388 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and in a similar manner. Some of them were exceed¬ 
ingly largCj capable of containing two or three thousand 
people. Nmm, a house belonging to the king, on the 
borders of Pare, was three hundred and ninety-seven 
feet in length. Others were a hundred, or a hundred and 
forty feet long. These, however, were erected only for 
the leading chiefs. As the population has decreased, a 
diminution has also taken place in the size of the dwell¬ 
ings, yet, for some time after our arrival, several remained 
an hundred feet in length. The chiefs seem always to 
have been attended by a numerous retinue of dependants, 
or Areois, and other idlers. The unemployed inhabitants 
of the districts where they might be staying, were also 
accustomed to attend the entertainments given for the 
amusement of the chiefs, and this probably induced the 
people to erect such capacious buildings for their accom¬ 
modation. 
Some of the houses were straight at each end, and 
resembled in shape an English dwelling; this was 
called haupape: but the most common form for the 
chiefs* houses was what they called pote^ which was 
parallel along the sides, and circular at the ends. 
Houses of this kind have a very neat, light, and yet 
compact appearance. The above are the usual forms of 
their permanent habitations, and the durability of the 
house depends much upon the manner in which it is 
thatched: if there is much space between the reeds, it 
soon decays; but if they are placed close together, it will 
last five or seven years without admitting the rain. 
Occasionally two or three coverings of thatch are put on 
the same frame. The Tahitians are a social people, 
naturally fond of conversation, song,- and dance; hence 
several families often resided under the same roof. 
