In order that the reader may draw an accurate conclusion as to the meaning of the term "Darkest Africa," Nairobi, with only 1,200 whites, has the largest European population of any city north of Salisbury and Bulawayo (Rhodesia) as far as Cairo, (Egypt), or in the full length of Africa to the west and northwest.
The negro is not the horse of Nairobi. While few horses are seen, native oxen, with humps on their shoulders almost as large as a dromedary's, lumber through the streets yoked to wagons loaded with merchandise.
As the Zulu language is the key to the tribal dialects of South Africa, the Kiswahili language is likewise the key to the many native dialects in this section of Africa. The word "Wa" is plural in the Kiswahili language, and is prefixed to the name of a person or a tribe; "M" prefixed means man or individual; "U," in the same way, means place or locality, and "Ki" prefixed indicates the language. As an example, the Masai tribe would be Wamasai, Mmasai would be a Masai man, Umasai would be Masailand, and Kimasai would mean the Masai dialect or language.
Professor Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, an exponent of the philosophy of clothes, held that a majority of the people of the world devoted too much attention to the matter of unnecessary dress, a failing that militated against their moral and spiritual welfare. The men of this tribe, gaunt and gawky, wear nothing but a sort of shirt—a piece of cloth, with a hole in the center large enough to admit a head through, secured by neither string, band, nor suspenders. The original color of the shirt might once have been a mongrel brown, similar to unbleached muslin, but, as the Wakikuyu observe few wash days, the "garment" is usually many shades darker. Shoes and head covering, like the breeches, are also tabooed.
The Wakikuyu was the worst native tribe we had seen. The men looked half-starved, and it was tiresome to see them work. Excavation was being made for the foundation of a building, the dirt being carried out in small pans; sometimes these would not contain more than a cupful of earth. When coming up the incline from the excavation to the street their gait was that of a crippled snail. They receive from 6 to 12 cents a day, and possibly may earn it.
The women of the Wakikuyu tribe, on the other hand, are hard workers. They till the land, and raise flocks of goats, sheep, and cattle. They wear more clothing than the men, their principal covering being a tanned sheep or goat skin that has been soaked with grease. Dust and dirt coming in contact with the greased skin naturally give the garment an untidy appearance. What seems a cruel fashion among the women of this tribe is the mutilation of their ears. The lobes are slit, and thick chunks of sugar-cane, bamboo, calabashes, or other round articles, from the size of a thread spool to the circumference of a teacup, are pressed through. The plug and "ear bands" resemble an elastic band a quarter of an inch in width placed around a drinking glass. The plug is short, from two to three inches in length. These are forced between the "ear bands" so snugly that they will not fall out while the wearer is moving about. The woman wearing the largest plug is the best dressed, according to Wakikuyu fashion, and is envied by those of her sisters whose ear-lobes will not accommodate the larger "ornament." In many instances the punctured lobe is so extended that it becomes a loop, the ends of which sometimes rest on the shoulders. When not in use, so to speak, the ear loop is hung up on the top of the ear and seems to be secured by a knot made in that extended and flexible member. She carries her babe inside her goatskin covering in front, and a heavy basket of wood, potatoes, or other things on her back. A strap passes across her forehead, the ends secured to the basket. The great weights carried in the baskets make in time an indentation in the forehead the width of the strap.
A native of that tribe would prefer to be killed rather than touch anything dead—even a rat. If one of their number should suddenly die in the hut, every one would immediately move out and leave the dead member behind. Before taking final leave of the old home, however, time is taken to dig a hole under the side of the hut large enough to admit either a jackal or hyena, when the body would be left to be devoured by these beasts later. The Mkikuyu, though, in order to retain his abode, takes care that few deaths take place in the hut. When a member of a family becomes sick he is taken out of and led some distance away from the home and laid on the ground. Those accompanying the sick native may, with a short stick or wood, the ends resting in two crotches made of four shorter pieces held by a grass band, lay his head on the native "pillow," close to a lone thorn bush, with a short piece of goatskin covering the body. If the negro recovers he is taken back to the hut. While thus holding vigil on the veld, a vulture may be seen soaring above where the native is lying, with others appearing to view in the distance, and in the background the forms of jackals and the outline of slinking hyenas may also be apparent, for these vultures and beasts seem to know, not alone through instinct, but from former similar settings, that the body of the native, when life has left it, will not be put underground nor be removed by the superstitious tribesmen.
Many of the natives are smeared with reddish, greasy clay from head to foot. The hair, worn long by some, is plastered and shaped to resemble a turtle, with head jutting out and tail extended. They wear no shoes, and seldom a hat. One sees the native in British East Africa little different than he lived a thousand years ago.
Men wearing two soft, broad-brimmed felt hats strikes one as out of the ordinary. Nairobi is but 80 miles south of the Equator, and heavy head-covering must be worn to guard against sunstroke. Helmets are worn by a great many, but the two hats, the top one over the under one, are worn as commonly as the helmet.
A library is one of the features of the town. An electric light plant was seen here; also bioscope theaters. One thing Nairobi did not have—colored postcards that were of any interest. Motor cars spin about the streets. Food, clothes and living expenses are cheaper in Nairobi than in South Africa. Hotel accommodation was but $1.60 a day.