Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/86

 62 f^JI AND THE FIJIAJSrS. resist the outward pressure of the high-pitched rafters, and along the side is a substantial gallery, on which property is stored. The walls or fences of a house are from four to ten feet high ; and, in some cases, are hidden on the outside by the thatch being extended to the ground, so as to make the transverse section of the building an equilateral fe ii#fi?ff^^^ SINXET WORK OF FENCES. nm triangle. [3.] The walls range in thickness from a single reed to three feet. Those at Lau (windward) have the advantage in appearance ; those at Ra (leeward) are the warmest. At Lua the walls of Chiefs' houses are three reeds thick, the outer and inner rows of reeds beins: SECTION OF HOUSE. arranged perpendicularly, and the middle horizontally, so as to regulate the neat sinnet-work with which they are ornamented. At Ra, a covering of grass or leaves is used, and the fastenings are vines cut from