INTRODUCTION. 17 



To build a tent, they first set poles very firmly 

 in the ground, then spread on the covering and 

 fastened it to ihern. The edges of the covering 

 are fixed to the ground by pegs, or in some 

 other similar way. The patriarchs mentioned in 

 the Old Testament dwelt in tents. As their 

 wealth consisted chiefly of cattle, they could 

 thus move their houses from place to place, to 

 new pastures, very conveniently. The Tartars 

 and Bedouin Arabs still spread their tents in the 

 deserts, and some of them are large and con- 

 venient, and very richly ornamented. 



ACCOUNT OF FRAMED HOUSES. 



I cannot tell exactly at what period men 

 first learned to cut the trunks of trees into a 

 2* 



