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UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



Waganda labourers are frequently ^een carrying some chopper 

 or axe. The native chopper is a broad-bladed knife, stuck into 

 the thick end of a club-shaped handle. It is an excellent instru- 

 ment for clearing fields of reeds, shrubs, and bushes. It is not 

 as useful for chopping hard wood as the native axe which is 

 fixed to a similar club-shaped handle, but at right angles to 

 the handle. The blade of the native axe is very small, and yet 



WAGANDA LABOURERS. 



it can fell the strongest and thickest trees. Another common 

 instrument is a small spear-shaped iron jammed on to a stick ; 

 it is used for digging holes for the poles of fences and stockades. 



A favourite way with the native labourers of carrying their 

 pipe is to pass it through the shoulder-knot of their bark-cloth 

 garment. 



The Uganda shield is cut out of a solid block of wood, 

 though its appearance conveys the impression that it consists 

 of two halves formed by two symmetrical segments of, circles, 

 meeting at an angle of 120°, and joined together along their arc. 

 The central conical boss of wood is left uncovered, but the rest 

 of the shield is covered by coloured strips of twisted hide. 



