62 Foniandcr Collection of Hazvaiian Folk-lore. 



exempted but applied; though if the house to be erected was a bam, then this divination 

 would not ajiply to such house, or if the posts were drawn out, or taken to pieces again; 

 it was a])plicablc only to dwelling houses. 



7. FAULTILY CONSTRUCTED HOUSES. 



If the house was erected and completed, being thatched, and all particulars ob- 

 served, and the owner residing therein, whether a chief or a commoner, and the diviner 

 came in and saw that the plate piece in the front wall over the entrance had not been cut 

 then the diviner would say: "That plate piece is ini])roper for not being cut near the 

 entrance." Those uncut pieces of plates were called the stretcher, which betokened 

 death. 



If the ])lates were in order and had been trimmed, a mistake might be in the po- 

 .sition of the ]:)osts. Other faults might be found in the batten sticks if they were fast- 

 ened too tightly. There might be a mistake in the side jjosts. or those nearer to the end 

 posts. If, however, the bend in the crook of a side ix)st was towards an end post, then 

 the diviner would sav; "The owner of the house will die, or his people perhaps; the ban 

 would be i)artially overcome by the death of some one, and the comj^lete reno\'ation of 

 the house by direction of the diviner in the order of priesthood." Such a ixjsition of the 

 side post was called jiiiliiaiiaii:' The side post was bemoaning, just as some people would 

 mourn on the death of the head of a household. 



If there were two side posts and both were crooked, and the crook of one was turned 

 toward the other, then the diviner would say: "Some of the people within will be con- 

 tinually quarreling, just as one crook was opposite the other." If the crooks of the posts 

 were bent toward themselves, then the diviner would say: "There are two interpretations 

 relative to the position of those side posts. All those who will live in this house will be 

 stino-y people. If two nersons are eating they will bend over their own particular meals, 

 and so will others within. The}' will not call others, and few will be the occasions for 

 agreeableness, for avarice will predominate. All those who dwell in said house will be 

 avaricious people onlv. 



If a stranger happens to arrive at that house he would not be invited to come and 

 partake of food, the only words to be heard then, are: "We are eating." "Are you 

 filled?" "How are you?" "Will you have something to eat?" because these words 

 were onlv interrogations without any intention of inviting him, and it was those words 

 which forbade the person addressed. 



8. DIVINATION OF A POST DENOTINC. DISEASE. 



If one side post, or more, stands with the crook of the ])ost bulging toward the in- 

 side of the house the diviner would say: "It is a bad ]K)st ; dropsy will be the disease of the 

 owner of the house, or other i)erson." And if the jirotuberant crook of the post was 

 turned tcnvards the thatching of the house the dixiner would say: "A broken humpback 

 will be the malady of the owner of the house, or of some other person perhaps." 



''MihidiiiiK, sorrow, lamentation. 



