The girls of Bellona and Rennell all had a line (tu’u) similar to the te tau on Tikopia, tattooed between their breasts. This was done when the breasts were fully grown and the girl was suitable for marriage. The higher the status of a woman or her family, the more designs she could add to the tu’u. If the oldest daughter had ten fish on her abdomen, for example, the second daughter was allowed only eight. That the tu’u and the te tau are so similar in shape and name make it likely that this tattoo migrated from one island to the other. Even their meanings are identical; the tattooed line was a passport to the realm of the dead.