TO TAVETA.

In the previous chapter I have had occasion to revile in no measured terms the African dhow as the very embodiment of all that is vile and uncomfortable. I hardly thought that I should ever be tempted to compare it favourably with H.M. steam tug No. 11. Certainly this item of our boasted navy did not behave in a pleasing manner, even though carrying the august person of the Consul–General and Political Agent for East Africa, who, it may be remarked, was anything but a dignified spectacle before we reached the end of our voyage. We had it so rough, and the tug was so small and had such powerful engines, that we, were simply forced through each succeeding wave. Almost every man on board, including the officer in charge and several seamen, was sick with the horrible motion. I of course, in my customary Mark Tapley manner, tried my best to think it "awfully jolly" in the intervals of hanging over the rails or emerging from the waves which ever and anon broke over the boat. I tried further to find comfort in the thought of a thoroughly expurgated inner mail and a liver put into the very best of order; but such philosophical considerations did not lessen my keen desire to reach Mombasa. Colonel Miles, less [26] accustomed to the open air than I was, had the skin literally blistered off his face, and looked a woful sight as he sat, drenched and sick, facing the storm throughout the weary night. As for myself, I had not the gift of seeing myself as others saw me, so I won’t draw on my imagination.

Through the good offices of Mr. Wakefield I secured the services of a guide and interpreter–the most important official in the expedition–named Muhinna. This gentleman had been an ivory–trader up country, and had penetrated the Masai district between twenty and thirty times. He was thoroughly conversant with all the routes, and could speak the language fluently, besides several other dialects, notably that of U–kambani, with which he had a very thorough acquaintance. In these important qualifications there was probably not a man in Mombasa better suited for the post. Moreover, he was reputed to be one of the most trustworthy of men. How he fulfilled his duties will appear in due course. Without some such man it would have been impossible to have gone six marches from the coast, so utterly unacquainted were my men with this tract of country, and so different were the manners and customs from those prevalent further south. I had therefore, as it seemed to me, much reason for self–congratulation.

Illust. 4 Wa–Nykia Village

Three days after my arrival I despatched all my men and goods to the head of the creek, the former by land, the latter in the mission boats. After seeing the last article off, I was accompanied down to the beach by Colonel Miles, Lieutenant Target of the Suez, and the missionaries. There was a warm grasping of hands; many good wishes were expressed and farewells said. As I stepped into Mr. Wake[27]field’s boat a cheer was given, which was taken up by the sailors on board the tug as we went sailing by before a good breeze. In rounding the corner a final wave of the hat was given, and thus, with my followers sitting well in order, "I made my first start from Mombasa "to seek a newer world." On arrival at the landing–place I saw that everything was put in ship–shape order, and then went back to Jomvu to spend the night.

Next day being Sunday, we did not move. I employed the day in a pleasant walk up to Rabai Mission. The way led up the steep face of the Rabai hills by a broad path which has been formed by the missionaries, and which shows very good sections of the rock underneath. At the base of the hills the rock is argillaceous shale, with numerous ironstone nodules exfoliating in concentric layers. From the shales we pass into a very dark–bluish limestone, impure though compact, in the weathered face of which were to be seen in relief [28] many marine fossils. Sandstones succeed the limestones as we ascend the hills, and these become coarser and coarser towards the top of the section.

Having thus enjoyed the view while I recovered my breath, I continued my way to the mission premises. I arrived while service was being conducted by Mr. Jones, the native teacher. Not to disturb the meeting, I stepped in behind the gathering, and was greatly struck by the appearance of the well–filled church, the strict attention of the audience (who were all dressed in the height of Rabai fashion), and the fluency of the preacher. The singing, led by the latter and accompanied by Shaw on the harmonium, was pleasing and hearty, as negro–singing usually is. The service over, I was hospitably greeted by Mrs. Shaw and conducted to their house, which was originally built and occupied by Rebmann. It is now a most charming little cottage, covered with creepers, and commands a capital view through a glen cut in the hills.

