If you are into history, this
PDF is written by
Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot , a former administrator in the early 1900s.
Charles Eliot is an unapologetic and shocking racist. He is also obviously a very enlightened guy in linguistics, geography and history. If you can look past the casual racism, this is as good a documentation of the period(1904 and thereabouts) as any you can come across. This a description of the region as he saw it, what he thought of its possibilities. For a dude who administered the place from 1900 to 1904 he has an impressive knowledge of the geography, the people and the potential of the place.
Here is how he describes the Mswahili.
The special profession of the Swahilis in the past was that of caravan porter. Until the construction of the Uganda Railway, the interior could be approached, whether for slave-trading or other purposes, only by caravans, often numbering many hundred men; and, as animal transport was practically non-existent, everything had to be carried on men's heads, or, if they preferred it, on their backs. It is perhaps character-istic of the African to regard the head as primarily an organ for bearing burdens, and not for exercising the nobler func-tions with which Europeans associate it. But, though the African headpiece is put to menial uses, it must be confessed that it performs them surprisingly well.
The Swahili porter wraps round his head a red blanket until it forms a sort of pad or solid turban, and then puts lightly on it a box or other load weighing 60 pounds, and often much more, and carries it with uncomplaining ease for four or five hours. Similarly the Swahili women perform astonishing feats of balance, if not of strength. You may often see one take an ordinary European bottle, almost throw it on her head, and walk off as if it were in the most natural and safest position in the world. The career of porter has, however, its prizes, which rise far above the simple trade of fetching and carrying, and culminate in the proud office of headman, or neopara, who in a large caravan requires all the talent of a general and an explorer.
Mogusii was apparently not well known to the Brits at that time.
Kossova or Kisii is a hilly district behind Ugaya, and is one of the least-known parts of the Protectorate. The inhabitants appear to be Bantu-speaking, and have a bad reputation for ferocity, but this may merely mean that they have a hereditary feud with their neighbours, who are not Bantu, and does not necessarily imply that they will be hostile to Europeans.
The Lumbwa is how they called the Kipsigis back then.
The Lumbwa country lies immediately west of the Mau and south of Fort Ternan. As far as I have seen it, in visiting Kericho and marching thence to Mohoroni, it is extremely beautiful, consisting of a series of meadows with numerous streams and strips of forest. Flowers and ferns, particularly the latter, are characteristic of the region. The inhabitants are closely allied to the Nandi, and speak almost the same language. They came from the north, and were formerly nomads, and have somewhat imperfectly adopted a sedentary life.
Their houses are not built in villages, but are scattered all over the country, so that on looking round one generally sees two or three. This is very much the reverse of ordinary African scenery, for as a rule one marches long distances between villages, and perhaps this peculiar arrange-ment gives an exaggerated impression of populousness.
The Lumbwa are very bad cultivators, and plant only a small grain called wimbi. The result is that they continually suffer from failure of crops, though the scarcity never amounts to a famine, as they have always large flocks of sheep and goats, whose skins they sell. With suitable crops and reasonably assiduous cultivation, there is every reason to believe that they would be most prosperous. The southern part of Lumbwa is called Sotik or Soti, but the character of the country and the in-habitants appears to be the same.
The Dorobo.
The Wanderobo, who are more properly called Dorobo, are wandering hunters who are found among the Masai and are tolerated by them, on condition of paying a percentage of the ivory which they obtain. Though not dwarfs, they are usually somewhat mean-looking men of low general intelligence, but they show surprising boldness and cunning in hunting. They have great skill in making poisoned arrows, armed with which a man will go into the forest and attack an elephant single-handed. The flesh round the poisoned wound is cut out and the rest eaten. As a rule they wander about until they kill some large animal, and then settle round the carcase until it is consumed. They will remain like this round an elephant for many days, long after the stench has become intolerable to Europeans.
The Kamba(and the Maasai) were one of the most important local actors in the early history of the protectorate.
The Wakamba are one of the largest and most important tribes of East Africa, and inhabit the basin of the Athi River for some distance on each side. They are found as far east as the neighbourhood of Rabai. According to one theory, they came to their present territory from the south. They have been influenced by the Masai, though not so strongly as the Kikuyu. Their country is divided into three districts : Kikum-buliyu in the south, being the sparsely populated jungle, with occasional hills, about Makindu, Kibwezi, Masongaleni, &c. the Ulu Hills and Machakos in the centre ; and Kitui to the north, both the latter districts being fairly populous.
It is said that within the memory of man the Masai occupied much of the land about Machakos, but were driven out by the Wakamba after a severe struggle. In most parts of Ulu and Kikambuliyu the villages are still built on the hills, and the plains left uncultivated, owing to the fear of Masai raids, which were a very real danger until a few years ago. The Wakamba do not now appear to be a warlike race, though the inhabitants of Mumoni and some parts of Kitui are said to be more energetic than the other sections. As a tribe they seem inferior both in vigour and intelligence to the Kikuyu people, and drunkenness is terribly prevalent among the older men. They have no political system and no considerable chiefs, at least in the better-known parts of the country.
The Kikuyu had a lot of interactions with the Maasai.
The Kikuyu (sometimes called Waki-kuyu, or more correctly, Akikuyu) are the inhabitants of the hills, and almost certainly the result of an intermixture of the Masai and a Bantu race. They are intelligent and fairly industrious, and live a semi-settled agricultural life—that is to say, they burn a clearing in the forest, build a village, and cultivate for a few years. As soon as the soil shows any sign of exhaustion they move on, burn another clearing, and repeat the same process. They extend right up to the slopes of Mount Kenya, and the population seems to be particularly dense in the neighbourhood of the mountain ; though, owing to the habit of planting groves of bananas round the village, little can be seen but a mass of dead green leaves, showing no sign of human life to the unpractised eye. In the country between Kenya and Nairobi there are considerable gaps with no inhabitants. It would appear that they were depopulated during the famine of 1897, and have not since been re-
occupied.
Topic: British East Africa Protectorate (Read 1786 times)