BRITISH EAST AFRICA 203 



little honey, but that the others began it. The 

 others promptly said they were lying. However, the 

 syce and his associates proceeded to indicate sixteen 

 more of the guilty ones, and finally the whole lot, 

 with the exception of one fat old ruffian of about 

 fifty, who had, I suppose, lost his appetite for sweet 

 things, were proved guilty. They had been accus- 

 tomed to steal it when collecting firewood, whilst 

 some daring spirits, eluding the headman and the 

 askaris, had sneaked out at night whilst we were 

 asleep and had a high old time. Unfortunately, 

 they were too many to Jciboko, which would have 

 been by far the best punishment, and they got off 

 with a fine. The one-eyed villain, whom I should 

 dearly loved to have seen soundly flogged, created 

 a diversion by muttering something to the Commis- 

 sioner. 



I asked him what he had said, and he replied, 

 " He asks how the Wa Nyam Wezi can be guilty 

 as they cannot climb trees ! " 



Then he turned and said something in Swahili 

 to the glowering porter. A few minutes later the 

 latter was swarming up a thorn tree with the agility 

 of a monkey, whilst an askari stood underneath with 

 a rhino hide whip in his hand ! His companions 

 roared with laughter. They are just like children, 

 easily amused and as easily depressed. There was 

 no more honey-stealing after that. 



I got a good many steinbuck near Rumuruti. 

 They seem to like the neighbourhood of swamps, and 



