ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE 



the cloth above her head. If she has one servant, 

 the latter walks in front holding two sticks spread 

 out fanwise, and her mistress follows her, holding 

 the other two ; but if she is a rich woman and has 

 two slaves, she walks in the middle, while one slave 

 goes in front and the other behind supporting the 

 shiraa, one stick in each hand, above the lady's 

 head. The procession thus formed is somewhat 

 comic, and very clumsy ; what the origin of this 

 interesting custom is, is not known. Owing to the 

 darkness of the streets in the late afternoon, my 

 attempts at photographing were not successful, much 

 to my disappointment. 



Lamu is the administrative centre of the district 

 of Tanaland, and is the residence of several Govern- 

 ment officials. Its inhabitants are of various races, 

 and consist of Arabs, Swahili, who are probably 

 people of mixed Persian and African descent, slaves 

 from every kind of native tribe from the interior, 

 Somali, Indian traders and Galla. They are 

 notorious throughout East Africa for their licentious- 

 ness, and every form of unnatural vice is common. 

 In the days of th-eir prosperity china and pottery 

 were manufactured there, but it has now become very 

 scarce, owing to the fact that it is impossible to find 

 labourers, since the slave trade has been abolished 

 and the slaves freed. There is very little china left 

 in Lamu to-day, the greater part having been sold to 

 traders and collectors under the stress of poverty ; at 

 Mombasa and, in fact, almost anywhere, it fetches a 

 high price and is much sought after. 



I was very hospitably received by the Provincial 

 Commissioner, Mr. A. T. Reddie. He has spent 

 twenty years of his life in East Africa, and was the 



