Living quite near to the Masai, but differing from them in very many ways, are the Akikuyu, whose territory near Mount Kenia could be reached by a long train journey from Mombasa toward Nairobi, followed by several hundred miles of travelling on foot.
For centuries the Masai and Akikuyu have been bitter enemies, and in the old days the former used to punish their neighbours for selling captives to Arab slave traders. The Masai are a pastoral people depending entirely on their herds, which must have abundant pasture; while, on the other hand, the Akikuyu are tillers of the soil. In order to make a tract of land clear for sowing, they are in the habit of burning large tracts of forest, a practice which annoys the Masai, because herds of cattle shelter under the trees, where they find fresh grass, when all the country exposed to the sun is parched and withered.
In warfare these two tribes, the Masai and Akikuyu, employ many different methods, for whereas the former are always bold and open in attack, the latter are cowardly and treacherous, always preferring to lie in wait for small bands of enemies, who may be taken at a disadvantage.
When reporting on the Akikuyu tribes, Mr. Hinde, the British Commissioner, says:
“They plant gardens with bananas and Indian corn, and live almost entirely on vegetable food, their flocks being inconsiderable. Honey forms a staple element of their diet. This they collect by hanging oblong honey boxes, made of the hollow trunk of a juniper, in the trees, and smoking the bees out.
“They till and cultivate the ground, but, as it is not manured, the soil is quickly exhausted, and the burning down of large tracts of forest is resorted to as a means of procuring fresh land.
“The Akikuyu are a well-built people, with the broad Negro type of countenance and feature. Occasionally they wear their hair long, but more often it is twisted into a sort of fringe about three inches in length. The young men cover their person with mutton fat and red clay, which renders them exceedingly offensive. It has of late years become customary for them to carry both shields and spears; the former they have copied from the Masai, the latter are of their own design, and have a leaf-shaped blade about a foot in length and four inches broad, tapering to a point. The handle is wooden, with an iron spike about six inches long at the other end. The Akikuyu carry swords, and use bows and poisoned arrows. They grow tobacco, which they mix with potash and use as snuff; this they carry in a small bottle suspended by a chain around the neck.”
Shaving the head is a custom copied from the Masai, but although Akikuyu women wear many beads, they do not, like Masai women, decorate themselves with large quantities of iron wire and chains.
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.
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.
