PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
79 
there are three or four others built upon the plantations beyond the CHAP, 
palm groves. One of these, situated higher up the hill than the village, 
belongs to Adams, who has retired from the bustle of the hamlet to a Dec. 
more quiet and sequestered spot, where he enjoys the advantages of 
an elevated situation, so desirable in warm countries ; and there are 
four other cottages to the eastward which belong to the Youngs and 
Quintals. 
All these cottages are strongly built of wood in an oblong form, 
and thatched with the leaves of the palm-tree bent round the stem of 
the same branch, and laced horizontally to rafters, so placed as to give 
a proper pitch to the roof. The greater part have an upper story, 
which is appropriated to sleeping, and contain four beds built in the 
angles of the room, each sufficiently large for three or four persons to lie 
on. They are made of wood of the cloth-tree, and are raised eighteen 
inches above the floor ; a mattress of palm-leaves is laid upon the 
planks, and above it three sheets of the cloth-plant, which form an 
excellent substitute for linen. The lower room generally contains 
one or more beds, but is always used as their eating-room, and has a 
broad table in one part, with several stools placed round it. The 
floor is elevated about a foot from the ground, and, as well as the 
sides of the house, is made of stout plank, and not of bamboo, or 
stone, as stated by Captain Folger ; indeed they have not a piece of 
bamboo on the island ; nor have they any mats. The floor is a fix- 
ture, but the side-boards are let into a groove in the supporters, and 
can be removed at pleasure, according to the state of the weather, and 
the whole side may, if required, be laid open. The lower room com- 
municates with the upper by a stout ladder in the centre, and leads up 
through a trap-door into the bedroom. 
From the village several pathways (for roads there are none) 
diverge, and generally lead into the valleys, which afford a less difficult 
ascent to the upper part of the island than the natural slope of the hills; 
stiU they are very rugged and steep, and in the rainy season so slippery 
that it is almost impossible for any person, excepting the natives, to tra- 
verse them in safety. We selected one which led over the mountain 
to the landing-place, on the opposite side of the island, and visited the 
