He continued in such mood until we arrived at what had evidently been at some time a flourishing village, but was now only a smoking ruin. Phil and I glanced at each other in triumph. Now we understood why Benson was perplexed. He had recognized the shouts of triumph as coming from the Happars instead of the Typees, and began to believe his friends had lost the battle. Until that moment he was confident the Typees could vanquish any force sent against them, and that the fact had thus been disproved, probably worried him. I was at a loss to understand whether this might work to our benefit or injury; but for the time being it pleased me that Benson was not getting along as swimmingly as he fancied when we first ran so unluckily upon him. The Britisher stood facing the ruins for an instant as if at a loss to know what course to pursue, and then he bade us march ahead of him up a narrow path which led to the right through a dense thicket. We travelled at a smart pace for fifteen or twenty minutes, and then were come to a dwelling, unoccupied, which Benson entered without hesitation and with evident relief of mind. This same house has been described by another, and I can do no better than give his exact words in picturing it:-- "About midway up the ascent of a rather abrupt rise of ground waving with richest verdure, a number of large stones were laid in successive courses to the height of nearly eight feet, and disposed in such a manner that their level surface corresponded in shape with the habitation which was perched upon it. "A narrow space, however, was reserved in front of the dwelling, upon the summit of this pile of stones (called by the natives a 'pi-pi'), which, being enclosed by a little picket of canes gave it somewhat the appearance of a veranda. "The frame of the house was constructed of large bamboos planted uprightly, and secured together at intervals by transverse stalks of the light wood of the hibiscus, lashed with thongs of bark. The rear of the tenement--built up with successive ranges of cocoanut boughs bound one upon another, with their leaflets cunningly woven together--inclined a little from the vertical, and extended from the extreme edge of the 'pi-pi' to about twenty feet from its surface; whence the shelving roof--thatched with the long, tapering leaves of the palmetto--sloped steeply off to within about five feet of the floor; leaving the eaves drooping with tassel-like appendages from the front of the habitation. "This dwelling was constructed of light and elegant canes, in a kind of open screen-work, tastefully adorned with bindings of variegated sinnate, which served to hold together its various parts. The sides of the house were similarly built; thus presenting three-quarters for the circulation of the air, while the whole was impervious to the rain. "In length this picturesque building was perhaps twelve yards, while in breadth it could not have exceeded as many feet.