Life at Ribe. 137 
control their features, and one man almost drove them 
out of all propriety by nudging his next neighbour, 
and observing with a broad grin, " Do you hear ? The 
white man says that he cannot get any women to grind 
him r 
While thus contending with the climate and acquir- 
ing the language, it is necessary that another work be 
attended to. It is impossible for the civilized man to 
live in the huts of the natives ; comfort, convenience, 
and health all require that he should have better 
places than those in which to dwell. He must, there- 
fore, strip off his coat, and turn his hand to building. 
The labour this involves in a country like Africa is 
immense. It is not the mere erection of a cottage or 
house that has to be done ; a more difficult work than 
this precedes it, namely, the procuring, preparation, 
'and sometimes manufacture of materials. Stone has 
to be quarried, or bricks made ; lime has to be burnt, 
or, if purchased at the coast, it has to be conveyed 
over many miles of jungle ; wood has to be felled, 
seasoned, and sawn into planks and beams ; and a 
great deal more must be done before you can begin 
your building. Some assistance is, of course, obtain- 
able among the natives. Masons and carpenters are 
to be found among the Wasuahili, and labourers 
' among the Wanika ; but they often require so much 
instruction and superintendence that it were almost 
easier to do everything yourself. Then there are 
many things which the natives cannot do, and you 
must. We, however, always looked upon this as part 
of the necessary work, and entered into it with hearty 
good will. Fever often interfered with such toils ; but, 
on the whole, we never were more free from fever 
