Primitive Architecture. 31 
originated with the natural fear of man for his race, then, in houses 
built over the water, the land side should be the strongest portion of 
the building, while the water side should be open or only lightly con- 
structed. This is found to be the fact in the houses of New Guinea,^ 
which have a stage on the water side that affords a convenient place for 
keeping the canoes. A confirmation of this explanation is seen in 
the custom of many maritime tribes of placing their dwellings where 
embarkment is attended with the greatest difficulty. Again, this 
mode of building is found prevalent among both warlike tribes, as 
the northern Kareens, and peaceful ones, as the Mishmis. All 
such instances point in the direction of the same cause ; that they 
may better defend themselves against their enemies. 
But greater protection is not the sole reason for the building of 
elevated houses. High floods make it imperative, as with the 
Waraus/ or else drive the natives to elevated bits of land, as in the 
basin of the Orinoco. Tribes living near the coast and supporting 
themselves by fishing adopt this style of dwelling almost exclu- 
sively, while interior tribes prefer houses built directly on the 
ground. This distribution is especially marked in the East Indies. 
Besides acting as an integral factor in producing communistic and 
elevated dwellings, the desire for better protection has brought 
about many other variations in structure. The location of the vil- 
lage is frequently selected with this end in view. Sometimes the 
hill top is chosen, as by the Maiwar Bhils— who have a back door 
conveniently arranged for flight ; with others the most secluded 
valleys are sought, as is done by the Santals •,^ others, again, hide 
their dwellings in clumps of trees. Some, also, as the Khonds,^ 
place their villages in close proximity to each other, while the 
Bushmen ^ take the opposite course of building in high open spots 
where they cannot be attacked without warning. 
A suitable site selected, the next step is to defend it. This leads 
to a judicious arrangement of the dwellings ; a favorite plan being a 
circle with the entrances opening towards the central space, which 
is usual among the Andamese, the Bushmen, and the Kaffirs. When 
the chief of the village has developed into an important personage, 
his dwelling, for greater safety, is placed in the centre of the enclos- 
ing village. The Eajput and Bihe villages are illustrations of this fact. 
' Forrest's Voyages, 95. 
' Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, xx., 569. 
' Campbell, Wild Tribes of Khondistan, 49. 
* Burchell, Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa, ii., 55. 
