Chap. XIV. 
MODE OF PASSING THE NIGHT. 
251 
the station he is to occupy, in reference to the post of honour at 
the iire in front of the door of the tent. The two Makololo 
occupy my right and left, both in eating and sleeping, as long 
as the journey lasts. But Mashauana, my head boatman, 
makes his bed at the door of the tent as soon as I retu^e. The 
rest, divided into small companies according to their tribes, 
make sheds all round the fire, leaving a horseshoe-shaped space 
in front suflScient for the cattle to stand in. The fire gives 
confidence to the oxen, so the men are always careful to keep 
them in sight of it. The sheds are formed by planting two 
stout forked poles in an inclined direction, and placing another 
over these in a horizontal position. A number of branches are 
then stuck in the ground in the direction to which the poles 
are inclined, the twigs drawn down to the horizontal pole and 
tied with strips of bark. Long grass is then laid over the 
branches in sufficient quantity to draw off the rain, and we have 
sheds open to the fire in front, but secure from beasts behind. 
In less than, an hour we w^ere usually all under cover. We 
never lacked abundance of grass during the wdiole journey. It 
is a picturesque sight at night, when the clear bright moon of 
these climates glances on the sleeping forms around, to look 
out upon the attitudes of profound repose both men and beasts 
assume. There being no danger from wild animals in such a 
night, the fires are allowed almost to go out; and as there is 
no fear of hungry dogs coming over sleepers and devouring the 
food, or quietly eating up the poor fellows’ blankets, which at 
best were but greasy skins, which sometimes happened in the 
^ullages, the picture was one of perfect peace. 
The cooking is usually done in the natives’ own style, and, 
as they carefully w^ash the dishes, pots, and the hands before 
handling food, it is by no means despicable. Sometimes altera¬ 
tions are made at my suggestion, and then they believe that 
they can cook in thorough white man’s fashion. The cook always 
comes in for something left in the pot, so all are eager to obtain 
the office. 
I taught several of them to wash my shirts, and they did it 
well, though theff teacher had never been taught that work 
himself. Frequent changes of linen and suiming of my blanket 
kept me more comfortable than might have been anticipated. 
