384 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1901. 



top of an outer post opposite. This provided 25 cells or rooms about 

 12 feet square. The poles served for supporting the hammocks of the 

 occupants. The whole building was most carefully made, even the 

 vines used for holding it together being peeled and scraped (fig. 11). 

 The Jamamadi had left this great building on account of the pesti- 

 lence, and had erected several sheds 14 feet square, with thatched roofs. 

 These were entirely open at the sides and had platforms of split palm 



Mr 



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Fig. 11.— Detail of construction of Jamamadi Indian house, a, outer posts; b, inner posts; c, pole 

 dividing the rooms; d, lower hoop; c, upper hoop; r, rafters. 



wood raised 2 feet from the ground to serve as floors. These were 

 much like the poorer dwellings of the Tapuios, and probably made in 

 imitation of them. 



The Jamamadi are agriculturists and hunters. Their method of 

 cultivation is with tire. They cut the timber and burn the leaves and 

 smaller brush during the dry season, thus clearing the surface of the 

 soil, which they then plant among the logs and stumps. They get 

 about two crops and then allow the land to grow up to forest again. 



