Ktllf
trees near my ten t; they were fully 30 feet high, and the
circumference of the largest a foot from the ground was 39
inches— the head-man told me they were only three years o ld !
Gongoni was surrounded on three sides by an extensive
plain, bounded on one side by Magarini Hill and on the other
by the low Mombrui Hills. _
The Guniahs are great cultivators, and subsist chiefly on
metamah- grain, but a large acreage was also under sim-sim,
some fully 5 feet high and most luxuriant in appearance, i heir
usual custom with new land was to first grow two consecutive
crops of sim-sim, then a crop of beans (kunde), which they
said had an invigorating effect on the soil; afterwards sim-sim
w a s again sown and continued as before. Of metamah only
one crop was grown in the year, and just before it was
harvested either sim-sim or beans were put down, and this
process was.continued till the soil became exhausted, when a
new patch of land was taken up ; needless to say no manuring
was done. , , . •
Some of the metamah fields I passed through were being
harvested, men hacking down the stalks with long nives,
women following them and cutting off the ears of corn and
collecting them in baskets. I thought the wide plain would
make capital ploughing land, and wished the people could see
a plough at work— they would soon realize its advantages.
Their light hoes merely scratch the ground and do not touch
the rich subsoil. Besides the cultivation already described
there were, I was told, some large shambas further away, the
property of the Liwali and some rich Swahilis of Melindi,
all open land under sim-sim and metamah.
The Guniahs appeared an industrious race,. and ready
enough to learn and adopt new ways. . ■
In the evening I was rather amused to see some of the
children playing with a very primitive telephone made out of
two small empty tins, with a piece of skin pasted ^over one
end, and the two connected with a long string. ear e
boy at the other end distinctly, and was rather surprised to
find such a scientific toy in Gongoni of all places !
The weather was exceedingly hot (Friday, September n ),
and after breakfast a good many people came to me and