II DOMESTIC LIFE 25

wet and well kneaded, and eventually becomes as hard as
brick. Along the wall an earthen shelf serves the double pur-
pose of keeping the fire from the wall and affording a resting
place for the pots. Over the hearth are hung two bamboo
shelves, one above the other, on which to-morrow's supply of
paddy is dried, and various odds and ends are stored. These
shelves also serve to keep the sparks from reaching the roof.
Beyond the fireplace is another sleeping place, called the
" kum-pui"—i.e., big bed—which is reserved for the parents,
while the young children and unmarried girls use the kum-ai;
the bigger boys and young men, as has already been stated,
sleeping in the zawlbuk. Beyond the kum-pui comes the
partition dividing off the small recess used as a lumber room,
and often as a closet. The beds and hearth are always on the
side of the house nearest to the hillside, and do not usually
extend quite to the centre, the rest of the floor being vacant,
and, in order to avoid obstructing this, the posts which sup-
port the ridge are placed slanting, passing through the floor in
line with the edge of the hearth. Along the wall opposite to
the hearth are lashed two or more bamboos, forming convenient
shelves, while a platform of the same useful plant is constructed
from one cross beam to another. Forked sticks tied to the
wall or to the uprights form hooks, and the large bamboos,
wherever used, have openings cut in them which convert each
joint into a tiny cupboard. At the far end of the house,
opposite the front door, is a similar door opening on to a small
platform, whence a notched log serves as a means of descend-
ing to the garden or the street. Many houses have bamboo
platforms adjoining the front verandah, on which the women
folk sit and do their weaving, while the young men lie at their
ease and flirt with any girls who are good looking.

The houses of the chiefs are very similar to those of their
subjects, only a good deal larger. Entering from the front
verandah, the visitor finds himself in a passage running along
one side of the house, off which open several small rooms
inhabited by the married retainers; the other end of the
passage opens into a large room with several sleeping platforms
and sometimes two or more hearths, but otherwise similar to
that above described. Beyond this is the usual closet, while