CHAPTER IV. 



DWELLINGS — TAMBU-HOUSES — WEAPONS — TOOLS. 



THE villages in the eastern islands of the group vary much in 

 size. Tliey usually contain between 25 and 40 houses, and 

 between one and two hundred inhabitants. There are however some 

 much larger, as in the case of Wano on the north coast of St. Christo- 

 val, which probably does not possess a population much under five 

 hundred. In the larger villages the houses are generally built in 

 double rows with a common thoroughfare between ; and the tambu- 

 house occupies usually a central position. In the village of Suenna, 

 as shown in the engraving, which is one of the larcrest villao^es in 

 Ugi, the houses are built around a large open space free of buildings. 

 The usual dimensions of the dwellino'-houses are as follows : length 

 25 to 30 feet, breadth 15 to 20 feet, height 8 to 10 feet. The gable- 

 roof, which is made of a framework of bamboos thatched with the 

 leaves of pandanus trees, or of cocoa-nut or areca palms, is supported 

 on a central row of posts. The sides are low and made of the same 

 materials as the roof. The only entrance is by an oblong aperture 

 in the front of the building, which is removed 2|- to 3 feet above 

 the ground, so that one has literally to dive into the interior, which 

 from the absence of any other openings, is kept very dark. Such 

 are the dimensions and mode of structure of an ordinarv dwelling- 

 house in the eastern islands. The chiefs, however, have larger 

 buildings, which in some instances, as in those of the more powerful 

 chiefs, rival in size and in style the tambu-houses themselves. Many 

 houses have a staging in front, Avhich is on a level with the lower 

 edge of the aperture that serves as the entrance. On this staging, 

 protected by the projecting roof, the inmates are wont to sit and lie 

 about during the day ; and the men occasionally pass the night 

 there. In the houses of the chiefs and principal men, there are 

 generally spaces parutioned off for sleeping and containing 



