THE COUNTRY 357 
months his tax would be reduced or remitted altogether. If 
he had no such proof of work done, it might be increased. 
The strongest shoulders should be made to carry the 
heaviest loads. The Massai have everything done for 
them. Superb grazing lands are reserved for them, 
these including the best arable lands in the Protectorate ; 
and, as things at present stand, they will not till them them- 
selves and no one else is permitted to break up an acre 
of their reserve. So the end of this one-sided arrange- 
ment cannot be far distant. 
Another cause of present friction in British East Africa 
is the anachronism presented by the lawcourts. The East 
African has his own ideas of right and wrong. These are 
embodied in tribal customs and, of course, vary con- 
siderably, but on the whole they form a system that does 
not work badly. The worst element is witchcraft, with 
its attendant cruelty and bloodshed, and gradually this 
must be suppressed. 
In time a legal code should be given to East Africa 
by means of which the tribes could be educated and 
governed at the same time. The Indian criminal code, 
at present the established law, in obedience to which 
the high court at Mombasa is supposed to review the acts 
of the magistrates of the Protectorate, is a strange anach- 
ronism. Shall Kikuyu and Massai savages be educated 
to understand the Indian criminal code? How shall 
poor, harried, overworked local Magistrates govern their 
immense territories if they are on all occasions, as they 
are at present, subject to reversal of their findings by 
honourable gentlemen from England and India, who 
test such findings by the Indian penal code? 
This extraordinary proceeding is today among black 
and white creating an irritation that is most harmful and 
may prove dangerous. He can understand his chief’s 
findings and punishments. He can also submit himself 
