La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

442 THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. [1687.with a wooden hoe. Reaching their destination,which was four or five leagues distant, they weregreeted with the same honors asand, theat the first village,ceremonial of welcome over, were lodged inthe abode of the savage Frenchman. It is not to besupposed, however, that he and his squaws, of whomhe had a considerable number, dwelt here alone;for these lodges of theor ten families.Cenis often contained eightThey were made by firmly plantingin a circle tall, straight young trees, such as grew inthe swamps. The tops were then bent inward andlashed together; great numbers of cross-pieces werebound on; and the frame thus constructed wasthickly covered with thatch, a hole being left at thetop for the escape of the smoke. The inmates wereranged around the circumference of the structure,each family in a kind of stall, open in front, butseparated from those adjoining it by partitions ofmats. Here they placed their beds of cane, theirpainted robes of buffalo and deer-skin, theircookingutensils of pottery, and other household goods; andhere, too, the head of the family hung his bow,quiver, lance, and shield. There was nothing incommon but the fire, which burned in the middle ofthe lodge, and was never suffered to go out.dwellings were of great size,Theseand Joutel declares thathe has seen some of them sixty feet in diameter. 11 The lodges of the Florida Indians were somewhat similar.The winter lodges of the now nearly extinct Mandans, though not§o high in proportion to their width, and built of more solid ma«