LETTER FROM SIR R. G. HARVEY. 
269 
shaped blades, the larger for thrusting and the smaller for 
throwing; a small native-made knife in sheath, a small circular 
shield made of giraffe, rhinoceros, or buffalo hide, and a large 
double-edged brass knuckle-duster, worn on the little finger 
of the left hand. For ornament they wear copper, brass, and 
head necklaces, and the elders a large ring of ivory above the 
elbow. They are generally enveloped in folds of American 
sheeting, dyed a dirty brown. The women are dressed much 
like the Masai women, but without the endless iron coils worn 
by that tribe. No man is considered of any importance unless 
he has killed one of another tribe, after which he is allowed to 
grow two little tufts of hair on the top of his head. On the 
death of a Galla his son succeeds to his possessions, with the 
exception of his hut and wives, which go to the brother. The 
brother on formally taking possession ceremoniously enters the 
hut and thus addresses the supposed spirit of the late owner: 
“ Come out, old chap; you’ve had your day, now I’ll have mine.” 
I11 character they are deceitful, treacherous, and obstructive 
to a degree, and at present live on the mild and generous 
Wa-kopomo, who acknowledge them as their masters. The 
Wa-sania, equally well known as Wa-boni and Wa-tai, are a 
tribe of hunters, living entirely on the products of the chase, 
their only weapons being bows and poisoned arrows. They also 
make use of pits for entrapping game. They acknowledge the 
Gallas as lords of the country, and when they kill an elephant 
have to give up one tusk to them. 
The Wa-kopomo (people of the Kopomo, i.e., Tana river) 
are a negro tribe living on the banks of the river; a peaceable 
and industrious race, cultivating large quantities of the ordinary 
native products, and in some places rice. They are excellent 
boatmen, using dug-out canoes of all sizes, large quantities of 
which may always be seen opposite their villages. 
Their villages are built on high grounds on the banks of the 
river, and on the land side are surrounded by strong stockades, 
every possible access to which is guarded by invisible pits, to 
entrap any of the marauding Somalis or Masai. They are very 
