POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
347 
although during my subsequent residence in the island, 
I was less incommoded by them, I was on this occa¬ 
sion glad to escape their noise, &c. by leaving the house 
soon after midnight, and walking along the shore, or sit¬ 
ting on the beach until day-break. 
Heavy showers detained us at Atimaha until ten 
o’clock in the forenoon, when we pursued our voyage. 
At Maatea I landed about twelve o’clock, and walked 
through the district of Haume to Afareaitu. The wind 
was contrary throughout the day, and it was near sunset 
before Mrs. Ellis and our little girl, with her nurse, 
arrived in the canoe. We had suffered much from 
exposure to the sun, and from the fatigue of our tedious 
voyage ; we were, however, thankful to have reached our 
destination in safety. The natives cheerfully gave up a 
large oval-shaped house for our accommodation: Mr. 
and Mrs Crook occupied one end of it, and we took up 
our abode in the other. The floor was of earth; upon 
this we spread some clean white sand, which was 
covered over with plaited leaves of the cocoa-nut tree. 
There were no partitions | but by hanging up some mats 
and native cloth, we soon succeeded in partitioning off a 
comfortable bed-room, sitting-room, and store-room. 
Our kitchen was the open yard behind our dwelling; 
and its only fixtures were a couple of large stones placed 
in the ground, parallel to each other, and about six 
inches apart. This was our stove, or fire-place, and 
during the dry season, answered tolerably well. 
With the study of the language, the erection of aprinting- 
oflice and a dwelling house now demanded my attention. 
A spot near the principal stream was selected for their 
site; the inhabitants of the district undertook to 
build the printing-office, while the king’s people, and 
