IX 
HINTS FOR A WOMAN IN B. E. AFRICA 89 
A Goanese cook = £3 per month. 
Cooks boy (native) = 10/- „ ,, 
Head boy (Swahili) = 30/- ,, ,, 
Two under boys (natives) = £ 1 ,, ,, 
or, altogether, a total of £6 per month. This may 
seem a large total, and it is one that can be, and is, 
easily reducible by a half. It will, however, be re¬ 
membered that this sum will probably represent half 
the total expenses of the house books, and as such is 
not very unreasonable. 
Having got the staff together and presumably the 
house, furniture and stores are the next consideration. 
Both of the items are obtainable locally. There are 
both English and Indian carpenters. The latter are 
cheap and excellent at imitation, but there their merits 
end. For anything of decent workmanship and which 
has any last in it, it is always best and cheapest in the 
long run to go to the British workman. Two or three 
comfortable chairs are an absolute necessity, and here 
I would be inclined to recommend that they be 
brought out. Naturally also, if one has in stock such 
things as beds, china, linen, or plate, these had also 
better be brought, though they are always obtainable 
in Nairobi. With regard to all stores, they can be 
obtained locally of excellent quality and variety at 
little if any greater expense and with infinitely less 
trouble than by ordering, or even by bringing them 
out from home. 
It is advisable to keep all stores and wines under 
lock and key, giving out what is required in the 
morning. 
Gardens in East Africa become things of joy with 
wonderfully little effort. Certain English flowers, 
