224 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



he adds milk, and then buries the whole in the 

 ground under the sacred tree. 



We went down to the village, where widely scat- 

 tered, low, thatched huts stand in a desert of sand. 

 Wind-screens, made of rush or straw, or both, sur- 

 round them. They overlap at the entrances, so that 

 no point may be exposed to the direct blast of a storm. 

 In each of these enclosures is a sun-shelter, open all 



BuDUMA Compound. 



round. Beneath it people squat, and on it is kept 

 an assortment of calabashes and other household gods. 

 Near-by is the matting-covered sleeping-place, already 

 described, though here, where they are permanencies, 

 they are bigger than in camp. 



In the dry season, however, people do not use them, 

 for mosquitos are not so numerous. 



We visited many of the houses, despite the difficulty 

 of getting in and out. The doorways, which slope 

 slightly inwards, are only two or three feet in height. 



