238 THE AEU ISLANDS. [chap. xxxi. 



barirain for house accommodation. The owner and chief 

 man of the place made many excuses. First, he was 

 afraid I woiild not like his house, and then was doubtful 

 whether his son, who was away, would like his admitting 

 me. I had a long talk with him myself, and tried to 

 explain what I was doing, and how many things I would 

 buy of them, and showed him my stock of beads, and 

 knives, and cloth, and tobacco, all of which I would spend 

 with his family and friends if he would give me house- 

 room. He seemed a little staggered at this, and said he 

 would talk to his wife, and in the meantime I went for a 

 little walk to see the neighbourhood. When I came back, 

 I again sent my pilot, saying that I would go away if he 

 would not give me part of his house. In about half an 

 hour he returned with a demand for about half the cost of 

 building a house, for the rent of a small portion of it for a 

 few weeks. As the only difficulty now v/as a pecuniary 

 one, I got out about ten yards of cloth, an axe, with a few 

 beads and some tobacco, and sent them as my final offer 

 for the part of the house which I had before pointed out. 

 This was accepted after a little more talk, and I imme- 

 diately proceeded to take possession. 



The house was a good large one, raised as usual about 

 seven feet on posts, the walls about three or four feet 

 more, with a high-pitched roof. The floor was of bamboo 

 laths, and in the sloping roof was an immense shutter. 



