| caption: |
chapter two - the village |
| caption: |
granaries described, grain storage bins; each house has granaries |
| note: |
footnotes indicated by boxes within square brackets |
| text: |
Within the village perimeter, but set well apart from the houses to lessen the danger from fire, are the granaries (seo-ki: "grain-house"). These are small, thatched buildings some 15 feet long and 8 wide; they are walled and floored with split and interwoven bamboos and are raised a foot or two from the ground on piles. Unlike many other Naga tribes, the Central Nzemi do not use inverted half-gourds as rat-stops on granary-piles, or indeed any other form of protection against rats except the occasional use of indifferently-successful snares and traps. The grain is stored in circular bins 5 feet or more (17) in diameter and 4 feet high, made of the same type of split and interwoven bamboo as the walls and floor. Bins, walls and floor are lightly plastered with cattle-dung to prevent the grain leaking out. Each household (kalak) has its own granary and a well-to-do man may have two or three. |
