Nine Faces Of Kenya

by Elspeth Huxley

  So far the invaders’ road had not been blocked in front, but as they toiled up the rugged gorge that opens on to the grasslands of Kapote, near the great rock pools of Bondani, they found the Wakamba warriors of Maka perched on the rocks which commanded the outlet, and drawn up across the gorge itself. To contend against the Parthian tactics of those behind, fight this fresh foe in front, and at the same time control the great herd of cattle, was manifestly impossible. For some time the Masai Lagonani attempted to save his spoil; but his wearied followers were now falling fast, for the great war-shield could protect only one side of the body, and the arrows were raining down from every direction. At last he gave the order to abandon the spoil, formed up the remainder of his party, and charged the men of Maka like a whirlwind. The great spears flashed and fell, and the Wakamba line was at once broken before that mighty rush. Only about one-third of the Masai war-party emerged on the grass plains, but these at once reformed and faced about. The Lagonani, however, saw they were too exhausted to renew the fight, and the remnant of his party retired in good order and unmolested, for the Wakamba considered them, wearied and disheartened although they were, too formidable to attack in the open. The Wakamba loss had not been small; but they had absolutely beaten the Masai, and since that day the inland districts have suffered but little from raids.

  Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa J. R. L. Macdonald

  A rough-and-ready cart road from Mombasa to Uganda made under the direction of Captain B. L. Slater, RE, in 1895-6, passed through the margins of the Nandi’s country. Nandi warriors attacked caravans passing along it, and fell upon the rails and telegraph wires of the advancing railway. The first of five military expeditions designed to stop the raids and secure the subjugation of the Nandi elders took place in 1895.

  Only a few natives could be seen on the ridge and it was with astonishment we suddenly saw a crowd of about 500 coming over the top of the hill at great speed, apparently excellently organized, and formed in three sides of a square, above which a dense thicket of long-bladed spears flashed in the sunlight. Wheeling to the left as if by some common impulse, on they came in spite of the Maxim gun posted behind the river, and charged down with tremendous dash on to the force which was some way up the slope on the east bank, and which closed up as well as it could to face the impending attack. It was a critical moment, but luckily the Sudanese stood firm, and as the great mass of natives approached closer the heavy fire began to tell. Nearer and nearer they came, and it almost seemed that they would overwhelm No. IV Company, which had to bear the brunt of the attack; but at last, wavering before this leaden hail, which they had never before experienced, their ranks broke and they scattered in all directions, leaving many of their number on the ground. Half a company left at the bridge had, on the first alarm, advanced to the support of their comrades, and the flying natives had now to run the gauntlet of the fire from these men as they retired over the hill, leaving the ground strewn with their big shields and spears. It was a splendid charge and if continued for 30 yards or more would have been a successful one…. Over a hundred Nandi were left dead on the field, but the warriors had killed fourteen soldiers and irregulars, including Sgt Chongo, whose scarlet tunic was rent with many spear holes, and two porters. IV Company had stood firm and saved the day, but the disciplined bravery of the Nandi warriors had made a lasting impression on the Sudanese troops and their British officers.

  Lt. C. Vandeleur Campaigning on the Upper Nile, from Nandi Resistance to British Rule A. T. Matson.

  The Nandi, like the Maasai, deferred in all important matters, and especially in matters of warfare, to their laibons, or medicine-men. The Nandi’s chief laibon was believed to be behind the raids, but three more military expeditions failed to make contact with him or with the elders. Not until 1905, four years after the railway reached its goal, did the fifth and final expedition win the day. Captain Richard Meinertzhagen of the 3rd King’s African Rifles describes the end of the affair.

