V 
THE KIKUYU 
5 i 
of intelligence their merits are mainly negative. They 
lie, they steal, they poison ; they conspire, they are 
intensely lazy, and they are callously cruel. Still, 
there they are, and such as they are we must make the 
best of them. Taking first his virtues : The Kikuyu 
does not fight, and unless in overpowering numbers 
would never dream of disputing the authority of the 
white man, whether his master or otherwise. This 
virtue, though eminently commendable, is not a very 
attractive one, since it arises solely through fear. The 
Kikuyu always has been and always will be an arrant 
coward. Then again he has been described as, and 
to a certain extent is, comparatively sober. This 
virtue is due to the fact that he has very seldom 
sufficient money to buy, or sufficient energy to make, 
enough liquor to produce intoxication. Provided he 
can steal a bottle of spirits his moral scruples will not 
prevent his having a glorious carouse. The one real 
good quality possessed by the Kikuyu lies in the fact 
that he has quite a respectable quantity of brains, more 
especially with regard to agriculture. This talent he 
shows both in regard to his own fields and also in the 
intelligent way in which he picks up and grasps 
European methods. An instance of the latter is shown 
in the way in which he picks up ploughing. The 
Kikuyu method of breaking land is about as primitive 
as can well be conceived, a long pole with a fire- 
hardened point being poked into the ground, and a 
very small spoonful of earth overturned. Neither 
has he any experience of working bullocks in any 
form. Yet in a few months we found that many 
natives are able to drive and work a team of fourteen 
bullocks, and hold a straight furrow as well as the man 
who taught him. They are, moreover, quite able to 
e 2 
