CHAP. XVII ARTS AND CRAFTS 349 



At present the Wa-kamba are an agricultural race, though they 

 keep as many cattle as they dare. They are, moreover, fairly expert 

 huntsmen, and kill the hippopotamus in the Thika-thika and the Athi, 

 and the rhinoceros on the Kapte plains. Their staple food is grain, 

 such as dhurra, wimbe, maize, and millet {^Panicum italicum), and also 

 beans, bananas, and pumpkins. They grow tobacco, which they use 

 as snuff, though a few of the people have learnt to smoke. They 

 possess a few iron hoes, but most of the agricultural work is done 

 with wooden implements ; the ground is first dug up by young men 

 with hard pointed poles ; the women then break the clods with curved 

 sticks, while the children gather the grass and weeds into heaps. 



Other arts are more advanced, especially metal-working. This is 

 done by special smiths or fundi. The iron ore is collected from the 

 beds of streams, and smelted by charcoal in small forges of the 

 " Catalan type." The iron is then wrought into swords, spears, arrow- 

 heads, and knives. There is, therefore, little demand for iron wire, 

 which is the main source of iron to such tribes as the Kikuyu and the 

 helot races subject to the Masai. Working in brass is more advanced 

 than in iron, though the raw material is obtained as wire from the 

 coast. This is heated and hammered out by an iron mallet on a 

 stone or iron anvil. Many of the brass ornaments are pretty and 

 elaborate. A small circle is frequently worn in the middle of the 

 forehead, or let into the centre of a stool. Rings are made by 

 twisting brass wire round a core of either brass or iron. The aprons 

 of the married women are generally covered with large brass beads, 

 which are made by the native smiths. The husband gives the smith 

 the necessary amount of brass wire and a goat as payment for the 

 work ; the wire is cut up into short lengths, hammered into thin oblong 

 strips, which are bent into cylindrical tube-like beads. Earrings of 

 many different designs are worn, but brass rings are the commonest. 

 Lip and hair ornaments are not in fashion, but the hair is greased and 

 dressed. 



Clothes consist either of cotton cloth obtained by purchase, or of 

 leather aprons made from roughly tanned skins. The men, however, 

 often wear only a flap of skin over the shoulders, in order to protect 

 the lungs. The clothes are frequently stained with red and white 

 earths. The body is generally kept rubbed with oil and decorated 

 with streaks of paint ; the commonest design is a white band, stretching 

 across the face from ear to ear, and surrounding the eyes. The upper 

 incisor teeth of boys are filed into pointed fangs at the time of 

 circumcision, which is performed at the age of about seven or eight. 



Pottery for cooking purposes is made from coarse clay, and 

 baskets of plaited glass are used for many domestic purposes. String 

 is usually made from the fibres of the leaves of the aloe and the 

 Sanseviera ; a superior quality, of exquisite finish, which is used for 

 binding arrows, is made of plaited zebra hair. 



