Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/173

Rh mats dropped from above, and still further guarded, when the inmates of the cabin had gone away for a prolonged absence, by logs rolled against them. Upon the first arrival of the English, the wigwams were found to be devoid of windows, but at a later period an aperture was left which was only covered when the wind was blowing from that point of the compass. At the top there was a place of egress for the smoke rising from the fire kindled on the ground at the centre of the dwelling. To diminish the volume of this smoke, the Indians burnt only pine wood, if it was to be obtained. In order to illuminate the interiors of their houses in the absence of a regular fire, they used as candles the splinters of the pine, which flared very fiercely for a time but were soon consumed; for this reason a large pile of slivers was kept on hand, and as soon as one fagot was burnt up, another was substituted for it. As a rule, the fire on the hearth was not allowed to die out, because its extinction was regarded by the women as an evil sign. A lost flame was recovered by rubbing two dry sticks together in the close neighborhood of a handful of combustible moss. The beds of the Indians were drawn in a circle about the fire, and consisted of hurdles and reeds laid upon small poles, supported by posts rising only a foot from the ground. Upon these beds, mats or skins were placed, and in lying down the Indian drew over him another mat or skin, while a third skin or mat was used as a pillow. The pillow of the Emperor Powhatan was made of leather, and was carefully embroidered, and strung with beads and pearls. The mats used by the ordinary Indian as a couch were white in color, and when he arose in the morning he was careful to roll them into the shape in which he had found them the evening before. Not infrequently as many as twenty Indians slept in the same wigwam irrespective of sex;