at to frighten it, as nurses at home too often do with
ghost stories.
The most important functionary about this court
was the head keeper or foondee, who had been a
slave all his life, and now possessed a village with a
farm and cattle. His daily duty was to sit within
sight of his master. On Speke calling to see his collection
of horns, and extract a bullet from the leg of
one of his slaves, the foondee made us heartily welcome.
Stools were placed, and in gratitude for the
operation he produced some ripe plantain, and showed
us about his premises. He also took us to one of his
favourite shooting-grounds, where he certainly knew
how to make himself comfortable. His servants had
constructed for him a most luxurious waterproof hut
with broad stripes of freshly-cut bark, and a capital
bedstead of boughs. At night five fires were kept
burning round him to keep off the musquitoes. The
grate was most original: three stout pegs of green
wood driven into the ground, forming an equilateral
triangle, answered every purpose of an iron utensil,
and on it a frying-pan, made of bark, frizzled mushrooms
and meat to the chief’s satisfaction. By his
own account, he had shot many a lion from trees; and
during the march to and from Zanzibar with his master’s
property, he, with a staff of under-keepers, used
to supply the porters with rations from wild animals,
which plan saved the expenditure of bead-money.
He had many sporting stories. The lion, he said,
seldom killed men; but, not long ago, one had jumped
the wall of the building and killed five cows, two of
which he dragged over the wall—the natives fearing
to impede his course.
Moossah’s cowherds were a very interesting set of
people—so well-featured, tall, and generally superior
to the Africans, that I took great interest in them.
They were Watusi from Karague. There were ten
men and women, all with woolly hair—the men leaving
a crescent of it unshaved. Their gums were
blackened with a preparation from the tamarind-seed,
powdered, roasted, and mixed into a paste with blue
vitriol, and afterwards heated until fit for use. Their
ornaments were large solid rings of brass upon the
wrists, and iron rings, in masses, on their ankles. In
walking they carried a bow and arrow, a staff, and longstemmed
pipe. The women were of a large stamp,
with fine oval faces and erect figures, clad in well-
dressed cow-skin from above their waists to their small
feet. Their huts were quite different from any we
had seen, being shaped like the half of an orange, and
only five feet high, made of boughs, and covered with
grass very neatly. There was but one door; the hut
had no chimney, the smoke finding its way through
the light grass roof. I observed a portable Indian
“ choolah ” or fireplace inside the hut, which was kept
tidily floored with hay.
These Watusi are a curious and distinct race. Previous
to milking the cows in the morning, they wash
themselves, their teeth, and their wooden milk-ves-
sels of gourds with the urine of the animal, as they
consider there is some virtue in it, afterwards using
fresh water for cleansing. They are allowed half the
milk, and Moossah had his half milked into his own
clean vessels in the morning at eight o’clock. I t took
the milk of two cows to fill one good-sized tin teapot.
A cow5s value was four or five dollars, though a first