344 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AERICA part hi 



The valour of the Wa-pokomo is, however, not equal to their 

 domestic virtue. A more cowardly race of men it w^ould be difficult 

 to find. Their timidity was impressed on me owing to the trouble 

 I had to get into communication with them, and then to allay their 

 suspicions and fears. They have for so long submitted to being 

 raided and oppressed by the Suahili, Somali, and Galla, that they 

 appear to have completely lost any idea of how to fight. They have 

 spears, but these are only used as paddles and against crocodiles, 

 reed-rats, lizards, and fish. In spite of their great personal strength, 

 they apparently never attempt to use their weapons in self-defence. 

 When a Somali raiding party appears on the Tana, it orders the Wa- 

 pokomo to provide " maus " or canoes ; and though the Wa-pokomo 

 know that these will be used against themselves, they weakly obey. 

 But it is hardly fair to expect men who do all the manual labour of 

 the tribe to show the same military prowess, as those who specialise 

 in war and the chase, and leave all the work of the village and of the 

 fields to the women. An animal cannot be both a war-horse and a 

 dray-horse, and the constant danger of slavery, death, or famine is the 

 price the Wa-pokomo women pay for the lack of specialisation in 

 labour, or, as it might otherwise be expressed, the equality of the 

 sexes. 



The Pokomo religion is a fetichism of which very little is known, 

 for the rites are secret. Each man carries about with him a charm, 

 and most of the villages have a little shed built to protect some small 

 article, such as an empty bottle, a used cartridge case, or an old meat 

 tin, which is buried in the ground, as a protection against the Somali. 

 Herr Wiirtz of Ngao has found out most about the religion of the 

 people, and the following information was mainly given me by him. 

 The Pokomo god is named "Auri mwantya dsongo ngombe auri 

 kinemu " ; but this name is secret, and Herr Wiirtz has never been 

 able to find out its meaning. The god is always spoken of as the 

 " Old Man of the Woods " ; he is held in great horror, and formerly 

 no young M-pokomo would go into a forest for fear of him. The 

 elders of the village are the priests, and form an order, Ngadsi, the 

 members of which are all sworn to secrecy. In each village there 

 is a small oblong hut, very different from the beehive-shaped houses 

 of the people. I asked at Vuju what it was, and being told that it 

 was the prison I went inside. It was quite empty, and there seemed 

 nothing in it to explain why the crowd of natives should have fled 

 screaming to their canoes and to the swamps. It appears, however, 

 that this hut was " Ngadsi," and no one but the most sanctified priests 

 ought to have been allowed to enter it. 



The Lutheran missionaries at Ngao say that this order is the only 

 real governmental power in the Pokomo, so that they do not care to 

 destroy faith in it. The elders, however, certainly greatly abuse their 

 trust. The people are compelled to place contributions of food in 



