231 
CH. x] THE KIKUYU COUNTRY 
sing in the fields ; and water-ousels by the cold streams 
of the Rockies, and canon wrens in their sheer gorges ; 
when from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific wood- 
thrushes, veeries, rufous-backed thrushes, robins, blue¬ 
birds, orioles, thrashers, cat-birds, house-finches, song- 
sparrows—some in the East, some in the West, some 
both East and West—and many, many other singers 
thrill the gardens at sunrise; until the long days begin 
to shorten, and tawny lilies burn by the roadside, and 
the indigo buntings trill from the tops of little trees 
throughout the hot afternoons. 
We were in the Kikuyu country. On our march we 
met several parties of natives. 1 had been much in¬ 
clined to pity the porters, who had but one blanket 
apiece; but when I saw the Kikuyus, each with nothing 
but a smaller blanket, and without the other clothing 
and the tents of the porters, I realized how much better 
off the latter were, simply because they were on a white 
man’s safari. At Neri Boma we were greeted with the 
warmest hospitality by the District Commissioner, Mr. 
Browne. Among other things, he arranged a great 
Kikuyu dance in our honour. Two thousand warriors 
and many women came in, as well as a small party of 
Masai moran. The warriors were naked, or half-naked ; 
some carried gaudy blankets, others girdles of leopard 
skin; their ox-hide shields were coloured in bold 
patterns, their long-bladed spears quivered and gleamed. 
Their faces and legs were painted red and yellow; the 
faces of the young men who were about to undergo the 
rite of circumcision were stained a ghastly white and 
their bodies fantastically painted. The warriors wore 
bead necklaces and waist-belts and armlets of brass and 
steel, and spurred anklets of monkey skin. Some wore 
head-dresses made out of a lion’s mane or from the long 
