60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bllt. 4? 



That rlone they plant the other i)()les in the earth in straight lines between 

 those at the corners. When they are thus planted they are bound tirndy to a 

 cross pole on the inside of each face [or side]. For this purpose they use 

 great cane pplints to bind them, at the height of 5 or 6 feet, according to the 

 size of the cal)in. This is what forms the walls. These erect poles are not 

 more than about 15 inches apart. A young man then mounts to the top of a 

 corner post with a cord between his teeth. He fastens the cord to tlie pole, and 

 as he mounts inward the pole bends because those who are below draw the cord 

 to make the pole curve as much as is needed. At the same time another young 

 man does the same to the pole fornnng the angle o])posite. Then the two poles, 

 bent to a suitable height, are firmly and smoothly bound together. The same h 

 done to the poles of the two remaining corners which are made to cross the first. 

 P'inally all the other poles are joined at the top, giving the whole the appearance 

 iif a bower in a greenhouse such as we have in France. After this work canes 

 are fastened to the lower sides or walls crosswij-e about 8 inches apart, as high 

 up as the pole which I have spoken of as determining the height of the walls. 



These canes being fastened in this manner, they make mud walls of earth 

 mortar {mortier de terre) in which they put a certain amoiuit of Spanish 

 beard. These walls are not more than 4 inches thick. No opening is left 

 except the door, which is but 2 feet wide at most by 4 in height, and some are 

 very much smaller. Finally they cover the framework I have just described 

 with cane mats, placing the smoothest on the inside of the cabin, and they 

 fasten them to each other carefully so that they join well. 



xVfter this they make many bundles of grass, of the tallest they can find in the 

 low grounds, which are 4 or 5 feet long. It is laid down in the same manner 

 as the straw with which cottages are covered. They fasten this grass by means 

 of large canes and splints also made of cane. After the cabin has been covered 

 with grass they cover all with cane mats well bound together, and below they 

 make a circle of lianas all the way around the cabin. Then the grass is 

 clipped uniformly, and in this way, however high the wind may be, it can do 

 nothing against the cabin. These coverings last twenty years without repairing.'' 



When out hunting, rough brush shelters were erected, closed on 

 the north side on account of the cold.^ The furniture of even the best 

 of these cabins was evidently very simple, since Charlevoix says of 

 the cabin of the great chief of the Natchez himself : "All the furniture 

 I found in it was a narrow couch of boards raised about 2 or 3 feet 

 above the ground."'' This, however, would mean nothing more than 

 that the couch Avas the only immovable piece of furniture, since the 

 town was deserted at the time of Charlevoix's visit, all the people 

 having gone to a feast at another place. The beds are described by 

 Duuiont and Du Prat/ as follows: 



-Vround these cabins are ranged at regular intervals the beds of all those who 

 dwell there. These beds are neither turned nor i)oIished. They are only four 

 forked posts planted in the earth and raised about 2A feet, on which are placed 

 lengthwise, two round poles which with five or six crosspieces make the length 

 and breadth of th<' bed such as is desired. These crosspieces are covered with 

 a mat made of long green canes, and this is what the bed of a savage cf)nsists 

 of, without clothing, without mattress, or feather bed. On this cane mat is 



"Du Pratz, Hist, do T,n T.nnisinno, it, 172-175 



"- Uiid., I, 'J:-.!-'.':?."). 



<= French, Hist. Coll. La., KJO, 1.S51. 



