138 



FEJEE ISLANDS. 



From the Spirit-house we went to visit some of the common 

 houses. These had very steep roofs, low sides, and onlj one- 

 door, and that made low and narrow, as a protection against the 

 entrance of enemies, or that they may club them while creep- 

 ing in, should they attempt it. Cocoa-nut or pandanus-wood" 

 and bamboos, with leaves of sugar-cane, are the materials em- 

 ployed in their construction. The interior is without partition 

 or separate apartments ; the floor is made of earth, sand, or 

 gravel, strewed over with cocoa-nut leaves, and covered with 

 mats. One side of the floor is raised about eight inches higher 

 than the rest, which is called the bed-place, where they sleep. 

 It is generally covered with a double layer of mats. Their 

 pillows are made of a round stick, about the diameter of a 

 spade-handle, with pins about four inches long stuck in it for 

 the feet. Some of these are sufficiently long to accommodate 

 three or four persons. Towards one corner of the building, 

 a space, about five feet square, is inclosed by four large square 

 logs of hard wood. This inclosure is the general cooking-place. 

 The principal cooking-utensil is a large clay-jar, with a spheri- 

 cal bottom ; it is permanently fixed on its side, near the bot- 

 tom, at an angle of about forty-five degrees from perpendicular, 

 with a space under it to admit fire. Over the cooking-place 

 is a platform, upon which they dry and smoke much of their 

 provisions. As these houses have no chimneys, they are, as 

 might be supposed, filled with smoke and soot. I was sur- 

 prised to find the houses belonging to the white residents 

 no better furnished than those of the natives. They eat, 

 sleep, and sit on the floor like the savages with whom they 

 associate. I also observed that their children are brought up 

 like those of the natives, in ignorance and nakedness. 



Having seen all that was new or strange about the town, 

 we set out to take a walk into the interior of the island. 



