In one of our sketching trips through Kafirland in 1848 we had been advised by Captain Roper, of the Rifle Brigade, who commanded at the Buffalo Mouth, always to go to a hut or village at night, as should any accident befall us our “spoor” could be traced, and the owner of the hut or headman of the village be held responsible; while, on the contrary, should we sleep in the bush, and our horse be stolen, and the thieves act on the principle that “dead men tell no tales,” it would be very long before we were missed, and tracing might be impossible.
There is one fault in these Kafir huts. They resemble an inverted bowl; the door is cut out of the edge, and there is no other aperture whatever. The consequence is that if one stands up his lower extremities may be absolutely chilled, while from the waist upward he is immersed in a bath of smoke or heated air; and when the fire has gone low, and the intensely cold air of the early morning fills the lower part, driving the warm air above the level of the doorway, the sleeper is glad to wrap himself more closely in his mantle.
In countries where stratified rocks, as sandstone, &c., which split easily into flat slabs, abound, huts are frequently built of stone. A circle of blocks is laid on the ground, then another on them, with the edges projecting a little inward, so that the circumference of each course is less than that of the one immediately beneath it; a large slab covers the top, and finishes the building. Such huts are found in the north-eastern part of the Free State in South Africa, formerly the Orange River Sovereignty.
Among the various Bechuana tribes in and beyond the Free State, the building of a hut is a more elaborate and artistic affair; in fact, it deserves rather to be called a house, consisting, as it does, of walls and a roof perfectly distinct from each other. In its simplest form it consists of a row of stakes from 4ft. to 7ft. high, set up in a circular form, and of a conical roof, the frame of which is mostly made separately on the ground, and then lifted into its place, and bound firmly upon the upright wall. In the larger huts a smaller concentric circle of stakes (of course much longer than the first, as they have to reach the roof at a higher point) forms an inner chamber, and generally the eaves of the roof are extended, so as to form also a verandah, or shade, all round; and, besides this, there will be a larger circular wall inclosing a courtyard, frequently of considerable dimensions.
CHIEF’S HUT, VAAL RIVER.
Sometimes, as on the Lower Zambesi, the row of stakes forming the outer wall of the house is plastered round with a broad central horizontal band of red or yellow clay, leaving about a third above and below it open for ventilation, and sometimes the whole is elaborately smoothed with a mixture of the fine clay of broken ant-hills and cattle dung, which, being left of its natural colour, has the appearance of a light greyish stone. All this is performed by the women, who put it down and smooth it with their hands, finishing not only the house, but the outer walls and even the floor of the courtyard, with so much nicety that, as good housewives say at home, “you might eat off it.” Raised seats are generally built in the form of segments of a circle, and these are as carefully smoothed over as the rest. The hut of a Bechuana chief at Vaal River was a model of neatness in its way; the walls had been marked off into blocks, zigzag lines had been traced on them, and uncouth patterns were painted in black or coloured clay over the low door of his inner chamber, which, hung round with antelope skins, was, as he said, very nice and warm—in fact, insufferably hot. The outer apartment was 3ft. or 4ft. broad, and ran all round the inner. The part nearest the door served as a reception room, and the remoter regions were used for the stowage of rough skins, household gear, the musket and ammunition, and large pots and calabashes of outchulla or native beer, which kept up a constant simmering as it fermented, and to the taste seemed very like spoiled vinegar. Large frames are made of wattled work, and coated with clay till they resemble capacious jars; in these the corn is stored, small roofs are raised over them, and the timber around is wastefully heaped up to form a kind of shelter from the sun for the chief and council to sit under.