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THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



About Central Usagara the normal African haystack- 

 hut makes place for the " Tembe " which extends west- 

 ward, a little beyond Unyanyembe. The Tembe, though 

 of Hamitic origin, resembles the Utum of the ancients, 

 and the Hishan of the modern Hejaz, those hollow 

 squares of building which have extended through Spain 

 to France and even to Ireland : it was, probably, sug- 

 gested to Africa and to Arabia by the necessity of 

 defence to, as well as lodging for, man and beast. It is 

 to a certain extent, a proof of civilisation in Eastern 

 Africa : the wildest tribes have not progressed beyond 

 the mushroom or circular hut, a style of architecture 

 which seems borrowed from the indigenous mimosa tree. 



Westward of Unyamwezi in Uvinza and about the 

 Tanganyika Lake the round hovel again finds favour 

 with the people ; but even there the Arabs prefer to 

 build for themselves the more solid and comfortable 

 Tembe. 



The haystack-hut has been described by a multitude 

 of travellers: the "Tembe," or hollow village, yet 

 awaits that honour. 



The " Tembe " wants but the addition of white-wash 

 to make it an effective feature in African scenery : as it 

 is, it appears from afar like a short line of raised earth. 

 Provided with a block-house at each angle to sweep 

 dead ground where fire, the only mode of attack prac- 

 tised in these regions, can be applied, it would become a 

 fort impregnable to the Eastern African. The form is 

 a hollow square or oblong, generally irregular, with 

 curves, projections, and semicircles ; in the East 

 African Ghauts, the shape is sometimes round or oval 

 to suit the exigencies of the hill-sides and the dwarf 

 cones upon which it is built. On the mountains and in 

 Ugogo, where timber is scarce, the houses form the 



