CHAP. V.] NATIVE HOUSES. 69 



both sides along the walls ; from the door to the 

 side opposite is a passage, shut in by boards. One 

 or two columns support the roof inside : these are 

 carved with grotesque figures. The roof is lofty, 

 but the side-walls are little more than two feet 

 high. The boards forming the framework of the 

 house are cut out from a tree by means of a simple 

 adze, as the saw is not yet much in use ; and it is 

 curious to see the extreme correctness of their eye 

 in doing this, although the work is very tedious. 

 The ceiling over the portico is carved, and at the 

 nd of the ridge-pole stands a human iigure often 

 that of the proprietor, but monstrously and purposely 

 distorted. Sometimes that of his wife is carved out 

 of the beam which supports the ridge-pole. The 

 two door-posts are likewise carved. A real native 

 house, of which there are many in the interior, is 

 very solid, and great skill and taste are displayed 

 in filling up the spaces between the frame-poles. 

 This is done with reeds, which they have variegated 

 by blackening the outside spirally, or with the 

 cannulated stalks of a fern, which are kept together 

 by dyed pieces of flax. The ridge-pole is a flat 

 board, painted red and black in different arabesques, 

 generally spirals. The same is the case with the 

 boards which support the roofs. The outside is 

 also sometimes boarded, or the walls are formed of 

 thick and tight bundles of raupo-leaves (a Typha). 

 In the middle of the house a fire is lighted in the 

 evening, which fills it with smoke; sometimes a 



