We are to march tomorrow direct to Kamrasi's capital; they say he
will give me a guide to the lake.
"The natives of this country are particularly neat in all they do; they
never bring anything to sell unless carefully packed in the neatest
parcels, generally formed of the bark of the plantain, and sometimes of
the inner portions of reeds stripped into snow-white stalks, which are
bound round the parcels with the utmost care. Should the plantain cider,
'maroua,' be brought in a jar, the mouth is neatly covered with a
fringe-like mat of these clean white rushes split into shreds. Not even
tobacco is brought for sale unless most carefully packed. During a
journey, a pretty, bottle-shaped, long-necked gourd is carried with a
store of plantain cider: the mouth of the bottle is stopped with a
bundle of the white rush shreds, through which a reed is inserted that
reaches to the bottom: thus the drink can be sucked up during the march
without the necessity of halting; nor is it possible to spill it by the
movement of walking.
"The natives prepare the skins of goats very beautifully, making them as
soft as chamois leather; these they cut into squares, and sew together
as neatly as would be effected by a European tailor, converting them
into mantles which are prized far more highly than bark cloth, on
account of their durability: they manufacture their own needles, not by
boring the eye, but by sharpening the end into a fine point and turning
it over, the extremity being hammered into a small cut in the body of
the needle to prevent it from catching.
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