ORNAMENTS. TATTOOING. HOUSES. 465 



This garment, however, was worn by the men only on parti- 

 cular occasions. 



For ornament they wore combs of wood or bone, feathers, 

 necklaces, bracelets, and anklets of bones and shells, and ear- 

 rings of jade or albatross -down. Many of them had also 

 small grotesque figures of jade, which were suspended from 

 the neck and were regarded as very precious. The New Zea- 

 landers were also tattooed with great dexterity and elegance ; 

 not only on the body, but even on the face, the general effect 

 of which was in many cases far from unpleasant. The process, 

 however, was extremely painful, so much so, indeed, that it 

 could not be supported all at once, but was sometimes spread 

 over several months, or even years. The lips and the corners 

 of the eyes were the part that hurt most. To have shrunk 

 from it would, however, have been a great disgrace. 



Their houses were about eighteen or twenty feet long, eight 

 or ten broad, and five or six high. The sides sloped quite 

 down to the ground, differing in this respect from those of 

 Tahiti, which are left open at the sides. This was done, 

 however, not for the sake of privacy, but to keep out the 

 wind and rain. The sides were made of sticks, closely 

 thatched with grass and hay, and the door was at one end, 

 just high enough to admit a man on all fours. Another hole 

 served both for window and chimney. The roof was often 

 carved, and they frequently attached to the end of the ridge 

 pole a monstrous representation of the proprietor.* 



Their villages were all fortified. They chose the strongest 

 natural situations, and surrounded the houses with a palisade 

 about ten feet high. The weaker sides were also defended 

 "by a double ditch, the innermost of which has a bank, and 

 an additional palisade." The stakes were driven obliquely 

 into the ground, so that they projected over the ditch, which 

 " from the bottom to the top or crown of the bank is four-and- 



* Dieffenbach, 1. c. p. 69. 

 2 H 



