rete abeesers?

2 REPORT—1890.

house faces the sea. A series of rafters, R, are laid over the cross-beams, C.
Close to the uprights a number of poles are erected which are to hold the
wall. They stand in pairs, the distance between the two poles of each
pair corresponding to the thickness of the wall. The top of the outer
poles is ornamented as shown in fig. 2, p. Heavy planks are placed

Fra. 2.--Section of Lku/figrn House.

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between these poles, the higher always overlapping the lower so as to
keep out the rain. They are held in place by ropes of cedar-branches
which pass through holes in these boards and are tied around the poles, L.
The uppermost board on the house-front serves as a moulding, hiding
from view and closing the space between the rafters and the front of the
house. The door is either at the side or, in very large houses, there are
several on the side of the house facing the sea. The roof consists of
planks as described in. the Fourth Report of the Committee, p. 22. The
uprights of the Lku’figmn house are carved and painted as shown in fig. 3.
In some instances their surface is plain, but animals are carved on it, the
whole being cut out of one piece. Such posts do not belong to the
Lku’figmn proper, but were introduced into one family after intermarriage
with the Cowitchin. The posts shown in fig. 4 belong to a house in
Victoria, and the same figures are found in a house at Kua’mitcan
(Quamichin), where the mother of the house owner belongs. They
represent minks. The human figures represent the spirits whom the
owner saw when cleaning himself in the woods before becoming a member
of the secret society Teyiyi/wan (see p. 26). It is worth remarking that
the faces of these figures are always kept covered, as the owner does not
like to be constantly reminded of these his superhnman friends and
helpers. Only during festivals he uncovers them. All along the walls
inside the house runs a platform of simple construction. Posts about
one foot high, A, are driven into the ground at convenient intervals.
They are covered with cross-bars which carry the boards forming the
platform. In some parts of the house shelves hang down from the rafters
about seven or eight feet above the floor. Hach compartment of the
house, #.e., the space between two pairs of uprights, is occupied by one
family. In winter the walls and the dividing lines between two compart-
ments are hung with mats made of bullrushes. The fire is near one of
the front corners of the compartment, where the house is highest. The