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CHAP. III.

General state of society-Former modes of living-Proposed improvement in the native dwellings-Method of procuring lime from the coral-rock-First plastered houses in the South Sea Islands-Progress of improvement-Appearance of the settlement-Described by Captain Gambier-Sensations produced by the scenery, &c.-Irregularity of the buildings-Public road—Effect on the surrounding country-Duration of native habitations-Building for public worship—Division of public labour-Manner of fitting up the interior-Satisfaction of the people— Chapel in Raiatea—Native chandeliers-Evening services.

THE change which had taken place in Tahiti and Eimeo, in consequence of the abolition of idol worship, had been exceedingly gratifying, as it regarded the general conduct of the people, their professed belief in the truth of revelation, and their desire to regulate their lives by its injunctions; but the visible change which resulted from the establishment of the Missions in Huahine and Raiatea, was more striking, and did not fail to attract the notice, and command he approbation, of the most superficial observer.

We did not deem what is usually termed civilization essential to their receiving the forgiveness of sin, enjoying the favour of God, exercising faith in Christ, and being after death admitted to the heavenly state; yet we considered an improvement of their circumstances, and a change in their occupations, necessary to their

consistent profession of Christianity, and the best means of counteracting that inveterate love of indolence to which from infancy they had been accustomed. Habits of application were also essential to the cultivation and enlargement of intellect, the increase of knowledge, and enjoyment in every department and every period of the present life. This was peculiarly desirable in reference to the rising generation, who were to be the future population, and who would arrive at years of maturity, under circumstances and principles as opposite as light and darkness to those under which their parents had been reared. Under these impressions, those who were stationed in the Leeward Islands, next to the attention they paid to religious instruction, directed their attention to the advancement of civilization among the people, and the improvement of their temporal condition. We had already persuaded them to extend the culture of the soil beyond the growth of the articles necessary for their support during the season when the bread-fruit yielded no supply, and to raise cotton and productions, which they might exchange for clothing, tools, &c. We now directed them to the improvement of their dwellings, which, generally speaking, were temporary sheds, or wide unpartitioned buildings, by no means favourable to domestic comfort or Christian decency.

When we landed at Fare in Huahine, I do not think there were more than ten or twelve houses in the whole district. Four, besides those we occupied, were of considerable size, belonging to the chiefs; the others were mere huts. In the latter, the inmates took their food, and rested upon their mats spread upon the floor, which, had it been simply of earth, would have been

comparatively clean and comfortable. The temporary roof of thatch was often pervious to the rays of the sun, and the drops of the frequently descending shower. In these cabins, parents, children, dogs, and frequently pigs and fowls, passed the night, and the greater part of the day. The houses of the chiefs were better built, and more capacious. The roofs generally impervious, and the sides frequently enclosed with straight white poles of the hibiscus tree. Their interior, however, was but little adapted to promote domestic comfort. The earthen floor was usually covered with long grass. This, by being repeatedly trodden under foot, became dry, broken, and filled with dust, furnishing also a resort for vermin, which generally swarmed the floors in such numbers, as to become intolerable. In these houses the people took their meals, sitting in circles on the grass-spread floor. Here, the fresh water used in washing their hands, the cocoa-nut water which was their frequent beverage, and the sea-water in which they dipped their food, was often spilt. Moisture induced decay, and although over these parts of the floor they often spread a little fresh grass, yet many places in the native houses frequently resembled a stable, or a stableyard, more than any thing else.

In the drier parts of the house, along each side, the inmates slept at night. However large the building might be, there were no partitions or skreens. Some of their houses were two hundred feet long, and on the floor, hundreds have, at times, lain down promiscuously to sleep. They slept on mats manufactured with palmleaves, spread on the ground. These mats were generally rolled up like a sailor's hammock in the morning, and spread out at night. The chief and his wife usually

slept at one end of the house, without the least partition between them and the other inmates of their dwelling. Instead of a single mat, three or four, or even ten, were sometimes spread one upon the other, to give elevation and softness; and this, with the finer texture of the mats, was the only difference between the bed of the chief, and that on which the meanest of his dependents slept. Instead of being spread on the floor, the mats were sometimes spread on a low bedstead, raised nine or twelve inches above the floor. The sides and bottom of this bedstead were made with the boards of the breadfruit-tree. Next to the chief, the members of his own family spread their mats on the floor, and then the friends and attendants-the females nearest the chief, the men towards the opposite end of the building.

I have sometimes entered the large houses in Huahine, soon after our arrival there, and have seen, I think, forty, fifty, or sixty sleeping places of this kind, in one house, consisting of a mat spread on the ground, a wooden pillow or bolster, in the shape of a low stool, next the side or wall; and a large thick piece of cloth, like a counterpane or shawl, which they call ahu taoto, sleeping-cloth, and which is their only covering, lying in the middle of each mat. There was no division or skreen between the sleeping places, but the whole ranged along in parallel lines from one end of the house to the other. What the state of morals must necessarily be among such a community, it is unnecessary to shew; yet such were the modes of life that prevailed among many, even after they had renounced idolatry. Such we found society in Huahine, and such our friends in Raiatea found it there. One of the reasons which they gave why so manyslept in a house, was, their constant appre

hensions of evil spirits, which were supposed to wander about at night, and grasp or strangle those who were objects of their displeasure, and whom they might find alone. Great numbers passing the night under the same roof, removed this fear, and inspired a confidence of security from the attacks their idolatrous absurdities led them to expect.

The evils necessarily resulting from these habits were too palpable to allow us to delay attempting at least an alteration. We recommended each family to build distinct and comfortable cottages for themselves, and the chiefs to partition bed-rooms in their present dwellings, in which they must reside while building others; even in these we recommended them to reduce the number of their inmates, and to erect distinct sleeping rooms for those they retained.

We were happy to perceive on their part a willingness to follow our advice. The first native improvement was made by Mai, the chief of Borabora, residing at that time at Fare in Huahine. He directed his servants to clear out all the grass from the floor of the house he occupied; they then levelled the earth, procured lime, and plastered it over nearly an inch thick with mortar; this hardened, and formed an excellent, solid, durable, and clean floor. With this material we had made the floors of our own temporary dwellings, in which we had erected slight partitions of hibiscus poles, covered with thick native cloth, to separate the different apartments from each other. In this also we soon perceived the chiefs promptly following our example. At the same time we commenced the erection of permanent places of residence for ourselves, and spared no pains to induce the people to do the same. Our first

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