HUTS. 137 



It is customary to light a good fire in the 

 centre of the huts every evening in winter for 

 its warmth, and in summer for the smoke to 

 drive away the mosquitoes. No chimney is 

 built, so the smoke has to escape as it can 

 through the thatch. 



Most Kafirs sleep on rush mats, but a few 

 possess a rude raised bedstead as well ; all use 

 a small wooden pillow about five and a half 

 inches high and two broad, which they place 

 just below the ear ; these are sometimes carved 

 into many fanciful designs. 



The huts can be moved bodily in two pieces 

 when a kraal is shifted, which is often done for 

 sanitary reasons, and the operation is always 

 accompanied by much shouting and singing, as 

 it requires many men to move one hut, and a 

 Kafir can do nothing without his song. When 

 the roof is being carried along it looks like 

 some huge remarkable insect, nothing of the 

 men being visible but a multitude of legs 

 and feet. 



Some of the larger kraals are very picturesque, 



