AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



They are the dandies, the proud young aristocracy 

 of wealth and importance; and of course they may 

 differ individually or tribally from the sample I have 

 offered. Also there are many other social grades. 

 Those who care less for dress or have less to get it 

 with can rub along very cheaply. The only real 

 essentials are (a) something for the ear — a tomato 

 can will do; (b) a trifle for clothing — and for that 

 a scrap of gunny sacking will be quite enough. 



The women to be seen in the streets of Nairobi 

 are mostly of the Kikuyu tribe. They are pretty 

 much of a pattern. Their heads are shaven, either 

 completely or to leave only ornamental tufts; and 

 are generally bound with a fine wire fillet so tightly 

 that the strands seem to sink into the flesh. A 

 piece of cotton cloth, dyed dark umber red, is belted 

 around the waist, and sometimes, but not always, 

 another is thrown about the shoulders. They go in 

 for more hardware than do the men. The entire 

 arms and the calves of the legs are encased in a sort 

 of armour made of quarter-inch wire wound closely, 

 and a collar of the same material stands out like a 

 ruff eight or ten inches around the neck. This is 

 wound on for keeps; and must be worn day and night 

 and all the time, a cumbersome and tremendously 

 heavy burden. A dozen large loops of coloured 

 beads strung through the ears, and various strings 



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