THE SECRET OF THE KIAMA 



Kiama." I gathered from this that what the man had 

 been saying was to do with the Kiama. I then queried, 

 "What is the Kiama?" and gathered that it was a secret. 

 After a httle persuasion I was informed in confidence 

 that it was a society to which only the oldest and wisest 

 members of the tribe belonged. That night I gathered 

 little further information, but on the following day I 

 saw one of the headmen who had been present and pri- 

 vately asked him to tell me more about it. Previous to 

 this there had been occasion upon which my keen in- 

 terest had been aroused by reason of the fact that often 

 when talking freely and frankly they would suddenly 

 become conscious of my presence and lapse into silence. 

 I felt there was a barrier which must be overcome be- 

 fore I could enter intimately into the history of the 

 past. 



I had known this headman for a long time and he 

 was greatly respected by the other chiefs and elders. 

 I said to him, "May I not join your Kiama? I should 

 like to know all about what happened in the old days 

 before the coming of the white man." I could plainly 

 see that my friend was greatly perturbed. He was en- 

 countering a situation for which he was completely un- 

 prepared. For several moments he did not speak and 

 I continued asking him what was the difficulty. I said, 

 "Am I not your friend, do you not trust me?" And 

 every moment he seemed to become more and more 

 embarrassed. Finally, looking me straight in the eyes 

 he said, "Bwana, no white man has ever become a mem- 



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