Illust. 5 Rabai Mission House

Some pleasant walks introduced me to the Wa–nyika, who are the inhabitants of the surrounding country, though around Rabai they are too much altered by contact with the [29] missionaries to be genuine specimens of the tribe. Their houses are different from any other tribe I have yet met, being oblong, and like a small hay–stack in shape, having no walls, and with the usual diminutive door at the end. The people themselves are not by any means stalwart or muscular. On the contrary, they are spare and weather–beaten, as though they had a hard fight with man and nature to get a livelihood. The dress of the men is a simple loin–cloth. Their principal offensive and defensive weapons are the bow and arrow, and the sim� or sword, which in this particular region is spatulate in shape, being broadest near the top, and shading gradually down to the handle. The women wear a garment strikingly suggestive of a highland kilt, and for ornament a kind of stockings formed entirely of beads, worn closely fitted to the legs, and a number of loose strings round the neck, besides more beads round the arms. As I had almost no personal acquaintance with the Wa–nyika, I will not attempt to describe them further; but if any reader is [30] curious about this somewhat uninteresting tribe, I may refer him to the works of Krapf and New, who spent years among them, and therefore speak with the voice of authority.

Finally, following the Askari, come the rank and file, the porters–an indescribable lot! therefore let me pass them on with the remark that there were 113 in all, and that they were loaded as follows:–29 carrying beads; 34 iron, brass, and copper wire; 14 cloth; 15 personal stores, 9 clothes, boots, books, &c; 5 with ammunition; 6 scientific instruments, photographic apparatus, &c.; 10 tents and tent furniture, cooking gear, &c. If you add 2 boys, 1 gun–bearer, and 1 donkey–boy, you have the list of my caravan complete. As there was no food to be got on the road till Ndara in Teita was reached, it was necessary to get a number of men to carry provisions. I was so fortunate as to secure about thirty Wa–teita who had come down to the coast in hopes [32] of falling in with an up–country caravan. These men carried rice in loads of not more than forty pounds’ weight, supported, not after the manner of the Wa–swahili, but by a strap round the forehead, the load resting on the back. This is the customary mode of all the tribes on the Masai trade routes, except the Wa–kavirondo. The Wa–swahili and tribes along the U–nyamwesi route carry their burden either on the head or on the shoulder–never on the back. The Manyema again, west of Tanganyika follow the latter method.

Illust. 6 Wa–Nyika Women Pounding Grain.

The signal was given. There was a wild rush and scramble for the head of the caravan, the customary incentive shouts to "Hurry up!" and a running fire of farewells, as, headed by our flag, the long file of men passed through the Rabai village, leaving behind the cocoa–crowned heights, the verdant ridges with their stern, sentinel–like fan–palms, and the cultivated outer slopes, and away into the Nyika or "Wilderness" beyond. The last man gone, I shook hands with my pleasant hostess, lifted my hat, and act my face towards the setting sun,

A quarter of an hour’s walk took us beyond the plantations, and with surprising abruptness we passed into a scene of desolation and sterility; the grass, sere and yellow, crumbling into powder under our feet nothing green in the landscape except those lovers of a–rid soils, mimosas and acacias, dwarf fan–palms, and the cactus–like tree–euphorbias. An hour and a half more, and we had passed the glaring red sands of the coast hills, to enter upon a less dazzling and more fertile looking tract, characterized by greater humidity, and forming splendid grazing–grounds. Here and there were dense masses of evergreen trees festooned, or rather interlaced, with creepers, interspersed with numerous green grassy glades, and [33] [34] made gay by a rich array of beautiful orchids. A group of pallah gave further life to the scene, and helped to make up a picture of the most pleasing description.

