mat of split bamboos interlaced in a simple chequer pattern is laid over a foundation of whole bamboos laid at right angles to the back wall of the house. In the latter case the place of the mat is taken by split bamboos laid at right angles to the bamboo foundation. In a Lhota household each wife has a separate sleeping cubicle with a fireplace (nchü) in the middle. A well-to-do Lhota usually possesses three wives. The main building of his house therefore contains three sleeping cubicles and a little store-room (bhuritheng) at the back. The cubicle nearest the mpongki is called lhuhrui and is occupied by the third wife. The middle one is called olungo and is the abode of the chief wife. The back cubicle is called tachungo and is used by the second wife. Daughters sleep with their mother or, if she is dead, with the step-mother they like best. Servants, if there be any, or a bridegroom working for his bride in his father-in-law’s house sleep in the mpongki, either on mats on the floor or on the pounding bench. Guests sleep on mats on the floor of the store-room or in one of the cubicles. A step up from the mpongki and a door close to the wall (usually the right-hand wall) lead into a narrow passage running the whole length of the house onto the platform at the back. On the left, assuming the passage to be on the right of the house, are the cubicles, the partitions of which stretch about two-thirds across the house, and up to the beams (khokang), the partitions between the mpongki and the first cubicle, and between the store-room and the sitting-out platform, going right up to the roof. The roof is supported on centre-posts (tirhupu), a bamboo one being placed in the middle of the mpongki, and a roughly-squared wooden one at each partition, and corner-posts (okinge) at the corners of the main building. Small posts in the walls help to support rafters (khirong). There is no chimney and the smoke finds its way out as best it can. The cubicles are lighted only by their fires.