Three Years in Tristan da Cunha | Page 6

of the
stone they are built of is porous, in consequence of which the walls on
the south side are very damp and are often covered on the inside with a
green slime. The houses are thatched with a reed-like grass called
tussock, which is grown in the gardens or on a piece of ground near.
The thatch will last from ten to fifteen years, that on the sunny side
lasting considerably the longer. Turf is used to cover the ridge of the
roof, but this is not altogether satisfactory as the soil works through,
and when there is a gale the rooms below are thick with dust. Perhaps
the dust is also caused by the innumerable wood-lice which work in the
wood and make a fine wood-dust. Every house has a loft running the
whole length of it. We found ours the greatest boon as it was the only
place we had in which to keep the year's stores. The woodwork of
nearly all the houses is from wrecked ships; boards from the decks
form the flooring, masts and yards appear as beams, cabin doors give
entrance to the rooms.
The houses when I first went into them struck me as most dreary; no
fire, hardly any furniture, just a bare table, a wooden sofa which is
nearly always used as a bed, a bench, and perhaps a chair, with a

seaman's chest against the wall, a chimney-piece covered with a pinked
newspaper hanging, on which stood pieces of crockery, on the walls a
few pictures and ancient photographs. There are large open fire-places,
but no grates or stoves, the cooking being done on two iron bars
supported by fixed stones.
The rooms are divided off by wooden partitions. There are generally
two bedrooms; the end one is also nearly always used as a kitchen, and
the groceries are usually kept there. On account of the high winds there
are generally windows only on the north of the house, which is the
sunny side, due to Tristan's being south of the equator.
Every house has a garden, but not used to grow vegetables or flowers,
which the people do not seem to care about, and certainly there are
difficulties owing to high winds, rats, fowls, and, not least, children.
They sometimes grow a few onions, cabbages and generally pumpkins:
a few pink roses and geraniums may be seen. Potatoes are their staple
food, and are grown in walled-in patches about three miles off. Each
house has one or two huts, in one of which they stow away their
potatoes, and also a lamb-house.
In the matter of clothing, the men have not much difficulty, as they
barter with the sailors on passing ships, giving in exchange the skins of
albatross and mollyhawks, the polished horns of oxen, small calf-skin
bags and penguin mats made by the women, and occasionally wild-cat
skins. They usually wear blue dungaree on week-days, and broadcloth
or white duck on Sundays. With the women and children it is different,
for they depend on parcels sent by friends, and as of late years there has
been no regular communication with the island they have been at times
very short, especially of underclothing. Now that whalers have begun
to call again, two or three appearing about Christmas time, they can
sometimes get material from them, but, except the dungaree, it is very
poor stuff, and they have to pay a high price in exchange. The women
usually have a very neat appearance, no hole is allowed to remain in a
garment, which is at once patched, and many and varied are the patches.
They wear blouses which they call jackets, and in the place of hats,
coloured handkerchiefs (occasionally procured from ships), which are

worn all day, from morning to night, and only taken off on very hot
days, or when they are going to be photographed, when as a rule no
amount of persuasion will induce them to keep them on. The little girls
wear sun-bonnets, "capies" they call them, and very well they look in
them. The little boys wear short jackets and long knickers. The women
and girls card and spin their own wool, which they knit into socks and
stockings.
As regards food, potatoes take the place of bread. There are about
twenty acres under cultivation, each man having his own patches. They
never change the seed and rarely the ground. A man may enclose as
many patches as he likes provided he cultivates them. They used to
manure their ground with seaweed, but found its constant use made the
ground hard; then they tried guano, and finally sheep manure, which
they use in large quantities. They get it by driving their sheep during
the lambing season four or five times a week into the