104 CAPTAIN TUCKEY'S NARRATIVE. 



tributed to the company ; the king saying he drank only 

 wine, and retiring, as he told me, to order dinner. The 

 moment he disappeared the company began to scramble 

 for a sup of the rum, and one fellow, dropping his dirty 

 cap in the bason, as if by accident, contrived to snatch 

 it out again well soaked, and sucked it with great satis- 

 faction. 



While dinner was preparing we walked over the banza, 

 accompanied by some of the chief men. It is situated on 

 a small plain on a summit of a hill, and consists of about 

 30 dwelling places or tenements, each composed of two or 

 three huts, within a square enclosure of reeds matted ; the 

 huts are composed of the same materials, and consist of 

 two sides and two end pieces, which they call Avails, and 

 two other pieces for roofs ; so that a house, ready to put 

 together, may be purchased for the same price as four fowls, 

 and in five minutes may be made ready for occupation; the 

 entrance is by a square door in one of the sides, just large 

 enough to crawl in at, and opposite to it is a window; both 

 of which openings are closed at night with shutters of the 

 same fabric as the walls. The Chenoo's tenement differs 

 in no other respect from the common ones, than in contain- 

 ing one large apartment, a little better lighted and aired, 

 and in being surrounded by a double fence, forming a 



