178 
Seven Years in Central Africa. 
[April^ 
were to form the walls of the house. Whilst a few of us 
busied ourselves in digging out this trench others went to the 
bush to cut the poles, and for each one brought in I paid them 
20 beads. The poles were then cut into equal lengths, and set 
up in the trench close together, in the same way as the fences of 
old railway-sleepers we are accustomed to see. Two openings 
were left for windows, and one large space in the middle for a 
door. Across the poles the men placed small canes, something 
like bamboo, which were bound on with cords of bark. These 
acted as laths in supporting the mud with which the walls were 
afterwards thickly plastered. The rafters I made of split teak 
wood, over which transverse slips of cane were bound, and the 
whole was carefully thatched with grass. A spacious verandah, 
six feet in width, I found of great service in promoting the circu- 
lation of cool air around the walls of the house. The doors were 
made of hewn planks. 
The Cottage. 
