SwANioNj INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEA&TERN UNITED STATES 403 



of pillars and the wall, is a range of cabins or sophas, consisting of two or three 

 steps, one above or behind the other, in theatrical order, where the assembly sit 

 or lean down; these sophas are covered with mats or carpets, very curiously 

 made of thin splints of Ash or Oak, woven or platted together ; near which the 

 musicians seat themselves, and round about this the performers exhibit their 

 dances and other shows at public festivals, which happen almost every night 

 throughout the year. (Bar tram, 1792, pp. 366-367.) 



Creek mats were usually made of cane instead of ash or oak splints. 



The Moravian missionary, Martin Schneider, has a few notes on the 

 town house and the private winter house of the Cherokee as he 

 observed them in 1783-84. He remarks of the former : 



In the Midst of every Town is, as it were, a round Tower of Earth about 20 

 Feet high almost like a Heap where Coals are burnt, on which is a little House, 

 but which have been mostly burnt down in the last War. (Williams, 1928, 

 pp. 260-261.) 



This impressed the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe, in 1797, as "a 

 hexagonal pyramid of logs" (Williams, 1928, p. 437). It was again 

 the town house of Echota which he had in mind. 



Kichardson (1931, p. 137) notes of the private hot house, having 

 particular reference to that of Old Hop at Echota, that it "is built like 

 a cone ; this they heat as we do ovens & then cover up the ashes & in 

 this way they live in winter wc keeps ym very warm." 



Similarly Timberlake (Williams ed., 1927, p. 61) describes the hot 

 house of Kanagatucko as "a little hut joined to the house, in which a 

 fire is continually kept, and the heat so great, that cloaths are not to 

 be borne the coldest day in winter." Bartram (1792, p. 366; cf. 1853 

 ed., p. 57) calls it "a little conical house covered with dirt" (fig. 5). 



Schneider thus describes the private hot house : 



Every Family has besides the Dwelling House still a smaller Hothouse. 

 This has but a very small Opening to creep into it, & this is their Abode in cold 

 weather; after the Fire which is made in the Middle is burnt down, the coals 

 are covered with Ashes. Their Couches of Cane fixed round about are their 

 Sleeping Places, which they scarce ever leave before 9 o'clock in the Morn- 

 ing. Then they make again Fire for the whole Day & Night they make an- 

 other. The Old People having but little & the Children, till they are 10 years 

 old, no Cloathes at all, they could not hold it out in cold Weather without 

 such Houses. (Williams, 1928, p. 260.) 



The ordinary summer house of the Cherokee was "a large ob- 

 long-square house which seems to be a cook-room, eating-house, and 

 lodging-rooms, in three apartments under one roof" (Bartram, 1909, 

 p. 56). (See fig. 5.) According to Timberlake it was constructed 

 thus: 



A number of thick posts is fixed in the ground, according to the plan and 

 dimensions of the house, which rarely exceeds sixteen feet in breadth, on 

 account of the roofing, but often extends to sixty or seventy in length, be- 

 side the little hothouse. Between each of these posts is placed a smaller one. 



