ETHNOLOGICAL STUDIES 



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metres long and some 50 metres broad, with the chff rising steeply behind 

 it. The houses are scattered about in the green shade of coconut palms; 

 simple, rectangular buildings, mostly raised on low piles, with roofs of 

 screw-pine or coconut leaves, and walls — where such exist — of the 

 same material. Simple though they are, these houses constitute an architec- 

 tural advance on the original dwellings, which neither had walls nor were 

 raised above ground level. Here and there one still sees primitive huts 

 consisting of two rows of palm leaves stuck obliquely into the ground so 

 as to meet at the top, and even temporary shelters made from two or 

 three palm leaves, or perhaps only one. In the rainy season, the inhabit- 

 ants must be miserably cold on their simple beds, which consist of no 

 more than a thin mat and a wooden neck rest. 



We quickly accustomed ourselves to life at Lavanggu. Time passed slowly 

 and almost imperceptibly. The natives rise at dawn, though otherwise we 

 did not get an impression of great diligence. In the morning, some of the 

 women climbered the cliff side to fetch yam and taro from the plantations, 

 which are often a long way from the houses, returning with their haul in 

 coarsely woven baskets of coconut leaves at noon. Drinking water is a 

 great problem. Failing rain water one must make do with the brackish 

 water which oozes out of the cliff side; but fortunately there is a good 

 substitute in the cool milk of coconuts. In the village they busied themselves 

 with their various jobs: a woman sat weaving mats, a man shaping a new 

 paddle or making a fishing net. The greatest activity was displayed by the 

 numbers of hens and ducks which ran about among the houses. Incident- 

 ally, they are a new addition to the culture, the only domestic animal 



Plantingyam. Tains are climb- 

 ing plants, and so stakes are 

 put in for them to grow up. 

 Rennell Island. 



