122 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



biscuits for me, and not being able to pull off the 

 under-licl 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 kanzu; 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 nyika (wilder- 

 ness) which borders on the Taru Desert. They 



