v THE KIKUYU 51 



of intelligence their merits are mainly negative. They 

 lie, they steal, they poison ; they conspire, they are 

 intensely lazy, and they are callously cruel. Still, 

 there they are, and such as they are we must make the 

 best of them. Taking first his virtues : The Kikuyu 

 does not fight, and unless in overpowering numbers 

 would never dream of disputing the authority of the 

 white man, whether his master or otherwise. This 

 virtue, though eminently commendable, is not a very 

 attractive one, since it arises solely through fear. The 

 Kikuyu always has been and always will be an arrant 

 coward. Then again he has been described as, and 

 to a certain extent is, comparatively sober. This 

 virtue is due to the fact that he has very seldom 

 sufficient money to buy, or sufficient energy to make, 

 enough liquor to produce intoxication. Provided he 

 can steal a bottle of spirits his moral scruples will not 

 prevent his having a glorious carouse. The one real 

 good quality possessed by the Kikuyu lies in the fact 

 that he has quite a respectable quantity of brains, more 

 especially with regard to agriculture. This talent he 

 shows both in regard to his own fields and also in the 

 intelligent way in which he picks up and grasps 

 European methods. An instance of the latter is shown 

 in the way in which he picks up ploughing. The 

 Kikuyu method of breaking land is about as primitive 

 as can well be conceived, a long pole with a fire- 

 hardened point being poked into the ground, and a 

 very small spoonful of earth overturned. Neither 

 has he any experience of working bullocks in any 

 form. Yet in a few months we found that many 

 natives are able to drive and work a team of fourteen 

 bullocks, and hold a straight furrow as well as the man 

 who taught him. They are, moreover, quite able to 



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