Chap. XXVII. INDUSTRY. 
207 
watered, while the people were drawing water to fill the 
large round hollows, " kele nkibe," made with little 
clay walls to serve as troughs. The blacksmith was 
seen busy at his simple work, making new hoes for 
the approaching season ; the weaver was sitting at his 
loom ; several were making mats of reed ; some women 
were carrying water from the wells, some spinning 
or cleaning the cotton, while others pounded corn for 
their daily consumption. The little granaries, in 
order to preserve the stock of corn from the danger 
of conflagration, which every moment threatens 
these light structures of straw and reed, were erected 
on the sandy level near the edge of the slope. Even 
the fowls had their little separate abodes, also of reed, 
very thrifty and neat, as the accom- 
panying woodcut will show. Such 
was the simple but nevertheless cheer- 
ful picture which this little village 
exhibited. My two boys were a long 
way ahead of me when I awoke from my reverie 
and followed them. 
It was shortly before we came to this village that 
we passed the enormous skeleton of an elephant, — 
the first trace of this animal which I had seen since 
Gazawa (I mean the independent pagan place of 
that name between Tasawa and Katsena). The road 
was frequented ; early in the morning we had met a 
party of tugurchi with pack-oxen, who had been 
travelling a great part of the night, as they generally 
do, on account of this beast of burden bearing the 
