KAVIRONDO 



77 



Mumia came one day crying and lamenting that lightning had 

 struck one of his huts and had burnt a quantity of his valued 

 European clothing. Some time after, rumour reached the 

 otttcial that a woman had been burnt to death in the same 

 tire. To make sure, he inquired of Mumia. With a gesture 

 expressive of the unimportance he attached to such a question, 

 Mumia answered : " Yes, yes ! But think of the clothes I 

 lost — my clothes, my clothes I " 



Mumia, though wealthy, belongs to the type of men, met 



A KAVIRONDO VILLAGE-FORGE. 



with also amongst Europeans, who endeavour to get without 

 payment professional advice and assistance from a medical 

 man ; and when they have received it, they are more ungrateful 

 than ever to their benefactor, on the principle, probably, that 

 "the cheaper the article the less its value" applies also to 

 surgical help when rendered without exacting a heavy fee. 



On my last journey, in passing through Igaga's country, 

 I had an opportunity of seeing a Kavirondo village-forge in 

 active work. It looked a very tumbledown place, merely 

 screening off the sun from striking direct on the fire. The 

 smith and his three assistants w^re hard at work ; some idlers 

 from the village had dropped in for a chat round the liomely 

 " foo-foo-foo-foo-foo " sound of the bellows. I too should 



