FITTINGS OF A CANOE 87 



spikes manage to distribute a good deal of water over 

 any one in the bows, unless there is a calm. 



On top of the " Ensanda " is placed a decorative tuft 

 of feathers, known as " Enkuli," and a string stretched 

 between it and the top of the stem post (" Ekiwenda ") 

 has a series of plaits dangling from it vertically. This 

 ornament is called " Akasenso." The top of the stern 

 post is often also ornamented with a tuft of grass 

 ("Engudi"). 



When the canoe is sufficiently loaded, the ends of 

 the thwarts are just on the water line. The paddles 

 (" Enkasi ") are quite simply made, with no attempt at 

 decoration ; the blade is broad at the base and tapers 

 to a point, its surfaces not being absolutely plane, for one 

 side ^s very slightly concave, the other equally slightly 

 convex.' An essential part of the equipment of a canoe 

 is the baler (" Olutiba "), made by hollowing out a 

 rectangular block of wood into a shallow basin. One of 

 the crew amidships makes it his business to free the canoe 

 at intervals from the water that collects in the hollow of 

 the keel (" Ekyuwo ") ; if the canoe is an old one so that 

 the edges of the planks and keel are getting soft, it cannot 

 be properly plugged, and one man is needed to bale con- 

 tinuously. 



After two or three years the wood of the keel rots and 

 the planks crack, so that the life of the canoe is finished ; 

 the natives require two or three months to make a new 

 one. 



With a good crew, each accustomed always to take the 

 same thwart, and paddling well together to a rhythmic 

 song, the motion is very pleasant, and considerable speed 

 is attained. Sometimes each man, at the height of the 

 stroke, knocks the haft of his paddle against the side 

 of the canoe, and a good test of whether the men are well 

 together is afforded by the noise : it should be as sharp 

 and well defined as the rattle of eight oars in the rowlocks, 



