168 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NIGHT. Chap. XIV 



myself with an umbrella from the intense heat of the sun. 

 The men, being nnshaded, perspired profusely, and in the 

 afternoon began to loiter, as if waiting for the canoes which 

 were behind. Sometimes we reached a sleeping-place two 

 hours before sunset, and gladly put up for the night. Coffee 

 again, and a biscuit, or a piece of coarse bread made of maize 

 or else of native corn, made up the bill of fare for the evening, 

 unless we had been fortunate enough to kill something, in 

 which case we boiled a potful of flesh. 



Then followed the arrangements for the night : some of the 

 men cut a little grass for my bed, while Mashauana planted 

 the poles of my tent. The bed being made, and boxes ranged 

 on each side of it, the tent was then pitched, and the principal 

 or kotla fire was lighted some four or five feet in front of it. 

 Each person knows the station he is to occupy in reference to 

 the post of honour at the kotla. The two Makololo occupied 

 my right and left, both in eating and sleeping, as long as the 

 journey lasted; but as soon as I retired, Mashauana, my 

 head boatman, made his bed at the door of the tent. The 

 rest, divided into small companies according to their tribes, 

 made sheds all round the fire, leaving a horseshoe-shaped 

 space in front sufficient for the cattle to stand in. As the fire 

 gives confidence to the oxen, the men were careful to keep 

 them in sight of it. The sheds were formed by planting two 

 stout forked poles in an inclined direction, and placing another 

 across them in a horizontal position. A number of branches 

 were then stuck in the ground in the direction to which the 

 poles are inclined, and tied to the horizontal pole with strips 

 of bark. Long grass was then laid over the branches in suf- 

 ficient quantity to draw off the rain. In less than an hour 

 we were usually all under cover. The varied attitudes of 

 men and beasts as they reposed beneath the clear bright moon- 

 light formed a most picturesque and peaceful scene. 



The cooking was usually done in the native style, and wa> 

 by no means despicable. Sometimes alterations were made at 

 my suggestion, and then they believed that they could cook 

 in white man's fashion. As the cook always comes in for 

 something left in the pot, all were eager to obtain the office. 



The people at Gronye conveyed our canoes over the space 

 requisite to avoid the falls, by slinging them on poles, and 



