CASS LIBRARY OF AFRICAN STUDIES
GENERAL STUDIES
No. 55
Editorial Adviser: JOHN RALPH WILLIS
JOHN BOYES
KING OF THE WA-KIKUYU
A TRUE STORY OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE IN AFRICA
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
EDITED BY
C. W. L. BULPETT
Published by
FRANK CASS AND COMPANY LIMITED
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
by arrangement with Methuen and Co. Ltd.
First edition | 1911 |
New impression | 1968 |
Transferred to Digital Printing 2006
ISBN 0714616389
TO
WILLIAM NORTHROP McMILLAN
IN MEMORY OF MANY
TRAMPS TOGETHER
EDITORS PREFACE
T HE following pages describe a life of adventure in the more remote parts of Africaadventures such as the explorer and sportsmen do not generally encounter. The man to whom the episodes narrated in this book refer has been personally known to me for ten years. We have hunted big game and explored together many a time in the African jungle; and as it is principally at my instigation that he has put the following account of his experiences into writing, I think it is due to him and to the public that I should make known my responsibility in the matter.
It seemed to me that the adventures John Boyes underwent were something quite out of the common; in these matter-of-fact days they may be said to be almost unique. In the days of exploration and discovery, when Captain Cook and such heroes lived and thrived, they were perhaps common enough; but every year the opportunities of such adventure get more and more remote, and as the uttermost parts of the earth are brought under the influence of civilization will become ever more impossible. For this reason alone a story such as told here seems to be worth recording.
There is no attempt at literary style. The man tells his tale in a simple, matter-of-fact way, and, as his Editor, I have thought it better from every point of view to leave his words as he has written them.
The reader will judge for himself as to the interest of the adventures here related, but I think any one will admit that no ordinary force of character was necessary to carry them through to a successful issue. The whole life of the author during the time he was a wanderer in the Kikuyu country, and later while he was practically supreme ruler of the tribea tribe numbering half a million of peoplewas one of imminent daily risk.
Each hour he went about with his life in his hands, and if he came out scatheless from the mle, he has only to thank his courage, nerve, and resource. All these qualities he obviously possessed in a high degree.
He appears to have been harshly treated by the British East Africa authorities. Doubtless much that he did was grossly misrepresented to them by more or less interested parties. He certainly did yeomans service to the colony in its early days by opening up an unknown and hostile country which lay right on the borderland of the Uganda Railway, at that time in course of construction. His energetic action enabled the coolies on the line to work safe from many hostile attacks. He supplied them with the food without which they would have starvedall for a very small reward, and at great personal risk to himself. But the love of adventure was in him, and such people do not work for profit alone. The life itself brings its own reward.
An impartial observer will perhaps be able to understand the point of view of the British Administration, and will appreciate their difficulty, indeed their ability, to allow an independent white power to rule beside their own; but the public will judge for themselves whether they set about to do what they did with regard to John Boyes in the most tactful way, or whether they treated a brave fellow-countryman in the manner he deserved.
C. W. L. B.
August, 1911.
CONTENTS
.
Native theory as to the origin of the Kikuyu raceI help defend my Kikuyu friends from hostile raids, and beat off the enemyBenefit of my conciliatory counselsPigasangi and blood-brotherhood
Native ideas of a future lifeAgain trek for the unknownAttacked by nativesChiefs admonitionDecide to visit the Wanderobo chief OlomondoWanderobo gluttonyThe honey birdWanderobo methods of huntingMassacre of a Goanese safariMy narrow escapeGeneral uprising of hostile tribesRise of the Chinga tribes against meMy precarious positionSuccessful sally and total defeat of the enemyMy blood-brother, the Kikuyu chieftain, comes to my aid with thousands of armed menTotal extinction of the Chinga people
JOHN BOYES, KING OF THE WA-KIKUYU
CHAPTER I
Early youthI run away to sea on a fishing-boatHard-ships of the lifeTake service on a tugboatLife on board a trampFirst view of tropical African coastA collision at seaLand at Durban, 1895
T HIS book is simply an attempt to set down, in a plain and straightforward manner, some account of the various experiences and adventures of the author during a period of some fifteen years spent in hunting, trading, and exploring, principally on the eastern side of the African continent. The title has been suggested by some episodes in the narrative, the main facts of which are within the recollection of many of the white men now in British East Africa. These episodes caused somewhat of a stir at the time, and the author had to stand his trial before the local courts on a capital charge as a direct consequence of the facts here narrated.
I was born at Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on 11 May, 1874, so that at the time of writing this book I am still a comparatively young man. I lived there with my parents until I was six years of age, when I was sent to Germany to be educated at the little town of Engelfingen, where my parents had some relatives living, and it was here that I received all the schooling I have ever had. This early education has left its mark on me, and even at the present day I sometimes find it difficult to express myself correctly in Englisha fact, I hope, an indulgent public will take into consideration.
At the age of thirteen my schooling in Germany ended, and I returned home to my parents, who wished me to continue my schooldays in Hull, as I had received no English education whatever; but I strongly objected to going to school again, and, evading their efforts to control me, spent most of my time about the docks, watching the vessels in and out.
By this time my mind was bent on a seafaring life, and I lost no opportunity of scraping acquaintance with sailors from the different ships, whose tales of the various countries they had visited and the strange sights they had seen fired my imagination and made me more determined than ever to follow the sea.
I practically lived on the docks, and one of my greatest delights was to pilot a boat round them, or to get some of my many friends among the sailors to allow me to help with odd jobs about a vessel, such as cleaning up the decks or polishing the brasswork; and I was fully determined to get away to sea at the first opportunity.
