MAKOLOLO HUTS. 225 



fond of coffee ; and, indeed, some of the tribes attribute greater 

 fecundity to the daily use of this beverage. They were all well 

 acquainted with the sugar-cane, as they cultivate it in the 

 Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method of extracting 

 the sugar from it. They use the cane only for chewing. Seke- 

 letu, relishing the sweet coffee and biscuits, of which I then had 

 a store, said "he knew my heart loved him by finding his own 

 heart warming to my food." He had been visited during my 

 absence at the Cape by some traders and Griquas, and "their 

 coffee did not taste half so nice as mine, because they loved his 

 ivory and not himself." This was certainly an original mode of 

 discerning character. 



Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to sleep. 

 The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those of the Maka- 

 laka are infested with vermin. The cleanliness of the former is 

 owing to the habit of frequently smearing the floors with a plaster 

 composed of cowdung and earth. If we slept in the tent in some 

 villages, the mice ran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or 

 hungiy prowling dogs would eat our shoes and leave only the 

 soles. When they were guilty of this and other misdemeanors, 

 we got the loan of a hut. The best sort of Makololo huts consist 

 of three circular walls, with small holes as doors, each similar to 

 that in a dog-house ; and it is necessary to bend down the body 

 to get in, even when on all-fours. The roof is formed of reeds or 

 straight sticks, in shape like a Chinaman's hat, bound firmly 

 together with circular bands, which are lashed with the strong 

 inner bark of the mimosa-tree. When all prepared except the 

 thatch, it is lifted on to the circular wall, the rim resting on a 

 circle of poles, between each of which the third wall is built. 

 The roof is thatched with fine grass, and sewed with the same 

 material as the lashings ; and, as it projects far beyond the walls, 

 and reaches within four feet of the ground, the shade is the best 

 to be found in the country. These huts are very cool in the 

 hottest day, but are close and deficient in ventilation by night. 



The bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with twine ; 

 the hip-bone soon becomes sore on the hard flat surface, as we 

 are not allowed to make a hole in the floor to receive the promi- 

 nent part called trochanter by anatomists, as we do when sleep- 

 ing on grass or sand. 



