46 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
solely by the labouring class, one is apt rather to 
underestimate the male physique. If he can possibly 
avoid it, the young able-bodied Kikuyu warrior will 
not condescend to do one stroke of work. The 
labour in his own fields is done almost exclusively 
by women, while the men sit on and watch. 
Mr. Routledge considers that this custom is a survival 
of the period when the males had to stand armed 
and ready to protect their wives and families. Myself, 
I think that it is due to the delightful feeling, so well 
known to us all, engendered by lying at ease and 
watching others work. Sentimentalists who see in 
the trait only the splendid independence and glorious 
freedom of the savage would find very different names 
if our own able-bodied young men sat all day in 
the public house while they left the whole work of 
the country to be done by their wives, children, 
and parents. 
It must be confessed that a young warrior is rather 
an imposing sight with his long spear in hand and his 
sword girt to his side, his hair picturesquely tied, 
wire ornaments round neck and arms, his goat skin 
thrown over one shoulder and Collobus monkey skin 
around his ankles. His courage, however, has always 
been in inverse ratio to his attire. 
The women, however, are much better developed 
than the men—indeed for their size they are extra¬ 
ordinarily muscular, especially in regard to the 
carrying of loads. Brought up from the very earliest 
age to the bearing of burdens such as water, fuel, 
grain, etc., they become capable of absolutely sur¬ 
prising feats in this direction. Whereas the male 
Kikuyu porter grumbles at, and indeed is generally 
physically incapable of, carrying more than 50 lb., a 
