The greater number are built at the back into rising ground, and their sides and top are covered with earth; the natives call them not “haré,” or houses, but “ana,” or caves. Where space permits it, the form is boat-shaped, but some have been adapted to natural contours.[58] The dwellings vary in shape and size, from 52 feet by 6 feet to 8 feet by 4 feet; the height within varies from 4 feet to over 6 feet, but it is the exception to be able to stand upright. In some cases they open out of one another, and not unfrequently there is a hatch between two through which food could be passed. The doorway, with its six foot of passage, is just large enough to admit a man. Into each of them, armed with ends of candles, we either crawled on hands and knees, or wriggled like serpents, according to our respective heights. The slabs lining the wall, which are just opposite the doorway, and thus obtain a little light, are frequently painted; some of them have bird and others native designs, but perhaps the most popular is a European ship, sometimes in full sail, and once with a sailor aloft in a red shirt (fig. 105). Inside the houses we found the flat, sea-worn boulders which are used as pillows and often incised with rough designs; there were also a few obsidian spear-heads, or mataa, and once or twice sphagnum from the crater, which was used for caulking boats, and also as a sponge to retain fresh water when at sea. Outside many of the doors are small stone-lined holes, which we cleared out and examined. They measure roughly rather under 2 feet across by some 15 inches in depth. Our guides first told us that they were “ovens,” but, as no ash was found, it seems probable that their second thoughts were right, and they were used to contain stores. [Illustration: FIG. 104. CENTRAL PORTION OF ORONGO VILLAGE. Left, house which contained image; centre, three houses opening on small quadrangle; right, canoe-shaped house with double entrance. ] [Illustration: FIG. 105 PAINTED SLABS FROM HOUSES AT ORONGO. I. Two pictorial representations of ao. II. A face adorned with paint. A European ship. [Height of slabs, 3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in.] ]