THE DANCE OF THE TREES 



do but to pick fifty." And this I did with the assistance 

 of Josiah and other chiefs. 



Splendid, stalwart, upstanding fellows all of them 

 were, many of them sons of Chiefs or Head men and all 

 of yeoman stock. These fifty stepped forward and hold- 

 ing their right hand toward the snowcapped mountains 

 of Kenya took a solemn oath before N'gai, the High God, 

 to plant trees and protect them everywhere. A badge of 

 office was there and then tied upon their left wrist to re- 

 mind them of their vow — a small brass disc bearing an 

 emblem of the tree and the words "Watu wa Miti." The 

 badge was fastened with a kinyatta, a narrow leather 

 band, worked with green and white beads. 



Before this simple ceremony was over every warrior 

 present was wishing that he had been one of the favoured 

 fifty. It was plain that a new rivalry had been started. 

 These fifty were men apart from the rest, as it were, a 

 privileged clan belonging to a new order. 



35 



