tribe of the Upper Chinooks, now
nearly extinct. The white men were much interested in the houses of
these people, which, their journal set forth, were "the first wooden
buildings seen since leaving the Illinois country." This is the manner
of their construction:--

"A large hole, twenty feet wide and thirty in length, was dug to the
depth of six feet; the sides of which were lined with split pieces of
timber rising just above the surface of the ground, and smoothed to the
same width by burning, or by being shaved with small iron axes. These
timbers were secured in their erect position by a pole stretched along
the side of the building near the eaves, and supported on a strong
post fixed at each corner. The timbers at the gable ends rose gradually
higher, the middle pieces being the broadest. At the top of these was a
sort of semicircle, made to receive a ridge-pole the whole length of the
house, propped by an additional post in the middle, and forming the top
of the roof. From this ridge-pole to the eaves of the house were placed
a number of small poles or rafters, secured at each end by fibres of the
cedar. On these poles, which were connected by small transverse bars
of wood, was laid a covering of white cedar, or arbor vitae, kept on by
strands of cedar fibres; but a small space along the whole length of
the ridge-pole was left uncovered, for the purpose of light, and of
permitting the smoke to pass out. The roof, thus formed, had a
descent about equal to that common among us, and near the eaves it was
perforated with a number of small holes, made, most probably, for the
discharge of arrows in case of an attack. The only entrance was by a
small door at the gable end, cut out of the middle piece of timber,
twenty-nine and a half inches high, fourteen inches broad, and reaching
only eighteen inches above the earth. Before this hole is hung a mat; on
pushing it aside and crawling through, the descent is by a small wooden
ladder, made in the form of those used among us. One-half of the inside
is used as a place of deposit for dried fish, of which large quantities
are stored away, and with a few baskets of berries form the only
family provisions; the other half, adjoining the door, remains for the
accommodation of the family. On each side are arranged near the walls
small beds of mats placed on little scaffolds or bedsteads, raised from
eighteen inches to three feet from the ground; and in the middle of the
vacant space