16 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Western Negroids of a mixed Arab and African descent, 

 who fringe the shore in a thin line. These " coast- clans " 

 support themselves in idleness and comparative luxury, 

 by amicably plundering the down-caravans, and by large 

 plantations of cereals and vegetables, with which they, 

 or rather their slaves, supply the island of Zanzibar, 

 and even the shores of Arabia. The Warn rim a are an 

 ill-conditioned race ; they spend life in eating, drinking, 

 and smoking, drinking and dancing, visits, intrigue, and 

 low debauchery. They might grow cotton and coffee, 

 and dig copal to almost any extent ; but whilst a pound 

 of grain remains in bin, no man will handle a hoe. 

 The feminine part of the community is greatly superior 

 in number to the masculine, and this leads to the usual 

 result : on a " Siku ku " or fete-day, the ladies of the 

 village, with yellow pigment over their faces and their 

 woolly heads, perform in their cups impromptu-dances 

 upon the open, enter a stranger's house as if it were their 

 own, and call for something to drink, as if they had been 

 educated at Cremorne, or the Rue Cadet. The Wamrima 

 are ruled by Diwans, or headmen, locally called " Chom- 

 wi;" these officials are subject to Zanzibar, and their 

 numbers are everywhere in inverse ratio to the import- 

 ance of the places. The Chomwi enjoys the privileges of 

 " dash," fines and extortions ; he has also certain marks 

 of distinction. For instance, he is authorised to wear 

 turbands and the wooden pattens called by the Arabs 



Zaramo, and WasawaMli (with a long accent upon the penultimate, con- 

 sonant with the spirit of the African language, and contrary to that of the 

 Arabic), the population of the Sawahil. Finally, the syllable hi — prefixed 

 to the theoretical root — denotes anything appertaining to a country, as the 

 terminating ish in the word English. It especially refers in popular usage 

 to language, as Kizaramo, the language of Zaramo; Kisawahili, the language 

 of the Sawahil, originally called Ki-ngozi, from the district of Ngozi, on the 

 Ozi River. It has been deemed advisable to retain these terse and concise dis- 

 tinctions, which, if abandoned, would necessitate a weary redundance of words. 