With the first night in camp commenced my anxiety. I knew only too well that a very considerable number of my men had never joined with any other intention than to get their three months’ wages in advance, and then desert on the first opportunity. The majority wore careful not to [35] attempt this either at Zanzibar or Mombasa,–though ten succeeded in doing so at the former, and one at the latter–as they would run the risk of being captured. They intended to go up country one or two marches first, and then it would be next to impossible to lay hands upon them. Foreseeing this, I was careful to camp in the open, at a place free of bush or jungle, so that no one could leave without being seen. In the hearing of the men, bloodthirsty orders were given to the night–guard to shoot down without warning any one observed to go outside camp. The head–men were enjoined to take turns in making rounds to see all was safe and, to make sure that it was attended to, they had to call me or Martin up every two hours, and report all right.

Our march on the second day kept generally W.N.W., over rich country, which became, as we proceeded, more sterile and thorny. We passed two Wa–kamba villages, where the inhabitants had lost their cattle through the agency of the Masai. At one place we noticed the site of a great battle between the latter and the Wa–nyika, in which after a bloody struggle, the Masai had been defeated, though at the cost of 300 lives to the victors. Over a considerable area the ground was literally strewed with ski–ills. We camped at a miserable M–kamba village, named Makuti. In the orders for the night Kacheche, reminded the men that they had left their wives behind them, and that it was necessary to regard their guns as their best bed–companions for the wilderness, and as though they were their wives to keep a good look–out after them. Prompted by me, he recommended them to keep close together, and always ready, as there were [36] numerous bands of Masai roving about, who would like nothing better than to stab stragglers, just to keep their hands in.

The bush of the Duruma country is a perfect marvel of vegetable monstrosities shrubs in which great thorns seem to replace the more grateful foliage; several species of euphorbia; aloes with their forbidding, thick, spiny representatives of leaves; CYCADS, and a great variety of forms with whose place in the flora I am totally unacquainted. The trees and bushes are notably distinguished by the possession of the smallest quantity of green foliage compatible with the existence of the largest number of gnarled, ugly branches, through which the struggle for existence seems to be carried on in this stern battle–field of vegetable life. Yet, curiously enough, splendid cycads, with their noble palm–like crowns of leaves, rise in all directions, contriving to get larger elbow room than even their more formidable rivals, and not infrequently managing even to keep their leaves from the intrusion of neighbouring branches. This remarkable jungle is made infinitely more impenetrable by great, apparently leafless, creepers, which wriggle along the ground, their giant arms suggesting colossal snakes as they clasp trees and bushes in an iron embrace, and form by their interlacing a mass of tangle as difficult to describe as it would be to clear away. It is not, however, without its uses. In the centre of one of these jungles, the Wa–duruma can snap their fingers at the Masai. There is no possible entrance but by a narrow, tortuous lane, into which no savage who valued his life would for a moment venture. Without some such natural protection, Duruma would at this day be a totally uninhabited waste. [37]

But it is not in these joints alone that nature forms reservoirs of an exceptional kind. The sandstones seem to have a peculiar tendency to weather into pot–holes of all sizes, exactly similar to the holes formed by mountain torrents in the solid rock where swirls or miniature whirlpools cause stones to gyrate, and by a constant erosive process literally drill holes in the solid rock. In the cases, however, to which I refer, this mode of origin does not seem applicable, unless we imagine that here we have actually the original bed of the sea, unaltered by time and the elements. My own opinion is that they have been formed by the joint action of nature and man; the former operating chemically, the latter mechanically. Nature formed slight rock hollows in which water lodged, attracting the formation of vegetation. This, rotting supplied acids with which the water acted upon the rock, loosening the component particles by dissolving the cementing material, probably lime. Man, in the search of the precious fluid in these sterile tracts, found the hollows, and seeing them full of loose sand, [38] naturally scooped it out. Thus, year after year, the process went on, the water continuing to loosen the sand, and thirsty men clearing it away to expose fresh surfaces, until holes in many cases eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, and of all depths up to eight feet, were formed. As a rule they are quite circular, and extend downwards quite perpendicularly. They are known technically by the natives as Ungurungas.

