122 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
biscuits for me, and not being able to pull off the 
under-lid with his fingers, he seized the flap in his 
magnificent teeth and tugged at it. I shouted to 
him to stop, thinking that he might break a tooth ; 
but he misunderstood my solicitude and gravely 
assured me that he would not spoil the tin! 
The Swahili men wear a long white cotton 
garment, like a night-shirt, called a anzu; the 
women—who are too liberally endowed to be 
entirely graceful—go about with bare arms and 
shoulders, and wear a long brightly-coloured cloth 
which they wind tightly round their bosoms and 
then allow to fall to the feet. All are followers of 
the Prophet, and their social customs are con- 
sequently much the same as those of any other 
Mohammedan race, though with a good admixture 
of savagedom. They have a happy knack of 
giving a nickname to every European with whom 
they have to do, such nickname generally making 
reference to something peculiar or striking in his 
habits, temper, or appearance. On the whole, they 
are a kindly, generous folk, whom one cannot help 
liking. 
Of the many tribes which are to be seen about 
the railway on the way up from the coast, perhaps 
the most extraordinary-looking are the Wa Nyika, 
the people who inhabit the thorny xyzka (wilder- 
ness) which borders on the Taru Desert. They 
