SETTLEMENTS ON THE MRIMA. 



13 



land, when the tide is out, upon half a mile of muddy- 

 sand, and if a " swell," you are carried by four men 

 upon the Kitanda — cot or cartel — which is slung 

 along the side of your craft. Arrived at the strip of 

 dry ground that marks the limit of the tide, you are let 

 down, and amidst the shouts of the men, the shrieks of the 

 women, and the naive remarks of the juvenile popula- 

 tion, you ascend by a narrow footpath, worn through 

 the thick jungle and through the millet-fields which 

 press upon the tattered palisade, a dwarf steep bank, on 

 wdiose summit the settlement lies. Inside the fence are 

 a dozen pent-roofed houses, claret-chests of wattle and 

 dab, divided into three or more compartments by dwarf 

 party- walls of the same material: each messuage is jea- 

 lously separated from its neighbour by large enclosed 

 " compounds " or court-yards appropriated to the wo- 

 men and children. The largest timber is that of 

 the mangrove ; the flying thatch -roof, so raised that, 

 though windows are unknown > the interior enjoys 

 tolerable ventilation, is of jauli, or rude cocoa-plaits, 

 and under the long and projecting eaves, which rest 

 upon strong perpendiculars, are broad earth-benches, 

 divided by the entrance, and garnished with mats : 

 these form the shops and sitting-rooms of the settle- 

 ment. Some houses have a partial second story, like 

 a ship's bunk, a planking supported by rafters, and 

 used as a store-closet or a dormitory. Around the 

 larger habitations cluster masses of hovels, and the 

 characteristic African haycock-huts. With closed doors 

 in still weather, these dens are unendurable to a 

 European ; the people, however, fearing thieves and 

 wild beasts, never fail to barricade themselves within 

 at night. The only attempt at masonry in the settle- 

 ment is the " Gurayza," or fort, a square of lime and 



