CHAP. V.] 
NATIVE ARCHITECTURE. 
141 
protect them from flies ; and high platforms, in three 
tiers, were erected in many places, upon wdiich sentinels 
w r atched both day and night to give the alarm in ease 
of danger. The cattle are the wealth of the country, 
and so rich are the Latookas in oxen, that ten or 
twelve thousand head are housed in every large town ; 
thus the natives are ever on the watch, fearing the 
attacks of the adjacent tribes. 
The houses of the Latookas are generally bell-shaped, 
while others are precisely like huge candle-extin¬ 
guishers, about twenty-five feet high. The roofs are 
neatly thatched, at an angle of about 75°, resting upon 
a circular wall about four feet high; thus the roof 
forms a cap descending to within two feet and a half 
of the ground. The doorway is only two feet and two 
inches high, thus an entrance must be effected upon 
all-fours. The interior is remarkably clean, but dark, 
as the architects have no idea of windows. It is 
a curious fact that the circular form of hut is the 
only style of architecture adopted among all the 
tribes of Central Africa, and also among the Arabs 
of Upper Egypt; and that, although these differ more 
or less in the form of the roof, no tribe has ever yet 
sufficiently advanced to construct a window. The 
town of Tarrangolle is arranged with several entrances, 
in the shape of low archways through the palisades; 
these are closed at night by large branches of the 
hooked thorn of the kittur bush (a species of mimosa). 
The main street is broad, but all others are studiously 
arranged to admit of only one cow, in single file, 
between high stockades; thus, in the event of an 
attack, these narrow passages could be easily defended, 
and it would be impossible to drive off their vast 
herds of cattle unless by the main street. The large 
cattle kraals are accordingly arranged in various 
quarters in connexion w r ith the great road, and the 
entrance of each kraal is a small archway in the 
strong iron-wood fence sufficiently wide to admit one 
ox at a time. Suspended from the arch is a bell. 