  28. IX. 1905. Nandi Fort,

  My intelligence service is working well, most of my men being Masai from the local Manyatta or young Nandi living near my house whom I feel I can trust. There is no doubt now that I have become the focus of the Laibon’s hatred and that he is anxious to meet me, lay an ambush and kill me. His name is Koitalel and he is a man of about 40 or so. He has told his warriors that the white man’s bullets will be quite harmless if only he can get bits of my anatomy for his medicine, especially my brains, heart, liver, palms of the hands and eyes. He would mix all these with certain plants, bring the whole to a boil, and sprinkle his warriors with the broth; then nothing would harm them. He is going to pose as a peace-maker, entice me out to an ambush and secure the necessary parts of my anatomy. As he shakes hands with me, he will pull me over towards him and a man near him will spear me. He will have many warriors in the bush nearby and these will fall on my party and annihilate them. Koitalel’s father had apparently, many years ago, brewed a broth which he claimed would turn bullets, but it proved useless and his fighting men killed him. Koitalel has promised that this will not happen again. He is, according to my agents, fearful of assassination by his own people and always has, day and night, an armed guard near him.

  Koitalel is a wicked old man and at the root of all our trouble. He is a dictator, and as such must show successes in order to retain power. He is therefore in favour of fighting the British. Many of his hot-heads support him, but the bulk of the Nandi I have met are a peaceful and lovable lot, enjoying jokes. I have many friends among them; they trust me and I trust them. I can, or could until quite recently, walk about their country unarmed; they would not touch me but might not think twice about killing my men, just for fun.

  My main reason for trying to kill or capture the Laibon is that, if I remove him this expedition will not be necessary and the Nandi will be spared all the horrors of military operations.

  Meinertzhagen laid plans to confront the laibon during a meeting arranged at Koitalel’s request.

  Only half an hour ago I returned from the scene of my meeting with the Laibon, and both he and his retinue lie dead where we met. We left Nandi Fort at 5 am and have covered 24 miles. The risk and excitement of the whole business have tired me considerably, so I shall only record the main facts, leaving the detail for an official report. I took with me Sammy Butler and 80 men with a machine gun. Leaving Sammy with 75 men and the machine gun, I advanced to meet the Laibon with 5 men. As I suspected, he ambushed me as soon as I shook hands with him; but we were ready, and he, the interpreter and several others, some 23 in all, were left dead. I had my clothes torn by both spear and arrow and one of my men was slightly scratched by a spear. Before going down to meet the Laibon I had warned Butler to open fire at once if he saw us being overwhelmed. He mounted the machine gun and covered the place of meeting. As soon as the affair was over, we trekked for home as fast as our legs would carry us. The swiftness and suddenness of the blow momentarily stunned the Nandi, who had been gathered about in large numbers to see our discomfiture, but when the tables were turned they did nothing. But they soon recovered and were hard at our heels for the last 8 miles of our homeward journey. I was really glad to get back again to my little fort, as our ammunition was almost exhausted when we met a welcome patrol which had been sent out on my instructions to cover our retreat.

  So may all the King’s enemies perish. The Nandi Laibon deserves some obituary notice, as he was a man of some consequence. He was both spiritual and temporal chief of all the Nandi, his office being hereditary. As both he and all his successors male were gathered today, I much regret that the dynasty must stop from today. The only people I am sorry for are his wives, for they most certainly will be buried with him as is the custom. It is their own choice to be interred dead or alive.

  I have sent a brief wire to Headquarters announcing my success. The long-expected Nandi Expedition has now commenced, and I am entirely satisfied with the first day of operations.

  (I r
evisited Nandi in 1956 and on returning to my old quarters found them occupied by a local chief called Elijah, a Christian, decked out in immaculate shirt, bow tie and flannel suit. I had known him as a small boy. A few days later I was asked to be present at a parish council at Kapsabet, my friend Elijah being chairman. There were some 25 Africans present, all immaculately dressed in European clothes. I was introduced to each in turn with some appropriate remark:

  “This is the gentleman whose house I now live in.”

  “This is the gentleman who lived in Nandi before you were born.”

  “This is the gentleman who knew Bwana Mayes.”

