No churlish old curmudgeon could have been the owner of that grove of bread-fruit trees, or of these gloriously yellow bunches of bananas.
From what I have said it will be perceived that there is a vast difference between 'personal property' and 'real estate' in the valley of Typee.

Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy than others.
For example, the ridge-pole of Marheyo's house bends under the weight of many a huge packet of tappa; his long couch is laid with mats placed one upon the other seven deep.

Outside, Tinor has ranged along in her bamboo cupboard--or whatever the place may be called--a goodly array of calabashes and wooden trenchers.

Now, the house just beyond the grove, and next to Marheyo's, occupied by Ruaruga, is not quite so well furnished.

There are only three moderate-sized packages swinging overhead: there are only two layers of mats beneath; and the calabashes and trenchers are not so numerous, nor so tastefully stained and carved.
But then, Ruaruga has a house--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but just as commodious as Marheyo's; and, I suppose, if he wished to vie with his neighbour's establishment, he could do so with very little trouble.
These, in short, constituted the chief differences perceivable in the relative wealth of the people in Typee.
Civilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has not even her full share of them.