reaches from the waist to the knees. It is of a woven banana fiber, and often bunches of hibiscus bast are tied in front for decorative purposes. Whether the missionaries of the past put "Mother Hubbards" on Ulithi women, as they did on so many of the Carolinians, is a moot question; they certainly didn't adhere to the style for long at Ulithi.
Even so, the Ulithians quietly refute the Victorian idea that clothing makes morals. Indecent dress is a question of geographic location. In a climate of 80°, where fewer garments are more comfortable, the Carolinians let other people bicker about their decency and live a normally temperate life. The morals of the Ulithians are among the best: they will not uncover before one another; a man will not uncover before another man nor a woman before another women. There are no prostitutes and no known promiscuity. There isn't an illegitimate child on Ulithi, and a strict moral code provides for the ostracizement of any girl guilty of promiscuiousness. This is in sharp contrast to the custom at Yap, the nearest island to the west, where prostitution is the most beneficial practice in which any woman may participate.
And, incidentally, the girl alone would suffer for immorality at Ulithi; the male involved would receive no reproach—it is left for the woman to uphold the morals of the community.
Returning to clothing: shoes are another item of apparel missing, save a few ill-fitting Brogans given them by their service friends. Barefoot, the Ulithian is able to walk over the roughest coral and to climb the tallest tree. Fallen arches, bunions, and other "civilised" foot ailments are so rare that a native chiropedist would starve to death.
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