From this point an abrupt change took place in the geology and botany of the country. So far, the geological basis had been a series of shales, flaggy sandstones, and the same of coarse, gritty, compact material, forming the representatives of the carboniferous series in East Africa, which extends in a narrow strip continuously from near the Equator to the Cape. These here gave place to metamorphic rocks which bulk so largely in the formation of the African continent. Schists and gneiss, greywacke and hornblende were now the [39] prominent rocks, and as these contain numerous minerals, rich in iron, the soil formed by their decomposition was found to be of a glaring red colour, most painful to behold, and strikingly deficient in fertilizing ingredients.

Through this dreadful wilderness our route now lay. The porter, wearied already with a long march, and parched for want of water, presses on panting and perspiring under a broiling sun, made worse by the glaring red soil which reflects the rays as though they came from the mouth of a furnace. In vain does he look for a bit of refreshing shade. Doggedly he throws down his load, and sinking his head in his hands, and doubling himself over his knees or stretching himself full length on the ground, he requires not infrequently something more than moral suasion to hurry him on. Thus urged, he attempts his weary best, and, weak and trembling about the limbs with the unusual exertion, he staggers on, now bending to pass under a bare, over–hanging branch, anon extricating himself from the clutches of a wait–a–bit thorn, leaving behind him fragments of his flimsy clothing, or [40] carrying away with him nasty scratches from which the blood oozes and trickles down his legs till they blend with the runnels of perspiration. Such were the characteristics of our first march in the true "Nyika" of East Africa.

At six we camped for the night, to await the rising of the moon, and rest the exhausted men. In the hope of falling in with some pool of water, I then set off with Brahim through the scrub. After wandering about, seeking for the precious element in vain for nearly an hour, we attempted to return to camp, darkness having fallen upon us. But it soon turned out that return was not to be so easily accomplished. For the first time in my life I had to confess myself lost. Brahim and I differed as to the direction we should take. In the end we wandered aimlessly. We fired our rifles, but got no response. A feeling of awe took possession of us, and we were getting into the condition of seeing lions in every waving bush. We had heard that the dreaded animals were frequently to be seen here, and soon a distant roar told us that his brutish majesty was out for a night of dissipation. It is not easy to conceive any more uncomfortable sensation than that of finding yourself lost in such a forest as I have described. The wheezing and creaking of the branches, the indistinctness with which every object is seen, and the knowledge that, somewhere about, there axe fierce and dangerous creatures, all excite the fancy and sternly try the strength of one’s nerves. At last I became utterly tired. My feet were sadly blistered, my clothes nearly torn to tatters, and my skin was most painfully scratched by forcing my way in the dark through thorns and branches. I gave up in despair, and resolved to lie down and take my chance, though I was drenched with perspiration, and the night was becoming chilly. But at that moment a sound broke on our cars that made us jump to our feet with renewed animation. "Bunduki! Bunduki!" (A gun!) cried Brahim. Reckless of consequences, I fired off my sole remaining cartridge, and then stood in that perilous waste defenceless. For that, however, we cared not. Our gun had been heard, and an answering shot enabled us to fix accurately the direction of relief. Forgetting blistered feet and tired limbs then, and heedless of thorns and tearing clothes, we went pell–mell through all obstruction till we stumbled upon Makatubu and some others who were on the search for us. We reached camp at midnight. I had [41] thus been on my feet for eighteen hours without food and with very little water.

