278 Memoirs Bcrnicc P. BlsJiop Muscidu 



length of the house — proljal)ly a modern development. In the old house in Ua 

 I'dU thev were planted immediately behind the kc'ctu facing the raised house 

 floor, and informants say that holes edged with Hat stones were left for the front 

 posts at the time the floor of the house was paved. 



Three types of top stringer were used: A simple rectangular beam; a 

 round log similar to the ridgepole, but of smaller size; and a peculiar L-shaped 

 form, said to have been characteristic of the Southern Division in ancient times. 

 Rectangular stringers were normal in recent structures and all those observed were 

 either attached with nails to the flat tops of the front posts, or pierced with holes 

 into which necks on the tops of the front posts fitted. The round stringers rested 

 in semicircular notches in the tops of the front posts, and the only one seen in 

 position was not attached to the posts in any way. The L-shaped stringers were 

 hewn from single logs, and were placed outside the front posts, with their short 

 arms against them and their tops level with the tops of the front posts. At each 

 post the vertical part of the stringer was pierced with four holes, two above and 

 two below, through which sennit lashings were passed back and forth around the 

 front post. When the roof was in place these lashings were invisible fri)m the out- 

 side. Thev were usually amplified on the inside to give an ornamental etTect. 



In a house at Atu Ona, Hiva Oa. there was an arrangement of posts and 

 stringers similar to that of the front wall across either end of the house, and a 

 single rectangular beam, resting upon the rearmost posts of the end walls, ran 

 along the under surface of the rear roof and was attached to it at eight points. 

 It is almost certain that this feature is due to European influence. A ])eculiar 

 form of end frame, said to be a modern develojmient, is described on page 295. 



THE HOUSE ROOF 



The front roof of ordinary dwellings was supported by three heavy rafters 

 which were commonly hewn and squared. One rafter was jjlaced in the middle 

 of the house over the doorway, and the other two halfway between it and the 

 ends of the house. (See fig. 2.) There were no heavy rafters at the ends of 

 the roof, where they might be expected. The lower ends of these rafters rested 

 upon the stringer, and their upper ends againt the ridgepole, without extending 

 beyond either. In well built houses the rafters were attached to both the stringer 

 and the ridgepole by elaborate sennit lashings. 



The framework thus formed was supplemented by additional rafters of 

 bamboos, or peeled poles of fan, placed vertically at inter\-als of two or three 

 inches, continuing above the ridgepole and crossing the small rafters of the rear 

 roof. They also projected beyond the stringer and below the line of the front 

 wall, forming narrow eaves. The light rafters were held in place by three longi- 



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