Pent for Hawaiian Houses. 



107 



accumulated downpour of a steep roof. We have seen that the Fijian, even when his 

 doorway was in the perpendicular wall, formed a pent of thick thatch (Fig. 21). The 

 Maori at the other end of the ocean projected his gabled roof far over the door; but no 

 notice was taken of the contrivance used b}^ the Hawaiians on the sloping side of their 

 house to keep the water from pouring in at ever}- shower. One piece of evidence re- 

 mains, a picture drawn by Dr. William Ellis (Fig. 91). In that he shows a projec- 

 tion almost a porch. As the steep-roofed grass house had disappeared before I came 

 to these islands, I never saw even the ruins, and no one could tell me how the rain was 



FIG. 91. VILLAGE ON HAWAII: W. ELLIS. 



kept out; in the time of Cook's visit, however, the picture was made which solves the 



enigma. The arch over the door is to be noticed as it again appears in the later 



houses of Kalaimoku on Oaliu. 



From the abundance of stone on many parts of the group one would expect some 



houses to be built with stone walls. The old Hawaiians had a tenacious earth, which 



they mixed with the ashes of some plants to make their salt pans water-tight, which 



would have answered well to bed the stone, and that they understood the use of this 



kind of mortar is proved by the walled-up entrances to ancient burial caves, where the 



earth matching the stone it holds in place, is found in order after the lapse of more, 



it may be, than a century. While I believe that this construAion was among the 



earliest, I have no proof ; and it was not until the early Christian churches were erected 



that I am sure of its use. The stone walls of the heathen temples, in more than one 



case, were converted into Christian churches by putting on a thatched roof. There was 



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