The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

2o6 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
been laid. The columns of the double row in the
middle line are about six feet taller than those of
the front and back rows. For the support of the
floor a massive squared transverse tie is morticed
through each set of four columns at a height of
some fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, and
secured by a pin through each extremity. A squared
roof-plate, still more massive than the floor ties, is
then laid upon the crowns of the columns of the front
Ridge Timber
'Floor-tie
Main Column Accessory Centre Accessory Main Column
Columns Columns Columns
Fig. 38.
row, along its whole length, and a second one upon
the back row. This is dowelled upon the columns
(i.e. the top of the column is cut to form a pin which
is let into the longitudinal beam) ; and the beams
which make up the roof-plate are spliced, generally
in such a way that the top of a column serves as
the pin of the splice. Each of these heavy beams
is generally lifted into its place by tiers of men
standing on poles lashed at different heights across
the columns, their efforts being seconded by others
pulling on rattans which run from the beam over the