THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 107 



s'i2aths, which fall with the leaves are about one-eighth 

 of an inch thick, three to five feet long, and as wide as the 

 c'rcumlerence of the green "bud part" of the trunk, i. e., 

 about two feet ; when cut from the leaves these are called 

 "yaguas," and are worth half a cent or more apiece lor 

 thj "siding" of the houses. 



In forming the sides of the house narrow strips of the 

 bark of the "majagua" tree {Paritium tiliaceum) are used 

 to lace the "yaguas" to the poles of the framework. 

 Though a heavy rain maj^ drive through the cracks and 

 holes for the lacing thongs, when well overlapped there is 

 little fault to find with the cheapness and durability of 

 this unique lumber. 



For the floor the outside shell-like part of the Yagua 

 trunk is split into long strips about four inches wide ; 

 these boards, or rather slabs, laid with the convex side 

 uppermost make a floor which never wears out and which 

 always has plenty of cracks through which the dirt falls 

 (for of course it is not often swept) to the ground below. 



The roof is thatched with the leaves or, more often, 

 with the " pencas " of -the yagua or with the leaves of the 

 cocoanut, or else with a kind of bunch grass ; it leaks 

 during only the heaviest rains. The house is usually 

 about ten feet square, with two doors and one or tv^o 

 windows. The doors and windows are made of the same 

 "yaguas" bound into a light framework, and mayor 

 ma\' not have hinges ; no glass is ever used, of course. 

 The frame of the house rests on posts from two to four 

 feet high ; this plan keeps the interior much drier and 

 freer from vermin. When the "jibero's " familv becomes 

 large he constructs a rude low partition extending as 

 high as the eaves, but only about two-thirds of the way 

 across the middle of the interior. Sometime? a kitchen is 

 built as a "lean to " shed at the back of the house. 



The total cost of material (supposing it had to be 

 actually bought) for such a house is about five dollars; 

 and with labor at thirty cents a day the expense of 

 erection v^^ould not exceed three dollars. The furniture is, 



