364 Wanderings in Eastern Africa, 
I doubt if he translated me literally. Whatever it was, 
however, it seemed to be pretty well received. An old 
man rose to reply. He said, as it was afterwards in- 
terpreted to me, '^This is very good, but we want 
some better proof of the stranger's friendly feeling. 
Words are only words. Will the Muzungu . ' Kula 
muma ' with us V 
"Kula muma" is the Kisuahili name for a cere- 
mony by which all friendly compacts are made, 
sworn to, and confirmed. It consists of a mutual 
declaration of brotherhood, followed by pledging the 
same in each other's blood. Each party draws blood 
from his breast near his heart, then each taking a 
little of the other's blood upon his finger touches there- 
with his tongue, and the compact is sealed. Hence- 
forth they regard each other as brothers, and it is 
pretended that neither will ever do the other a wrong. 
I refused to have anything to do with such a cere- 
mony, saying that my " Kula muma " was my bare 
but honest word. 
A middle-aged man next rose to speak. He said : 
" It is to be regretted that the Muzungu will not 
pledge us in our own way; though he may mean well, 
it is very unsatisfactory to us. Possibly, though he 
refuses to ' Kulu muma' with us, he will do so with 
Mandara when he gets to Chaga. He may even 
supply Mandara with uganga (sorcery), and thus give 
that chief great advantages over us. We cannot en- 
tertain those cordial feelings towards him which we 
should do were he to comply with our custom. 
Should any misfortune happen to the country after 
his departure, it will be attributed to the evil of his 
feet. We are already greatly wasted. We who are 
