WE STRIKE INLAND 
kept under very strict discipline. This youth refused 
to go with Sam to Oo-fa-fa, and when the chief found 
out that his express orders had been disobeyed, he 
cut off a stick and thrashed the boy indoors for all 
he was worth. The boy received ten cuts, but neither 
moved nor howled, although the women of the village 
set up a dolorous wailing while the punishment was 
going on. As soon as the castigation was finished, 
Mavai seemed to be seized with sudden shamefaced- 
ness, for he ran at top speed to his sago plantation, 
and remained in retirement for a considerable time. 
At Epa the native houses begin to be beautifully 
constructed. They are on a raised platform, and 
look like inverted boats, the roof being formed by 
bending over long sticks, so as to form an arch that 
is thatched with sago leaf. The floor is particularly 
good, and at Epa there is an admirable guest-house, 
with a fine level floor of split sago, the pieces being 
14 inches wide, neatly laid and bound together. 
Mavai’s guest-house, which adjoined his dwelling- 
house, was open at both ends. The house poles are 
very substantial, for they are driven into the iron 
ground, which is very stony, and radiated great heat, 
so that one could not go comfortably without boots, 
although in this respect the natives seem to be 
pachydermatous. 
We saw Mavai’s son build a house, neither asking 
nor requiring assistance. Single-handed he brought 
up his poles, peeled off the bark, and drove them in. 
One evening during our stay there was a terrific 
wind storm, a heavy north-wester, which tried the 
architecture of Epa severely. One slender house 
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