago. The text describes the materials used, the preparation process, and the techniques involved in its manufacture. This section is part of a larger collection, [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW), and was extracted from the file [typee.txt](arke:01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4).\n\n## Context\nThe description of tappa production is presented as a significant cultural practice, contributing to the comfort and luxury of the inhabitants of the valley. The text emphasizes that this detailed account of the manufacturing process is being provided because such descriptions are believed to be previously unavailable. This section follows the section titled [CONCEIT OF MARHEYO--PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA](arke:01KG8AKTA29R7ANCYRE9W48Z6H).\n\n## Contents\nThe process begins with gathering young branches of the cloth-tree. The outer green bark is removed, leaving a fibrous substance that is carefully stripped from the stick. This material is then wrapped in large leaves, similar to wrapping paper, and secured with a line. The bundles are submerged in running water for two to three days, weighed down by a stone. After this soaking, the material is exposed to air, with each piece inspected for sufficient effect. This process is repeated until the desired state is achieved, characterized by softened, relaxed fibers ready for the next stage. The softened strips are then laid out in layers on a smooth surface, such as a prostrate coconut tree trunk. Each addition to the pile is beaten with a wooden mallet, approximately twelve inches long and two inches wide, made of a hard, ebony-like wood. The mallet has a rounded handle and resembles a four-sided razor strop in shape.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:24.336Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA","end_line":6657,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.543Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":6620,"text":"But to turn to something a little more important. Although the whole\r\nexistence of the inhabitants of the valley seemed to pass away exempt\r\nfrom toil, yet there were some light employments which, although amusing\r\nrather than laborious as occupations, contributed to their comfort and\r\nluxury. Among these the most important was the manufacture of the native\r\ncloth,--‘tappa’,--so well known, under various modifications, throughout\r\nthe whole Polynesian Archipelago. As is generally understood, this\r\nuseful and sometimes elegant article is fabricated from the bark\r\nof different trees. But, as I believe that no description of its\r\nmanufacture has ever been given, I shall state what I know regarding it.\r\n\r\nIn the manufacture of the beautiful white tappa generally worn on the\r\nMarquesan Islands, the preliminary operation consists in gathering a\r\ncertain quantity of the young branches of the cloth-tree. The exterior\r\ngreen bark being pulled off as worthless, there remains a slender\r\nfibrous substance, which is carefully stripped from the stick, to which\r\nit closely adheres. When a sufficient quantity of it has been collected,\r\nthe various strips are enveloped in a covering of large leaves, which\r\nthe natives use precisely as we do wrapping-paper, and which are secured\r\nby a few turns of a line passed round them. The package is then laid in\r\nthe bed of some running stream, with a heavy stone placed over it, to\r\nprevent its being swept away. After it has remained for two or three\r\ndays in this state, it is drawn out, and exposed, for a short time, to\r\nthe action of the air, every distinct piece being attentively inspected,\r\nwith a view of ascertaining whether it has yet been sufficiently\r\naffected by the operation. This is repeated again and again, until the\r\ndesired result is obtained.\r\n\r\nWhen the substance is in a proper state for the next process, it\r\nbetrays evidences of incipient decomposition; the fibres are relaxed and\r\nsoftened, and rendered perfectly malleable. The different strips are\r\nnow extended, one by one, in successive layers, upon some smooth\r\nsurface--generally the prostrate trunk of a cocoanut tree--and the heap\r\nthus formed is subjected, at every new increase, to a moderate beating,\r\nwith a sort of wooden mallet, leisurely applied. The mallet is made of a\r\nhard heavy wood resembling ebony, is about twelve inches in length, and\r\nperhaps two in breadth, with a rounded handle at one end, and in shape\r\nis the exact counterpart of one of our four-sided razor-strops. The flat\r","title":"PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AKFW2SAKNB2FVMW9K231F","peer_type":"subsection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKTA29R7ANCYRE9W48Z6H","peer_type":"section","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.712Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:24.763Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}