ELLICE'S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 53 



An old man soon made his appearance, whose deportment, and that 

 of the crowd, pointed him out as the chief. He had, apparently, little 

 actual authority, for his presence seemed to have no effect in silencing 

 the natives. He pointed to the palisade around the town, whither he 

 invited them at once to go, and conducted them to his house. Very 

 few of the natives followed. On entering the palisade of slender 

 stakes, the village was found to be divided into lots, containing ten or 

 twelve houses, and enclosed by fences. Each of these enclosures, it was 

 supposed, belonged to a separate family. 



The chief led the way to his house, and invited them to enter, which 

 they did, and found its construction altogether different from any before 

 seen in the South Seas. There was nothing remarkable in its exterior; 

 it was of oblong shape, and about sixteen feet wide by twenty feet long. 

 The interior consisted of two stories, of which the lower was not more 

 than three feet high, under the floor of the upper story. It was entered 

 by a square hole at one side. The apartment above was rather a loft 

 or garret, which was high, and contained, apparently, all the valuables 

 and goods of the occupant. The floor was made of small pieces of 

 pandanus-boards, laid on slender beams of cocoanut-wood. It was 

 afterwards understood that this arrangement of apartments was to 

 guard against the inroad of the rats. The lower apartment is used for 

 sleeping, while the upper is entirely for storing their goods and chattels. 

 The wall-plates rest on four beams of cocoanut-wood, which are sup- 

 ported by four posts, one at each corner. These posts are round, and 

 perfectly smooth, so that the rats cannot climb them. The rafters and 

 cross-pieces are mere poles, only an inch or two thick ; the thatch is 

 of pandanus-leaf, doubled over a slender stick, and tied down with 

 sennit. 



After they were seated, cocoa-nuts, with treacle and water, were 

 brought them to drink. They then requested the chief, whose name 

 was Tama, to show them the fresh-water wells and taro-beds. Under 

 his guidance, they passed through the village, which was situated on 

 a narrow strip of the island, very close to the beach. Beyond it, 

 towards the interior (if the term may be used of that which is but half 

 a mile wide) of the island, was a cocoa-nut grove, extending to the sea. 

 The tall cocoa-nut trees scattered about, with here and there small 

 clumps of pandanus, gave it a cool and refreshing shade, and produced 

 an agreeable itnpression. Paths wound in every direction, and were 

 quite visible, in consequence of the absence of underbrush. The sandy 

 soil offered only a scanty growth of dry grass (a Sida). Around the 

 houses of the natives were found Cordias, Hibiscus, and Ficus; but 

 they were all of small growth. The Dracaena, of which the Satnoans 



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