134 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS cu. vir 
shall describe one of the middle size, which will give an 
idea of all the rest, as they differ scarcely at all in fashion. 
Its length was 24 feet, breadth 11 feet, extreme height 
84 feet, height of the eaves 34 feet ; it consisted of nothing 
more than a thatched roof of the same form as in England, 
supported by three rows of posts or pillars, one on each 
side, and one in the middle. The floor was covered some 
inches deep with soft hay, upon which here and there were 
laid mats for the convenience of sitting down. This is 
almost the only furniture, as few houses have more than 
one stool, the property of the master of the family, and 
constantly used by him; most are entirely without the stool. 
These houses serve them chiefly to sleep in, and make their 
cloth, etc.; they generally eat in the open air under the 
shade of the nearest tree, if the weather is not rainy. The 
mats which serve them to sit upon in the daytime are also 
their beds at night; the cloth which they wear in the day 
serves for covering; and a little wooden stool, a block of 
wood, or bundle of cloth, fora pillow. Their order is gener- 
ally this: near the middle of the room sleep the master 
of the house and his wife, and with them the rest of the 
married people; next to them the unmarried women ; next to 
them again, at some small distance, the unmarried men ; the 
servants (toutous) generally lie in the open air, or if it rains, 
come just within shelter. 
Besides these, there is another much larger kind of 
house. One in our neighbourhood measured in length 162 
feet, breadth 284 feet, height of one of the middle row of 
pillars 18 feet. These are conjectured to be common to all 
the inhabitants of a district, raised and kept up by their 
joint labour. They serve, maybe, for any meetings or con- 
sultations, or for the reception of any visitors of con- 
sequence, etc. Such we have also seen used as dwelling- 
houses by the most important people. Some of them were 
much larger than this which I have here described. 
In the article of food these happy people may almost be 
said to be exempt from the curse of our forefathers; scarcely 
can it be said that they earn their bread by the sweat of 
