THE MISSION-HOUSE. 



55 



dustry. Begun about 1850 by Messrs Eebmann 

 and Erhardt, it was finished after some two 

 years of uncommonly bard work. The form 

 is three sides of a hollow square, completed with 

 a railing to keep poultry from vagrancy, and 

 the azotea, or flat roof, is ascended by an 

 external ladder ; the material is sandstone, clay- 

 plastered and white-washed; mangrove rafters 

 form the ceiling, and Mvuli planks the doors 

 and shutters. It has, however, its inconve- 

 niences, being far from that source of all comfort, 

 the well, and beplagued with ants — the little 

 red wretches are ubiquitous by day, and by 

 night overrunning the clothes, nestling in the 

 hair, and exploring nose and ears without a mo- 

 ment's repose, they compel the inmates to sleep 

 with pans of water supporting the couch legs. 

 We enjoyed sundry huge ' sneakers ' of tea, 

 and even more still the cool, light, refreshing 

 air of the heights, and the glorious evening, 

 which here, unlike ' muggy ' Zanzibar, follows 

 the heavy showers. The altitude by B. P. proved 

 to be 750 feet, not 1200 to 2000, as reported. 



The servants, most grotesque in garb and form, 

 gathered to stare at the new white men, and 

 those hill-savages who were brave enough to enter 

 a house stalked about, and stopped occasionally 



