THE HABITATIONS OF THE WAGAKDA. 215 
His dress was trie ordinary one of the country, robing 
him in graceful folds of bark-cloth, salmon-coloured, 
which harmonised well with his dark complexion. 
Eound his bare head he wore a wreath of creepers 
(Coccinia Indica), which made me inquire whether 
his head ached. A laugh from him, and suppressed 
titter from his men at my ignorance, immediately 
followed, and he wished to see my pictures and luci- 
fer-matches ; of the former he preferred the buffalo's 
head, and one representing some slaves in chains ; 
these amused him more than any of the others, and 
he soon took his departure, walking away slowly with 
considerable style, as if proud of his tall stout manly 
figure. 
The dwellings on this route were superior to any 
we had met with in Africa — loftier, better constructed, 
and more cleanly. Having command of immensely 
tall reeds, and beautiful grasses for thatching, with, in 
most places, tall spars, they could readily make them- 
selves comfortable dwellings; besides which, they are a 
very neat-handed race. A M'ganda has a double roof of 
reeds to his house, like the two "flies" in an Indian tent. 
The outer " fly " has a steeper slope than the under, 
and is covered to the ground with a thick thatch of 
long broad-bladed grass, a species of wild sugar-cane. 
This roofing appears when new white and clean from 
the inside, and is placed with perfect regularity, and 
supported by more poles than are generally requisite, 
as there are sacks of grain, dried flesh or fish, &c, to 
be slung from them. The interior is partitioned off 
into front and rear compartments, by means of high 
screens of the plantain leaf. The better class of 
houses have a raised bedstead in the dark interior, 
