44 FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS 



when they bleated, and had tlien laughed at each 

 other for their apprehension. Our companions 

 left us at three o'clock, and we hastened to exa- 

 mine tlie ninth island before sun-set, which we 

 reached at seven o'clock, and where we determin- 

 ed to remain for the night, as my sailors had been 

 much exhausted in rowing against the wind. We 

 were now distant from the ship five miles, and still 

 continued to see in the E. the open sea. As soon 

 as we arrived, we crossed the island in all directions, 

 to discover people, but found only traces of them, 

 and some huts which had just been left. In the 

 middle of the island stood a house, which entirely 

 resembled that on Goat Island, except that it 

 was considerably larger : it had the form of a 

 Chinese temple ; a square roof, very neatly made 

 of rushes, pointed at the top, rested on four pillars, 

 five feet above the ground, which protected it 

 against the scorching rays of the sun, and the wind 

 blew cool between the posts : the floor was paved 

 with coral stones. The interior, from the top of the 

 roof down to the posts, was divided by a handsomely 

 worked lattice, in the middle of which there was a 

 square opening, large enough conveniently to 

 admit a man. The rats have certainly given the 

 islanders the idea of building their huts on posts, 

 for I observed that they had their store-room in 

 the inside of the lattice, to wliich the rats could not 

 get up the smooth pillars. Their sleeping houses 

 are built on the ground, and consist of a roof, with 



