Ethnography of Micronesia. 143 



hibiscus tree. It is not for use, but merely for show, and is 

 always kept religiously rolled up in a safe corner."^ 



The natives of Yap have carved pillows, such as those in use 

 in New Guinea.^ 



2. Club Houses. — There is one or two club-houses (called fe-hay 

 by the natives) in each village. Generally they stand by the 

 seaside and are the same in structure as the dw^elling-houses, 

 though much larger in size. Therefore, the piUars are also larger, 

 some measuring 7 m. in height and 70 cm. in diameter. The coco- 

 nut ropes binding pillars and beams are fastened more ornamentally. 

 The gables carved and painted show wonderful skill ; but on the 

 whole, the structure of the club-houses is much more simple than 

 that of Palau, where both the inside and outside of the building arc 

 profusely carved. Bat club-hou-ses in Yap are often 10 to 12 m. 

 in frontage and 30 to 32 m. in depth, so they are perhaps the 

 largest buildings found in the South Sea Islands now occupied by 

 Japan. Some club-houses in Yap, we are told, took several years 

 before they were completed (PI. XXIIT, fig. 2). 



Tlie chib-house is communal property. Though it is chiefly 

 for unmarried young men, it is also used by married people. All 

 meetings of the village are held in the building. While the club- 

 house in Palau consists of one large room, the same building in 

 Yap is partitioned into several sections or bedrooms by means of 

 timbers laid on the floor. Two or three girls called mcspil or 

 mogol are attached to each club-house. They are common wives, 

 so to speak, for the young men ; and they are mostly slave girls 

 robbed from neighbouring viUages. Excepting the mespil, access 

 to the club is strictly forbidden to other women. 



1 F. W. Christian, " The Caroline Islands." p. 237. 



2 F. Katzel, "The History of Mankind," Vol. I, Fig. on p. '2G5. 



