xr 



HANDICRAFTS 



205 



in 



columns of iron-wood. Holes about four feet 

 depth are dug for the reception of the butt ends of 

 these. They are disposed in the manner indicated 

 in the diagrams (Figs. 2,7 j 2>^y 39), so that a single row 

 supports the front of the house, another the back, and 

 a double row the middle.^ The intervals between 

 the columns of each row are about twenty feet, or 

 rather more. Each pile is erected by raising the 

 one end until the other slips into the hole. Rattans 



Fig. 37. 



are tied round it a little above its middle and 

 passed over a tall tripod of stout poles. A number 

 of men haul on these while others shove up the 

 top end with their shoulders. The pile is thus sus- 

 pended with its butt end resting so lightly on the 

 ground that it can easily be guided into the hole 

 prepared for its reception. Smaller accessory piles, 

 to serve as additional supports, are put under the 

 main cross beams of the floor when these have 



^ The pair of centre columns and the main columns supporting the roof 

 back and front should have been drawn thicker than the accessoiy columns 

 supporting the floor, and the width of the roof-plates is much greater than is 

 indicated in the diagrams. 



