CHAPTER IV. 
BARRES. 
In every town or village there is also 
from one to six Barres. A Barre is a mere 
open shed, or at best it has not more than 
one or two sides closed, and often none at 
all. In these they do their cooking ordina- 
rily, and from a half-dozen to a dozen families 
use the same one for a kitchen. Some noted 
headmen who have many wives, have a Barre 
to themselves, which their wives occupy 
not only as a kitchen, but as a workshop in 
general. 
One or more of these in each town is 
called palaver house. These answer the 
same purposes which our court houses do in 
this country, and are not used for the pur- 
poses alluded to above. In these palaver 
houses the headmen of towns meet to ad- 
just difficulties, settle disputes, try culprits, 
&c; and when they are not thus engaged 
they spend much of their time in the pala- 
ver houses playing the Walle. 
It was my privilege several times to be 
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