GLIMPSES OF EAST AFRICA AND ZANZIBAR 



white man with only one wife. As a matter of 

 fact he only had one real wife, as wives are costly 

 affairs. 



I had to give my first dinner-party very soon ; it 

 passed off all right, the Goanese cooked beautifully 

 that night, and Baruku and Ali waited well, but 

 the former lost his head over the wines, handing 

 them incorrectly ; when he met my husband's eye, 

 it made him grow so nervous that the perspiration 

 poured down his agitated face. Before I went out 

 that afternoon, I rearranged the flowers I already 

 had, they looked light and fairly dainty. To my 

 horror on my return I found my table laid ready, 

 but a number of geraniums crammed into my 

 flower vases and the tablecloth covered with their 

 red petals. It was Baruku's idea of table decora- 

 tion, and how to get it altered without hurting his 

 feelings I did not know. However with tact I 

 managed it, but unless the greatest care was taken 

 the petals left a red stain as they were taken off. 

 At intervals Baruku used to present me with 

 flowers, he said his brother (friend) brought them 

 for him. I did not dare make further inquiries, as 

 I thought the answer might be awkward, if I dis- 

 covered they were taken from some one's garden. 

 Added to my other servants was a half-tame Masai, 

 who acted as syce to a pony which had been lent to 

 me. The little cart had no seat at the back, so when 

 I drove out the wild Masai, nothing daunted, jumped 



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