1840.] houses. 351 



it is customary to allow the eaves of the houses to project 

 till they touch the ground. Sometimes, too, they are built 

 in an elliptical form, like those of the Tongese, but the ridge 

 pole always projects. They have yam-houses, which are 

 elevated on four posts to keep out the rats and mice, and 

 covered with thatch, to preserve the roots dry. 



Mbures, or spirit-houses, are constructed after the same 

 general fashion, except that their roofs are steeper. They 

 are sometimes circular, and arc placed either on stone plat- 

 forms, or large timbers laid across each other in a rec- 

 tangular form. Many of the towns, or koros, as they are 

 called, are fortified with embankments of earth and cocoa- 

 nut palisades with openings or creneles, for musketry ; and they 

 are provided with gateways, as in the Tonga Islands. Forti- 

 fications are likewise erected, to which they retire for safety 

 when attacked by their enemies, which consist of stone walls, 

 composed of blocks of basalt, four or five feet high, and sur- 

 rounded by moats ten feet wide, and from five to six feet 

 deep. Bridges, also, are frequently built over their streams, 

 on piles made of cocoa-nut wood. 



Inside the houses there is a plentiful supply of tapa mats, 

 and other similar articles. Earthen jars, drinking vessels, 

 clubs, spears, muskets, and bows and arrows, are the ordi- 

 nary embellishments. At one side of the centre, is a pit, or 

 platform of stones, where the fire is built, and the cooking 

 performed. The rest of the floor is for the most part covered 

 with mats, and one end is elevated like a dais, by the same 

 means, where the couches for repose are arranged. This por- 

 tion of the apartment is often separated into divisions by tapa 

 mats or screens, and liberally provided with musquito nettings. 

 They sleep on mats, with pillows of bamboo resting on four 

 legs. The latter often produce a scirrhous lump at the back 

 of the head where it joins the neck, and it seems strange 

 enough that the natives do not substitute in their stead the 

 softer material of their tapa mats. 



Their canoes are of superior construction, and are managed 

 with more than ordinary skill. The bottom consists of a 



