68 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
were of course surrounded by a crowd of spectators, 
composed of our own men and a highly flavoured con¬ 
tingent of Mbogoli’s warriors ; most of the latter wore 
about a dozen small strings of beads, threaded through 
the upper part of the ears, as well as heavy rings in 
the lobes. They appear to pay great attention to the 
method of ear piercing, and insert round pieces of 
wood to stretch the holes, until, in some cases, they 
become from three to four inches in diameter. Such 
a result is considered a great attraction, as, if there be 
no split in the process, the lobe is capable of carrying 
heavy ornaments, but, unfortunately, in the case of 
Mbogoli’s right ear, the tissues had become completely 
divided, which rendered the wearing of the lower ear¬ 
ring impossible. Some of the warriors carried ostrich 
feathers in their hair, and wore small cloaks made from 
the skins of leopards, goats, sheep, and antelope, and 
nearly all were men of fine physique. Mbogoli retired 
when he found he could get nothing more out of us, 
but not so the warriors, who kept up a constant din 
close to our camp, and spent most of the night in howl¬ 
ing and singing. 
A partridge and a dove, secured by B- on the 
march, proved very welcome as they represented all the 
meat we had, for, owing partly to our being seme 
distance from the abodes of the natives and partly 
to their being engrossed in war preparations, none of 
the women had come in to trade. Our present posi¬ 
tion was 3000 feet above the sea, and 1 74 miles from 
Mombasa. 
