THE COAST CLANS. 



:37 



saying, " are we not Wasawahili ? " that is " artful 

 dodgers." Supersubtle and systematic liars, they de- 

 ceive when duller men would tell the truth, the lie 

 direct is no insult, and the offensive word " muongo ! " 

 (liar) enters largely into every dialogue. They lie like 

 Africans, objectlessly, needlessly, when sure of speedy 

 detection, when fact would be more profitable than false- 

 hood ; they have not discovered with the civilised knave, 

 that u honesty is the best policy they lie till their fic- 

 tion becomes subjectively fact. With them the lie is 

 no mental exertion, no exercise of ingenuity, no con- 

 cealment, nor mere perversion of the truth : it is appa- 

 rently a local instinctive peculiarity in the complicated 

 madness of poor human nature. The most solemn and 

 religious oaths are with them empty words ; they breathe 

 an atmosphere of falsehood, manoeuvre, and contrivance, 

 wasting about the mere nothings of life — upon a pound 

 of grain or a yard of cloth — ingenuity of iniquity enough 

 to win and keep a crown. And they are treacherous as 

 false ; with them the salt has no signification, and gra- 

 titude is unknown even by name. 



Though partially Arabised, the Wamrima, as well as 

 the Wasawahili, retain many habits and customs de- 

 rived from the most degraded of the Washenzi savagery. 

 Like the Wazegura heathen of Eastern Africa, and the 

 Bangala of the Kasanji (Cassange ) Valley, in the West, 

 the uncle sells his nephews and nieces by an indefeasible 

 vested right, with which even the parents cannot inter- 

 fere. The voice of society even justifies this abomination. 

 " What!" exclaim the people, " is a man to want when 



vocabulary of the Engutuk Eloikob or Kikuafi. dialect, he derives 

 Olbitir, a pig, from the Arabic El Batrah, a young ass, or from El Basir, a 

 sharp-seeing dog ! 



d 3 



