tain natives,
usually difficult for white men to traverse. The forest tracks in
particular are often quite unrecognisable as such to an inexperienced
white man, and are generally very narrow and beset with a tangle of
stems and hanging roots and creepers of the trees and bush undergrowth,
which catch the unwary traveller across the legs or body or hands
or face at every turn, and are often so concealed by the grass and
vegetation that, unless he be very careful, he is apt to be constantly
tripped up by them; and moreover these entanglements are often armed
with thorns or prickles, or have serrated edges, a sweep of which may
tear the traveller's clothes, or lacerate his hands or face. Then
there are at every turn and corner rough trunks of fallen trees,
visible or concealed, often more or less rotten and treacherous,
to be got over; and such things are frequently the only means of
crossing ditches and ravines of black rotting vegetable mud. Moreover
the paths are often very steep; and, indeed, it is this fact, and the
presence of rough stones and roots, which renders the very prominent
outward turn of the people's big toes, with their prehensile power,
such useful physical attributes.

Their bridges may be divided into four types, namely: (1) A single
tree thrown across the stream, having either been blown down, and so
fallen across it accidentally, or been purposely placed across it by
the natives. (2) Two or more such trunks placed in parallel lines
across the stream, and covered with a rough platform of transverse
pieces of wood. (3) The suspension bridge. I regret that I am unable
to give a detailed description of Mafulu suspension bridges, but I
think I am correct in saying that they are very similar to those of the
Kuni people, one of whose bridges is described in the _Annual Report_
for June, 1909, as being 150 feet long and 20 feet above water at the
lowest part, and as being made of lawyer vine (I do not know whether
this would be right for Mafulu), with flooring of pieces of stick
supported on strips of bark, and as presenting a crazy appearance,
which made the Governor's carriers afraid of crossing it, though
it was in fact perfectly safe, and had very little movement, even
in the middle. I also give in Plate 65 a photograph taken by myself
[63] of a bridge over the St. Joseph river, close to the Kuni village
of Ido-ido, which, though a Kuni bridge, may, I think, be taken as
fairly illustrative of a Mafulu b