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The Hare Pou

The hare pou was described by my informants as another type of house, but they knew nothing about its architecture. Their only knowledge was derived from a song (pese).

Poupou hare no Pou-toru,
Ka hanake koe mei Savaiki,
Ka ma tua koe ia Taritoa,
Ko hakaaroha, pinga te poi.

Posts of the house from Pou-toru,
You have come up from Hawaiki,
You are the senior generation through Taritoa,
Love wells up, all is good!

The significance of this song could not be explained in detail, and the rough translation may not adequately convey the meaning. The phrase, pinga te poi, was said to be short for pinga te ipoipo (very good).

Coconut leaf shelters were quickly made on the plantations from coconut leaves arranged roughly in the form of a bell tent. (See fig. 7.) A few of these shelters were seen on the islands not permanently inhabited, but the demonstration of the technique was, unfortunately, crowded out by the rush of other work. This type of shelter was probably made by visitors when they were given a camping ground away from the settlements. It required no wooden framework, a vast consideration with the tools in use.