734 BANTU NEGROES 



wood, across wliicli aiv laid at tlie top several stout beams. The clay of 

 the Avall is built u}) over the gateway till it rises into a peak. Some- 

 times the wooden frames of these entrances are rudely arched. They 

 are often high enough for a short man to pass through without bending 

 his head. In the south of Kavirondo the people are content to surround 

 their villages by hedges, which consist of thickly planted aloes mixed 

 with a euphoi'hia that has filamentous branches and an exceedingly acrid 

 white juice. The aloes are almost constantly in blossom. Their leaves 

 are a pale green spotted with white, the stalks are dull crimson, and 

 the flowers bright coral red, so that this hedge, relieved here and there 

 with bright yellow-green euphorbia, gives the Kavirondo settlements a 



391. PL.VN" OF .1 KAVIRONDO HOUSE 



very bright setting. Close to the houses are the grain-stores — large 

 baskets raised above the ground on posts with peaked roofs of thatch. 

 When access to them is required, the thatched roof is lifted off and the 

 grain taken out of the receptacle. In most of the Northern Kavirondo 

 villages tall masts may be seen erected at a slight slant. The upper 

 part of these poles is hung with small baskets that contain decoy quails. 

 Snares are placed on the ground round about the pole, and the wild 

 quails, being attracted by the cries of the decoy birds, are caught and 

 eaten. 



The houses of the Masaba tribes of West Elgon merit a special 

 description in some particulars. They are rather well built, are usually 

 thatched with banana leaves, and have their sides constructed of billets of 



