A Ramble Inland. 83 
means inconsiderable. First the ground has to be cleared of 
trees and scrub, fenced with reeds, the soil to be loosened 
with hoes or sharp sticks, and pulverised with the fingers ; the 
plants are then put in, and require to be attended to with 
diligence and care during their growth. 
These clean, neatly-fenced little spots have a very pretty ap- 
pearance amongst the surrounding disorder, and give one some 
idea of what the place would look like were it extensively culti- 
vated and settled upon. The soil, wherever it was turned up, 
appeared very rich and black, and the vegetables and fruits 
planted in it seemed thriving very luxuriantly. 
The huts of the natives are very poor affairs. In the way of 
architecture at least, the Aneityumese seem to have made little 
or no improvement since the days of heathenism. They still 
live, with a few exceptions, in miserable huts consisting 
of a framework of wood overlaid with plaited cocoanut or sugar- 
cane leaf, and having the appearance of narrow thatched 
roofs planted on the ground, for they have no walls; they are 
about six feet high in the centre, and are entered by a hole at 
one end. I believe that they find these places healthier than a 
house with walls ; at all events they seem to prefer them on the 
whole, for although the chief at Anelcauhat has put up a 
very good specimen of a-plastered house, but very few of the 
people seem inclined to follow his example. 
Sometimes the path wound through open spaces, covered 
thickly with long reeds six or eight feet high ; and then it would 
lead us under the shade of great trees, and into woods so dense 
that we could not see more than a few yards in any direction. 
These reeds, which grow so plentifully here in the open spots, 
are exceedingly useful; all the fences are made of them, the 
natives use them for arrows, and they can be woven into a 
wickerwork which makes excellent seats and couches. 
G2 
