Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/192

134 shall describe one of the middle size, which will give an idea of all the rest, as they differ scarcely at all in fashion.

Its length was 24 feet, breadth 11 feet, extreme height 8½ feet, height of the eaves 3½ feet; it consisted of nothing more than a thatched roof of the same form as in England, supported by three rows of posts or pillars, one on each side, and one in the middle. The floor was covered some inches deep with soft hay, upon which here and there were laid mats for the convenience of sitting down. This is almost the only furniture, as few houses have more than one stool, the property of the master of the family, and constantly used by him; most are entirely without the stool. These houses serve them chiefly to sleep in, and make their cloth, etc.; they generally eat in the open air under the shade of the nearest tree, if the weather is not rainy. The mats which serve them to sit upon in the daytime are also their beds at night; the cloth which they wear in the day serves for covering; and a little wooden stool, a block of wood, or bundle of cloth, for a pillow. Their order is generally this: near the middle of the room sleep the master of the house and his wife, and with them the rest of the married people; next to them the unmarried women; next to them again, at some small distance, the unmarried men; the servants (toutous) generally lie in the open air, or if it rains, come just within shelter.

Besides these, there is another much larger kind of house. One in our neighbourhood measured in length 162 feet, breadth 28½ feet, height of one of the middle row of pillars 18 feet. These are conjectured to be common to all the inhabitants of a district, raised and kept up by their joint labour. They serve, maybe, for any meetings or consultations, or for the reception of any visitors of consequence, etc. Such we have also seen used as dwelling-houses by the most important people. Some of them were much larger than this which I have here described.

In the article of food these happy people may almost be said to be exempt from the curse of our forefathers; scarcely can it be said that they earn their bread by the sweat of