52 DUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 69 
token of the truth of their victory. This castle has two gates, one on 
the east side and one on the west side. On the east: side a lock of 
hair was also hanging; but this gate was 14 feet smaller than the other 
one... . This castle is situated on a very high hill, and was sur- 
rounded with two rows of palisades. It was 767 paces in circum- 
ference. There are 66 houses, but much better, higher, and more - 
finished than all the others we saw. A good many houses had wooden 
fronts that are painted with all sorts of beasts. There they sleep 
mostly on elevated boards, more than any other savages.” 
Seldom were the outsides of dwellings of tribes east of the Mississippi 
decorated in any manner, consequently this reference is of special 
interest. However, the lack of decoration should probably be 
attributed to the nature of the structures rather than to any other 
cause, as the mat-covered habitations of the Algonquian tribes did 
not present a good surface for painting. But among the southern 
people houses were sometimes deco- 
rated. This will be described later. 
Westward beyond the Oneida lay 
the Onondaga, at whose chief town, 
Onondaga, burned the Great Council 
Fire of the League of the Iroquois. 
This most important village was 
Fig. 2.—Bark house. Method of construction removed from place to place, but 
of the Iroquois long house. (From Handbook always remained within a rather 
of American Indians.) ; 
small radius, and many of the 
various sites which have been discovered in the southeastern 
part of the present Onondaga County may at some time have been 
occupied by this town, which should be termed the capital of the 
league. | 
On July 21, 1743, when Bartram and his party arrived at Onondaga 
they stopped before the council house where they were received by 
the chiefs who had gathered to greet them. They were conducted to 
the apartments at both ends of the long house (fig. 2). These they 
were to occupy during their stay. Their Indian attendants were 
given adjoining apartments. Fortunately an interesting description 
of the structure, together with a plan (fig. 3), was preserved in the 
narrative of the journey (Bartram, J., (1), pp. 40-41): 
‘‘This ‘cabin is about 80 feet long, and 17 broad, the common 
passage 6 feet wide; and the apartments on each side 5 feet, raised a 
foot above the passage by a long sapling hewed square, and fitted 
with joists that go from it to the back of the house; on thesejoists they 
lay large pieces of bark, and on‘extraordinary occasions spread matts 
made of rushes, this favour we had; on these floors they set or lye down 
every one as he will, the apartments are divided from each other by 
boards or bark, 6 or 7 feet long, from the lower floor to the upper, on 
