IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA 
117 
certainly the worst, distinctly coarse and ill-flavoured. 
This and zebra, however, are fully appreciated by the 
safari, so need not be wasted. My brother, who 
tells me he knows, gives the pride of place to the 
klipspringer ; while I have grateful recollection of the 
tiny dikdiks (Cavendish’s and Gunther’s), their flesh 
being white and of exquisite flavour. Eland will 
compare with the best of British beef—perhaps a trifle 
too fat—and may some day possibly be utilised as 
such. Oryx also stands in quite the front rank, and so 
do impala and all the gazelles. Hartebeest is hard and 
rather coarse, excepting the cut alongside the back¬ 
bone. Guinea-fowl, francolin and bush-bustard form 
invaluable adjuncts to the larder. 
A simple, careless soul is the average Swahili, strong 
as a bull, willing, easily led and easily amused. He has, 
besides, a distinctly musical turn, and it surprises, after 
his feast, to hear the quality of melody he manages to 
extract from the rudest of instruments. A single¬ 
headed drum does duty as bass, while a wooden 
“chatty” containing peas or pebbles supplies rhythm 
and beat. We had two string affairs, something between 
a guitar and a banjo, the sound-cases being formed of 
the gourd-like shell of some tree-fruit, with a strfp of 
wood fixed lengthwise across the cavity and furnished 
with one or two strings. “With these primitive tools,” 
my brother writes, “ our ‘ boys ’ succeeded in producing 
music which undoubtedly possessed not only form, but 
individuality and character. What struck me most was 
the absence of any element of brightness or joy. All 
was cast in minor key. Possibly the imperfect scale 
and inability to modulate may contribute to this effect; 
but the resultant reiteration of melancholy phrase is apt 
to grow wearisome. The folk-songs of Northern races 
are, for the most part, in this minor mode; but that is 
consonant with environment and character. Why these 
light-hearted children of the sun should also express in 
song so much of sadness is not apparent. Possibly 
