I90 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



of tlie pods pointing downwards, at the slightest shake will 

 shower all their tiny seeds on to the cloth or mat spread out 

 to receive them. The sem-sem is an oil-giving seed, and is of 

 immense importance to agricultural races living almost exclu- 

 sively on a vegetable diet. A very simple method of extracting 

 the oil is to toast the sem-sem slightly and then boil it ; the 

 oil rises to the surface and can be skimmed off. If properly 

 prepared, the oil is equal to the finest olive-oil, and very useful 

 for culinary purposes. A pint of it at Masindi could be bought 

 for two shillings. 



The monkey-nut, which forms such an important trade be- 

 tween Mozambique and Marseilles, where it is used in the 

 manufacture of the so-called olive-oil of commerce, thrives at 

 Fovira ; but the natives find it easier to extract their oil from 

 the sem-sem grain. 



Amongst the Falua neither men nor boys go uncovered. 

 The Falua spear has a very small but sharp spear-head. The 

 villages lie quite unprotected ; they seemed to be well stocked 

 with sheep, goats, and poultry. Spiral coils of brass wire round 

 the wrists were worn by the wealthier ladies, and ornaments of 

 beads by the poorer class. 



A curious corn-bin is manufactured by the villagers. It 

 consists of wicker-work, and resembles somewhat a soiled linen- 

 basket w'ith a thick rim. It is well plastered with red clay 

 both inside and out, and probably answers its purpose of pro- 

 tecting the grain from insects and rats. 



Wimbi is another grain largely cultivated by the natives. 

 It is used principally in the preparation of their native brew. 

 Wimbi is a species of grass, the stalk of which bears several 

 tufts of seeds. When ripe, the tufts are nipped off by hand 

 or cropped with a short knife ; they are then thoroughly dried 

 in the sun, and finally threshed out in a very primitive w'ay 

 with sticks. 



From a shrub which grows six to eight feet high the 

 natives gather a small kind of bean. This, too, is largely 

 cultivated here. In the illustration one of the women has a 

 grass-platter with a lot of these tiny pods collected, preparatory 

 to shelling them for their frugal meal. Most of the huts 

 were of the ordinary type, but a few amongst them were of 

 superior workmanship. The hut resembled in shape half an 

 orange, with the thatch reaching to the ground, except for a 



