vii THE SWAHILI AND THE SOMALI 69 



the headboy was unaccountably absent. The meal, 

 however, commenced under the supervision of his 

 underlings and proceeded satisfactorily. Some bright 

 sally produced a loud outburst of laughter, which was 

 followed by the most frightful mumblings and groans 

 from under the table. A moment later a black face 

 with bloodshot eyes and vinous breath appeared over 

 the lap of the staidest matron of the party. The 

 butler had returned ! The race is singularly immoral, 

 and this applies to either sex. The ladies can be 

 confidently expected to find husbands and the men 

 wives in every port or station to which they may 

 happen to come. It is unfair, however, to mark this 

 entirely to their discredit, since it is possibly the 

 result of their long acquaintance with European 

 civilisation. 



Swahilis are excellent agriculturists, and many of 

 them own nice little plantations on the coast. Both 

 Indians and Arabs have, perhaps unfortunately, dis- 

 possessed them of a good deal of land, which is 

 probably theirs by right. This fact, however, is not 

 an unmixed disadvantage, since it means that a larger 

 proportion come up country in search of employment. 

 They are not a long-lived race, but one may still 

 come across some of the fine old fellows who knew 

 the country before the railway, men who for a wage 

 that would be sneezed at by their more luxurious 

 descendants went cheerily up into the unexplored 

 Highlands for a space of two years at a stretch, 

 ready to face the perils of the Masai, wild beasts, 

 hunger, and exposure, with all the uncertain terrors 

 of the unknown. Such men must have our heartiest 

 admiration ; and as I have said, many of their good 

 qualities are retained to the present day. 



