FEEJEE GROUP. 



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and the Samoan Islands. The canoes are generally built of the vas 

 wood. 



The planks are brought into and kept in shape by small ribs, 

 almost exactly as in our mode of boat-building. 



The following are the dimensions of a double canoe of the most 

 common size : 



Length of the larger canoe, 

 Length of the smaller canoe, 

 Distance of the canoes apart, 

 Length of the platform, 

 Breadth of the platform, 

 Length of the cuddy, . 

 Breadth of the cuddy, 

 Height ahove water, . 

 Draught of water, 

 Length of yards, 

 Length of mast, . . 



70 feet. 

 55 

 7 

 30 

 15 

 15 



10 

 2 to 3 

 15, 35, and 60 

 35 



Such a canoe will carry conveniently forty or fifty men. 



When a chief requires a house or a canoe to be built, he applies to 

 the head carpenter, whose title is rokola, and whose office is here- 

 ditary. He is a person of great consequence, and the workmen 

 constitute a caste, in which the trade is hereditary also. The chief 

 gives the rokola a whale's tooth as a fee, and pays him for the work, 

 not even feeding the workmen, who are paid by the rokola, and 

 provide themselves with food. With great exertion, a canoe may 

 be built in three or four months, but it usually takes as many 

 years. 



The principal tool of the carpenters is an adze, which, since the 

 introduction of foreign tools, they make by lashing a plane-iron to a 

 crooked handle, with sennit. They also now use the chisel and 

 knife. For boring holes, they use the long spines of the echina, 

 bones, and, of late, nails. Carving is performed by the teeth of 

 small animals (rats and mice) set in hard wood, much as diamonds 

 are set for glaziers' purposes. Their patience, industry, and perse- 

 verance in their occupation are great, and the workmanship excellent, 

 when the imperfection of their tools is considered. They are aware 

 of the superior qualities of our tools, and anxious to possess them. 

 That which they prize most is the American hatchet, which comes 

 nearer in shape to their own instrument than any other. Their 



