Page:Voyages in the Northern Pacific - 1896.djvu/119

house fence to it. The houses are built in the following- manner; they begin by driving stakes in the ground eight feet high and three feet apart, forked at the upper ends, in which forks are laid handsome straight poles; the ridge pole is raised by temporary stakes, the rafters are forked at the lower ends , which rest on the forks of the upright; the upper ends of the rafters cross each other on the ridge-pole, and are well lashed to it; a second ridge pole is now placed in the cross of the rafters above the first one, to which it is well lashed; they then tie on neat twigs or canes, in the manner of laths, and thatch the house all over with dry grass or leaves of the tee-root. There was a door and two windows in the end. The interiors were beat down quite hard, and a quantity of rushes strewed smooth, and well covered with a large coarse mat, made the size of the house, above which others were laid of a finer quality. At one end was built a large bed-place, stuffed with dry grass, and covered neatly with mats. Along each side were built sofas, stuffed and covered the same as the bed, to keep which out of sight there was a light partition. In front of the house was built a raini (lanai), or shed, covered with the branches of cocoanut trees, and here also a sofa was built. The square in front of the house was strewed each morning with green rushes. We had a man from Tameameah who acted as steward, and whose business it was to find us in everything we wanted. We had also a watchman to walk round the houses at night, to give the alarm of fire, which happens frequently.