io Wild Life in Central Africa. 



of string. A small loop is made and put over the centre 

 peg, and when the exact diameter wanted is fixed, another 

 loop is made and the other peg inserted, and a circular line 

 made. The space for the door should be marked, but in 

 cutting the trench for the poles the earth should be left 

 intact in the doorway. 



For the verandah another line is made, and this can be 

 marked by deepening the line with a hoe, so that while at 

 work the men's feet will not obliterate the mark. I made 

 my hut 2yft. wide inside, with a verandah of gft., which 

 made a total diameter of 45ft, as of course the verandah 

 goes right round. Then I made a smaller hut near, 6ft. less 

 inside, with a verandah all round, and the two huts I 

 joined with a passage. I had some difficulty in knowing 

 what kind of doors to make, as the ordinary native door is 

 made from the stalks of maize when dry (called impaissi), 

 and these are loose affairs and soon get broken. At last I 

 thought of getting the poles of the Chiwali palms, which 

 I knew grew near the Bua, a few miles off, so I sent men 

 to cut them, and when they had arrived I got two men to 

 tackle the doors, which are made by putting five or six 

 stakes into the ground and then making holes in the palm 

 sticks and pushing them on. A strong wooden pole is put 

 on as a backstay, and then a strip of palm stick is nailed 

 on. I managed to get some nails from the Government 

 officer at Fort Manning (six miles off), and also some rough 

 boards out of which I fashioned a table, a few racks, and 

 some small windows. He also kindly lent me a saw, plane, 

 two augers, and a few tools. Having no hammer, I did the 

 best I could with a small American axe I possessed, and I 

 may say such a tool is most useful in the bush for all kinds 

 of work. The natives are very expert axemen in a way ; 

 although they doubtless could not compete with the 

 European bushmen of Australia, New Zealand, and 

 Tasmania. The natives' axes are made of soft wrought- 

 iron, and are seldom wider than liin. in the blade. Some 

 of the African trees are very hard and they will splinter a 

 hard-tempered European axe. In building huts or a house, 



