Description of a New Zealand House'; 'Description of a Housein Terra [sic] del Fuego'; 'Description of an Otaheite House',undated (Series 88.06) - No. 0003

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Description of an Otaheite House

The ground which it covers is an oblong square four and twenty feet long and eleven wide; over this a roof is raised upon three rows of pillars or posts paralell to each other one on each side and the other in the middle. This roof consists of two flat sides inclining to each other and terminating in a ridge exactly like the roofs of our thatched houses in England. The utmost height within is about nine feet and an half of the ground. Below this and thro' the whole height at each end it is open, no part of it being inclosed with a wall. The roof is thatched with palm leaves and the floor is covered some inches deep with soft hay over this are laid mats so that whole is one cushion upon which they sit in the day and sleep in the night. In some houses however there is one stool which is wholly appropriated to the master of the family; besides this they have no furniture except a few little blocks of wood the upper side of which is hollowed into a curve and which serve them for pillows.