were
displayed in their ornaments Hence arose the Five Orders or manners of
building.

Of what were the first huts composed?

Probably of the branches of trees driven into the ground, and covered
with mud and stubble; at length, as men became more expert, they
placed trunks of trees upright, and laid others across them to sustain
the outer coverings; from this they took the hint of a more regular
architecture, and built edifices of brick and stone; the trunks of
trees which supported their dwellings gave them a notion of pillars or
columns, which they afterwards erected of more durable materials.
Among uncivilized tribes at this day, some reside underground, having
their dirty dwellings entirely closed during the winter months; in
warmer regions, their habitations are built of stakes, leaves, and
turf, in the shape of a soldier's tent. In Africa, their kraals or
huts are constructed in this manner, but of a circular form, with a
hole at the top to let out the smoke. In many of the South Sea
Islands, the natives, when first discovered, had progressed still
further, having learnt to elevate the roofs on poles, and to fill in
the sides of their houses with boughs or rushes, mud or sods.

_Probably_, most likely.

_Edifice_, a building.

_Notion_, idea.

_Durable_, lasting.

What people are represented by the ancient writers as having brought
the art of Building to a greater state of perfection?

The inhabitants of the city of Tyre, to whom Solomon had recourse for
workmen to build the Temple. Isaias, in his twenty-third chapter,
speaks of the Tyrians and Egyptians, as having brought it to a great
degree of magnificence; as may be drawn from the various accounts
handed down to us, and the remains of their obelisks, pyramids, &c.

What is an Obelisk?

A very high and slender four-sided pyramid, raised as an ornament in
some public place; and frequently covered with inscriptions and
hieroglyphics.[16] This kind of monument appears to be very ancient;
they were first made use of to declare to posterity the principal
precepts of philosophy; to mark the hours of the day by the shadows
which they cast on the ground; and, in after-times, to immortalize the
actions of heroes, and perpetuate the memory of persons beloved.

[Footnote 16: See Chapter XIV.]

_Inscription_, something written or engraved.

_Hieroglyphics_, emblems by which words were implied. They
were used befo