529 



•called Bogota) in deep holes, about the depth of a man's 

 lieight. (14) 



The work of sinking the piles is done by many men, who 

 help the owner, d^) Jt is thus done quickly, the work being 

 finished in about a day. After that the lower platform, or 

 verandah (Dou) is erected. The eight or ten short piles (D6u 

 dogota) are sunk, but only to about half the depth of the 

 Logota. On the slightly concave tops of the Dou dogota rest 

 two long poles (Dou htltsi), running the whole length of the 

 house, and on those the boards (Dou wawau) are laid. 

 Neither are the Dou hvtsi attached to the piles, nor are the 

 boards secured in any way to the But3i. They simply rest one 

 on top of the other. The boards of the verandah are more- 

 over much inferior to those of the upper floor. 



Standing on this lower platform, the builders construct 

 the upper floor. This is done, of course, much more carefully, 

 any insecurity or unsteadiness in this part of the house being 

 considerably more dangerous a matter than in the case of the 

 verandah. 



The construction of the upper platform is, in principle, 

 quite identical with that of the lower one, the difference being 

 that the single joints are fastened together and not merely 

 superimposed. There are also two longitudinal poles resting 

 on the concave tops of the six main poles. And on these the 

 boards are transversely placed and firmly lashed. The two 

 longitudinal poles (OtuJ are not fastened to the main piles, 

 but rest securely in the carefully cut concavities in the top of 

 the latter. The boards (Wawd'uJ are laid in close juxtaposi- 

 i>ion and with their ends well trimmed, so that the upper floor 

 presents a regular rectangle, bounded on each side by regular 

 straight lines. The fastening of the boards to the Otu is made 

 by means of another longitudinal pole (AhdbaJ, thinner than 

 the Otu, laid on top of the boards, parallel to the Otu. Holes 

 are drilled in the boards and through them, as well as through 

 the spaces between any two boards, the Otu and Ababa are 

 lashed to each other with split lawyer cane (fig. 5). 



Thus the lower and upper platforms are ready. The 

 native architects proceed now to the construction of the roofing 

 (see fig. 6). Through two pair of holes cut in both platforms 



(14) The Motu, in constructing their pile dwellings in the 

 sea, sink piles by pointing them at the lower end and driving 

 them into the mud of the seabottom by a rotatory motion. Two 

 ropes are lashed to the top of the pile, so that the four ends 

 radiate at right angles in tour directions. By pulling on these 

 four ends the rotatory motion is imparted. 



(i5)C'omp. chap, iv., sec. 5. 



