The Laos captives near Petchaburee live in houses whose roofs have a circular appearance. The gables are enclosed with thatch, so arranged as to form a continuous roof with that of the house. This roof reaches so low as to shut out all view of the house itself from the passer-by. These people have come from the north, where both cold and storms are more severe than where they now live. In Cheung Mai, the eaves of the roofs and the ends projecting beyond the gables are sometimes caught with such force by the whirling storm that the roof is carried away. The whole of this house seems to be resting upon those short posts which fork at the top. In most of the houses of the Cheung Mai peasantry these short posts serve to support only the flooring. Strong beams or sills are laid upon them. Bamboo poles are laid across these sills about a foot apart and tied with ratan. Over these is spread the bamboo flooring. This is made from the trunk of a large-sized bamboo. It is cut into the proper lengths, and these are gashed lengthwise all over their surface by repeated strokes of the knife or axe. By this process the sticks become quite pliable. They are then slit open by passing the knife through one side of them from end to end. The broken and jagged edges of the inner side of the joints are smoothed off, and we have bamboo boards a foot or more wide. This flooring bends under the pressure of the feet, and when dry makes a creaking noise, which is not very pleasant. When riddled by a small black beetle that burrows in its fibres, it becomes unsafe to tread upon, and sometimes one breaks through it. But by putting it, when green, into water, and keeping it submerged until it passes through the process of fermentation, it is, in a great measure, free from the ravages of this beetle. The many chinks in this bamboo floor offer convenient passage for the streams of red saliva that flow from the mouths of its betel-chewing inmates. [Illustration: A LAOS HOME.]