Page:Siam and Laos, as seen by our American missionaries (1884).pdf/447

 main difference. The thatched roofs are cheap and easily replaced, and those of teak tiles, though more durable, afford no better protection from sun and rain. One-story high and raised on posts from six to eight feet above the ground, a short flight of rude steps leads to the balcony which runs around the dwelling. The flooring is usually of bamboo or teak, and on one side of the veranda, protected by a covered shed, stand the large water-jars, with a cocoanut dipper near. This entrance-platform is generally ornamented by pots of orchids and other flowering plants. Here in dirty weather, before entering the house, the polite guest pauses to pour water over his feet. Here too the princes and other inmates, too indolent to walk down to the river, are accustomed to take a morning and evening bath by pouring water over themselves with the dipper.

Underneath the dwellings is a general receptacle for howdahs, gardening utensils, etc., which at night is often used as a cattle-shed.

The furniture is very simple. Mats and cushions are piled in a corner ready for use, the best cushions being three-sided with embroidered ends. Home-made mattresses stuffed with cotton; mosquito curtains; generally a native cradle swinging from the beam overhead; a few pots, pans, baskets, cocoanut-shell dippers and spoons; a flat vessel or saucer for the pork