  “This is the gentleman known as Kipkororor.”

  When we arrived at the final chief, a young and extremely good-looking young man, Elijah to my horror said: “This is the gentleman who shot your grandfather.”

  This was greeted with much clapping. Not knowing what to say, I muttered, “I hope you will forgive an act of war,” at which there was renewed applause.)

  The laibon’s death, as Meinertzhagen had foreseen, took the heart out of the Nandi; their resistance crumbled, and the campaign was brought to a successful end. Meinertzhagen was recommended for a Victoria Cross, but a sour note intruded into the chorus of praise.

  I heard today for the first time that somebody is spreading rumours that the methods employed by me which culminated in the death of the Nandi Laibon were of a disgraceful nature. They say that I invited the Laibon to a friendly conference and shot him as he was shaking hands with me, and that afterwards I shot the Government interpreter to keep his mouth shut. Headquarters and my many friends naturally do not believe it. But among the heterogeneous crowd on the expedition there are many who are only too willing to listen to scandal when framed against the “brutal” soldiery. I have asked Headquarters to find out who originated these rumours and to give me an opportunity to challenge them. I suspect my old enemy Mayes,1 who feels he has a good deal to get back on me. If the rumours persist I shall ask for a military court of enquiry to enable me to clear myself.

  1 .XII. 1905. Nandi Fort

  The court of enquiry which I had demanded took place today under the presidency of Col. Gorges. The opinion of the court is as follows and speaks for itself: “The court is of the opinion that the Laibon Koitelel was killed by a native officer of the 3rd King’s African Rifles during a fight, which was the result of treacherous conduct on the Laibon’s part, at a meeting which had previously been arranged between him and Capt. Meinertzhagen.”

  Kenya Diary 1902–1906 Richard Meinertzhagen.

  Nevertheless the rumours persisted and two more courts of enquiry were held, both of which exonerated Meinertzhagen. This did not satisfy the Commissioner, Sir fames Hayes-Sadler, who reported unfavourably to the Colonial Office. Meinertzhagen was informed that his action had “resulted in the reputation of the British Government for fair dealing and honesty being called in question, and the Colonial Office consider it undesirable that I should continue to serve in East Africa”. So he left with an implied reprimand instead of a medal. There is little doubt that both he and the laibon intended to kill each other. Meinertzhagen succeeded. The exact circumstances surrounding the affair will never be known.

  The First World War

  4 August 1914 found the East Africa Protectorate altogether unprepared for war, whereas the Germans in their neighbouring colony (now Tanzania) had anticipated the event. Lieut.-Col. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, an officer of outstanding ability, had recently arrived in Dar es Salaam to take command of the Schutztruppe, the colony’s defence force.

  When war broke out the Germans possessed an overwhelming military superiority. They had probably at least 3,000 white men trained to arms, 8,000 high-class native troops, 70 machine-guns and 40 guns. Against these British East Africa could muster about 700 native troops (admittedly of the highest quality) and two machine-guns, one of which was out of action. We had perhaps available an equal force in Nyassaland.

  There were an immeasurably greater number of potential native troops in German East Africa than in either Kenya, Uganda or Nyassaland, where indeed the vast bulk of the native population are of a peaceable, which is not to say of a cowardly, nature. A large army of first-rate fighting men could be raised and trained in what is now Tanganyika. Probably at one time Von Lettow, even with his limited resources, had 30,000 rifles in the field.

  Kenya Chronicles Lord Cranworth.

  On the outbreak of war British settlers of all ages and nationalities converged on Nairobi bringing their own weapons and mounts, from mules to polo-ponies. Spontaneously formed units called after their leaders – Cole’s Scouts, Wessel’s Scouts, Bowker’s Horse – coalesced into the East African Mounted Rifles. Six companies of the 3rd King’s African Rifles with 125 rifles each, summoned from places as distant as the Juba river, the Abyssinian frontier and Zanzibar, comprised the rest of the military establishment. Patrols sent out towards the German frontier bivouacked in the bush and sometimes found the local fauna more threatening than the Germans.

