Various Types of Dwelling-houses Peculiar¹ to the Different Tribes—Ingenious Suspension-bridges and Communal² Granaries Common to all the Tribes—Weapons and the Methods of their Ornamentation—Weaving and Basket-making—Peculiar Indonesian Form of Loom³—Pottery⁴-making—Agricultural Implements⁵ and Fish-traps—Musical Instruments: Nose-flute; Musical Bow; Bamboo Jews’-harp—Personal Adornment⁶.

To deal adequately with this subject would require a volume in itself. In this book I shall speak only of those forms of arts and crafts which are either peculiar to the Formosans or which seem to show their racial affinity⁷ to other peoples.

First, as regards their dwelling-houses. The mode of construction of these varies among the different tribes, and has already been referred to in the preceding chapter, in connection with funeral rites⁹. The houses of the Taiyal—simple bamboo and grass shelters, having only a doorway¹⁰, but no windows[86]—call for little in the way of detailed¹¹ description. These huts are mere¹² sleeping-places, the beds being bamboo benches, built against the sides of the wall, at about two feet elevation¹³ from the ground. Only in rainy weather is either cooking or weaving done inside[174] the house. The interior of the hut is in almost total darkness, the doorway being both narrow and low; so low that even a woman has to stoop in order to enter it. The smaller tribes whose territory adjoins that of the Taiyal also build huts after the fashion of their more powerful neighbours.

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