350 WAIGIOU. [chap. XXXVI. 



ing a house. As I did not expect to stay here so long as I 

 had done at Dorey, I built a long, low, narrow shed, about 

 seven feet high on one side and four on the other, which 

 required but little wood, and was put up very rapidly. 

 Our sails, with a few old attaps from a deserted hut in the 

 village, formed the walls, and a quantity of " cadjans," or 

 palm-leaf mats, covered in the roof. On the third day my 

 house was finished, and all my things put in and comfort- 

 ably arranged to begin work, and I was quite pleased at 

 having got established so quickly and in such a nice 

 situation. 



It had been so far fine weather, but in the night it 

 rained hard, and we found our mat roof would not keep 

 out water. It first began to drop, and then to stream over 

 everything. I had to get up in the middle of the night to 

 secure my insect-boxes, rice, and other perishable articles, 

 and to find a dry place to sleep in, for my bed was soaked. 

 Fresh leaks kept forming as the rain continued,^ and we 

 all passed a very miserable and sleepless night. In the 

 morning the sun shone brightly, and everything was put 

 out to dry. We tried to find out why the mats leaked, 

 and thought we had discovered that they had been laid on 

 upside down. Having shifted them aU, and got everytliing 

 dry and comfortable by the evening, we again went to bed, 

 and before midnight were again awaked by torrents of 

 rain and leaks streaming in upon us as bad as ever. 



