The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-05-05


are only two seasons-ths vet
A and the dry. Tho former ID
the summer season and lasts
eight months. The ther
mometer averages from 110 to 125
degrees Fahrenheit. The other four
months are the cold or dry season.
and the thermometer rarely goes BE-
low. 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
During the rains the natives live in
houses made principally Of bamboo
and rooted with leaves, but a. soon
as the rains stop. which 10 some time
around June 1. they desert towns and
set out for the forests and jungles.
The few household furnishings are
transported on the heads Of the
women and children. While . native
man will work for the white man. he
will never do anything for himself
II there are any women about It IL
beneath his dignity to work. He will
m and hunt. make seines and crude
iMplaments and canoes. or pass away
his time smoking strong tobacco aAA
doing, but he woaA- not think At
lending his wife . hslDlng hand. He
compels her to cut down ths trees for
hrewood and for his dug-out canoes.
and when they arrive at the spot in
the forest or Jungle where he decides
to build his town the women must go
to work with awkward machettes and
clear away the tangled forest
Not an easy task. BY any means.
The civilized mind can scarcely pic.
ture how dense the primeval forests
are. Not only is every foot Of the
ground covered with rank growth. but
from every tree hang myriads Of
vines, which, crossing each other.
form networks of tangles SO intricate
that elephants and other denizens of
the bush have q hard time forcing
their way through them.
Yet no labor is too heavy for the
African woman to perform. She has
neither az nor saw. and the edge of
her knife is none too sharp. Bending
low over the ground she commences
her herculean task of clearing 4 space
for a town. She generally smokes
while she works unless her husband
has broken his clay pipe and taken
hers.
The more wives . native has the
quicker the clearing 10 made for his
town. The women generally COM
mence work at daybreak. About
elevaa O'Clock they stop to prepare
the lst meal. It IL very simple. but
the Native woman never hurries. and
the smallest detail of housekeeping
sometimes takes her hours. The din.
ner generally consists Of boiled ma
nioc, roasted bananas, or dried, or
boiled fsh. They rarely have more
than one food at = meal. At two
O'Clock the woman is again bending
over the ground hacking at under
growth until sundown, which is pre-
cisely at six o'clock each night. Then
she gets the last meal Of the day,
generally a replica Of the first meal.
The cl aring made. the furniture Is
soon in place. 1t consists principally
Iof great logs. three Of them brought
Ito a common center and forming the
|dre over which the natives pass most
|of their time. gossipins. smoking and
sleeping. At night they roll them
selves in a grass mat and sleep with
kheir heads toward the IRE. But
many natives do not even have q
grass mat. They sleep right on the
kround, and appear none the worse
Tor it.
A wellfurnished homo boasts q
bed Of bamboo splits, and . blanket,
Two stools, a Morris chair of ebony
Ind a civilized bench stolen from the
mission. The bed is occupied by the
thief Of the town. His wives sleep
In the ground.
That there is nothing new under
be sun is again proved by the Morris
hair in use. Its construction IL very
lnple and the back can be raised or
wered. This chair Is very often the
hly piece Of furniture in the town
Pd i90as known to the natives be-