

i8 



The Ancient Haiuaiian House. 



Samoau temples (/v?/<"-rt///r=: Spirit house) were built in the same manner as 

 ordinary houses, according to the Rev. J. B. Stair;''' but in the piAure he gives of these 

 structures (Fig. 15) they seem to be round rather than oval. Th&fanna-tann or raised 

 platform was high in proportion to the respect intended to be shown to the deity to 

 whom the temple was dedicated, or perhaps to the means of the builder. In most 











FIG. 14. 



SAJIOAN HOUSE. 



cases if it was a family fane all the famil}^ were expefted to help build it; if a public 

 one all the village turned out and worked. 



It must not be supposed that this temple was what is generally understood by 

 the term, a place in which to worship. A tree might be chosen as the temporary abode 

 of the aitii [Hawaiian akHa\^ or indeed any secluded place, but \X\& falc aitii was usually 

 in the midst of a village and was surrounded bv a low fence or hedge. The priests 

 entered these houses, when consulted by the people, to inquire of the god who was 

 supposed to be for the time immanent in the priest and to ixse his voice for the desired 

 answer. It was then a sort of oracle by which the priest doubtless profited, whether 

 the consultant was satisfied or mystified. The Reverend author goes on to describe a 

 ruin that may throw a side light on the Tongan trilithon. We shall see that the 

 circular plan appears again in New Caledonia. He writes (p. 228): 



"Old Samoa, by Rev. J. B. Stair, p. 226. I^ondon, 1897. 



[202] 