Leaving Maungu, after being kept in camp for several [42] hours by heavy rains, we crossed the thorn–clad level plain which separated us from the mountain of Ndara The men were considerably broken down by their two previous hard marches, and got on very badly, though now, with a recruiting station directly before us, we could afford to exercise more patience, and let them march as they pleased. After five hours’ march we emerged suddenly from the them jungle, and entered a series of magnificent plantations which extend round the base of the entire mountain, forming, when the crops are springing, a charming light green setting to the dark mountain mass. We here met the Wa–teita women in considerable numbers, and we moved up to camp amidst the firing of guns and the wondering cries of the native damsels and married women, who recalled former scenes of a similar character as they ran alongside with curious stares and excited laughter, their pendant breasts flapping against their bosoms like half–empty, loosely–attached leather bottles. We soon crossed these cultivated fields; and in a short time we found ourselves camped under a shady sycamore, drinking deep draughts of clear water from a cool rill which splashed and tumbled down the rugged face of Ndara, and invited us by its merry music to the luxury of a bath. Unfortunately we had to restrain our ardent desire to strip at once, not on account of the feelings of the Wa–teita, but in consideration for our own, which had not yet become quite hardened to the idea of appearing in puris naturalibus. As the shades of evening set in, the natives ascended to their mountain homes, and then we disported ourselves to our heart’s content under splashing waterfalls, with delicious cool mountain breezes to fan us dry, and a beautiful scene before us m the moon rose over the top of the mountain, and shed a silvery sheen athwart the land, here softly lighting up the tops of the rocks, there glittering on the dew–laden surfaces of the tree leaves.

To recruit the men after their trying marches through the Nyika, we did not strike our camp on the following day. Too restless myself, however, to remain doing nothing, I resolved to ascend to the top of the mountain and afterwards visit Mr. Wray, the C.M.S. agent recently stationed there. Leaving Martin to take the caravan round to the opposite side, next day I commenced the ascent of the mountain, accompanied by Brahim and two Wa–teita as guides. The excessively steep face of Ndara tried the power of both my limbs and lungs as we scrambled up among the rocks and the great boulders of gneiss which lie on the face of the mountain [43] by a very precarious hold. We found that on every available spot in the scarred sides, and wherever water trickled, sugar–cane and bananas were cultivated. Every here and there water might be observed running to the less favoured spots along artificial canals, or conveyed by tiny aqueducts of banana stems along the faces of rocks and other places, where a channel could not be cut. On reaching about a thousand feet above the plain, we entered the inhabited zone and found that the whole of the upper part of the mountain was thickly populated, with the exception of the actual summit, which is too cold and wet to be comfortable. The shambas or plantations are all at the bottom of the mountain, except those of cassava, sweet potatoes, sugar–cane, and bananas. The cultivation of the fields is the work of the women, who descend daily in the proper seasons. To this doubtless is to be ascribed their fine development of limb, and general appearance of healthiness compared with the men, who are thin and unmuscular. Their huts we found to be [43] beehive–shaped, with very low walls. The daylight is entirely excluded, owing to a partition which runs a considerable way round the inside of the house in the manner of a spiral, thus forming a narrow passage from the doorway, and sheltering the sleeping–place from a direct current of air. A fire is kept burning night and day in the hut, supplying their sole illumination. In the part cut off by the partition, their firewood, which has to be carried from the bottom of the hill, is stored. Inside, on the rafters overhead, the calabashes–of which the Wa–teita are celebrated growers are placed along with their winter stores of food. The chickens, the goats, the sheep find odd corners in which to stow themselves and fraternize with their masters, thus helping to make the interior more comfortable and cosy according to native ideas.

Illust. 8: Teita Hut.

