BARA HOUSES. 



203 



and four-square. " There is no dressed wood used in build- 

 ing, the various parts are tied by bark or held together by- 

 wooden pegs ; there are no iron nails used. The corners 

 are made of round poles, as are also the ridge and gable posts. 

 The size of the houses varies, from the smallest scarcely five 

 feet square, to sixteen or eighteen in the case of the kings. 

 The height of the walls is never as much as six feet, and 

 sometimes less than three. The walls and gables are made 

 of bamboo, or the stalks of a long grass called vdro. These 

 are held together by cross pieces of the same material. In 

 houses of the better kind there is an outer and inner wall, 

 and long grass is fixed between the two. The inside is 

 plastered with cow-dung, is open to the roof, and roofed with 

 very long grass. The bed of the B6,ra is always on the west 

 side, with the head to the doorway; the Tanosy bed is gene- 

 rally in the same position, while that of the Mahafaly is 

 against the south wall. Among the Bara there is no special 

 place for the hearth. A shelf of bamboo is fixed against the 

 south wall; and on the walls and suspended from the ridge 

 jDole are pegs for hanging powder-flasks, belts, charms, &c. 

 The following simple diagram will show at a glance the style 

 and differences of the houses in the three tribes." 



BARA 



TAXOST 



MAHAFALY 



Q\Valerpol3 



iFirci Fire 



;Place,' Place 



Shelf 



w 



" The beds are sometimes raised a foot or more ; they are 

 constructed of round poles, and are sometimes surrounded by 

 a mat lilvc curtains, a rush mat being the only mattress. The 

 north door can never be used by the B^ra while the father 

 and mother of the couple who inhabit the house are living. 



