128 liarly.
WEST I N D I E S ,
H a v i n g therefore informed my readers
of the means by which I was enabled to make the observations I have done, I shall at once proceed to describe their houses, which are, as I before observed, placed all together, so as to resemble a little village. T h e houses are built in various ways, some of stone, cemented by mud and w h i t e - w a s h e d ; some are built of wood, while others are wove like basket-work,—the interstices being filled u p with clay and m u d , which, when whitewashed, look very nice.
They thatch them
neatly with megass. They have no chimneys, as they rarely work in doors.
As to t h e size of
their house, t h a t is in some measure dependent upon t h e rank of the negro, and the number in family.
Generally speaking, the area of negro
houses varies from fifteen feet by twenty, to twenty feet by thirty.
Some single men and
single women have a house with only one sitting room, and a smaller chamber apart for their bed-room.
B u t head negroes, or families, have
always two good rooms, and some have three.