.MTA2MQ.NzE4NDE
Government of the Towns. The towns separately have a government & customs which they derive from a high source. They have their public buildings as well for business as pleasure. Every town has a chief who presides over the whole; he is their Mic,co, called by the white people "King". The grades from him are regular & uniform throughout all the towns. In the description of the public buildings, these grades will be explained. The Public Buildings. Chooc,o thlucco (Big House) - the Town House, or Public Square - consists of four square buildings of one story, facing each other; 40 by 16 feet; 8 feet pitch; the entrance in at each corner Each building is a wooden frame supported on posts set in the ground, covered with slabs, open in front like a piazza, divided into three rooms, the back & ends clayed up to the plates. Each division is divided lengthways into two seats, the front two feet high, extending back halfway covered with reed-mats or slabs, then a rise of one foot; & it extends back, covered in like manner to the side of the building. On these seats they lie or sit at pleasure. The Rank of the Buildings which form the Square. 1st. Mic,ul,gee in,too,pau, the Mic,co's cabin. This fronts the E. and is occupied by those of the highest rank,