THE TUBURI LAKES 85 



and children had all gone. Perhaps they feared 

 reprisals, or the misconduct of our boys or polers ; 

 however, as for centuries past it has been from among 

 the pagan tribes that slaves have been raided, it 

 has long been the custom to send the women and 

 cliildren away to some hiding-place on the approach 

 of strangers. The men stay to fight for their homes, 

 unless the numbers ao-ainst them are overwhelminof, 

 in which case they too fly until the danger is past. 



On our way up to the town we noticed that the 

 fields were carefully cultivated. Furrows v/ere made 

 by big wooden hand- hoes, and maize and guinea-corn 

 were sown between the ridges, so that they might 

 catch the moisture. 



Every house had its plot of garden, and tobacco- 

 plant was grown in each. The natives use its flower 

 for cleaning their teeth. 



In the midst of the town is a big thorn-fenced circle, 

 where the cattle are gathered in time of danger. Many 

 of the compounds are enclosed in spiked zaribas, and 

 one in particular was very beautiful. It was a hedge 

 of lovely bright pink blossoms, that flowered on seem- 

 ingly dead stems, from which a lanceolate leaf springs 

 later. We picked some for Mrs Talbot's collection, 

 and a thick juice exuded from the stem. Her finger 

 smarted, and she sucked it instinctively, but, from the 

 internal pain that immediately overtook her, we judged 

 the plant to be intensely poisonous. There is con- 

 siderable danger in handling unknown plants, and Mrs 

 Talbot learnt to be very careful, especially if her skin 

 chanced to be open from any scratch. 



The huts are made of thatch or matting, and are 

 small and round in shape, with low entrances that vary 



