MENDING ROOF. 241 



pectorating till I felt quite sick, set to work 

 to repair damages, I of course taking my share 

 of the work. No other labour was to be had, 

 as every house had more or less suffered from 

 the effects of the storm, and consequently had 

 to be repaired. 



I think I never fully realised how stupid and 

 thick-headed Jouaas was until that day. We 

 managed to mend the kitchen and stable pretty 

 well, but when it came to mending the roof I 

 thought I should have gone mad. The tiles 

 were made to hook one into the other in the 

 most simple way, and I showed him with some 

 spare ones how they were put together, but it 

 was no use ; for hours he sat on the roof, the 

 wind blowing furiously, and the daylight fast 

 going, trying first one way and then another, 

 but never getting them right. Had I been able 

 to go on the roof myself, a few minutes would 

 have put all in order, but I felt I could not 

 face the wind. Luckily the storm did not return 

 that night, as I feared, and next morning a 

 friend's Kafir soon put them straight. 