After a three hours’ still climb we reached the top of the mountain, which is called Mrumunyi, and while I boiled my thermometer to ascertain the altitude, and paused to recover my breath, I looked about me to form some notion of the topographical features of the extensive landscape that lay before me. The view well repaid the toil of climbing–indeed when does not a mountain prospect repay the adventurer? I found myself on a long narrow ridge suggesting the roof of a house running nearly north and south. The east side presents little irregularity and rises up with great abruptness to a height of 5050 feet. On the west side there is a deep, irregular indentation in the upper half of the mountain, forming a sort of lower ledge, along which a small stream flows till, reaching the edge, it tumbles by a series of cascades down to the bottom. Numerous villages of Wa–teita here find shelter from the force of the monsoons, and securely graze their small herds of cattle on the upper pastures. Luxuriant patches of sugar–cane, dark green plots of sweet potatoes, and groves of banana vary the scene. On the edge of this platform or ledge, the iron mission–house could be descried arising from a small grove of trees. Turning our eye from what was immediately at our feet, a magnificent picture revealed itself. To the north, over the end of Ndara, a series of small isolated peaks appeared extending far away towards U–kambani. To the north–east a boundless light green plain stretched out towards the ocean, and lost itself in the haze of distance. Through this the course of the river Voi was conspicuously marked out by a winding line of dark green, where the trees, fed by the waters of the stream, grew in greater [45]luxuriance. To the east lay the saddle–shaped ridge of Maungu, which by a series of low hills and small peaks carried the eye away to the south–east, where, looming through stratus clouds, could be seen the grand symmetrical mass of Kadiaro (Kisigau) like a truncated cone. Far in the distance to the south and south–west appeared the U–sambara, the Pare, and Ugono mountains. As we turned to the west the splendid range of Bura burst upon the view with its rugged outlines and massive divisions of Kibomu, Sungululu, and Mbololo. At the southern end could be seen the course of the Matt stream, and from between Mbololo and Sungululu the Voi emerged, crossed the intervening plain, rounded the north end of Ndara, and wandered towards the bosom of the ocean. The whole appearance of the Teita highlands is strikingly suggestive of an archipelago of islands rising with great abruptness from a greyish–green sea, as the great weird plain which I have described surrounds it on all sides. The few low peaks and ridges that do here and there crop up are relatively so insignificant as to appear only as shoals and jutting rocks.

Next day Mr. Wray joined me, and for the first time in the latter’s short experience of African life he enjoyed a scare. The occasion of this was a little episode of a lively nature. The Wa–teita we had engaged at the coast to carry our supplies of food for a certain amount of cloth, had declined pointblank to take the kind offered, and demanded a superior quality. This I refused, and now on my return, finding that I was not inclined to give in, they and their friends began screaming and yelling themselves into a mad state of excitement. [46] At last one man, unable to restrain himself, and probably hardly knowing what he was doing, drew his sword, and began prancing about as if getting up the steam to run amuck As he gyrated about he suddenly stabbed through the tent which covered the goods, and almost finished one of my men. It was like striking a match among gunpowder. In a twinkling my men raised a warning cry and guns were seized. The Wa–teita, raisin., their war–cry, also drew their swords or bent their bows, but carefully withdrew to the outskirts of the camp, where they sheltered themselves behind rocks and trees, yelling like madmen and bidding us defiance. The women, on the other hand, who hail crowded down to sell food, fled screaming to the mountains. The war–cry raised below soon spread through the forest and up the mountain sides, rising ever higher, till the very clouds seemed to give forth unearthly sounds. For a few minutes the position was critical, and Mr. Wray, unaccustomed to such scenes, prudently retired into my tent. The slightest accident, such as a gun fired, would at once have precipitated a fight, which it is true would have been a comparatively harmless matter to me, but would have placed Mr. Wray in a most awkward position. At all hazards such a consummation had to be avoided, and, putting myself unarmed between the two equally excited parties, I ordered my men to return to their tents, and then, turning to the Wa–teita, let them know that we wanted peace, but were prepared, as they saw, for war. If they were of the same mind, they must stop the diabolic row they were raising, and send a few of their elders, with whom I would try to arrange the dispute. This had the desired effect, and by mutually making concessions, the difficulty was finally smoothed over, much to Mr. Wray’s relief, who, not unnaturally, somewhat exaggerated the importance of the demonstration. The Wa–teita never dreamed of a real fight they were obviously only trying a little bravado to see if it would frighten us. Still, as I have said, such a demonstration might easily have turned into a most serious affray, and I have no doubt, if it had happened while I was out of camp, nothing could have stopped my men from shooting.

