Cook's Descriptions of Places, King Georges Island, page 23

Page 23

Cook's Descriptions of Places

King Georges Island

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King Georges Island (continued)

calculated for the continual warmth of the climate, they do not build them in Towns or Villiges, but seperate each from the other and always in the woods and are without walls so that the air coold by the shade of the trees has free access in whatever direction it hapens to blow, no country can bost of more delightfull walks than this; the whole plains where the natives reside are cover'd with groves of Bread fruit and Cocoa nut trees without under wood and intersected in all directions by the paths which go from house to house, so that nothing can be more gratefull in a Climate where the sun hath so powerfull an influance. They are generaly built in form of an Oblong square the roofs are supported by three rows of pillors or posts and neatly cover'd with thatch made of p_^^alm leaves, a middle-sized house is about 24 feet by 12 extreme height about 8 or 9 and height of the eves 3½ or 4, the flowers are coverd some Inches deep with hay upon which here and there lay matts for the conveniency of seting down, few houses has more than one stool which is only used by the Master of the family. in their houses are neither rooms or partitions but they all huddle and sleep to gether yet in this they generally observe some order, the married people laying by themselves and the unmarried each sex by themselves, at some small distance from each other —

Many of the Eares or Chiefs are more private having small movable houses in which they sleep man and wife which when they go by water from place to place are tied upon their canoes, these have walls made of Cocoa-nut leaves, &C^a—

I have said that the houses are without walls but this is only to be understood in general for many of them are wall'd with wickerding but not so Close but to admit a free circulation of air. The matts which serves them to set upon in the day time is also their bed in the night and the clothes they wear in

Voyaging Accounts

© Transcribed from National Library of Australia Manuscript 1 page 85, 2004
Published by South Seas
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook_remarks-023