VII 
THE SWAHILI AND THE SOMALI 
69 
the headboy was unaccountably absent. The meal, 
however, commenced under the supervision of his 
underlings and proceeded satisfactorily. Some bright 
sally produced a loud outburst of laughter, which was 
followed by the most frightful mumblings and groans 
from under the table. A moment later a black face 
with bloodshot eyes and vinous breath appeared over 
the lap of the staidest matron of the party. The 
butler had returned! The race is singularly immoral, 
and this applies to either sex. The ladies can be 
confidently expected to find husbands and the men 
wives in every port or station to which they may 
happen to come. It is unfair, however, to mark this 
entirely to their discredit, since it is possibly the 
result of their long acquaintance with European 
civilisation. 
Swahilis are excellent agriculturists, and many of 
them own nice little plantations on the coast. Both 
Indians and Arabs have, perhaps unfortunately, dis¬ 
possessed them of a good deal of land, which is 
probably theirs by right. This fact, however, is not 
an unmixed disadvantage, since it means that a larger 
proportion come up country in search of employment. 
They are not a long-lived race, but one may still 
come across some of the fine old fellows who knew 
the country before the railway, men who for a wage 
that would be sneezed at by their more luxurious 
descendants went cheerily up into the unexplored 
Highlands for a space of two years at a stretch, 
ready to face the perils of the Masai, wild beasts, 
hunger, and exposure, with all the uncertain terrors 
of the unknown. Such men must have our heartiest 
admiration ; and as I have said, many of their good 
qualities are retained to the present day. 
