Linton — The lilarqncsas Islands 281 



side between the main ridge pole and the small pole. On some houses a layer of 

 pandanus leaves was laid over the ridgepole before the small pole was put on. 

 These leaves were then secured by an additional pole on either side of the roof 

 placed in the angle formed by the intersection of the small rafters. 



THE HOUSE WALL 



The ]\Iarquesan house was substantially an open shed with the rear roof 

 extending to the ground. The walls merely served to close the openings in the 

 structure and could be removed wholly or in part without effecting the stability of 

 the house. A\'ork sheds and cook houses were unwalled, and it is probable that 

 in former times some more pretentious structures were also quite open, for several 

 end posts were seen that were carved on both sides. The outer side would have 

 been invisible in a walled house. Most buildings were provided with end walls, 

 although many ceremonial structures and even dwellings were open in front. The 

 framework of the end walls usually consisted of four or more light poles arranged 

 like the sticks of an inverted fan, with one end resting on the edge of the paepae, 

 the other against the ridg'e pole. The mats or leaf-packed rods used at thatch were 

 tied to these poles just as they would be tied to the rafters. \Mien the ends were not 

 thatched a number of bamboos or peeled poles about an inch and a half in dia- 

 meter were lashed horizontally to the uprights. These poles were placed either 

 touching or at intervals of about an inch, and were cut to fit accurately the width 

 of the aperture. In some houses the upper part of the end walls was of thatch, 

 the lower part of poles. (See PI. xL, C.) 



The entire front wall with the exception of the door space was occasion- 

 ally covered with thatch, but the practice does not seem to have been common. 

 In a house visited in Hokatu, Ua Huka, one-half of the front was thatched with 

 coconut mats ; the other half was left open. As a rule, however, the front wall 

 consisted of a series of separate units or panels each of which filled the space 

 between a pair of front posts. These panels were made of bamboos or peeled 

 poles about an inch and a half in diameter. In all the front walls seen the poles 

 were placed side by side and fastened together by cords running over and under so 

 as to form a sort of heavy pole-mat flexible laterally but not longitudinally. ( Similar 

 pole-mats were used as coffin covers in Hiva Oa and Fatu Hiva.) These mats 

 were then strengthened by three crosspieces lashed to the back, at right angles to 

 the poles and at equal intervals. The panels were usually placed between the 

 posts in such way that the crosspieces were horizontal, and fitted into notches cut 

 in the sides of the front posts, but occasionally they were placed with the braces 

 vertically, the poles of the mat then being horizontal. In one house two light 

 poles running from the door posts to the end of the house were added on the 

 outside, but these were not attached to the panels. 



[21] 



