The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware; Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664: With an Account of the South, the Ne - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXXIII. Dwellings And Customs Of The Colonists, 1643-1653. The dwellings erected by the Finns immediately on their arrival were probably of the simplest form known to them in their home country, namely the kota.1 This structure, of the same general type as the Lapplander's hut,2 resembled an Indian wigwam. It was made by placing poles of a few inches thickness and about fifteen feet long close together in a circle (of about ten feet in diameter) with their tops adjoining one another. A second layer of poles was at times employed to close up the large opening in the first layers, and moss or other material was further used to fill up the cracks, improving the comfort of the occupants. An opening was left on one side for a door, covered with a skin or a piece of cloth. Across the "tenthouse," about half-way between the ground and the top, a pole was fastened by which the kettle and other cooking utensils could be suspended on an extensible wooden hook,8 beneath which the fire was made.4 Here the newly arrived Finnish (and probably an occasional Swedish) settler found shelter and almost as much comfort as he was used to at home.5 As soon as he was able, however, he erected a more comfortable dwelling, portet (pirtti).9 This form of living house was common in Finland in olden times and the Finnish settlers in Sweden employed it almost exclusively in the seventeenth century.7 The port was a log cabin (varying in size) built of round tim 1 A Finnish word meaning "house," "cooking-house," etc. 1 Cf. the illustration in Nilsson's Skansen, p. 72. 'The hook was sometimes made out of iron. 'Retzius, Finland, p. 20 ff. 'It is more than probable that such dwellings were erected here on the first arrival of the Finns, for these people used...