io8 Wanderings m Eastern Africa. 
power is almost absolute. He, of course, shares the 
black-mail, visitors' presents, fines, and whatever 
other means come to the exchequer, but this does not 
amount to much. 
The Mvaya has been called the House of Lords" 
because it is constituted of the oldest men of the 
tribe, and is looked upon as a kind of upper house " 
between the Kambi and the Shaha. They are 
the immediate counsellors of the chief, but have no 
power to act in any matter, except in conformity with 
the wishes of the Kambi. 
The Kambi is really the governing body. It is 
composed of all adults who pay the costs of initiation. 
The ceremonies associated with indujction into the 
order are in keeping with the barbarity of the people. 
The candidate, by the fees he pays, provides ample 
means for several days of feasting, rioting, and 
drunkenness. The demands made upon him are in 
proportion to his means, and whatever they may be 
they are sure to be pressed to the utmost. He is, as 
a rule, thoroughly fleeced, and so is made to pay 
" very dear for his whistle." 
When visiting on one occasion the Kaya of Ribe, 
one of these ceremonies was proceeding, and I was 
admitted behind the scenes. Taken to the candidate 
for admission into the order, I found him behind a 
screen of platted palm-leaves, stretched at full length 
upon the ground. He lay stone still, as if dead. 
Over his head had been spread a covering of soft 
mud, an inch thick, looking like a close-fitting cap, 
and he was lying in the manner I have described till 
the mud should be baked and hardened in the sun. 
But this was only the foundation of further ornamen- 
