The general characteristics of these “_chang_” houses may be gathered from the above sketch. In the cottages of the peasantry the “_chang_,” or platform, is rarely raised more than 4 or 5 feet above the ground, but 10, or even 15 feet is no uncommon height in the case of the houses of people of means and position. Even in the case of houses occupied by planters and officials, the walls are largely composed of bamboo matting, while in those of the populace, the floor itself is formed of a stouter variety of the same material; and on account of the growing cost of timber of a class that will resist white ants, I have little doubt that ere long steel girders will replace the wooden framework and corrugated iron will take the place of the picturesque thatched roof, at any rate in the coast towns. A _chang_ of concrete carried on stout corrugated iron, 8-inch walls of the “Elizabethan” pattern, and a double corrugated iron roof, with a large intervening air space, would form a most comfortable, if not very beautiful, residence, for the combination of heat and moisture with the evils of which the _chang_ house is intended to cope; but walls of such flimsy materials would be of little avail to withstand the furnace-heated air of hot dry climates, such as are met with in the Punjab and the deserts of Rajputana. One of the great sanitary advantages of the _chang_ house is the circulation of air beneath the floors, and the comparative immunity from vermin secured by its isolation on the top of high posts, and though there is no objection to the storing beneath it of carriages and other articles frequently moved, because in daily request, the covered space beneath the house should on no account be allowed to degenerate into a lumber room, as not only will lumber attract dangerous vermin, but with the inevitable numerous native dependants, the lumber room will soon develop into a refuse heap, or worse. Although there is no need to construct a regular plinth, the ground below the _chang_ should always be slightly raised by laying down a layer of gravel, as any collection of water would be obviously unhealthy; besides which, if kept in proper order, the large shady space forms an excellent playground for children, where such charming encumbrances form part of the household. In actually desert climates, a plinth is less essential, but there are comparatively few countries in which heavy rain does not occur at some time of the year, and any dampness of the soil immediately underlying a house is always unhealthy. [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Ground plan of an existing “up-country” Indian Bungalow, in which the doors and windows are well placed. (The dotted lines represent wire gauze screens.) Scale, 18′ = 1″]