Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

1835. CHIEFS — NATIVE HOUSES. 511 not existed in the conduct of Mr. or Mrs. Wilson. Two chiefs, of inferior rank, made acquaintance with us; they walked into the room, shook hands, sat down at their ease, and conversed with Mr. Wilson in exactly the manner of respectable English farmers. They were large, but inactive-looking men, and round-shouldered — suitably clothed, above the knees, in clean white jackets, shirts, and wrapper trowsers, with their closely- cut hair hidden by a large straw-hat— their appearance was very respectable. ' la-orana,' pronounced ' yoronha,' was a salutation we soon learned ; but one of my younger shipmates was a little perplexed during his first excursion, " Why does every one call me 'Your honour,'" said he. Most of our officers and many of the men passed the evening on shore, and Mr. Darwin and myself rambled about until darkness summoned all on board. Often as the native houses have been described, I found them different from the idea I had formed. Perhaps they are now rather slighter, and not constructed exactly like those of other times. Upon slight posts, placed in the ground in a long ellipse, a very light and elegant frame-work of ' purau'* is supported. This frame-work forms the low, but extensive roof; and upon it a thatch of pandanus leaves,— simply doubled upon twigs or reeds placed crosswise on the purau-wood rafters, which have their ends outwards, — forms a light covering, impervious to water, regular, indeed pretty to the eye, impenetrable by heat, and easily replaced once in eight or ten years. The middle of the roof forms an obtuse angle, as a common low roof does elsewhere ; but the ends are rounded. The purau rafters are placed at equal distances around the circumference, converging as radii to the centres and central hne of the ellipse. All of them are of equal length and size, and their ends are generally orna- mented with a neat matting, made of a mosaic f pattern. Each line of twigs, holding the leaves, is straight and equi-distant from the next ; and as, in the house, only about three inches of the smooth surface of each leaf is seen between the lines of twigs, the flat under surface, of an uniform appearance and * The ' purau' is something like bamboo. t Or arabesque.