FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 22459, 2 October 1936, Page 2

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[By Philatelist.]

Tlio Juno number of ‘Gibbon's Stamp Monthly ’ contains an interesting; article by Mr A. E. Gould, L.L.A., cititlcd ‘ Native Homes on Stamps.’ it reads as follows:—While collecting material for my recent book on native races in the stamp album, 1 was surprised to find how many native homes arc depicted on stamps. Naturally, a full description of such stamps was outside the scope of so small a book, but "they are well worth careful study, for they give us an insight into the ingenuity, thought, and planning required oven in the production of very primitive dwellings. Stamps from all parts of Africa will contribute to a “ native homes” collection, and show a remarkable diversity of huts. The low values of the 1930 issue for Tchad depict the characteristic huts of this district. It will bo noticed that the walls and roof are made in one, which is quite suitable for such a rainless district, where overhanging eaves to protect the house from raTn would be superfluous. The dwellings themselves are chiefly made of wattle and daub. Stakes are driven into tbo ground, and branches wattled in and out for walls, the hollows being daubed over with mud. These Tchad villages are not built to last. They may bo here to-day and gone to-morrow. If the water supply fails or the chief dies the inhabitants betake themselves and their belongings to a new site. In contrast to these conical houses we find that in the rainy parts of Africa the native homes have overhanging eaves to protect the walls. Such huts may be seen on some of the stamps of the Belgian Congo. The houses on the 15 fr. air stamp seem to be of the typo which may be made of poles laced together on the ground and then set upon mud walls. More often the huts are built around a centre pole like those on the 15 cent stamp of the 1931 issue for the Belgian Congo. Turning to the stamps of Swaziland, wo find another type of African hut below the word “ Postage.” This is a beehiveshaped dwelling, lightly built of barn* boos and grass. Its construction is very simple. The native first makes a framework of flexible branches or saplings bent over to form a series of half-hoops, with the ends pushed firmly in the ground. Starting with a small hoop, the size is gradually increased to the middle of the hut. and then decreased till the framework is finished. The hoops are interlaced with withies to bold them in position, and thatched with grass or leaves. The doorway is a low arch barely three feet high, through which the occupants crawl on hands and knees. Similar huts built by the kaffirs are to be seen on South Africa’s 4d stamp, and on South-west Africa’s five-shilling stain]). • These huts arc frequently moved to suit changes of grazing land. On some of the stamps of Liberia more substantial-looking huts are shown. On the udol stamp of 1923 we see houses with thick roofs that hang over a kind of verandah. These huge overhanging eaves give shelter from the midday heat, and the roofs, especially the conical one, are purposely made very steep to throw off rain. Some of these native thatched roofs leak terribly after a dry season, but when rained upon for several days they thicken sufficiently to be waterproof until the next drought. The stamps of Brunei show the extraordinary homes built by the natives in the river. These houses are built over the river on slender piles of Nibong palm, which resists the action of the water for several years. The piles are sunk at ebb tide, and covered with a platform of planks, on -which the houses are built. The 1907 stamps give a close-up view of one of these huts, while the issue of 1921 shows the whole town. While in this part of the world we turn to the 121 cent stamp of the Dutch Indies, issued in 1930. Here we see a Menangkaho compound, with the chief’s house in the centre. These homes look something like arks on stilts. A Menangkaho legend that Noah landed on Mount Mara pi, in Sumatra, may have inspired this style of architecture. The houses have no front doors. To enter one has to walk under the house between the rows of pillars until about halfway through; then ladder-like steps •will be found leading up into a large room. The spaces under the floor are used as corrals by night, and as work rooms by day. In the gables of the houses there are often intricately-woven designs of bamboo, and many of the houses are adorned with carving painted black and red. A few of the native homes of America can bo seen on stamps. The Jamaican Id stamps of 1919 and 1921 show an Arawak woman with part of her homo behind her. The Arawaks and Caribs live in wall-less houses. Their huts are merely roofs of broad leaves on three rows of polos, the centre row being higher than the outer ones so that the roof slopes. There are no walls, the only protection from the weather consisting of grass mats, which are hung at the sides of the house as needed. (To bo continued.)