SCENE IK A ZULÜ KBAAL, WITH HUTS AMD SCREENS.
The chiWreu gnmbol round ilio kraal,
To greet their sire» al evening rail;
And matrons sweep tiie cabin floor,
And spriad ihe nint beside the door.
Ant] «ill! ,lry ftggots «aleo tlie Hanie
To dress Ihc wearied I game."
PRISIII.
A " KRAAL," or village, amongst tlie various Kafir tribes is constructed on one plan universally throughout the country,
the only diftei-eiices thai occur arising from local circumstances, or the neatness and extent of tlie kraal. In the Zulu
country they are frequently very extensive, one kraal containing several
hundred huts; whilst among the Araaponda and Amakisa tribes they are
smaUer, and the dweUings are not constructed with that d^ee
of care and regularity which ^ve meet with farther noitliwards.
Amongst the open mountains and the bleak downs in some parts
of the Zulu territory, where wood is exceedingly scarce,. I have
seen kraals destitute of the outer fence, having only an inner
one within the circle of huts, which is absolutely necessaiy to
protect the cattle and goats duiing the night.
\ All the ki'aals are circular, and within the outer fence,
ikade, are semi-globular huts, like huge bee-hive-«,
ilaced in one or more rows, according to the extent
f the kraal, at equal distance.? round its circumference,
n 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-fokl are
subten-anean granaries for storing maize, which
are opened only by the head-man of tlie kraal.
Tlie cattle-fold is the post of honour where visitor.«
meet, and no women or girl« are allowed to
enter it. The cattle are milked by boys. The
:^nnipanying drawing represents a scene in a small
aal near Umlazi, where screens are erected before
trance 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 is bi'inging a basket of millet-cake. A very aged woman
is seen near a corn-store. One man is engaged in can'ing a
wooden milk-bowl, partly secured in the gi-ound; and auother is manufacturing a door for a hut, cutting the sticks
with an assagai. On the grouiul is a skin stretched out with wooden pins to dry, before being cut into the form
of a .^lield.