Chap. XI. 
MAKOLOLO HUTS. 
207 
fond of coffee; and, indeed, some of tlie tribes attribute greater 
fecundity to the daily use of this beverage. They were all well 
acquainted with the sugar-cane, as they cultivate it in the 
Barotse country, but knew nothing of the method of extracting 
the sugar from it. They use the cane only for chewing. Seke- 
letu, relishing the sweet coffee and biscuits, of which I then had 
a store, said, he knew my heart loved him by finding his own 
heart warming to my food.” He had been visited during my 
absence at the Cape by some traders and Griquas, and “their 
coffee did not taste half so nice as mine, because they loved his 
ivory and not himself.” This was certainly an original mode of 
discerning character. 
Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to sleep. 
The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those of the Maka- 
laka are infested with vermin. The cleanliness of the former is 
owing to the habit of frequently smearing the floors with a plaster 
composed of cowdung and earth. If we slept in the tent in some 
villages, the mice ran over our faces and disturbed our sleep, or 
hungry prowling dogs would eat our shoes and leave only the 
soles. When they were guilty of this, and other misdemeanom’s, 
we got the loan of a hut. The best sort of Makololo huts consist 
of tlnree circular walls, with small holes as doors, each similar to 
that in a dog-house ; and it is necessary to bend down the body 
to get in, even when on all-fours. The roof is formed of reeds or 
straight sticks, in shape like a Chinaman’s hat, bound firmly 
together with circular bands, which are lashed with the strong 
inner bark of the mimosa-tree. When all prepared except the 
thatch, it is lifted on to the circular wall, the rim resting on a 
circle of poles, between each of which the thhd wall is built. 
The roof is thatched with fine grass, and sewed with the same 
material as the lashings; and, as it projects far beyond the walls, 
and reaches within four feet of the ground, the shade is the best 
to be found in the country. These huts are very cool in the 
hottest day, but are close and deficient in ventilation by night. 
The bed is a mat made of rushes sewn together with twine; 
the Inp-bone soon becomes sore on the hard flat surface, as we 
are not allowed to make a hole in the floor to receive the promi¬ 
nent part called trochanter by anatomists, as we do when sleep¬ 
ing on grass or sand. 
