(PLATT! Wu 
SCENE IN A ZULU KRAAL, WITH HUTS AND SCREENS. 
“The children gambol round the. kraal, 
To greet their si re* nt evening lull; 
And matrons sweep the c-uhin floor, 
And spread the mat beside the door. 
And with dry faggots wake the flume 
To dress the wearied huntsman's game." 
PntXOLF. 
A kka \ i.," or village, amongst the various Kafir tribes is constructed on one plan universally throughout the country, 
the only differences that occur arising from local circumstances, or the neatness and extent of the kraal. In the Zulu 
country they are frequently very extensive, one kraal containing several 
hundred huts; whilst among the Aniaponda and Amakdsa tribes they are 
smaller, and the dwellings are not constructed with that degree 
of care and regularity which we meet with farther northwards. 
Amongst the open mountains and the bleak downs in some parts 
ol the Zulu territory, where wood is exceedingly scarce, 1 have 
seen kraals destitute of the outer fence, having only an inner 
one within the circle of huts, which is absolutely necessary to 
protect the cattle and goats during the night. 
All the kraals are circular, and within the outer fence, 
or stockade, are semi-globular huts, like huge bee-hives, 
■> \jS5T'' placed in one or more rows, according to the extent 
of the kraal, at equal distances round its circumference. 
In the centre is the cattle-fold, forming a smaller circle, 
into which the flocks and herds are driven at 
night, by a peculiar shrill whistle which they are 
taught to follow'. Underneath the cattle-fold are 
subterranean granaries for storing maize, which 
are opened only by the head-man of the kraal. 
The cattle-fold is the post of honour where visitors 
meet, and no women or girls are allowed to 
enter it. The cattle are milked by boys. The 
accompanying drawing represents a scene in a small 
kraal near Umlazi, where screens are erected before 
the entrance of the huts to protect them from the wind, 
the kraal being situated in an exposed situation. A group of 
women are sitting near one of the huts with a pot of milk, and 
a girl i?, bringing a basket of millet-cake. A very aged woman 
is seen near a corn-store. One man is engaged in carving a 
wooden milk-bowl, partly secured in the ground; and another is manufacturing a door for a hut, cutting the sticks 
with an assagai. On the ground is a skin stretched out with wooden pins to dry, before being cut into the form 
ol' a shield. 
: ■ ■ 
V* er- 
tro rr- 
A ZULU IN VISITING DRESS 
t. 
