374 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I33 



volcanic rock, porous and light. Brain was not used in softening hides. 



Hides were sewed together with strands of horse sinew or very 

 narrow strips of the thin skin found on the flesh side of horsehide. 

 "I have seen my mother take the sinew that lies along the full length of 

 the spine of the horse including the tail, pound it to softness, and then 

 pull the fibers apart. She used these as thread." A young man, upon 

 the advice of his mother, had recently used strips of the inner lining 

 of horsehide to sew together parts of a bridle; his mother had used 

 similar strips to sew together hides for toldo coverings some years ago. 



Dwellings today are i- or 2-room gable-roofed houses (pis. 63-67). 

 An occasional one has an added lean-to which consists of one wall on 

 the side of prevailing winds, and a roof. Occasionally, too, a sun 

 shelter is seen, made of poles overlaid with a roof (pi. 65, i). It is 

 not unusual for a family to have a shed for sleeping or storage 

 purposes. 



The framework of the gable-roofed dwelling is of poles or tree 

 trunks. The roof may be thatched with grass or straw, or made of 

 overlapping logs, overlaid lumber, shingles, or tin. Grasses used are 

 totora, coiron (unidentified), and junco ; straw is that of wheat. If logs 

 are used, they are sawed in half lengthwise, hollowed out, and laid 

 side by side across the roof with the hollowed-out side up. A second 

 layer of similar logs, but in inverted position, is placed over these so 

 that the sides of each will rest in the hollows of the first layer. The 

 second layer forms the watershed ; the first provides drainage. Boards 

 used as roofing are nailed lengthwise across the roof, each one over- 

 lapping the upper part of the one below it. Shingles and tin are 

 arranged in the same manner. The floor of the dwelling is usually 

 the ground ; in rare cases, planks. 



The exterior walls are often slats of wood with bark, such as can 

 be obtained at sawmills ; sometimes they are boards. They are nailed 

 to the framework in either horizontal or vertical position. Spaces be- 

 tween slats are filled in with adobe or covered with discarded pieces of 

 tin of various sizes and shapes. If boards and slats cannot be ob- 

 tained, the leafy ends of colihiie stalks are used instead. Adobe is 

 plastered between and over them. Usually only the room in which 

 the fireplace is located has windows. The door is generally at the 

 gable end of the house. The interior walls are unfinished; the roof 

 forms the ceiling. 



House furnishings, in general, are a table with one or two suitable 

 benches ; low benches around an open fireplace or stove ; and shelves 

 attached to walls as separate boards or in a box, used for storing 

 dishes, food, and other things. Sleeping is done on sheep pelts laid on 



