Erecting Huts in the Bush. 



nice spring of clear water, which was a lucky incident, as it 

 is better not to have to drink water from a running stream 

 where the natives wash constantly. As a matter of fact I 

 seldom drink water unless in the shape of tea or coffee. 

 Tea I consider the best drink for tropical countries, as the 

 water to make it with must be boiled. It assuages thirst 

 better than cold water, and also induces a perspiration, which 

 is a good thing in the tropics. Coffee is rather a bilious 

 compound to be drinking constantly, and cocoa induces 

 thirst and is too fat and heavy a fluid for frequent use. 



After I had cleared about two acres of ground I sent 

 the men off to cut poles, and to get that indispensable 

 material for binding known to the natives as maluzi. This 

 string is the inner shreds of bark, which are pulled off in 

 lengths of from 5ft. to loft, or more, and is taken from 

 the bovu tree. When wanted very strong it is twisted up 

 in strands. The natives use it for all kinds of binding, for 

 nails are never used by them for hut building. 



The best trees for poles are the masuko and maula, both 

 of which are impervious to the borer insect, which soon 

 gets into soft wood and riddles it with hundreds of holes. 

 Besides, soft woods such as the bovu, which supplies the 

 bark string, do not stand the damp, and soon get rotten. 



It is best to remove all the bark from the poles, and this 

 is done by hammering it with a piece of wood, or with the 

 back of the axe. If the poles are not cleaned the bark 

 opens and proves a receptacle for all kinds of pests, and 

 the mud of the walls is apt to crack when the bark opens 

 with changes of climate. 



When the men cut the poles in the bush they should be 

 cut rather long, then cleaned, and afterwards cut to the 

 proper length, after being inspected. I have found it 

 useless to expect the natives to cut them off to the exact 

 length wanted, unless they are marked for them. The best 

 height for the walls of the dining and sitting hut is 

 about gft., and as the poles will be sunk in a trench about 

 i Sin. deep, they should be trimmed to lo^ft. A round hut 

 is measured out by getting two sharp pegs and a long piece 



