250 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



his own. Every morning he pours water into it, prays 

 beside it, and then uses the water thus sanctified to 

 wash himself. In the Ajia's compound we saw five 

 pots, of varying size as in the story of the Three Bears. 

 The largest was for himself, the next, largest for his 

 "big" wife, a lesser one for his "small" wife, and a 

 tiny and tinier one for his two daughters. Thus this 

 little household perform their devotions regularly side 

 by side, but the " foolish " don't trouble. 



Gabai is protected against invasion by two deep 

 fosses and three mud walls, one within the other, 

 through which there are loopholes for men to shoot 

 with bows and arrows, 



Without are beds of onions, irrigated from a well 

 at the corner of each small enclosure. 



Inside are houses of diverse architecture — some of 

 mud, some thatch, some square, some round, some 

 high, some low ; and the granaries are doubly pro- 

 tected, being made of mud surmounted by thatch. 



Zana mattings surround the compounds, and give 

 the appearance of enclosed streets, which by their 

 narrowness add to the grandeur of the one broad road 

 which leads from the main gateway to the palace. 

 The whole is shadowed by date-palms, whose graceful 

 growth and golden - brown fruit add to the beauty 

 and prosperous aspect of the scene. 



The chief gave us a cordial welcome, and took us 

 to see the house that belonged to his now deceased 

 brother, and his palace. The former contains three 

 wonderful chambers. The first, an outer hall 12 feet 

 in height, has a rafter ceiling supported by one pillar, 

 connected with the walls by arches. The material is 

 mud rubble, and each arch is differently patterned in 



