ch. ix HINTS FOR A WOMAN IN B. E. AFRICA 85 
itself acquaintance with which on the part of the 
farmer’s wife will do no harm. It will, at all events, 
serve to show the farm labourers that the time of the 
master’s absence is not one which can be exclusively 
devoted to food and sleep. This being so, any girl 
who determines to try the life of a settler in the 
Protectorate—a decision which it is unlikely that she 
will ever regret—had better fit herself for that life by 
learning the first elements of cooking, gardening, 
stable management, and, if possible, a few of the 
simplest rules of farming. I would add house-manage¬ 
ment, were it not that the supervision of native 
servants is an art in itself, and one in which the 
qualities which make success or failure seem ingrained. 
One could not, for instance, learn by experience in 
England when is the right time to have a servant 
beaten for rubbing silver plate on the gravel path 
to clean it, and that after several previous warnings. 
We will suppose that a girl is coming to settle in 
the country. The first question that she will ask is, 
“ What ought I to bring out ? ” The answer to which, 
of course, depends a good deal on where she is going. 
Every year, however, the shops in Nairobi improve in 
excellence, and every year therefore the necessity 
to take out any special outfit either in clothes or 
provisions becomes less pressing. 
The first point to be remembered is that although 
the Protectorate lies astride the Equator, it is not for 
the most part really a hot climate. In the Highlands the 
mean maximum temperature is only about 75 0 , while 
the nights are often quite cold ; indeed in most parts a 
wood fire in the evening throughout the greater portion 
of the year is distinctly comforting. This being so, one 
is far more likely to make the mistake of taking too 
