A Kikuyu Girl, showing Ear Ornaments.
Unlike many African tribes, the Akikuyu do not keep poultry, for they have a theory that the crowing of cocks at night has in time past revealed to an enemy the position of their village.
These villages are by no means easy to find, and so securely are they enveloped by the bush, that a traveller might pass quite near without knowing that human beings were dwelling close at hand. Both the Akikuyu and Wakamba tribes have learned that seclusion in the bush is the best way of avoiding onslaughts by the Masai warriors, and this secrecy has also made the task of the British Government very difficult.
It is a mistake to suppose that in all parts of Africa there is an abundance of wild fruit. The Akikuyu live almost entirely on vegetable foods, such as millet, maize, and bananas, but these they have to cultivate, the women of the tribe being responsible for all the hoeing and hard work in the fields, in addition to the grinding of the grain with heavy stones. Other tasks borne by women include the cooking of all foods except meat, bringing home produce from the fields, and collecting large bundles of firewood. Baking of pottery, too, is an occupation for females, who appear to do all the hardest and most important work of the tribe.
Mr. Routledge gives a list of foods commonly found among the Akikuyu people, whom he has closely studied. The vegetable foods consist of maize, beans, or the tubers of the arum lily, and its green stems. A favourite food for carrying on a journey is a cake made by boiling together various kinds of grain; and as a raw food, a grain very like canary seed is used. The Akikuyu like sweet foods, so honeycomb and sugar-cane are very popular. When meat is used it is generally made up into sausages, which are tied with the inner bark of a bush. Native beer is manufactured by allowing sugar-cane juice to ferment.
Huts are circular, with pointed roofs, and as a rule there is no opening but a small door, so that lighting and ventilation are not enjoyed. As the roof is thatched, smoke from the fire can filter through, so there is no need to provide a special hole for its escape. In bridge building the Akikuyu are very expert, and in a short time a stream is crossed by a suspension bridge of creepers, cleverly arranged so as to be hidden among foliage, and so screened from the view of enemies.
Fire is produced by means of rapidly twirling a hard shaft of wood, the lower end of which rests in a hole formed in a soft piece of wood, the dust from which forms the tinder. Dry grass is placed on the tinder, ignited by friction; and, as a rule, two natives, one twirling a fire stick while the other blows the tinder, will produce a flame in three-quarters of a minute. In order to avoid repeating this fire-making process too often, smouldering brands are carried during a journey.
Fire-Making by Twirling.
Among the important industries are iron smelting and string making from bark and animals’ tendons. The former industry is of very great antiquity, and in the oldest legends and stories there are references to articles made of iron.