AGRICULTURE 99 



houses will be reconstructed on the old site or one 

 adjacent to it, if no circumstances arise to tempt 

 them to migrate to a more distant country, and if the 

 course of their life on the old site has run smoothly, 

 without misfortunes such as much sickness, con- 

 flagrations, or serious attacks by other villages. 

 After this interval the land is regarded as being 

 almost as good as the virgin forest land, and has 

 the advantage that the jungle on it can be more 

 easily felled. But since no crop equals that obtain- 

 able from virgin soil, it is customary to include at 

 least a small area of it in the operations of each 

 year. 



Each family cultivates its own patch of land, 

 selecting it by arrangement with other families, and 

 works as large an area as the strength and number 

 of the roomhold permits. A hillside sloping down 

 to the bank of a river or navigable stream is con- 

 sidered the choicest area for cultivation, partly 

 because of the efficient drainage, partly because the 

 felling is easier on the slope, and because the 

 stream affords easy access to the field. 



When an area has been chosen, the men of the 

 roomhold first cut down the undergrowth of a 

 V-shaped area, whose apex points up the hill, and 

 whose base lies on the river bank. This done, 

 they call in the help of other men of the house, 

 usually relatives who are engaged in preparing 

 adjacent areas, and all set to work to fell the large 

 trees. In the clearing of virgin forest, when very 

 large trees, many of which have at their bases 

 immense buttresses, have to be felled, a platform 

 of light poles is built around each of these giants 

 to the height of about 15 feet. Two men standing 

 upon this rude platform on opposite sides of the 

 stem attack it with their small springy-hafted axes 

 (Fig. 11) above the level of the buttresses (PI. 

 55). One man cuts a deep notch on the side 



