We Had Now Reached The Outskirts Of
Civilization, Where Man, Abandoning His Flocks And Herds, Settles,
Cultivates, And Attends To The Comforts Of Life.
The fields are either terraces upon the hill slopes or the sides of
valleys, divided by flowery hedges with lanes between, not unlike those of
rustic England; and on a nearer approach the daisy, the thistle, and the
sweet briar pleasantly affected my European eyes.
The villages are no
longer moveable: the Kraal and wigwam are replaced by the Gambisa or bell-
shaped hut of Middle Africa [9], circular cottages of holcus wattle,
Covered with coarse dab and surmounted by a stiff, conical, thatch roof,
above which appears the central supporting post, crowned with a gourd or
ostrich egg. [10] Strong abbatis of thorns protects these settlements,
which stud the hills in all directions: near most of them are clumps of
tall trees, to the southern sides of which are hung, like birdcages, long
cylinders of matting, the hives of these regions. Yellow crops of holcus
rewarded the peasant's toil: in some places the long stems tied in bunches
below the ears as piled muskets, stood ready for the reaper; in others,
the barer ground showed that the task was done. The boys sat perched upon
reed platforms [11] in the trees, and with loud shouts drove away thieving
birds, whilst their fathers cut the crop with diminutive sickles, or
thrashed heaps of straw with rude flails [12], or winnowed grain by
tossing it with a flat wooden shovel against the wind.
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