. The history of mankind . a height of 80 to 100 stem below is stripped of all unnecessary branches, and perfectly made from liana or bamboo, which can be drawn up, serve to climb intothese tree-huts, in which stones and spears are stored. At the foot of each tree asecond hut is built, to live in during the day. The size of the buildings is the expression of social conditions. Where onefamily inhabits the house, as in Polynesia, they are small, becoming larger in 264 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND proportion as the family groups adhere to the old custom of a common
. The history of mankind . a height of 80 to 100 stem below is stripped of all unnecessary branches, and perfectly made from liana or bamboo, which can be drawn up, serve to climb intothese tree-huts, in which stones and spears are stored. At the foot of each tree asecond hut is built, to live in during the day. The size of the buildings is the expression of social conditions. Where onefamily inhabits the house, as in Polynesia, they are small, becoming larger in 264 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND proportion as the family groups adhere to the old custom of a common houses belonging to individuals are rare. In Fiji, where the houses are very-fine, the old customs had been much weakened by the prosperity of the aristocracyof chiefs even before the English annexation. As regards size, and in other respects,the architecture of the Solomon Islands comes nearest to that of Fiji, the NewHebrides standing a stage lower. The chiefs houses, the capacious assembly and guest-houses, the boat-. Stool from Dorey in New Guinea—one-seventh real size.(Christy Collection.) houses, are carefully builtand adorned with carvedwork, painting, and skulls ;while large pots, orna-mental bowls, plaited work,and here and there fire-arms form the most highly-valued decorations. InNew Guinea the villagehalls, called marea, arespecially notable. Evenin the pile-villages they arefound in a reduced New Hanover and NewIreland they are buildingsof moderate size, 12 feetby 25 or 30 feet ; so, too,in New Britain, where theroof of palm-leaves, pro- jecting a little beyond the outer walls, has on either side a kind of turret, on the top of which is a bundle of reeds. It is in Micronesia that the assembly or club-houses are most conspicuous. In Yap, Pelew, and Mancape in the Gilberts, two kinds of houses are universally distinguished — the family houses, blais, and the great houses or bais. The building of the great houses is a political matter, and as such entru
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectethnology, bookyear18
