Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/431

 the North American Indians. 419

and very light when feafoned, as well as eafy to be hewed \ they cut the tree to a proper length, and fplit it with a maul and hard wooden wedges, when they have indented it a little, in convenient places with their fmall hatchets. They often make a door of one plank in breadth, but, when it requires two planks, they fix two or three crofs bars to the inner fide, at a proper diftance, and bore each of them with a piece of an old gun barrel, heated and battered for the purpofe, and few them together with (traps of a (haved and wet buffalo hide, which tightens as it dries, and it is almoft as ftrong as if it were done with long nails, riveted in the ufual manner. Thus, they finim their fummer houfe of pleafure, without any kind of iron, or working tools whatfoever, except a fmall hatchet of iron (that formerly was a long marpened flone) and a knife ; which plainly (hews them to be ingenious, and capable of attaining all the liberal arts and fciences, under a proper cultivation.

The clothing of the Indians being very light, they provide themfelves for the winter with hot-houfes, whofe properties are to retain, and reflect the heat, after the manner of the Dutch (loves. To raife thefe, they fix deep in the ground, a fufficient number of ftrong forked pofts, at a proportional diftance, in a circular form, all of an equal height, about five or fix feet above the furface of the ground : above thefe, they tie very fecurely large pieces of the heart of white oak, which are of a tough flexible nature, in terweaving this orbit, from top to bottom, with pieces of the fame, Or the like timber. Then, in the middle of the fabric they fix very deep in the ground, four large pine pofts, in a quadrangular form, notched a-top, on which they lay a number of heavy logs, let into each other, and rounding gradually to the top. Above this huge pile, to the very top, they lay a number of long dry poles, all properly notched, to keep ftrong hold of the under pofts and wall-plate. Then they weave them thick with their fplit fapplings, and daub them all over about fix or feven inches thick with tough clay, well mixt with withered grafs : when this cement is half dried, they thatch the houfe with the longeft fort of dry grafs, that their land produces. They firft lay on one round tier, placing a fplit fappling a-top, well tied to different parts of the under pieces of timber, about fifteen inches below the eave : and, in this manner, they proceed circularly to the very fpire, where commonly a pole is fixed, that difplays on the top the figure of a large carved eagle. At a fmall dif-

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