412 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



the inside being hung with mats of rushes or cane, as is also the Wigwam of the 

 king, and some others of prime note. (Catesby, 1731-43, vol. 2, p. xi.) 



In 1716, after the remnants of the Virginia Siouans had been gath- 

 ered into a town near Fort Christanna on Meherrin River, it was 

 visited by a French Huguenot, John Fontaine, who thus describes the 

 native houses : 



The houses join all the one to the other, and altogether make a circle; the 

 walls are large pieces of timber which are squared, and being sharpened at the 

 lower end, are put down two feet in the ground, and stand about seven feet above 

 the ground. These posts are laid as close as possible the one to the other, and 

 when they are all fixed after this manner, they make a roof with rafters, and 

 cover the house with oak or hickory bark, which they strip off in great flakes, 

 and lay it so closely that no rain can come in. Some Indian houses are covered 

 in a circular manner, which they do by getting long saplings, sticking each end 

 in the ground, and so covering them with bark ; but there are none of the 

 houses in this town so covered. ( Bushnell, 1930, p. 29. ) 



As we shall see presently, these remarks are of considerable 



importance. 



Catesby speaks as follows of the above town : 



A town of Totero Indians, seated on Meherin river, is built with strong posts 

 or trees drove into the ground close to one another, the interstices being stopt 

 up with moss, and covered with the bark of the sweet gum-tree; from two of 

 which trees, being bereaved of their bark, I gathered more than my hat full of 

 the fragrant rosin that trickles from between the bark and the wood, and by 

 the heat of the sun condenses to a resemblance of transparent amber. (Catesby, 

 1731-43, vol. 2, p. XI.) 



In 1728, when Byrd visited the stockaded town of the Iroquoian 

 NottoTvay, he found the dwellings made like 



Close Arbours made of Saplings, arched at the top ; and cover'd so well with Bark 

 as to be proof against all Weather. The fire is made in the Middle, according to 

 the Hibernian Fashion, the Smoak whereof finds no other Vent but at the Door, 

 and so keeps the whole family Warm, at the Expense both of their Eyes and 

 Complexion. The Indians have no standing Furniture in their Cabanes but 

 Hurdles to repose their Persons upon, which they cover with Mats or Deer-skins. 

 (Bassett, 1901, p. 95.) 



A hunting camp of 500 Tuscarora Indians visited by Lawson "had 

 made themselves streets of houses built v/ith pine-bark, not with round 

 tops, as they commonly use, but ridge-fashion" (Lawson, 1860, p. 103). 



If we may trust our few authorities, the Siouan tribes had no dis- 

 tinct summer house except open arbors like those in use in Florida and 

 such as we have noticed making their appearance in Louisiana 

 Catesby (1731-43, vol. 2, p. xi) says "they have also houses for the sum- 

 mer, which are built more open and airy, which in sultry weather they 

 sleep in." Lawson speaks of these in connection with the storerooms 

 to which special treatment has been given : 



They have [he says] other sorts of cabins without windows, which are for 

 their granaries, skins, and merchandises, and others that are covered over 



