142 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, estimation only, the natives appearing to have an objection to our 
pacing the ground for the purpose of measurement. The south side 
.ran. of the house was left open, and the ends were made of an open frame- 
work of upright poles traversed at right angles by smaller spars, so that 
the roof and the north side were the only parts covered in. They 
served as an excellent protection from the sun, while the trade- 
wind traversing every corner of the apartment rendered it agreeably 
cool. On that part of the house where the side was deficient, there 
was a foundation for the wall about three feet in height thrown up, 
composed of large blocks of coral, shaped in a very workmanlike style, 
similar to those mentioned by Cook at the Friendly Islands, and well 
put together : it stood about three feet within the outer part of the 
roofing, and served as a seat for the chiefs as well as for many others. 
We perceived no furniture in their houses, and some of our officers 
thought it was purposely put out of sight. The only utensils were 
gourds and cocoa-nut shells. The tables were made of slabs of coral, 
or sometimes of wood, in which case they are carved : they are about a 
yard long, and are placed upon wooden or stone pedestals sufficiently 
high to prevent the depredations of the rats. They stand in the 
middle of the paved areas in front of the houses, from which we infer 
the practice of eating in the open air. Their food has already been 
described as consisting principally of sour paste (the mahie of the 
Friendly Islands, Otaheite, Marquesas, &c.), made with plantains, 
bread-fruit, and boiled tee-root. The paste or mahie, when fresh and 
hot, has not a disagreeable taste; a slight flavour of baked apples may 
be distinguished: but it soon begins to smell very offensively; so 
much so, that the seamen would not touch it with their hands to throw 
it overboard. The tee-plant (dracoena terminalis) is a fusiform root 
about two feet long, and as thick as the arm ; its flavour is not unplea- 
sant, but from its coarseness it must, to ordinary stomachs, be very 
indigestible. The natives collect the fibres in the mouth, and spit 
them out in round balls. Fish and shell-fish, of which the large pearl 
oysters and chama are in the greatest abundance, must form a material 
part of the food of these people : they have, besides, the sweet potatoes, 
taro, and the before- mentioned fruits ; but these cannot be abundant, 
