318 VILLAGES 



Into this he creeps at night, and closes it by rolling 

 on top of the aperture by which he entered. He 

 thus escapes the torture of the mosquitoes and 

 other night pests, but how he escapes suffocation 

 it is difficult to surmise. The Dull, or wooden 

 mortar for bruising maize and millet, together 

 with the pestle. This is done before the winnow- 

 ing process, which precedes the grinding into flour. 

 The Dull is about three feet in height, and the 

 pestle of hard wood about five feet long. Two 

 women usually pound into one mortar at the 

 same time, delivering alternate blows and keeping 

 wonderfully accurate time. Each brings the pestle 

 down upon the contents of the Duli with great 

 force, emitting a slight grunt as she does so. Like 

 many other things, pounding grain is not so easy 

 as it looks, for I have tried it with anything but 

 successful results, to a running accompaniment of 

 shrieks of good-humoured laughter at my clumsy 

 efforts. In addition to the foregoing, a number of 

 baskets of different sizes form part of the domestic 

 equipment, some of moderate depth for holding 

 grain, others of shallower make intended for win- 

 nowing it. Then come the large and small earthen- 

 ware utensils for cooking, and for the carriage and 

 storage of water, millet beer, palm wine, and other 

 liquids. The women mould these vessels from 

 clay with great skill in a variety of shapes and of 

 many sizes. After having received their form at 

 the hands of the potter, they are placed in the 

 sun's rays for a few days, and are then burned in 

 a wood fire. Some of these utensils are tastefully 

 decorated, and after they have been some little 



