478 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



in an could be kept awake no longer. It had been proposed that we 

 should occupy one of the ancient stone houses for the night, in order to 

 be near the scene of operations planned for the next day, but they were 

 damp and ill-smelling and the work accomplished on the traditions 

 more than repaid the time lost in recrossing the island. 



THE ANCIENT STONE HOUSE AT OKONGO. 



December 20. — Leaving Vaihu at early daylight we arrived at Hanga 

 Roain time to meet the detachment of eight selected men sent on shore 

 from the ship with proper tools and implements for making a thorough 

 exploration of Orougo and vicinity. (Plate XIX). The blue-jackets 

 scampered up the slope of Eana Kao with the buoyant spirits of school- 

 boys out for a holiday, and arriving at the spot were anxious to lend 

 the assistance of willing hands and plenty of brawn to the prosecution 

 of the work. 



Every house was entered and inspected, though occasionally a mis- 

 calculation was made in the dimensions of a narrow passage-way and it 

 became necessary to rescue a prisoner by dragging him back by the 

 heels. Once inside the building, the interior could be easily inspected 

 and sketches made of frescoes and sculptured figures. (Plate XX). 



These remarkable habitations were built against a terrace of earth or 

 rock, which in some cases formed the back wall of the dwelling (Fig. 5). 

 From this starting point a wall was constructed of small slabs of strat- 

 ified basaltic rock, piled together without cement and of a thickness 

 varying from about 3 feet to a massive rampart of 7 feet in width. 



Fig. 5. 



View ok stone hut in Okongo. 



The outer entrance is formed by short stone posts planted in the 

 ground and crossed by a basaltic slab. The passage-way was in all 

 cases unpaved and usually lined on the top and both sides with flat 

 stones. This important feature added materially to our comfort while 

 forcing an entrance through some of the narrow openings, and saved the 

 necessity for adding to our already bountiful supply of bruises and abra- 

 sions. Xo regularity of plan is shown in the construction of the ma- 

 jority of the houses; some are parallelogram in shape, others elliptical, 

 and many are iinmethodieal, showing a total absence of design, the 

 builder being guided by the conformation of the ground, the amount 

 of material available, and other chance circumstances. These houses 



