FROM ADEN TO MOMBASA. 39 



gazelles and Grant gazelles, the latter an exquisite creature with a 

 white band on its dappled sides. All scamper a little distance as the 

 train steams along, then go quietly on with their grazing. If you 

 come to some deserted stretch you may know that a wandering lion 

 is not far away, hence, the dispersal of the tranquil herds, whose 

 keen scent has warned them of the enemy. 



CHILDREN OF THE WILDERNESS. 



As water is very scarce in this country you do not see so many 

 natives as you did the previous day or as you will beyond Nairobi. 

 After leaving the coast you passed through a country inhabited by 

 the Wa Nyika, "children of the wilderness," a wild-looking tribe, 

 not so large or well formed as the Masai or Kavirondos or other 

 tribes to be found farther inland. Almost all these tribes mutilate 

 their ears by perforating and dragging the lobes so that they hang 

 down over their shoulders. Also around the rims they insert blue, 

 red and yellow disks, or wooden hoses, containing charms. Some, 

 like the Masai, further scarify their bodies or plaster themselves 

 from head to foot with red clay. This is sometimes for warmth, 

 but more often for adornment. Both men and women are fond of 

 coiling copper wire around their arms and legs, and used to steal 

 quantities of this from the telegraph lines until they were taught by 

 summary methods the iniquity of this custom. 



Some of the important hats worn in the past year in our country 

 look more like the nodding plumes and feathers worn by the savage 

 warriors of East Africa than civilized headgear. The wild tribes 

 that stolidly gaze at the passing train or wave spears and shields 

 or bows and arrows at it are as wonderful and interesting as the im- 

 mense herds of zebras, antelopes and gazelles, or the wild ostriches 

 and vultures, or hyenas and jackals, or other strange sights one gets 

 from the car windows. 



To return to our railway carriage. As the sun rises the land 

 glows with exceeding light, and by noon we have reached Nairobi. 

 Here the ex-President leaves the train, and we will leave him for the 

 present. The Nairobians are a hospitable, gay, sport-loving people. 

 They have horse races two or three times a year. 



