224 KALMS ENGLAND. 



kept for the deer, we got to see one here, which was 

 made in a particular manner, that is, that when some of 

 the hay which lay in it was taken away, the roof could 

 be lowered after it, so that it nearly always lay close 

 on to the hay when it was so desired. The plan was 

 this ; they had driven down four posts, stalpar, in a 

 square, one at each corner, horn. The length of the 

 posts was 30 feet, the distance between two posts was 

 14 feet. At the bottom, [T. I. p. 225 is occupied by an 

 illustration] [T. I. p. 226] between these posts, there 

 were made walls of oak boards which were nailed fast 

 to the posts. 



The height of the walls from the ground was 8 feet. 

 Above the board-walls there was a thatch-roof between 

 the posts, which thatch suspended above the house was 

 convex, and formed absolutely a half, octahedron, 

 octagon, which, however, at the border had slightly 

 oblong sides. 



The ' thatch-band ' or roof-plate, tak-banden, con- 

 sisted of wooden bars, dovetailed into each other at 

 the ends. They all went close outside the posts, so 

 that the posts stood right in the angle which two 

 sides of the roof-plate, tak-foten, made with each other. 

 A crooked stick was afterwards nailed fast by one end 

 to the one side of the roof-plate, and by the other end to 

 the second side, which formed a right angle with the 

 first ; yet in this way, that this crook came, as it were, 

 to form at the corner a little triangle, of which the crook 

 made one side, and the other two were formed of the 

 two sides of the roof-plate, and the post ran right through 

 the middle of this triangle. 



On others which I saw, the thatch-band or roof-plate 

 went inside the posts, and the crook outside, just as they 

 wished. In the posts were several holes, right through 

 them, the one a little above the other. 



