HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 



37! 



varieties, tender-green, or black and yellow, or dark 

 metallic blue — burrows holes in the wall, or raises 

 plastered nests, and buzzes about the inmates' ears ; 

 lizards, often tailless after the duello, tumble from the 

 ceilings ; in the darker corners spiders of frightful 

 hideousness weave their solid webs ; and the rest of the 

 population is represented by tenacious ticks of many 

 kinds, flies of sorts, bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, and small 

 ants, which are, perhaps, the worst plagues of all. The 

 Ricinias in Eastern Africa are locally called Papazi, 

 which probably explains the " Pazi bug," made by Dr. 

 Krapf a rival in venom to the Argas Persicus, or fatal 

 " bug of Miana." In Eastern Africa these parasites are 

 found of many shapes, round and oval, flat and swollen ; 

 after suction they vary in size from microscopic di- 

 mensions to three-quarters of an inch ; the bite cannot 

 poison, but the constant irritation caused by it may 

 induce fever and its consequences. A hut infested with 

 Papazi must be sprinkled with boiling water, and swept 

 clean for many weeks, before they will disappear. In 

 the Tembe there is no draught to disturb the smaller 

 occupants, consequently they are more numerous than 

 in the circular cottage. Moreover, the people, having 

 an aversion to sleeping in the open air, thus supply 

 their co-inhabitants with nightly rations, which account 

 for their fecundity. 



The abodes, as might be expected, are poorly furnished. 

 In Unyamwezi, they contain invariably one or more 

 "Kitanda." This cartel, or bedstead, is a rude contrivance. 

 Two parallel lines of peeled tree-branches, planted at 

 wide intervals, support in their forks horizontal poles : 

 upon these is spread crosswise a layer of thick sticks, 

 which forms the frame. The bedding consists of a 

 bull-hide or two, and perhaps a long, coarse, rush-mat. 



B B 2 



