58 



The Ancient Hawaiian House. 



The illustration of the village on Duaii (Normanby Island of the D'Entre- 

 casteaxix group), Fig. 47, shows both the coconut decoration of these Papuan houses 

 and also the human skulls, five of which appear on the horizontal bar across the gable 

 of the house on the extreme 

 right of the piAure. It is prob- 

 able that the coconuts are a 

 modern substitute for skull, 

 which they certainly resemble, 

 and in some remote villages this 

 substitute has not yet obtained. 

 No worse, my readers, than the 

 ancient customs on Temple Bar 

 and many a city or castle gate 

 in England ! Generally trophies 

 of conquest, in some places the 

 skulls are the relics of dear 

 relations. Chalmers tells of a 

 widow who carried about with 

 her in a small basket the skull 

 of her dead husband, and as this 

 husband had five wives, three 

 inferior ones had the fiuger, toe, 

 and other small bones drilled 

 and strung as necklaces, while 

 the fifth widow wore only his 

 hair (p. 290). Different from 

 the Hawaiian and Fijian who 

 buried the bony relics, at least 

 those connedled with house con- 

 secration, here they are all above 

 ground and in the light of day. The neat construction may be noted in the illustra- 

 tion. On piles, though not in the water, the groi;nd plan is a narrow oblong and the 

 roof is exceeding steep, out of all proportion to the walls of the house. The gable 

 ends overhang the thatched walls which may be plain or decorated. 



In the house in Milne Bay, shown in Fig. 48, the roof is more barrel-shaped, 



and covers a platform or verandah to which access is had both by a direct ladder and 



an inclined plank. The basement is fenced to keep out animals, and mostly closed in with 



[242I 



FIC. 51. A TKKE HOUSE IN NEW GUINEA. 



