1S39.] DWELLINGS. 185 



numbers of hogs are reared, and they are fast supplanting 

 the wild ones, belonging to an entirely distinct breed, that 

 once abounded in the mountainous regions of Tahiti and 

 Eimeb. Dogs and cats are domesticated ; and rats, mus- 

 quitoes, and horse-flies, are plenty enough to be regarded as 

 great pests. 



Fish are abundant. The best of them are the albicore, 

 bonito, ray and shark, all of which are eaten. Fine rock fish 

 are caught in the small streams, and salmon and eels in the 

 rivers. As has been stated, fishing is a favorite employment 

 of the natives. Besides the spear, they use nets made of the 

 twisted bark of the hibiscus. They are likewise fond of tak- 

 ing the molluscous crabs and turtles, numbers of which are 

 obtained on the coral rocks and reefs. 



(9.) The queen's residence at Papieti is the most conspic- 

 uous house there. It is one story in height, and has a 

 peaked roof of thatch, and a wide piazza extending com- 

 pletely across the front. The church at the same place is. a 

 large and convenient edifice ; the rafters and frame work sup- 

 porting the roof are concealed, in part, by ornamental mat- 

 ting reaching up ten or fifteen feet from the wall. The resi- 

 dences of the foreigners are light wooden structures, painted 

 white, with green blinds and thatched roofs. The " palace," 

 and some few other houses, have glazed windows. The raft- 

 ers are generally left uncovered, on the inner side. Some 

 dwellings are divided off into separate rooms, by board parti- 

 tions, though, in general, there is but a single room. 



Most of the timber used in house-building, and in making 

 the heavier articles of furniture, is obtained from the bread- 

 fruit ; but the tamanu {calophyllum) is sometimes employed 

 as a substitute. The wood of the former tree is of the color 

 of mahogany, and is exceedingly durable : it is hewn into 

 posts, or sawed into boards, as may be required. 



The natives, ordinarily, build their habitations, however, 

 very differently from the more modern style just represented. 

 They are a single story high, and of an oblong shape, resem- 

 bling more closely, at a distance, a Dutch hay -stack, than 



