4 8 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
increasing enormously, and find that a large area of 
cleared land is essential for their maintenance. The fact 
that this tribe, at all events, owes, not only its 
property, but almost its very existence to our rule 
should be borne in mind in their administration. 
In appearance they are ugly, without being repul¬ 
sive, though the horrible distortion practised on the 
lobes of the ear bring some of the plainer specimens 
almost into the latter category. Here the men have 
the advantage of the “ fair ” sex, as many of the young 
males have decidedly graceful carriage, while the 
continual hard work undertaken by the females, and 
more especially the carrying of loads on the back, 
destroys any pretensions to a good figure. There is 
among the Wa-Kikuyu themselves no further standard 
for female beauty than physical strength and the 
capacity for hard work. 
The tribe have always been and are an entirely 
agricultural one, and though their methods are very 
primitive, the richness of the soil gives them an 
ample return. Their principal crops are beans, maize, 
millet, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and castor oil. For 
food they eat meat, honey, and flour, the two former 
being luxuries, the latter their staple diet. They keep 
both cattle and goats, but rather as a standard of 
wealth than for any practical use. The unit of wealth 
is a goat. Thus a native field or “Shamba” is said 
to be a one, two, or three goat shamba. Cows, 
heifers, and bullocks are worth each so many goats. 
The average price for an average wife would be about 
35 goats, or say two cows and ten goats. 
Their huts are rather above the average native type. 
It is advisable, however, not to visit the interiors, as, 
in addition to sheltering sheep, goats, and chickens, 
