FIRE. DWELLINGS. 421 



mats are about four feet long, are made of rushes, and are 

 used either as beds, or in the construction of wigwams. 



They obtain fire by rubbing a piece of wood in a hole. 

 The Chippeways and Natchez tribes are said to have had an 

 institution for keeping up a perpetual fire, certain persons 

 being set aside and devoted to this occupation. 



The huts or wigwams are generally of two kinds, one for 

 summer, and the other for winter. The winter wigwam 

 of the Dacotahs is thus described by Schoolcraft : " To erect 

 one of them it is only necessary to cut a few saplings about 

 fifteen feet in length, place the large ends on the ground in 

 a circle, letting the tops meet, thus forming a cone. The 

 buffalo- skins, sewed together in the form of a cap, are then 

 thrown over them and fastened together with a few splints. 

 The fire is made on the ground in the centre of the wigwam, 

 and the smoke escapes through an aperture at the top. 

 These wigwams are warm and comfortable. The other 

 kind of hut is made of bark, usually that of the elm."* 

 The huts of the Mandans,f Minatarees, etc., were circular in 

 form and from forty to sixty feet in diameter. The earth was 

 removed to a depth of about two feet. The framework was 

 of timber, covered with willow boughs, but leaving a space 

 in the middle to serve both as chimney and window. Over 

 the woodwork was placed a thick layer of earth, and at 

 the top of all some tough clay, which was impervious to 

 water, and in time became quite hard, as in fine weather the 

 tops of the huts were the common lounging place for the 

 whole tribe. Though these dwellings were sometimes kept 

 very clean and tidy, J this was not always the case. Speak- 

 ing of the Nootka Sound Indians, Captain Cook says : "The 

 nastiness and stench of their houses are, however, at least 



* I.e. vol. ii., p. 191. J Catiin's American Indians, vol. 



f This tribe, one of the most inte- i., p. 82. 



resting, has been entirely swept away Third Voyage, vol. ii., p. 316. 



by the small-pox. 



