SwANTON] INDIANS OP THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 387 



some being made of the inner bark of trees and some from a plant like daffo- 

 dils which when pounded remains like flax. (Robertson, 1933, pp. 75-76.) 



Taking up the winter house first, the type which seems to have been 

 most widely spread, we cannot do better than cite, in addition to the 

 above, Adair's excellent description from his observations among the 

 Chickasaw : 



The clothing of the Indians being very light, they provide themselves for the 

 winter with hot-houses, whose properties are to retain, and reflect the heat, 

 after the manner of the Dutch stoves. To raise these, they fix deep in the 

 ground, a suflicient number of strong forked posts, at a proportional distance, 

 in a circular form, all of an equal height, about five or six feet above the sur- 

 face of the ground : above these, they tie very securely large pieces of the 

 heart of white oak, which are of a tough flexible nature, interweaving this 

 orbit, from top to bottom, with pieces of the same, or the like timber. Then, 

 in the middle of the fabric they fix very deep in the ground, four large pine 

 posts, in a quadrangular form, notched a-top, on which they lay a number of 

 heavy logs, let into each other, and rounding gradually to the top. Above this 

 huge pile, to the very top, they lay a number of long dry poles, all properly 

 notched, to keep strong hold of the under posts and wall-plate. Then they 

 weave them thick with their split sapplings, and daub them all over about six 

 or seven inches thick with tough clay, well mixt with withered grass; wheci 

 this cement is half dried, they thatch the house with the longest sort of dry 

 grass, that their land produces. They first lay on one round tier, placing a 

 split sapling a-top, well tied to the different parts of the under pieces of 

 timber, about fifteen inches below the eave: and, in this manner, they proceed 

 circularly to the very spire, where commonly a pole is fixed, that displays on the 

 top the figure of a large carved eagle. At a small distance below which, four 

 heavy logs are strongly tied together across, in a quadrangular form, in order 

 to secure the roof from the power of envious blasts. The door of this winter 

 palace, is commonly about four feet high, and so narrow as not to admit two 

 to enter it abreast, with a winding passage for the space of six or seven feet, 

 to secure themselves both from the power of the bleak winds, and of an in- 

 vading enemy. As they usually build on rising ground, the floor is often a 

 yard lower than the earth, which serves them as a breast work against an 

 enemy : and a small peeping window is level with the surface of the outside 

 ground, to enable them to rake any lurking invaders in case of an attack. As 

 they have no metal to reflect the heat; in the fall of the year, as soon as the 

 sun begins to lose his warming power, some of the women make a large fire of 

 dry wood, with which they chiefly provide themselves, but only from day to 

 day, through their thoughtlessness of to-morrow. When the fire is a little more 

 than half burnt down, they cover it over with ashes, and, as heat declines, 

 they strike off some of the top embers, with a long cane, wherewith each of 

 the couches, or broad seats, is constantly provided; and this method they 

 pursue from time to time as need requires, till the fire is expended, which is 

 commonly about day-light. While the new fire is burning down, the house, 

 for want of windows and air, is full of hot smoky darkness ; and all this time, 

 a number of them lie on their broad bed places, with their heads wrapped up. 



The inside of their houses is furnished with genteel couches to sit, and 

 lie upon, raised on four forks of timber of a proper height, to give the swarm- 

 ing fleas some trouble in their attack, as they are not able to reach them at 

 one spring: they tie with fine white oak splinters, a suflicient quantity of 

 middle-sized canes of proper dimensions, to three or four bars of the same 



