In
Shape They Greatly Resembled A Haystack, The Sides Being Composed Of
Grass Or Bunches Of Leaves, More Often The Latter.
They are generally
built on a platform of rocks, with doors upon two or more sides,
according to the size of the hut; and a sloping sort of rough plank
with notches on it leads from the ground to each door.
In the interior,
the sides of the walls are often beautifully lined with the stems of
reeds, fashioned very neatly, and in some cases in really artistic
patterns, and tied together with thin ropes of coconut fibre, dyed
various colours, and often ornamented with rows of large white cowry
shells. The floor of these huts is much like a springy mattress,
being packed to a depth of several feet with palm and other leaves,
and on the top are strips of native mats permanently fastened, whereas
in Samoa the floor is made up of small pieces of brittle white coral,
over which are loose mats, which can be moved at will. In Fijian
huts there is always a sort of raised platform at one end of the hut,
on which are piles of the best native mats, and, being the guest, I
generally got this to myself. The roof inside is very finely thatched,
the beams being of "Niu sau," a native palm,[5] the cross-pieces and
main supports being enormous bits of hard wood. The smaller supports of
the sides are generally the trunks of tree-ferns.
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