A description of the Indian square houses of this southern section
by Du Pratz [Footnote: Hist. La., vol. 2, French ed., 1758, pp.
173-175; English ed., 1764, p. 359.] is so exactly in point that I
insert a translation of the whole, passage:

The cabins of the natives are all perfectly square; none of them
are less than 15 feet in extent in every direction, but there are
some which are more than 30. The following is their manner of
building them: The natives go into the new forest to seek the
trunks of young walnut trees of 4 inches in diameter and from 18
to 20 feet long; they plant the largest ones at the four corners
to form the breadth and the dome; but before fixing the others
they prepare the scaffolding; it consists of four poles fastened
together at the top, the lower ends corresponding to the four
corners; on these four poles others are fastened crosswise at a
distance of a foot apart; this makes a ladder with four sides, or
four ladders joined together.

This done, they fix the other poles in the ground in a straight
line between those of the corners; when they are thus planted they
are strongly bound to a pole which crosses them within each side
[of the house]. For this purpose large splints of stalks are used
to tie them at the height of 5 or 6 feet, according to the size of
the cabin, which forms the walls; these standing poles are not
more than 15 inches apart from each other; a young man then mounts
to the end of one of the corner poles with a cord in his teeth; he
fastens the cord to the pole, and as he mounts within, the pole
bends, because those who are below draw the cord to bend the pole
as much as is necessary; at the same time another young man fixes
the pole of the opposite corner in the same way; the two poles