ontrary to the usage of some peoples, the Marquesans
employed the same kind of wood for both the fire-sticks, either a
species of hibiscus (_Hibiscus tiliaceus_) or a species of poplar
(_Thespesia populnea_); for this purpose they split a branch in two,
lengthwise, and used the two pieces as the fire-sticks. In former days
these fire-sticks were regularly kept in every native house.[29]

[27] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 118 _sq._; Krusenstern, _op. cit._
i. 162; Lisiansky, _op. cit._ p. 88; Langsdorff, _op. cit._ i.
152 (bows and arrows unknown); Vincendon-Dumoulin et C. Desgraz,
_op. cit._ pp. 282 _sq._

[28] Fleurieu, _op. cit._ i. 121; Krusenstern, _op. cit._ i.
162.

[29] H. Melville, _Typee_, pp. 118 _sq._; Clavel, _Les
Marquisiens_, pp. 11 _sq._ Compare G. Forster, _op. cit._ ii.
20; D. Porter, _op. cit._ ii. 116; Mathias G----, _op. cit._ p.
143.

The Marquesan houses are regularly built on stone platforms, oblong or
square in shape, and raised above the ground to heights varying from one
to four, eight, or even ten feet. The higher platforms are approached
from the ground by ladders or notched poles. The houses, constructed of
timber and bamboo, are oblong in shape, and comprise a high back wall,
generally inclined forward at an angle, from which the thatched roof
slopes down steeply to a low front wall, while two short walls close the
house at either end. The door is in the middle of the front wall, and
is so low that it is necessary to stoop in entering. Sometimes the
fronts of the houses are entirely open except for the low pillars which
support the roof. The interior of the house forms a single chamber
undivided by partitions. Two trunks of coco-nut palms extend parallel to
each other along the whole length of the floor at an interval of four or
five feet; the innermost log, a foot or two distant from the back wall,
forms a pillow on which the heads of the sleepers rest, while the other
supports their feet or legs. The space between the two logs is paved
with stone, and spread with mats. In the single apartment the whole
family live and sleep. Such at least were the domestic arrangements in
the old days. The size of the houses naturally varies. Some of them
measure eighty feet by forty, others only twenty-five feet by ten, or
even less.[30]

[30] J. Cook, _Voyages_, iii. 285 _sq._; G. Forster, _op. cit._
pp. 21, 24; J. Wilson, _op. cit._ pp. 131, 134 _sq._; L