The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-04-13

thousands of natives. They till theil millet fields in front of their subter. ranean homes, and store their food ir them. The explorer found them { wild but peace loving people.
 Living in the heart of the great country ruled by Msidi, the most pow erful potentate west of the great lakes since the decline of the Muata Yanvo they are the only people from whom he has been able to extort tribute They will not fight unless they arc brought to bay, but upon the ap- proach of an enemy they retire to their caves, where they can live for months, as no one dares to follow them into the recesses of these vast and intricate passages. Arnot won their hearts by killing two hippopot- ami and twenty antelopes and inviting them to . feast. He gave l50 of them all they could eat for seven days, and when his guests left him they took to their caves all the meat they could carry. He hopes to spend long time with them when he returns in few months to Garenganze.
 Nowhere in Africa have the cave dwellers been adeq uately studied. The information concerning them that will yet be obtained will be among the most interesting results of future ex ploration. Joseph Thompson was able to stay only day or two among the large number of caves at the base of Mount Elgon, northeast of Victoris Nyanza, which he found occupied by whole tribes. These are artificial caves, cut into the compact volcanic rock, and SO large that not only the natives, but their herds of cattle art sheltered in them. They were exca vated perhaps centuries ago, and their present occupants have no traditions as to their origin. The imperfectly known Bushmen, the dwarfs of the Kalahari waste in South Africa, find their favorite abode in natural caves under the shelter of lodges of over hanging rocks.
 It was not known until recently how great is the number of people whose homes find their prototype in the lake dwellings of prehistoric times. For hundreds of miles along the south and east coasts of New Guinea, in many a sheltered inlet and bay, arc large villages, numbering sometimes 100 huts or more, built on piles in the water and accessible from the shore snly by canoes. Thus like prehistoric man they guard their homes against sudden surprise. Cameron introduced us to picturesque Lake Mohyra in Central Africa and the large collection of huts raised high on stilts above it's placid surface. The tenants of these lake dwellings till their fields on shore, retiring when night comes or danger threatens to the security of their lake huts. Young discovered hundreds of natives living in the edge of the great Lake Nyassa and reproducing phases of life that are thought to be Identical with those of the ancient lake dwell CTS. But not until these discoveries were made was 1t known that proba- bly, hundreds of thousands of Africans moor canoes under their huts and reach the rude floor above by means of ladders.
 Along many of the Congo southern and northern Zambesi tributaries these villages-built on piles-are seen by scores. Not few tribes build their houses on marshy and overfiowed land, to render their villages difficult of ap- preach. Many other tribes, particu- larly along the Congo tributaries, inhabit lands that are subject to peri 01ical inuuda ki0u0 and 4hnv ao..@sl~lx lxv