Ingenuity shown in the construction 

 of their houses. 



THE SAMOANS. 



Their houses. 

 Their food. 



113 



the stability of the canoe. They carry less sail 

 than the canoes of the other natives of Polynesia; 

 and to guard against the danger of upsetting, the 

 natives rig a sprit or boom (suati), projecting from 

 the opposite side to that on which the out-rigger is 

 fitted. This boom is secured with guys to the top 

 of the mast. When the wind blows fresh, some of 

 the men go out upon it, and thus balance or coun- 

 teract the force of the wind. Those on the other 

 side of the canoe are kept ready to go out on the 

 out-rigger when that becomes necessary. The sail 

 is made of a mat, of a triangular shape, with its 

 apex below: some of these are ten feet high. 



None of the canoes we saw at the Samoan Group 

 are calculated for long voyages. Those used in 

 their intercourse with the Tonga Islands are the 

 large double Feejee canoe, of which I shall speak 

 when I treat of those islanders. 



In their trips from town to town, they are gene- 

 rally on parties of pleasure, termed malanga, and 

 are frequently to be met with singing their boat- 

 songs. 



These songs have but little variety, are destitute 

 of melody, and have small pretensions to harmony. 

 They consist, for the most part, of two short strains, 

 repeated alternately, the first by a single indivi- 

 dual, and the second by several. Their voices are 

 loud, and have generally a tenor character; the 

 strains are mostly in the minor scale, and sung in 

 the key of two or three flats. 



The work in which the Samoans show their 

 greatest ingenuity, is in the construction of their 

 native houses, and particularly of their fale-teles 

 or council-houses, some of which are of large di- 

 mensions. They are built of the wood of the bread- 

 fruit tree, and there are two modes in use, their 

 own, and that borrowed from the Friendly Islands. 

 The true Samoan house is. slightly oval; those of 

 the Friendly Islands are oblong. They may be 

 said to consist of three parts, the centre and two 

 ends; the former is erected first. For this pur- 

 pose the three centre-posts, which are twenty-five 

 or thirty feet high, are usually first raised; on 

 these rests the ridge-pole. A staging or scaffolding 

 is now erected, nearly in the form of the roof, which 

 serves for ladders and to support the roof tempo- 

 rarily. The roof is commenced at the ridge-pole, 

 and is worked downwards. The cross-beams are 

 lashed in at different heights, connecting the centre 

 portions of the roof together, and are fastened to 

 the upright centre-posts. The rafters are made of 

 short pieces, placed at equal distances apart, and 

 form the curve that is required to construct the 

 roof. Between the largest rafters are smaller 

 ones, about one foot apart. Across the rafters are 

 placed and fastened many small rods, about an inch 

 in diameter. The whole is neatly thatched with 

 the sugar-cane or pandanus-leaves, and the rafters 

 are terminated by a wall-piece, made of short 

 pieces of wood, fastened together and to the rafters, 

 so as to form the ellipse required for the roof. 

 The end portions, of similar small pieces, are made 

 to correspond to the required curvature of the roof 

 and the ellipse of the wall-plate. Posts are now 

 placed in the ground, about three feet apart, to 

 receive the wall- piece, which is fastened to their 

 tops. There is no fastening used but sennit, made 

 of cocoa-nut fibres. The rafters are generally made 

 of the hibiscus, which is light and strong. The 

 eaves extend about a foot beyond the posts. The 



smaller houses generally have permanent sides ; 

 the larger ones are open all around, but mats are 

 hung up as curtains by the occupants, and any 

 part may be used as a door. 



After the whole is finished, the interior has the 

 appearance of an extensive framework, from the 

 number of cross-beams, which are used as deposi- 

 tories for their property, tapas, mats, &c. ; and in 

 some cases the favourite canoe of the chiefs is 

 placed on them. After a full inspection of one of 

 these fabrics, one cannot but view these natives not 

 only as industrious, but as possessing great skill 

 and ingenuity. The thatching lasts four or five 

 years. There is no floor to the house, but the 

 ground is covered with stones about the size of a 

 small egg. There is usually a paved platform on 

 the outside, about three feet wide. In some cases 

 this is raised a foot, and serves to keep the house 

 dry, as the stones allow a free passage to water. 

 On the pavement are laid coarse mats, and the 

 finer ones are spread above, covering about half 

 the area. 



These fine mats are rolled up until required. 

 Many baskets hang here and there, with some 

 cocoa-nut shells to contain water, and the ava-bowl. 

 Mats are suspended about as screens. At night, 

 each sleeper is usually supplied with a musquito- 

 curtain, called tai-namu, which, forming a kind of 

 tent, by being passed over a ridge-pole or rope, and 

 falling on the ground, answers all the purposes 

 required*. 



On one, and sometimes on both sides of the 

 centre-post of the houses, is a small circular hearth, 

 enclosed by stones of larger size; this is the place 

 for burning the dried leaves of the cocoa-nut, 

 which serve them for light at night. Although 

 these do not give out much smoke, yet as they 

 burn for a long time, the house gradually becomes 

 filled with soot, for there is no outlet above for its 

 escape f. 



As they always use the flambeau to light them 

 on their return from their feasts, it produces a 

 singular and pretty effect to see an assembly break- 

 ing up, and the different parties winding through 

 the groves with torches, throwing the whole into 

 bold relief. A rude lamp is also used, made of a 

 cocoa-nut shell, with a little oil in it, and a piece of 

 vine-stalk for a wick, and likewise the nut of the 

 aleurites triloba, or candle-nut, several of which 

 are strung on a thin stick. 



Many white-washed houses are now to be seen, 

 for the natives have been taught the use of lime by 

 the missionaries, and are beginning to use it in 

 their dwellings. All the missionaries' houses have 

 plastered walls, and board floors, and are very com- 

 fortable. There is a great quantity of fine timber 

 on these islands, for building purposes. The timber 

 of the bread-fruit tree and hibiscus are alone made 

 use of by the natives. The missionaries have 

 their planks or boards sawed by hand, and gene- 

 rally by foreign carpenters. 



The food of the Saraoans is prepared in the way 

 practised at Tahiti, and generally consists of bread- 



Musquitoes are exceedingly annoying to strangers, but 

 I did not remark that the natives were troubled with them. 

 Their bodies being well oiled is a great preservation against 

 the bites of these insects. 



t The prevalence of sore eyes is said to be owing to the 

 smoke of the lamps. 



T 



