42 



THE HAIXANESE MIAO 



house and house, village and stream, village and forest, and 

 later between village and village. The villages being on the 

 sloping hillsides, the householder must first level off the 

 site he has chosen. This he does carefully, and the bank 

 of earth twelve or eighteen inches high left at one side of 

 the plot makes the protection for the back side of the house. 

 A shallow trench is dug between this bank and the edge of 

 the wall, and around the other three sides of the rectan- 

 gular levelled place, to drain off the torrents of water that 

 fall during the tropical storms. 



Miao Village. 



Four strong poles, standing about six feet above the 

 ground, are driven firmly into the earth at each corner of 

 the house-to-be. Ordinary houses are about thirty feet long 

 and ten feet wide. At the middle of the two ends higher 

 poles, standing about ten feet above the ground, are put in, 

 and two more of the same height in the centre of the building 

 and on a line with them, to hold the ridge-pole. Smaller 

 posts are planted at regular intervals along the longer sides, 

 and heavy bamboo or light timbers laid upon them to form 

 the rest of the skeleton of the house. Light bamboo poles 

 are lashed to ridgepole and sidepoles to take the place of 

 rafters, and the top of the house is ready for the roof. No 

 nails are used in the structure. Fastenings are made by 

 means of bamboo or rattan withes, tied securely in place. 



Eoofing is done with one of three different kinds of 

 material. Sometimes the leaves of the fan palm are used, 

 laid overlapping each other. This roof is very easy to mend, 



