PECULIAR HUTS 



41 



supported by twenty or more upright poles planted irregularly 

 about the interior, a thick covering of large mats is laid. The 

 mats are made by fastening the stripped mid-ribs of a species 

 of fern-palm side by side with a rattan lashing after the style 

 of a " chick," and then securing at right angles to the foundation 

 thus constructed a thick layer of the pinnae of the same plant. 

 For doors, several of the lower mats are arranged to roll up, 

 and leave an opening about 4 feet square. Sleeping plat- 

 forms are formed by laying split bamboos lengthwise on a 

 framework, measuring about 5 feet by 4 feet, which is raised 

 above the ground on legs 6 to 18 inches high. Each hut con- 

 tains a number of such bed-places, and beside each of them 

 were the ashes of a small fire.* 



Little Andaman Canoe. 



Near the hut lay a nearly completed dug-out canoe (of the 

 wood of Sterculia canipanulaia), about 28 feet long by 3 feet 

 wide and deep, of the usual Andamanese form, with sawed- 

 off ends, and projecting platforms at bow and stern, forming 

 convenient places to stand on when spearing turtle and fish. 

 The sides were left about \\ inches thick; and although the 

 canoe was constructed from soft wood, even now, when they 



* " The hut was of the usual type of Little Andaman dwellings, having raised 

 platforms for the married people to sleep on ; several large baskets were slung 

 up to the roof, and two rows of pigs' skulls ornamented the walls, showing from 

 their numbers (about 500) that there was no lack of food." — >L V. Portman. 



