650 



BANTU NEGROES 



generally, two doorways, one opposite the other. Outside the front 

 doorway the roof is prolonged into a kind of porch which opens out in a 

 great horseshoe shape, something like the old " coalscuttle " bonnet. The 



360. THE "CLOTHED BAGAMi.v" 



doorway is fairly lofty— much more so than in any other type of Negro 

 house — but the door-posts, which are generally small tree-trunks encased 

 in a reed covering, converge somewhat in their upper extremities, so that 

 the shape of the door is a very long oval. The interior of a chief's 

 house has the general level of the floor raised at least a foot above the 

 ground by a hard structure of clay smeared over with mud and cow-dung, 

 so that it is absolutely smooth, and in some places is shiny and black 

 with the polish of feet going to and fro. Other daises often rise in steps 

 above the level of the floor. The roof is relatively very high in the 



