The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-08
DRINK BLOOD AND
DRESS UP IN BEADS
Frank Carpenter Tells About
Queer Tribes in African Wilds
and Their Customs.
A LOOK AT THE VILLAGES.
How the British Are Saving the
East African Forests-Trou-
bic With Monkeys.
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.

NANAlSftA.
Have you ever heard of the waki
kuyn?
There are more than million of
the-- In this part of africa. They live
on the highlands just east of here and
about Mount Kenia. which is more TO the
north | reached their country shortly
after leaving Nairobi. the capital OF
British East Africa. That town is at
the end Of series OF hlg ,I,.,a, ~ y
the land rises beyond II. We mounted
over 1000 feet in twenty-four miles.
iand then found ourselves among lne
villages of these curious people. We
could see their little farms everywhere.
They take up patches of woodland and
burn off the trees. After that they
work the ground to death for a. few
Years, and then go off to take up
farms are no bigger than bed quilt,
others cover quarter of an acre.
and some twice as much. The fields are
not fenced and now and then a rhino
or hippo gets in and Wailows while
near the woodlands the monkeys pull
np the crops. The chief thing raised is
Indian corn. / see the women every
where working the fields. Half nude.
| they bend low. pulling the weeds and
digging the ground over with hoes, In
! most places the men squat around on
the ground and keep them up to their
work The more wives n man has the
his wives the better his farm. Indeed.
the cheapest cattle here are human
cattle.
They Wear Grease. Clay and Telegraph
Wire.
The chief dress of the Wakikuytl
consists of grease. clay and telegraph
wire. The grease makes their brown
skins shine, the red clay gives 1T
a copper hue, and the telegraph wire
loads their arms, necks and ankles;
The grease is usually mutton fat and
the clay is the red soil found every
where. The more rancid the fat the
better they seem to like IL. The aver
age man or woman smells nigh TO
heaven. and one can distinguish a ma
i tive's existence before he gets to him.
| They soak their hair with this grease
| and under the tropical sun you can
! almost hear the stuff sizZle. They
| stiffen their hair with clay SO that II
can be put UP In all sorts of shapes
| making their headgear pale brick
| dust color. 1 examined one mans
head the other day 1t was covered
with something like 10000 individual
curls, which stood out over his pate
icurl was an inch long, and it had beer
| twisted by professional hair-dresser
Pipe Stems M Eur Plugs.
This man had three long pipe stems
I in each ear. Each was as big arourc
u as a lead pencil and of about the same
itlength. 1t was fastened through
Il hole made in the rim of the ear by 8
4 kind of brass button, and these three
4 stems. standing out ON each side of hi:
4 head, looked almost like horns, save
that they projected from the ears.
4 He had beads in the lobes and on'
J. of the men with him had the lobe, O.
l Ills ear SO stretched that II held plnt
i las big as my fist. bought the plus
J, of him for cents, and the man thel
. took the two lobes of his cars ans
! Joined thcm together under his chit
land tied them there With a bit o
! string in order that they might no
catch on branch 10, o. t someth'hs else a
q This second man had brass cola
Il about his neck and coils of brass Wir'
/ about each wrist andsoVer tnc plcep
i. OF each arm. His only clo.nlhs con
sisted Of strip Of dirty white cote :, .
and fell to his thighs lie mad pro
!, nornced negro features. and where Til
red clay had worn OH ms SKIN Was
, black as my boots.
IWhere the Cattle Sleep with the People
These Wakiltuyu live in small NJ
!, lllagcs. Their towns look like coliec
!, tons of haycocks until you come clos
TO them ana when you get inside ! N q
mails as. mon. The houses are thatch,c
! huts built about sin feet apart IN or ,l
, Giles around an Enclosure In which gu
cattle, sheep and goats are kent "a
might. Tho sheep and goats often ge
!, insidelthe huts and as for the chick
!, ems, they go. everywhere Each cirGl
of huts usually belongs to one famil,
i, together, Tile huts have wooden wall
about four feet llighHwith conical roof
4 Tie wood Is. chopped out of the tree
with the native asea, the boards beln
Il width, They are made by tile native!
!, u ma NJ and his wives requiring abol
! ten days to build hut.
I The wood used Is soft, Nand the Kin
M CONTINUED on Second Pagc.)