Two men in each canoe, and facing each other, then
vigorously twist and churn about the pole, or rather stick, into the soft
bottom of the lagoon. Some fifteen of these poles are thus driven in and
firmly braced together by cross-pieces, upon which the platform is
constructed, and on this again the house is built.
'We stopped here to breakfast before ascending the Bousaha River; and,
while so doing, I counted at one time over forty natives sitting round us
on the platform. I was not without my fears that we should all be
precipitated into the water, but the structure, though in appearance frail
and very rude, was far stronger than what it looked.
'I closely questioned the natives as to why they had built their village
upon the lake, and they invariably gave as their reason that they chiefly
fished at night; and, as the water often overflowed, they would have to
build their houses too far away to be able to come and go during the
night; whereas "now," they said, "we are close to where we catch our fish,
and we often catch them even from our houses." Underneath each house were
tied from one to five, and sometimes more, canoes. These were much
lighter, more rounded off in the keel, stem, and stern, than the
beach-canoes.
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