r>.'52 tup: tropical world. 



At noon tlie African returns to his hut to eat the most sub- 

 stantial and the last meal of the day, which has been cooked 

 by his women. Eminently gregarious, however, he often pre- 

 fers the Iwanza as a dining-room, where the company of rela- 

 tives and friends adds the pleasure of society to the enjoyment 

 of beef or mutton. With him food is the all-in-all of life — his 

 thought by day, his dream by night. The civilised European 

 can hardly comprehend the intense delight with which his wild 

 brother satisfies the wants of his stomach, or the envious eye 

 which he casts on all those who live better than himself. After 

 eating, the East African invariably indulges in a long fit of 

 torpidity, using the back, breast, dr stomach, of his neigh boar 

 as a pillow, and awakening from his siesta, passes the afternoon 

 as he did the forenoon, chatting, playing, smoking, and where 

 tobacco fails, chewing sweet earth, or the clay of ant-hills. 

 This probably contains some animal matter, but the chief 

 reason for using it is apparently the necessity to barbarians of 

 whiling' away the time when not sleeping, by exercising their 

 jaws. Towards sunset all issue forth to enjoy the coolness ; the 

 men sit outside the Iwanza, whilst the women and the girls, 

 after fetching water for the household wants from the welU 

 collect in a group upon their little stools, and indulge in the 

 pleasures of gossip and the pipe. This delightful hour in the 

 more favoured parts of the country is replete with enjoyment, 

 felt by 11] e barbarian as much as by civilised man. As the 

 hours of darkness draw nigh, the village doors are carefully 

 closed, and after milking his cows, each peasant retires to his 

 hut, or passes his time squatting round the fire with his friends 

 in the Iwanza. He has not yet learned the art of making a 

 wick, and of filling a bit of pottery with oil. An ignited stick 

 of some oleaginous wood, which will keep burning for a quarter 

 of an hour with a brilliant flame, serves to light him home. 

 Such is the African's idle day, and thus every summer is spent ; 

 but as the wintry rains draw nigh, and provisions become 

 scarce, the necessity of providing for his daily bread suggests 

 itself, and labour in the fields occupies a great part of the day, 

 which would otherwise have been spent in the Iwanza. 



When the moon shines bright, the spirits of the East African 

 rise to their highest pitch, and a furious drumming, a loud clap- 

 ping of hands, and a drowsy chorus summon the lads and lasses 

 of the neighbouring villages to come out and dance. 



