264 NATIVE HUTS. 



was seen carrying' about in her arms and fondling a 

 very young -pig — an incident which afforded us as 

 much amusement as a lady's lap-dog, with one end 

 of a ribbon round its neck and the other attached to 

 a wasp-waisted damsel, would have caused among 

 these utilitarian savages. 



The viQage covers a space of about half an acre ; 

 it consisted of twenty-seven huts built at right angles 

 to each other, but without any other attempt at 

 arrangement. These huts are of various sizes — the 

 largest thirty-five feet long, twelve wide, and twenty- 

 five hig-h. All are constructed on a similar plan, 

 being raised from the ground about four feet on 

 posts, four, five, or six in number, passing' througfh 

 the same circular wooden discs seen at the Louisiade 

 Archipelago, intended, I believe, to keep out rats or 

 other vermin. The sides and roof are continuous, 

 and slope sharply upwards, givnig to an end view 

 the appearance of an acute triangle, while a side 

 view exhibits a long ridge rising- suddenly at each 

 end to a point and descending by a straight hne of 

 gable. The roof is neatly and smoothly thatched 

 with grass, and the sides are covered in with sheets 

 of a bark-like substance, probably the base of the 

 leaf of the cocoa-nut tree flattened out by pressure. 

 The entrance is at one end, overhung' by the gable 

 like a curtain, with a small stage to ascend by. I 

 did not examine the interior of the houses, being de- 

 sirous to avoid any cause of offence by exhibiting- 

 too much prying curiosity. From the accounts of 



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