THE COUNTRY 357 



months his tax would be reduced or remitted altogether. If 

 he had no such proof of work done, it might be increased. 

 The strongest shoulders should be made to carry the 

 heaviest loads. The Massai have everything done for 

 them. Superb grazing lands are reserved for them, 

 these including the best arable lands in the Protectorate ; 

 and, as things at present stand, they will not till them them- 

 selves and no one else is permitted to break up an acre 

 of their reserve. So the end of this one-sided arrange- 

 ment cannot be far distant. 



Another cause of present friction in British East Africa 

 is the anachronism presented by the law courts. The East 

 African has his own ideas of right and wrong. These are 

 embodied in tribal customs and, of course, vary con- 

 siderably, but on the whole they form a system that does 

 not work badly. The worst element is witchcraft, with 

 its attendant cruelty and bloodshed, and gradually this 

 must be suppressed. 



In time a legal code should be given to East Africa 

 by means of which the tribes could be educated and 

 governed at the same time. The Indian criminal code, 

 at present the established law, in obedience to which 

 the high court at Mombasa is supposed to review the acts 

 of the magistrates of the Protectorate, is a strange anach- 

 ronism. Shall Kikuyu and Massai savages be educated 

 to understand the Indian criminal code ? How shall 

 poor, harried, overworked local Magistrates govern their 

 immense territories if they are on all occasions, as they 

 are at present, subject to reversal of their findings by 

 honourable gentlemen from England and India, who 

 test such findings by the Indian penal code ? 



This extraordinary proceeding is today among black 

 and white creating an irritation that is most harmful and 

 may prove dangerous. He can understand his chiePs 

 findings and punishments. He can also submit himself 