  It was towards the end of the dry season, the grass where it was not burnt was yellow, and all but the permanent waters were dry, and on such waters the game was concentrating. Of course we heard lions every night, but this night at dinner they seemed especially numerous and to be gradually closing on our camp. As they approached the noise became most awe-inspiring and actually shook the glasses on the table. Denys Finch-Hatton insisted on taking me out and I insisted on taking a loaded rifle. He, of course, took nothing but a torch. Steadily the roars approached till they seemed all around us and I broke into a cold sweat. There came a minute’s pause and then the awe-inspiring sound boomed off right against us and the hair rose on my head. Denys switched on his torch and focussed it full on a great tawny brute, certainly not ten yards away. “You can stay and be eaten if you like. I’m off to the mess,” I said. Denys only laughed and came with me only with the utmost reluctance. Gradually the sounds receded. We reckoned that there were at least twenty separate animals roaring, and three walked through the small perimeter of the camp. We shot during these months about half a dozen lions and only such buck as were necessary for food. Our larder, however, was kept continuously supplied with birds, since quail, sandgrouse, guinea-fowl and francolin were innumerable.

  Kenya Chronicles Lord Cranworth.

  Defence of the Uganda Railway, which ran in places within fifty miles of the German border, was the first and overriding task of the Protectorate’s tiny force. Von Lettow-Vorbeck outlined the German strategy.

  The guiding principle of constantly operating against the Uganda Railway could, however, be resumed, as here it was in any case impossible to act with larger forces. For it was necessary to make marches of several days’ duration through the great, waterless and thinly-populated desert, which provided little sustenance beyond occasional game. Not only food, but water had to be carried. This alone limited the size of the force to be employed. Such expeditions through districts providing neither water nor food require a degree of experience on the part of the troops which could not possibly exist at that stage of the war. A company even was too large a force to send across this desert, and if, after several days of marching, it really had reached some point on the railway, it would have had to come back again, because it could not be supplied. However, these conditions improved as the troops became better trained, and as our knowledge of the country, which was at first mainly terra incognita, increased.

  So there was nothing for it but to seek to attain our object by means of small detachments, or patrols. To these patrols we afterwards attached the greatest importance. Starting from the Engare-Nairobi, small detachments of eight to ten men, Europeans and Askaris [African soldiers], rode round the rear of the enemy’s camps, which had been pushed up as far as the Longido, and attacked their communications. They made use of telephones we had captured at Tanga, tapping in on the English telephone-lines; then they waited for large or small hostile detachments or columns of ox-wa
gons to pass. From their ambush they opened fire on the enemy at thirty yards’ range, captured prisoners and booty, and then disappeared again in the boundless desert. Thus, at that time, we captured rifles, ammunition, and war material of all kinds….

  The patrols that went out from the Kilima Njaro in a more easterly direction were of a different character. They had to work on foot through the dense bush for days on end. The patrols sent out to destroy the railway were mostly weak: one or two Europeans, two to four Askari, and five to seven carriers. They had to worm their way through the enemy’s pickets and were often betrayed by native scouts. In spite of this they mostly reached their objective and were sometimes away for more than a fortnight. For such a small party a bit of game or a small quantity of booty afforded a considerable reserve of rations. But the fatigue and thirst in the burning sun were so great that several men died of thirst, and even Europeans drank urine. It was a bad business when anyone fell ill or was wounded, with the best will in the world it was often impossible to bring him along. To carry a severely wounded man from the Uganda Railway right across the desert to the German camps, as was occasionally done, is a tremendous performance. Even the blacks understood that, and cases did occur in which a wounded Askari, well knowing that he was lost without hope, and a prey to the numerous lions, did not complain when he had to be left in the bush, but of his own accord gave his comrades his rifle and ammunition, so that they at least might be saved.