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largest house contained a single chamber nearly 40 feet long; three were over 30 feet, and eight measured over 20 feet in length, with other dimensions approximately the same as the general average. These rude dwellings were not in all cases confined to a single apartment; some have one and a few have two or three recess chambers opening out of the main room; but they were dark little dens, having no separate light or ventilation.
   Near the center of this assemblage of houses there is a sort of square court with eight door-ways opening upon it. These might be considered separate and distinct dwellings, though the apartments are connected by interior passage-ways, making it possible to pass from one to the other. At the extreme end of the point a similar collection of houses opens upon a circular court, and the interiors are also connected.
   In front of each house and about 10 feet from the door-way, small excavations lined with slabs of stone, making holes about a foot wide and 2 feet long and about 20 inches deep, indicated the culinary arrangements of the former inhabitants. The modus operandi of preparing the food was primitive in the extreme; a fire was built in the rude oven and removed when the stones were sufficiently heated, a covering of damp earth being placed over the oven to retard the radiation of heat.
   Thorough examination demonstrated the fact that these peculiar houses were not precisely alike in all respects, though the same general characteristics prevailed. Those at the extreme point of the ridge (Plate XXI) bear evidence of great antiquity, and much excavation was necessary before a satisfactory examination could be made of the door-posts or stone supports to the entrances, which were covered with hieroglyphics and rudely carved figures. From houses numbered 2, 3, and 4 (Fig 6) on Lieutenant Symond's chart of Orongo, were taken samples of these sculptures for the National Museum. The large beach pebbles were obtained by digging to a depth of 2 feet below the door-posts, and are of considerable interest both from the dense nature of the material and the fact that these carvings were found frequently repeated throughout the island.
   The majority of the houses at Orongo are in a fair state of preservation and bear evidence of having been occupied at no very remote period. The result of the investigation here showed very little of carving on stone, but the smooth slabs lining the walls and ceilings were ornamented with mythological figures and rude designs painted in white, red, and black pigments. Houses marked 1, 5, and 6 on Lieutenant Symond's chart were demolished at the expense of great labor and the frescoed slabs obtained. Digging beneath the door-posts and under the floors produced nothing beyond a few stone implements. The houses in this vicinity occupy such a prominent position that they were naturally robbed of everything in the way of relics by the natives, who were beginning to appreciate the value of such things through the importance placed upon them by the foreign vessels that

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