158 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



thing like Neumann or not I could not tell, as I 

 never had the pleasure of meeting him. After a 

 short conversation with the old man, and having 

 informed him I was not Neumann, he inquired 

 from me if I knew when Neumann was returning. 

 I told him I expected he would be back shortly. 



" *The first question put by any Samburu you 

 met was, " Why have Europeans imprisoned Nyama 

 Yango?" Having denied this, and told them it 

 was a lie, they seemed delighted at the hope of 

 his returning shortly. I asked them who had told 

 them this lie, and they said Neumann's Swahili 

 gun-bearer. It did not matter whom you met — 

 Wanderobo, Samburu, Rendile — ^their first question 

 was "When is Nyama Yangu returning?" He 

 must have had an extraordinary influence among 

 them. They also told me he never accepted any 

 presents from them unless they would take their 

 equivalent value in what they wanted, such as 

 wire and Americani. On my way to Kenia I went 

 into one of Neumann's camps. His house, if 

 you could call it one, was a small grass-and-mud 

 hut, round which were a few shelves, a small, rickety 

 table, but no chair. What surprised one most was 

 his bed — ^an exact copy of the native bed, made of 

 sticks tied lengthways and others tied crossways, 

 most hard and uncomfortable. He must have been 

 as hard as nails, for I should certainly have pre- 

 ferred to sleep on the ground rather than on his bed. 



" ' From what I gathered from my interpreter, 

 when the Samburu are convinced that Neumann is 

 dead their intention is all to trek north. He must 

 have been a little god among them; he settled 

 their troubles and advised them when they came 



