XXVIII.] DIMINUTIVE DWELLINGS. 365 



lage, an irregularly built collection of small hamlets, some be- August, 

 ing inclosed by rougli fences of thorny bushes, and others open. ^^'^^- 

 The huts were neatly built, but remarkably small, the walls not 

 being above three feet high. 



Beyond the village were provision-grounds, supposed to be 

 protected by fetiches, consisting of small inclosures in which 

 was planted a dead tree, with numerous gourds and earthen 

 pots hanging on its branches. 



During this march, I had the misfortune to sprain my ankle 

 so badly that I was obliged to rig up a hammock and be carried 

 for some days. 



The winding road passed many small hamlets, consisting only 

 of a few huts in the centre of a patch of cleared and cultivated 

 ground. They were surrounded by fences about four feet high, 

 constructed of tree-trunks piled one upon the other, and kept 

 in position by stakes planted at intervals. The huts were all 

 small; and while some were circular, with conical roofs and 

 walls of stakes, with the interstices filled in with grass, others 

 were oblong, with sloping roofs, and were lined with mats. 



A few open plains in the intervals among the forest, of which 

 the country was chiefly composed, were even now muddy, al- 

 though the dry season had so far advanced. In the rains they 

 must be swamps. 



On the 5th of August we crossed the Lukoji — the principal 

 eastern affluent of the Lulua — a large river receiving most of 

 the smaller streams we had lately passed. A few miles from 

 this place was the village of a Kazembe, the second ruler of 

 Ulunda ; but he was absent, having gone to pay his respects to 

 the new Mata Yafa. 



Two days later we reached a village of about twenty huts in 

 the middle of a large inclosure ; and while climbing over the 

 fence at what appeared to be a proper entrance, I heard people 

 call out, " Take care, there's a hole l'' I looked at the ground 

 most carefully, and, avoiding a small hole, placed my foot on 

 what seemed a remarkably sound spot. Immediately the sur- 

 face gave way, and I made a rapid descent into a pitfall for 

 game, but saved myself from reaching the bottom by spreading 

 out my arms as I fell, and thus escaped without any more seri- 

 ous injury than a severe shaking. 



