Evening star., 1924-07-20
BY MAJ. w. II. FORAN. r. r.. G. s


had emanated from the European bad
characters Of that growing town.
My work at kisumu on the Vicoria
N5anza, after my promotion in rank
was to be of an entirely differen,
character, for / was now dealing al
most entirely with the savage tribes
who occupied the kisumu province o.
British East Africa.
Those fine verses of Rudyard Kip
ling, The White Mans Burden" were
continually recurring to my mind. es-
pecial1y that verse:
Take up the White Mans burden
Send forth the hest ye breed
Go bind your to exile
To serve your captives need:
To wait in heavy harness.
On huttered folk and wild
Your new-caught. sulien peoples,
Haif-devil and halfchild
Day after day | learned to appre-
ciate how true were those words, and
how keen a perception their author
possessed. The few European officials
in the Kisumu Province were indeed
seeking "another's profit" and work
watched the magnificent work OF
those young British officials laboring
in the heart of the wilds of Africa
against long odds, could fail to be
immeasurably impressed by the devo-
tion to a sense of duty. the strong
individuality and the perfect justice
Of these empire builders.
Never hafnra had fhera haen a
European police officer in the Kisumu
Province. and the police force was
far from being as efficient as il
should have been. My task, there
fore, was primarily to organize that
force and see that the province was
poiiced properly.
Kisumu Province is large one. for
it is fully 800 miles from eastern to
western borders. and something over
southern boundaries In this terri
tory were some of the most truculent
and populous tribes in all British
East Africa.
North of the Uganda Railway track
were the wRrlike Nandi, the Kamasia
the Ndorobo nomads of the forests
the kitoSh, the Turkana on the
AbySsinian border and the Mumias
tof Nilotic) section of the very nu-
merous Kavirondo peoeple. To the
south of the railroad were the Lumb-
va, Sotik, Kisii and the Bantu sec
tion of the kavirondo people. In all
it was estimated that there were
about three million African natives
in the province.
This huge area and numerous peo-
ple were policed, when | took COM
mand at Kisumu, by a mere handful
of African native policemen. At most
there were about 800 police scattered
about the provincial area; and, in
addition. there were a dozen or so
Indian constables for use in the ma
tive business section of the small
town that formed the terminus of the
Uganda Railway on the Victoria
Nyanza.
Yet these were the only troops,
nearer than Nairobi, that 1 could use
for the protection of the outlying
commissioners in case of an uprising.
y X
THIS small and insufficient force of
men was armed with entirely in
effective and obsolete Martini H enri
rifles. The ammunition was all faulty,
and the rifles were so worn out that
a bullet could be dropped easily from
the muzzles to the breach On the
rifle range I often saw a bullet drop
AZ he M
50 ancient and useless was the am
munition.
On my personal and strong appeal.
/ was, shortly after my arrival at
Kisumu, given a machine gun. found
this party worn weapon a great help
in the exciting months that followe
my advent at kisumu.
At no government district head
quarters were there more than nifty
of these ill-armed men of mine; and
the various headquarters were at
some distance from my station, and
in most cases were not connected
with Kisumu by telephone or tele-
graph In fact, all of these outlying
posts were far from available help
in cAse Of a sudden emergency.
IN most cases, In order to summon
aid. the district officer would have
to rely upon the loyalty and running
powers of a native messenger. and
meanwhile. hold out as best he could
against an attack by the tribal war
riors until such time as a forced
march would bring reinforcements
In no single case could a relief force
be expected to reach any one of the
outposts in less than two. and. some
times, four, days after the news Of an
attack had been received at Kisumu
All my vigorous repre- sentations to
the government in Nairobi were
treated coneHptuousiy. 1 presume
they said, with the Baganda people
when I remember it. 1 laugh, be-
cause it Is not I who am concerned
1t is human nature that we can laugh
at anothsrs calamity: but If it were
our own, it would be no laughing
matter at all. So 1t was that my ear
nest pIeadings for reinforcements and
better conditioned arms and ammu-
milton were always treated with in
difference. / just had to make the
best Of a very bad job.
These twelve months spent on and
around the shores of the Victoria
Nyanza were intensely interesting
/ had the giant task of building UP
the provincial police force, and OF
inaugurating many great improves
rnents in organization. 1 also found