50 
NEW AFRICA. 
with the noticeable adornments. They seem to have few amusements, but, 
like many other African tribes, are partial to games of chance, or gambling. 
Bao, as their most popular gambling game is called, is represented in full 
swing in the accompanying illustration. 
Generally speaking the Masai of today are dignified and self-contained, 
capable agriculturists and herdsmen, quick witted and possessed of considerable 
oratorical ability. They are a mixed Ethiopian and negro race, those in whom 
the former blood predominates having good features—so good, in fact, that, 
barring their chocolate color, they would pass for Europeans. Their 
general appearance, bravery and adaptability to military discipline are 
so much in their favor that many of them have been incorporated into the 
King’s African Rifles and are employed with good effect in the British 
work of “pacification.” With the Swahili, the Masai have given names 
to the animals of British East Africa. 
THE SWAHILI AND KIKUKU. 
The Swahili are perhaps the most polished and sedate of any of the 
native tribes of Central and East Africa. They are noted traders, are 
Mohammedans and, in their flowing white garments, much resemble the 
Arabs. They number fully a million souls and have their pretty villages 
and bazaars as far east as Mount Kenia. 
It is said that the Kikuyu, between Nairobi and Mount Kenia, num¬ 
ber some 300,000' souls, and, although they have made as much progress 
as any native tribe in agriculture, they are considered unreliable as citi¬ 
zens and the protectorate police are obliged to keep a keen eye out for 
them. Further to the west and north, from the Mau escarpment to the 
Laikipia Plains and beyond are the villages and huts of the Wandorrobo, 
scattered along the Tana and its tributaries and hidden in the depths of 
the forests. They are among the oldest professional black hunters in 
Africa and will be exterminated before they become farmers. They are 
exceedingly primitive and live mostly on game and honey. 
NAKED TRIBES NEAR VICTORIA NYANZA. 
The country from Kibigori station to Kavirondo Gulf (the eastern 
arm of Lake Victoria Nyanza) was inhabited by tribes who, notwith¬ 
standing the present-day influences of several years, might still have 
just emerged from the Garden of Eden—many even minus the prover¬ 
bial fig-leaf. The females load themselves with bead necklaces and other 
