THEIK VILLAGE. 223 



the first time — they were wretched half-starved 

 objects of various colours^ but ag-reed in being- 

 long'-bodied^ short-leg'g'ed^ and prick-eared, with 

 sharp snout and long- tail, slig^btly bushy, but 

 tapering to a point. They do not bark, but have 

 the long' melancholy howl of the dingo or wild dog 

 of Australia. 



At length some of us found our way to the huts 

 of the natives which were close at hand, and had 

 thus an opportunity of examining one of them 

 minutely, besides verifying what we had before seen 

 only from a distance, and with the aid of the 

 telescope. The distinctive characters of these huts 

 consist in their being long and tunnel-like, drooping 

 and overhanging at each end, raised from the ground 

 upon posts, and thatched over. The four huts 

 composing the village were placed in two adjacent 

 clearings, fifty or sixty yards in length, screened 

 from the beach by a belt of small trees and brush- 

 wood. Behind is the usual jungle of the wooded 

 islands of the Archipelago, with a path leading 

 through it towards the centre of the island. A 

 solitary hut stood perched upon the ridge near the 

 summit shaded by cocoa-palms, and partially hid 

 among the bushes and tall grass. It differed from 

 those of the village in having the posts projecting 

 through the roof, but whether used as a dwelling or 

 not, is a matter of conjecture. It may possibly 

 have been used for the reception of the dead. In 

 the village an approximate measurement gave 



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