This little disturbance being satisfactorily quelled and matters placed on the most friendly footing, the women came back to camp, and the scene became lively and noisy, as the men flirted boisterously with the young maidens, or haggled and yelled vociferously over the price of food. I was anxious [47] to obtain some photographs of the natives, and I tried hard to win their confidence. Putting on my most engaging manner, I exhibited tempting springs of beads as bribes. In vain, however, did I appeal to their love of gaudy ornaments. With soothing words, aided by sundry pinches and chuckings under the chin, I might get the length of making them stand up; but the moment that the attempt to focus them took place they would fly in terror to the shelter of the woods. To show them photos, and try to explain what I wanted, only made them worse. They imagined I was a magician trying to take possession of their souls, which once accomplished they would be entirely at my mercy. They would not in the end even look at a photo, and the men began to drive the [48] women away. I spoiled several negatives, and finally gave up the attempt on finding that I was "wasting my sweetness on the desert air."

And now let me ask the gentle reader, who is sufficiently curious and not too bashful, to assist at the toilet of a swell M–teita damsel. On entering the low circular hut and seating ourselves on whatever object may be made to serve the purpose of stools, we gradually, by the glimmer. of the fire, and through the stifling heat and choking smoke, descry our fair friend, who intends to give a demonstration of how they "gild refined gold, and paint the lily "in Africa. Aa our eyes become accustomed to the gloom, we observe that she is very short in stature, unusually round in the face, and with a somewhat projecting facial angle. The figure, for a negress, is not bad, though wanting in that pleasant curve at the waist which more accords with our idea of female beauty. She has a magnificent development of limb, and is as active and supple as a snake. The expression is pleasant, and the glance of her bright eye and the smile on her lips we lively and "knowing."

These "points" we take in at a glance, and become still more at our case on being speedily made aware that the real clothing of the demonstrator is already on, or rather has never been off. This is a coating of lamp black and castor–oil [49] which emits an aroma that gallantry compels me to call pleasing, but which, as an "aside" to the reader, I confess to be simply awful. She adds a new coating for the conquests of the day, and shines, in the glimmering of the fire, like a snail fresh from its shell, and bent on an evening stroll. The reader will here take note, that this coating of grease and dirt is the only protection the M–teita has against the excessive heats of the day and the chills at night. It prevents too excessive perspiration, and wards off chills. Before receiving her visitors, the damsel has (it will be observed) donned a small piece of hide, about the size of a lady’s pocket–handkerchief, and literally covered with beads. Behind she seems; to have got possession of the tails of a missionary’s dress–coat. These. she has lengthened out a little and also covered with– beads, in various patterns, and now they dangle and flap about her legs in the moat airy manner. Some, however, vary this fashion, and in place of the two tails they rejoice in the posterior half of a highland kilt. Our equanimity being now quite restored, and decency being satisfied, when we see an opportunity to assist, we do so with alacrity. The hair of the head is shaved all round the temples, till only a circular patch three to four inches in [50] diameter is left on the crown of the head. With much labour this is twisted into strings, till it assumes the appearance of a mop. Upon each string separately beads of various hues are threaded. Round the shaven part a band of beads, two inches broad, is bound, and from these three long loose strings depend over the cars to below the shoulders. The ears, pierced all round the outer auricle, are laden with heavy glass rings, till, unable to bear the weight, they fold over into an unsightly lump. An inspection of the eyelids reveals the fact that the lashes have been carefully removed. A slight rub here and there with a file puts a sharper point to the crocodile–like teeth, and the head is finished off. From a about thirty large strings of beads are a neighbouring peg taken down, put over the right shoulder and underneath the left arm, depending to the waist and crossing between the breasts, which it may be remarked are firm and well shaped. A similar number depend from the opposite shoulder. Above these, round the neck, and hanging over the breast, are next placed from 150 to 200 strings. Over all a huge rug, composed of a solid mass of beads, three to four inches in diameter, is tied round the neck, actually causing the chin to be elevated, and filling up the whole depression under it. The waist is next attended to, and we view with admiration and astonishment the physical strength displayed, and the determination to be in the height of fashion at all costs, as she lays hold of from 200 to 300 more strings, with a variety of bead belts and bands, and bestows them in that region which sentimental youths in other lands like to encircle with their arms. We draw a breath of relief as we observe that the main masses of beads are disposed of and only the arms and legs require to be sheaved in closely–fitting bands. Thus having contrived to stow on her person from twenty to thirty pounds’ weight, she turns herself round, to receive the tribute of admiration plainly depicted in our faces, and then squats down to rest, after the serious labour of dressing. Having no other excuse to prolong our interview, we lay our offerings at her feet, and "kwaheri" ourselves out, drenched in perspiration, and as sooty from the smoke as sweeps.

