134 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS CH. vn 



shall describe one of the middle size, which will give an 

 idea of all the rest, as they differ scarcely at all in fashion. 



Its length was 24 feet, breadth 11 feet, extreme height 

 8-J- feet, height of the eaves 3-J- feet ; it consisted of nothing 

 more than a thatched roof of the same form as in England, 

 supported by three rows of posts or pillars, one on each 

 side, and one in the middle. The floor was covered some 

 inches deep with soft hay, upon which here and there were 

 laid mats for the convenience of sitting down. This is 

 almost the only furniture, as few houses have more than 

 one stool, the property of the master of the family, and 

 constantly used by him ; most are entirely without the stool. 

 These houses serve them chiefly to sleep in, and make their 

 cloth, etc. ; they generally eat in the open air under the 

 shade of the nearest tree, if the weather is not rainy. The 

 mats which serve them to sit upon in the daytime are also 

 their beds at night ; the cloth which they wear in the day 

 serves for covering ; and a little wooden stool, a block of 

 wood, or bundle of cloth, for a pillow. Their order is gener- 

 ally this : near the middle of the room sleep the master 

 of the house and his wife, and with them the rest of the 

 married people ; next to them the unmarried women ; next to 

 them again, at some small distance, the unmarried men ; the 

 servants (toutous) generally lie in the open air, or if it rains, 

 come just within shelter. 



Besides these, there is another much larger kind of 

 house. One in our neighbourhood measured in length 162 

 feet, breadth 28^ feet, height of one of the middle row of 

 pillars 18 feet. These are conjectured to be common to all 

 the inhabitants of a district, raised and kept up by their 

 joint labour. They serve, maybe, for any meetings or con- 

 sultations, or for the reception of any visitors of con- 

 sequence, etc. Such we have also seen used as dwelling- 

 houses by the most important people. Some of them were 

 much larger than this which I have here described. 



In the article of food these happy people may almost be 

 said to be exempt from the curse of our forefathers ; scarcely 

 can it be said that they earn their bread by the sweat of 



