is universally the same, a perfect idea may be formed both of those that
are bigger, and those that are less.

The ground winch 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, parallel 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 the eaves on each side reach to within about three feet and a half
of the ground: Below this, and through the whole height at each end, it
is open, no part of it being enclosed 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 the 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.

The house is indeed principally used as a dormitory; for, except it
rains, they eat in the open air, under the shade of the next tree. The
clothes that they wear in the day serve them for covering in the night;
the floor is the common bed of the whole household, and is not divided
by any partition. The master of the house and his wife sleep in the
middle, next to them the married people, next to them the unmarried
women, and next to them, at a little distance, the unmarried men; the
servants, or _toutous_, as they are called, sleep in the open air,
except it rains, and in that case they come just within the shed.[7]

[Footnote 7: If the Otaheitans were little benefited by the attempts of
Europeans to rear cattle among them, as we have seen, they were
certainly indebted for the introduction of another race of animals, not
at all likely to degenerate or die out in a climate so much more
congenial to their nature, than the comparatively inclement regions of
our hemisphere, where, notwithstanding the activity of hostile hands,
they are known to propagate with most vexatious activity. "Their
houses," says the missionary account, "are full of fleas, which harbour
in the floor, and are very troublesome, though the natives are much less
affected by