The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

xr HANDICRAFTS 205
columns of iron-wood. Holes about four feet
depth are dug for the reception of the butt ends of
these. They are disposed in the manner indicated
in the diagrams (Figs. 2,7 j 2>^y 39), so that a single row
supports the front of the house, another the back, and
a double row the middle.^ The intervals between
the columns of each row are about twenty feet, or
rather more. Each pile is erected by raising the
one end until the other slips into the hole. Rattans
Fig. 37.
are tied round it a little above its middle and
passed over a tall tripod of stout poles. A number
of men haul on these while others shove up the
top end with their shoulders. The pile is thus suspended
with its butt end resting so lightly on the
ground that it can easily be guided into the hole
prepared for its reception. Smaller accessory piles,
to serve as additional supports, are put under the
main cross beams of the floor when these have
^ The pair of centre columns and the main columns supporting the roof
back and front should have been drawn thicker than the accessoiy columns
supporting the floor, and the width of the roof-plates is much greater than is
indicated in the diagrams.
in