26 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



wise what applies to the one may be considered as 

 applying to the other. The Nilotic tribe inhabit the 

 east shores of Lake Victoria Nyanza in the region of 

 Kavirondo Bay. The Bantu Kavirondo occupy the 

 district north of the former including the Nzoia valley, 

 of which Mumias is the capital. 



Probably the Kavirondo have attracted most atten- 

 tion from one rather curious feature : the fact that 

 neither sex is accustomed to wear a single stitch of 

 clothing. I take it that hardly a tourist or shooter but 

 has returned from the Protectorate the richer by a 

 large bundle of photographs marked " private " depict- 

 ing adult Kavirondo of either sex in full costume, 

 which consists in the case of the women of as many 

 beads and necklaces as her position warrants, and 

 in the case of the man of a very elaborate head-dress. 

 It is not surprising to find that both sexes are exceed- 

 ingly moral and respectable. It may be true that 

 beauty unadorned is beauty adorned the most, but it is 

 equally true that female beauty of form concealed, yet 

 hinted at, is more attractive to the male sex. It may 

 be presumed that it was this immoral desire for admira- 

 tion, mixed with curiosity, that induced Eve to adopt 

 her first petticoat. This immoral desire still lies 

 dormant among the Kavirondo. Apart from, or in 

 addition to, this trait, the Kavirondo have always had 

 much to recommend them. They are peaceful, in- 

 dustrious, and essentially agriculturists. What little 

 fighting they have ever done has been either with the 

 Nandi or the Kisii, with neither of which fighting 

 races could they ever hope to compete on even terms. 

 Luckily for them, in the old days they never possessed 

 a sufficient head of cattle to excite the avarice of their 

 neighbours. Their huts are by no means badly built, 



