372 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



It is impossible for any one but an African to sleep 

 upon these Kitanda, on account of their shortness, the 

 hardness of the material, and the rapid slope which 

 supplies the want of pillows, and serves for another 

 purpose which will not be described. When removed, 

 a fractured pole will pour forth a small shower of the 

 foul cimex : this people of hard skins considers its 

 bite an agreeable titillation, and, what may somewhat 

 startle a European, esteems its odour a perfume. 

 Around the walls depend from pegs neatly-plaited 

 slings of fibrous cord, supporting gourds and " vilindo" 

 — neat cylinders, like small band-boxes, of tree bark, 

 made to contain cloth, butter, grain, or other provisions. 

 In the store-room, propped upon stones, and plastered 

 over with clay for preservation, are Linclo, huge corn- 

 bins of the same material ; grain is ground upon a 

 coarse granite slab, raised at an angle of 25°, about 

 one foot above the floor, and embedded in a rim of 

 hard clay. The hearth is formed of three " Manga," 

 or truncated cones of red or grey mud, sometimes two 

 feet high, and ten inches in diameter at the base : they 

 are disposed triangularly, with the apex to the wall, 

 and open to the front when the fire is made. The pot 

 rests upon the tripod. The broom, a wisp of grass, a 

 bunch of bamboo splints, or a split fibrous root, usually 

 sticks in the ceiling; its work is left to the ants. From 

 the rafters hang drums and kettle-drums, skins and 

 hides in every process, and hooked twigs dangling 

 from strings support the bows and arrows, the spears 

 and assegais. An arrow is always thrust into the inner 

 thatch for good luck : ivory is stored between the 

 rafters, hence its dark ruddy colour, which must be 

 removed by ablution with warm blood ; and the ceiling 

 is a favourite place for small articles that require 