The "private view" being over, our pleasant friend fills her bag with Indian corn, and proceeds to receive public tokens of admiration at the camp and enjoy the excitement dear to the female heart of haggling over the price of her store. [51] The manners and customs of the Wa–teita need not be specially dwelt upon, as they do not differ in any notable respect from those made familiar to us by all writers on East Africa, with the exception probably of their marriages, which show a trace of a former mode of obtaining a wife by capture–a custom which I have noticed nowhere else among the tribes I have visited. When an M–teita marries he settles the preliminaries with the father in accordance with the usual negro custom; that is to say, he buys her for three or four cows. This important matter settled, the girl runs away and hides among distant relatives until such time as her betrothed finds out her hiding–place and catches her. He then gets some of his friends, who carry her back to her future home, two men holding her up by the logs and two by the arms, shoulder high, amidst much singing and dancing. The four men who carry the girl are said to be rewarded in a very peculiar fashion. On arrival at the house the newly married pair are shut up for three days without food, at the end of which time the bride is thoroughly lubricated, and loaded with beads and other ornaments. Then she is conveyed back to her father’s house by a bevy of dancing and singing girls. After the lapse of some time she returns, and the whole affair is over.

Bidding Mr. Wray adieu, the men being now somewhat recruited, we resume our way westward. After a very long and tiresome march over a low range of hills, by a footpath, more an irritating tunnel than an open way, we reached the [52] Mutat� stream, near the south end of the Bura Range, in the district of Jav�a, so called from the ruling elder –chieftainship not being a well–recognized form of government among the Wa–teita. We camped among very rich. plantations, and enjoyed nibbling green cobs of Indian corn.

The necessary food collected, and I having "made brothers" with the principal elder of the district, we prepared to start. Before doing so, however, we had a narrow escape from committing bloodshed. In the hurry of preparing to leave, the Wa–teita took advantage of the confusion, seized two guns in the middle of the camp, and made for the bush. Before I knew what was tip, bang, bang, went [53] several guns, loads were thrown down, the Wa–teita fled screaming, and in the twinkling of an eye we found ourselves on the verge of a fight. Fortunately nobody was hurt, and I soon put matters right, though perhaps after all it would have been not a bad thing if one of the thieves had been killed as they have become notorious for their plundering propensities. The Wa–teita, however, having been aroused by our shooting and the war–cry having brought several hundreds from the hills, we had to move with every precaution, expecting every moment the whiz of an arrow or a rush upon some more or less unprotected part. We, however, looked too bloodthirsty, and were too well armed, so we reached the camp of Mikome–ni safely.

This place appears in the map as the name of a district, but that is a mistake, as it is only a Swahili name for a camp, meaning in fact, the place of the mikomen–trees. A slave [54] caravan from Chaga, hearing of our approach, fled in terror into the jungle, to avoid meeting us.

Illust. 1: M–Teita Girl.

We resumed our tramp at 3 a.m., and pressed on through the chilly morning air. We were startled every now and again by herds of zebras dashing across our path, and raising their curious half–whistle, half–bark, and not infrequently in the dim light we were awe–struck by the re–echoed roars of lions "saying grace" after meat. The day soon dawned, and through a terrific heat, we plodded on, determined to reach Taveta that day. It was not, however, till 6 p.m. that the main body of the caravan bade adieu to the horrid wastes and burning heats of the Nyika, and found grateful shelter and cool water in the shady depths of one of the most charming forest tracts in the whole of East Africa.

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