NATIVE DWELLINGS. 
339 
been reared. Under these impressions, those 
who were stationed in the Leeward Islands, next 
to religious instruction, directed their attention 
to the promotion of industry among the people, 
and the improvement of their temporal condition. 
We had already persuaded them to extend the 
culture of the soil beyond the growth of the 
articles necessary for their support during the 
season when the bread-fruit yielded no supply, 
and to raise cotton and productions, which they 
might exchange for clothing, tools, &c. We now 7 
directed them to the improvement of their dwell¬ 
ings, wdiich, generally speaking, were temporary 
sheds, or wide unpartitioned buildings, by no 
means favourable to domestic comfort or Christian 
decency. 
When we landed at Fare in Huahine, I do not 
think there were more than ten or twelve houses in 
the whole district. Four, besides those we occu¬ 
pied, were of considerable size, belonging to the 
chiefs ; the others were mere huts. In the latter, 
the inmates took their food, and rested on their 
mats spread upon the floor, which, had it been 
simply of earth, would have been comparatively 
clean and comfortable. The temporary roof of 
thatch was often pervious to the rays of the sun, 
and the drops of the frequently descending show 7 er. 
In these cabins, parents, children, dogs, and fre¬ 
quently pigs and fowls, passed the night, and the 
greater part of the day. The houses of the chiefs 
were better built, and more capacious; the roofs 
generally impervious, and the sides frequently 
enclosed with straight white poles of the hibiscus 
tree. Their interior, however, was but little adapt¬ 
ed to promote domestic comfort. The earthen 
floor was usually covered with long grass. This, 
z 2 
