Bed, Shelter and Food.

Author's Sketch and interpretation of the Indian shelter.

At night I hung up my blanket like a hammock, that I might lay out of the reach of the fleas,

troublefome and conftant guefts in an Indian hut ; but I found my contrivance too cool for

a place open on all fides.

About break of day it began to rain, and the Indians made us a covering of bark

got after this manner: They cut the tree round through the bark near the root, and

make the like incifion above 7 feet above it, there horizontal ones are joined by a

perpendicular cut, on each fide of which they after loofen the bark from the wood, and

hewing a pole at the fmall end, gradually tapering like a wedge about 2 feet, they force

it in till they have compleated the feparation all round, and the bark parts whole from the tree,

one of which, a foot diameter, yields a piece 7 feet long and above 3 wide : And having now prepared four forked fticks, they are fet into the ground the longer in front ; on these they lay the crofs-poles

and on them the bark. This makes a good tight fhelter in warm weather. The rain was

quickly over, but as it continued cloudy, we did not care to leave our fhed. Here our Indians

fhot a young deer, that afforded us a good feaft.

John Bartram 1743. Travells from Pennsylvania to Canada.