12 8 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
with iron, slung over his shoulders ; a njoma (club) 
or two in his belt, and a lupanga (short sword — a 
rude piece of iron) hung at his side. Though so near to 
the coast, the Wanika have not yet adopted firearms. 
To render themselves as ferocious-looking as possible 
they dress up in the skins of various animals, mount 
plumes of feathers upon their heads, and bedaub 
themselves with mixtures of clay and oil, etc. 
Slavery exists among the Wanika ; but, on the 
whole, slaves are not treated unkindly by them. It 
is a kind of patriarchal institution. Slaves have to 
work, but their dwellings, food, and clothing are as 
good as their masters', though it must be admitted 
they could scarcely be worse. The Wanika are 
liable in times of famine to be sold as slaves them- 
selves ; otherwise they retain their freedom. Even 
the short-sighted slave-owner of the coast sees that 
the freedom of the Wanika, is far more advantageous 
to him than it would be to capture and enslave them. 
The trade carried on with them in times of peace, 
and their assistance in war, make them a most 
valuable ally to the Wasuahili. 
The Kinika language is a dialect of the great 
family spoken by the agricultural races. It is not 
widely different from the Kisuahili in vocabulary and 
grammatical construction, though, from the peculiar 
intonations in which it is spoken, it requires to be 
diligently listened to before it can be understood ; 
while careful study and long practice are necessary 
before it can be spoken intelligibly, even though the 
Kisuahili may have been acquired beforehand. 
Dr. Krapf estimates the Wanika, in round numbers, 
at 50,000 souls. This is probably as near the mark 
