374 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779 * 
October. 
ther, and about thirteen feet high from the furface. At 
the height of between nine and ten feet, rafters are paled 
from poft to poft, and firmly fecured by ftrong ropes. 
On thefe rafters are laid the joifts, and the whole being 
covered with turf, conftitutes the platform or floor of the 
balagan. On this is raifed a roof of a conical figure, by 
means of tall poles, fattened down to the rafters at one 
end, and meeting together in a point at the top, and 
thatched over with ftrong coarfe grafs. The balagans have 
two doors placed oppofite each other, and they attend to 
them by the fame fort of ladders they ufe in the jourts. 
The lower part is left entirely open; and within it they 
dry their fhh, roots, vegetables, and other articles of win¬ 
ter confumption. The proportion of jourts to balagans , is 
as one to fix; fo that fix families generally live together 
in on q jourt. 
The loghoufes (ijbas) are raifed with long timbers piled 
horizontally, the ends being let into one another, and the 
feams caulked with mofs. The roof is floping like that of 
our common cottage-houfes, and thatched with coarfe grafs 
or rufhes. The infide confifts of three apartments. At 
one end is what may be called the entry, which runs the 
whole width and height of the houfe, and is the receptacle 
of their Hedges, harnefs, and other more bulky gears and 
houfehold fluff. This communicates with the middle and 
heft apartment, furnifhed with broad benches, for the pur- 
pofe, as hath been above mentioned, of both eating and 
tteeping upon. Out of this is a door into the kitchen, one 
half of which is taken up by the oven or fire-place, fo 
contrived, by being let into the wall that feparates the 
kitchen and the middle apartment, as to warm both at the 
fame time. Over the middle apartment and kitchen are 
two 
