There are no windows, and the door is the only place for letting in the light and letting out the smoke of the fire, which is generally burning in the centre of the hut on the floor. Most dwellings are divided into two parts; one is used for sleeping purposes, whilst the other is occupied in the day time. The Solomon islander is luxurious and likes a bed to lie on, which is made very much like an ordinary miner’s bed: two logs form the top and bottom on which rest a dozen or more long poles lashed together. The whole is covered with mats. A pillow made of a small round log is used by the particularly luxurious.

Beyond the actual necessities, such as these beds and a few cooking-pots, and weapons of war and field, there is nothing else in the huts, and the interiors are gloomy and depressing.

The platform outside is used by the owners to sit and lounge on. The roof of the house projects over the platform and protects those sitting on it from the sun and rain. {88}

Each house belongs to its individual owner, and not, as in many other places, to the village. There are strict laws governing property, and on the death of the owner it is handed down to his or her nearest relation. The same law applies to yam patches and land plots. Each man holds certain rights which are protected by the people, and though the laws are unwritten, they are closely adhered to—superstition playing a great and important part in preventing any violation of them.

The chief of the village generally inhabits a much larger house than his subjects, and in many cases he has other houses round him for the accommodation of his wives, relatives, and descendants.

Palavanua is the name by which the smaller houses are called, and Euro is the name given to the larger ones. Though the Euros are of similar construction, they are far more elaborately built and are generally used as a shelter for war canoes or for the spare habitation of a chief. Nearly all villages have an Euro in their centre, and they are sometimes used on state occasions for meetings and ceremonies. The chief’s private house is taboo, or sacred, and no one but he may enter it; an awful calamity would befall an intruder. {89}

Some chiefs have a separate compartment in their own home where their wives sleep, whilst others prefer to have them a little distance off.

Each house has one particular pole in front of it, holding the ridge pole which is “Hope,” or sacred. It is grotesquely carved with figures in threatening attitudes; and all manner of rubbish is laid at the foot of this household god, piled up loosely, and looking very much like an ordinary rubbish heap. Old axe-heads, tins, shells, worn-out hats, canes, old cooking-bowls, and pipes, are amongst the most popular articles given to this god.

There seem to be no particular laws regarding sleep, the married women only are partitioned off, whilst every one else is at liberty to sleep where he or she feels most inclined.

The canoe houses are very well built. Ingova’s at Rubiana was a particularly good one, having two large doors with slits above them running nearly to the roof to admit the long and high prows of his canoes. The sides of the house were partitioned off into shelves where his favoured guests were allowed, and expected, to sleep. On three sides it is surrounded by dense scrub, or was a few years ago, and the front looked out on to the lagoon. This place, Rubiana, is one of the most difficult {90} places in the world to enter, and it was probably chosen by the wily old chief for that very reason. One entrance from the sea, termed the “back passage,” is simply a maze of small islands, and it requires a man not only of extraordinary courage but of consummate skill to navigate a boat through them without damaging it. Having safely manipulated the passage all is well, and the wide expanse of clear calm water which fronts Rubiana well repays the anxiety spent in reaching it.

There is little wonder that in this stronghold Ingova was able to defy his enemies, and with his army of head-hunters carry terror into the villages of his neighbours, but of these exploits anon.

Tambu houses are also built and used as meeting-houses, and being freed from “taboo,” in the sense that any one may enter them, they are used by the young men of the village as a kind of rendezvous, and crowds of natives can always be seen lounging about in them or sitting in rows gossiping. They are also used for general meetings, councils, and certain ceremonies. It is customary, and etiquette, to go direct to the tambu house on arriving at a village, and there, before the crowd, state your business. In this way you are sure to win the good opinion of the natives. There are always {91} plenty of them waiting to hear anything of interest.