there are three or four others built upon the plantations beyond the CHAP,
palm groves. One of these, situated higher up the hill than the village, , I''
belongs to Adams, who has retired from the bustle of the hamlet to a
Dec.
more quiet and sequestered spot, where he enjoys the advantages of
IS2.5.
an elevated situation, so desirable in warm countries; and there are
four other cottages to the eastward which belong to the Youngs and
Quintals.
All these cottages are strongly built of wood in an oblong form,
and thatched with the leaves of the palm-tree bent round the stem of
the same branch, and laced horizontally to rafters, so placed as to give
a proper pitch to the roof. The greater part have an upper story,
which is appropriated to sleeping, and contain four beds built in the
angles of the room, each sufficiently large for three or four persons to lie
on. They are made of wood of the cloth-tree, and are raised eighteen
inches above the floor; a mattress of palm-leaves is laid upon the
planks, and above it three sheets of the cloth-plant, which form an
excellent substitute for linen. The lower room generally contains
one or more beds, but is always used as their eating-room, and has a
broad table in one part, with several stools placed round it. The
floor is elevated about a foot from the ground, and, as well as the
sides of the house, is made of stout plank, and not of bamboo, or
stone, as stated by Captain Folger; indeed they have not a piece of
bamboo on the island; nor have they any mats. The floor is a fixture,
hut the side-boards are let into a groove in the supporters, and
can be removed at pleasure, according to the state of the weather, and
the whole side may, if required, be laid open. The lower room communicates
with the upper by a stout ladder in tlie centre, and leads up
through a trap-door into the bedroom.
From the village several pathways (for roads there are none)
diverge, and generally lead into the valleys, which afford a less difficult
ascent to the upper part of the island than the natural slope of the hills;
still they are very rugged and steep, and in the rainy season so slippery
that it is almost impossible for any person, excepting the natives, to traverse
them in safety. Y"e selected one which led over the mountain
to the landing-place, on the opposite side of the island, and visited the
Mil