316 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



f/ioto by Mr. Ernest (ledge] 



\_Lu.dborough. 



WAKWAFI MEN OF KAVIRONDO. 



coast of the mainland 

 opposite Zanzibar. 

 They were described 

 by Burton as "an ill- 

 conditioned, noisy, 

 boisterous, violent 

 and impracticable 

 race," and as being for 

 long "the principal 

 obstacle to Arab and 

 other travellers enter- 

 ing into East Africa." 

 He describes them as 

 having a lozenge- 

 shaped face, with 

 oblique eyes, a flat 

 nose, prominent jaws, 

 aud thick projecting 

 lips. They train the 

 hair into numerous 

 small knobs, held 

 together by clay and 

 castor oil. Their only 

 garment is a cotton 



loin-cloth, stained yellow; but the chiefs wear a long white Arab shirt and an embroidered 

 cap. The weapons of the tribe are spears, bows, poisoned arrows, double-edged swords or 

 simes; muskets were introduced, but are now prohibited. The houses are oblong, and are 

 compared by Burton to "the humbler sort of English cow-house or an Anglo-Indian bungalow." 

 The walls are made of canes puddled with clay or of bark fastened against timber aud bamboo: 

 the roof is thatched with grass, and has wide projecting eaves. 



The main industry of the country is agricultural. Land is cleared by fires; it is weeded 

 and hoed and seed planted before the rains. During the wet season copal-digging is the 

 main occupation of the people. 



THE WADOA. 



West of the Wazaramo is the laud of the once powerful tribe of the \Vadoa, a people 

 interesting as the easternmost of the Equatorial cannibals aud for their remarkable linguistic 

 ability. Like most of the coast natives, their physical characters are variable, owing to inter- 

 mixture of foreign blood. They range in colour from black to light chocolate, and in size 

 from large and muscular to small and wiry. Their tribal mark is a pair of scars down both 

 cheeks, from the temple to the jaw. Many stories are current of their former cruelty and 

 brutality. Thus, according to Burton, "with each man are interred alive a male and a female 

 slave, the former holding a billhook wherewith to cut fuel for his lord in the cold death-world, 

 and the latter, who is seated upon a little stool, supports his head in her lap." But such 

 customs have been suppressed since the German occupation of the country. 



THE WAKHUTU, WASAGARA, AND WAGOGO. 



Close neighbours of the Wadoa and Wazaramo are the Wakhutu and Wasagara, who in 

 most respects resemble the Wazaramo. To the west of this group live the AVasagara, a type 

 of the mountain tribes of the East African highlands. They are a tall, sturdy race, and vary 

 in colour from nearly black to chocolate. Their method of wearing the hair is interesting, as 



