64 



Alt Vn. — A. Matsnmum : 



IV. Jaluit. 



The dwellings in Jaluit are also extremely primitive, the 

 structure being more or less identical with that of the houses in 

 Truk. The roofs are covered with pandanus or coco-tree leaves, 

 and the walls also with the same material. When the natives 

 fasten the walls with cords of coconut fibre they use needles 

 obtained from the jaw-bone of porpoise, so that the cords may 

 be easily passed through the leaves (Fig. 24, h). The size of tlie 

 houses is usually about 4 by 6 m., but some of the 

 smaller ones are scarcely 2 by 2 m. The roofs of 

 such houses are necessarily low, though not to the 

 extent that the dwellers are anable to walk upright. 

 The entrance, which is in most cases provided in the 

 middle of the wall, has often a height of 1*20 m. 

 The house consists of only one room, the prepara- 

 tion of food being usually done outside the dwelling. 



It seems that the buildings in Jaluit have lost 

 much of the native element on account of Western 

 influence. Now wooden boards form part of the 

 wall in some cases, and even windows are made, 

 thus the native custom is undergoing a change in 

 architecture as in clothing. So we find houses with 

 floors of wooden boards. It is more usual in Jaluit, 

 however, that the ground inside the building is first 

 covered with gravel-like pieces of coral from the 

 coral reefs, then mats are laid, on which the dwellers 

 sleep. In some cases there is no mattiuL^ coverinsr 



^Fig. 24.— Matting- 



the ground (PL XIX, fig. 2). nee(.lle(a) ana that - 



• mi ching-needle (6), 



Matting, ihere are two or three kinds of mats, jauüt. 



