60 BE^BEUF AND HIS ASSOCIATES. [1634-35. 



The house was constructed after the Huron model.^ 

 It was thirty-six feet long and about twenty feet 

 wide, framed with strong sapHng poles planted in 

 the earth to form the sides, with the ends bent into 

 an arch for the roof, — the whole lashed firmly 

 together, braced with cross-poles, and closely cov- 

 ered with overlapping sheets of bark. Without, 

 the structure was strictly Indian ; but within, the 

 priests, with the aid of their tools, made innova- 

 tions which were the astonishment of aU the coun- 

 try. They divided their dwelling by transverse 

 partitions into three apartments, each with its 

 wooden door, — a wondrous novelty in the eyes of 

 their visitors. The first served as a hall, an ante- 

 room, and a place of storage for corn, beans, and 

 dried fish. The second — the largest of the three — 

 was at once kitchen, workshop, dining-room, draw- 

 ing-room, school-room, and bed-chamber. The 

 third was the chapel. Here they made their altar, 

 and here were their images, pictures, and sacred 

 vessels. Then- fii'e was on the ground, in the mid- 

 dle of the second apartment, the smoke escaping by 

 a hole in the roof. At the sides were placed two 

 wide platforms, after the Huron fashion, four feet 

 from the earthen floor. On these were chests in 

 which they kept their clothing and vestments, and 

 beneath them they slept, reclining on sheets of 

 bark, and covered with skins and the garments 

 they wore by day. Rude stools, a hand-mill, a 

 large Indian mortar of wood for crushing corn, 

 and a clock, completed the furniture of the room. 



1 See Introduction. 



