TE PITO TE HENUA OR EASTER ISLAND. 709 



In place of plank floors tlie bare earth is strewn with dried bnlnishes 

 and ^rass to the de])th of several inches, and as this litter is rarely 

 renewed, the rosnlt is obvions. Occasionally a bunk may be fonnd 

 knocked nj) atone end of the single apartment of which the house con- 

 sists, or, as in the more pretentious houses, a square bedstead may be 

 seen, built of planed, unpainted wood, with a wild attempt at scroll 

 carvinii- al)out the head and foot boards. Chairs and tables are 

 unknown luxuries. 



The same house is often occupied by several families, or by several 

 generations of the same family, but as the individuals composing these 

 are never very numerous there is no overcrowding. 



A few of the more ordinary cooking utensils may occasionally be seen, 

 but as a rule the natives, as is generally the case among the inhabitants 

 of the South Sea Islands, j)repare their food in stone ovens in the fol- 

 lowing manner: A circular excavation is made in the earth outside of 

 the dwelling, several feet in diameter and a foot or two in depth, which 

 is then neatly lined with a porous stone of some sort. Other stones are 

 loosely laid in, and a quantity of dry wood or brush of any kind, with 

 more stones, piled on. The wood is then set on fire, and, when the stones 

 have become sufficiently heated, the loose ones are taken out, and the 

 brands and cinders removed, leaving the lining of heated stones intact. 

 Over these is then spread a layer of banana, breadfruit, or other large 

 leaves to keep the food from contact with ashes. The food, taro, yams, 

 sweet potatoes, fowl, short, or "long pig," or whatever else there may 

 be, previously prepared for cooking, is then placed on the layer of leaves, 

 piece by i:>iece, until all are in position, when the mound of food is care- 

 fully covered over with several thicknesses of large green leaves to i)re- 

 vent any dirt from falling in among the edibles. The heated stones, 

 previously' removed, are then placed in jiosition all over the mass and • 

 finally a thick layer of fine, dry earth, ashes, and cinders is ])iled over all, 

 these being for the purpose of retaining the heat. In from two to three 

 or four hours the baking is finished, and, barring the "long pig," per- 

 haps, a more healthful and toothsome method of prei)aring and cooking 

 food, when superintended by an expert native Samoau chef, for exam- 

 ple, could not, in the estimation of the writer, who has had opportuni- 

 ties for judging, be devised. The thought suggests itself here that the 

 "clambakes" of our Atlantic States are a feeble imitation of this style 

 of cooking among the islanders. 



As wood or solid fuel of any kind is a most rare commodity on Rapa 

 Nui the natives are compelled to use brush, twigs, and trash (;ast up on 

 their island by the sea, anything, in fact, of an inflammable nature which 

 they can pick up. They even economize the dried droppings of the 

 cattle, as the Arab does those of his camel, for this purpose, and I saw 

 great basketfuls of these carefully stowed away in their houses for 

 future use. 



They have no fixed time for eating, and while their menu, as may be 



