280 AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
step witliin and judge for ourselves of his mode of 
life. 
Within the outer court we come to a small square 
hut, sacred to the genius of the family, the household 
Muzimu. This genius, by the dues paid to him, seems 
to be no very exacting or avaricious spirit, for the 
simplest things, such as snail-sliells, moulded balls of 
clay, certain compounds of herbs, small bits of juniper 
wood, and a hartebeest horn pointed with iron and stuck 
into the earth, suffice to propitiate him. 
Proceeding from the outer court, we enter the inner 
one by a side entrance, and the tall, conical hut, neatly 
constructed, with its broad eaves overshadowing the 
curving doorway, which has a torus consisting of faggots 
of cane running up and round it, stands revealed. 
It is of ample circumference, and cosy. On first 
entering we find it is rather dark, but as the eye 
becomes accustomed to the darkness, we begin to dis- 
tinguish objects. That which first arrests observation 
is the multitude of poles with which the interior is 
crammed for the support of the roof, until it resembles 
a gloomy den in the middle of a dense forest. These 
poles, however, serve to guide the owner to his cane 
bunk, but their number would confuse a nocturnal 
marauder or intruding stranger. The rows of poles 
form, in fact, avenues by which the inmates can guide 
themselves to any particular spot or object. 
The hut, we observe also, is divided into two apart- 
ments, front and rear, by a wall of straight canes, parted 
in the centre, through which the peasant can survey — 
himself being unseen — any person entering. 
In the rear apartment are bunks arranged round the 
walls for the use of himself and family. Over the door- 
way of the hut within may be observed a few charms, 
into whose care and power the peasant commits the 
guardianship of his house and effects. 
A scarcity of furniture is observable, and the utensils 
are few in number and of poor quality. Under the 
former title may be classed a couple of carved stools 
and a tray for native backgammon ; under the latter, 
