تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.83.6

13.83.6

Their buildings are of wood, and they raise the floors of their houses above the ground as a precaution against damp, because their ground is moist. The way this is done is that they cut stones, each stone two or three cubits long, and set them in rows, and across them they lay beams of coconut wood; then they put up the walls of wood, and they have a remarkable skill in this. In the portico of the house they build a room which they call the mālam, with a on the l, where a man sits with his companions. It has two doors, one towards the portico, by which people enter, and the other towards the house, by which its owner enters. Beside this room there is a jar full of water, and it has a dipper which they call the walanj, with a on the w and the l, n without a vowel, and j; it is made of a coconut shell and has a handle two cubits long, and with it they draw water from the wells, since these are shallow.