A HOSPITABLE RECEPTION 



who was most decidedly Chinese in appearance, with 

 almond-shaped eyes, and long thin moustache, came 

 out and begged me to camp, saying that as I was 

 the first white " officer " to come to their village they 

 wanted to do me honour. I could hardly refuse, for 

 the country here is only nominally administered, and 

 I was dependent on the goodwill of the natives to 

 allow me to go through their country ; and a delight- 

 ful camp it proved. At a discreet distance all the 

 male population watched the pitching of my tent 

 with the greatest interest, and bright-eyed, brown- 

 limbed little children, with long curly brown hair, 

 gazed with solemn wonder at me from the safety of 

 the surrounding bushes. When the tent was up, 

 I saw a procession being formed, and the elders of 

 the village came up to welcome me, bringing with 

 them an ox, a quantity of ghee and eight pots of milk, 

 "all they had," as the headman said, "to show me 

 honour and make my heart glad." He further 

 begged permission to hold a dance in the afternoon ; 

 naturally, I gave it, and after thanking them for their 

 welcome, and for their friendly attitude towards a 

 stranger, I proceeded to question them as to their 

 country and the whereabouts of game. In the 

 meantime I ordered my headman to prepare coffee 

 for them, and they remained the rest of the day 

 within my boma, talking to my men for hours, while 

 they sipped the sickly buni, of which they seemed so 

 fond. 



The dance, which was to be somewhat similar, 

 I was told, to one I had witnessed in Kismayu, took 

 place in the afternoon. Boxes meanwhile had been 

 placed in a semicircle in front of my tent, for the 

 elders to sit upon. My men put on their best clothes 



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