THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



women of " society " wear as similar decorations wide 

 bead girdles, generally finished off by a string of shells. 

 A stylish Kikuju girl is not even satisfied with all these 

 things, for she wears, besides the just-mentioned orna- 

 ments, a number of diadems of beads around her head, 

 heavy brass wire wound around the legs just below the 

 knees, and, as long as she is unmarried, ankle rings of 

 either brass or iron, on which again are strung numbers 

 of heavy smaller rings, so that a "smart " Kikuju 

 *' society " woman — for such these are — wears ornaments 

 of a total weight of from five to eight pounds, if not more. 



The Kikuju houses are just about as " well furnished " 

 as those of the previously mentioned tribes, the only addi- 

 tion being small wooden stools on three legs, cut out in 

 one piece from the trunk of a cedar tree. A young Kikuju 

 man has to buy his bride for the price of so many oxen, 

 sheep and goats, ranging in value from five to one hun- 

 dred and fifty dollars, according to her "beauty," strength, 

 and grade of " society." The girl herself is generally not 

 even asked whether or not she likes the man to whom she 

 is going to be married. There have been many examples 

 of liberty-loving Kikuju women killing themselves rather 

 than become the wives of men they disliked. 



Not very long ago a young Kikuju girl was sold by 

 her father to a horrible old chief who already had over 

 forty wives. She objected to this marriage, being already 

 in love with a young but poor man, who for some time 

 served in our caravan, but her objection was of no avail. 

 Finally, when she heard that the old chief had already 

 paid her price in live stock and was now coming to take 

 her home by force, she ran away to the mission station in 



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