48 KAR NICOBAR 



has an alarum attached, so that any nocturnal intruder will 

 make his presence known. 



The top of each pile is fitted with a large, circular, wooden 

 disc, to prevent the entry of rats and reptiles,* and beneath 

 the house, in the shade, there is generally a swing, and also 

 a platform of springy cane that serves the native for a lounge. 

 Baskets, bag - shaped and wide - meshed, hang from the piles, 

 and in these the hens are put when it is laying-time. 



Inside, the walls are generally neatly lined with thin battens 

 of areca palm attached horizontally ; up in the roof, a kind of 

 attic is formed, by means of a light shelving of areca or other 

 palm wood, having a square aperture left in the centre for 

 entrance. On the floor, which is also grated, are the wooden 

 clothes - chests that contain the family possessions, betel - boxes, 

 the mats of areca palm leaf, and the wooden head-rests which 

 are used when sleeping ; and from the walls hang baskets,, 

 spears, crossbows, suspensory contrivances made from small 

 branches with part of the twigs left on, and also some tobacco, 

 coconuts, and a piece of pork — the offering to the spirits. 



The other type of building {kamun telikd) is used as a 

 kitchen ; it has a ridged but curved roof, an oblong floor, rounded 

 at the back and in front, and a platform, and a semicircular pro- 

 jection of the roof to shade the doorway. 



At the further end the fireplace is situated. A flat block 

 of wood is hollowed out and covered with sand or clay, and 

 huge clay pots — often with a capacity of many gallons — stand 

 above it, on pieces of stone, raising them clear of the coconut 

 husks which are the principal fuel. Around lie pandanus fruit, 

 the boards and shells with which it is prepared for eating, and 

 the thorn-armed leaf-stems of the rattan, which the natives use 

 for grating up coconut. Up in the roof, are stuck, between 

 the thatch and the rafters, hollowed - out wooden troughs, in 

 which the food of the pigs, dogs, and other animals is prepared ; 

 flat wooden dishes, provision baskets, and fans for blowing up 

 the fire, made of the sheathing petiole of palm trees, while, 



* The Dyaks of Borneo employ a similar protection in their rice granaries. 



