HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS 



bed-room. It is to be constructed in Kafir fashion of 

 stakes bound together by an intervening basket- 

 work of bent bamboo, and covered on both sides 

 with clay. The framework of the thatched roof is 

 also made of bamboo. With great difficulty we were 

 able to construct a window-door with the remains 

 of planks, which is cleverly hung on a hinge furnished 

 by a fragment of a bottle. A spacious rack holds the 

 weapons and cartridge-bags, and boxes provided 

 with pegs take the place of cupboards and chests 

 of drawers. There is a dressing-room against the hut. 

 Opposite our bedroom is the reading-room ; the 

 dining-room being on the right. A few steps lower 

 down are the kitchen, the hen-house, and the garden, 

 where I have sown the grain brought from 

 France. 



I have also to think of means of communication, 

 and as the path by which I came here is impracticable, 

 I am making another which twists round the mountain 

 and at the end of ten miles joins the main route from 

 Massikesse to the valleys of the Revoue and Chimezi. 

 We are at a considerable altitude (3,900 feet) ; 

 although, high up as we are, we are nevertheless 

 surrounded by mountains towering above us. There 

 is only one gap, which is to the northward, whence 

 the river Muza flows past us to join the Revoue. 

 From this opening can be seen the vast plain bounded 

 by the hills of Bendwla and the valley of the Pungwe. 



Except in the neighbourhood of the water-courses, 



(5) 



