190 chief's apartments. 



pole ; and the framework of the roof, extending 

 from the top to all parts of the circle, is tied 

 together with grass ropes and interwoven with 

 twigs. It is then raised and placed upon the 

 walls of the house for which it is intended ; and 

 the thatch, which is composed of grass carefully 

 dried^ is laid on in a manner equally as neat as 

 that of the best thatched English cottage. I 

 have frequently seen a roof of this kind, and 

 considerable in point of size, begun and finish- 

 ed, thatch and all, in two days. The tops of 

 the principal huts are generally ornamented with 

 a ventilator of a fantastic shape, surmounted by 

 a straw figure of a cock. 



The hut in which I resided was the entrance 

 to the chief's apartments, which consisted of 

 seven separate huts connected by a wall, one of 

 which was appropriated for our goods, and the 

 rest were occupied by his family. While remain- 

 ing here I had my head shaved, or rather clipped, 

 and my beard trimmed, by a country barber, who, 

 like his brethren in other parts of the world, had 

 a vast deal to say for himself. I learned from 

 him, that I was in a fair way of being the lion of 

 the day in Fundah, — that the whole town was 

 on the tiptoe of expectation, and that he himself 



