IN WESTERN AFRICA. 
33 
tlie size of a man’s hand (the tobacco in that 
country is used in the leaf as it grows), or a few 
needles or spoons, or whatever else may be on 
hand as an article of commerce, is staked and 
played for. When they have nothing to stake 
they play for amusement only. 
Walles are public property, sometimes furnished 
at the expense of the town, each town having one 
or more of them. Ordinarily they are kept in the 
palaver-house, where there are also hammocks 
swung to accommodate loungers. 
Between playing the walle, and sleeping in the 
hammocks, head-men while away their leisure 
hours, while their wives are close by in groups, 
making mats, spinning cotton, preparing the meal, 
or else in the field planting and looking after the 
the crops, which are mostly cassada and rice. 
Women do all the drudgery and hard work in 
Africa, and many of them are compelled to labor 
hard to procure a livelihood for themselves, 
children, and husbands. With an infant lashed 
fast to her back, the mother may be seen in the 
field hoeing, pulling weeds, gathering in the crop 
of rice, carrying fire-wood from the forest, or in the 
river washing clothes. Of the latter they have 
little to do, however. The way of washing is 
worthy of notice. This thfey do by going into the 
water’s edge, dipping the clothes into the water. 
