THE PRINCE IN KENYA.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5355, 23 November 1928, Page 3

THE PRINCE IN KENYA.

P ACCLAIMED EVEN THEBE. NATIVE PEERAGE ASSEMBLES. A Prince seeking rest and privacy in the wilds could hardly be blamed for gazing, in weary astonishment at the unmistakably signs of official welcome that lay round and the railway station .At Nairobi, when the royal train conveying the Prince of Wales and the Duke Gloucester ended its 24-hours’ journey from . Mombasa (writes Sir Percival Phillips, to ,t'he “Daily Mail,” from NAirObi, Kenya). -' That Britain’s flsrt Prince again

cheerfully forgot his personal inclinations in thej desire to please his loyal the settlers of Kenya, was ■ anoher litetie bit off proof that he puts before everything .the claims of the Empire. 'Many of the bronzed mejn in khaki shirts and wide-brimmed hats, who cheered the Prince frepi their dusty cars and motor tenders, drawn up in long; close rjoute to ’ Government House, had travelled ‘initep .through the wilderness emrely to get a glimpse of him as he passed. They sat there in the heat of the some with thepr womenfolk and children clustered; round them, and the excitement and anticipation was for them a memorable picnic. Reminiscences of Western Canada instinctively come to the mind of the' traveller, who emerges for the u'first time from the railway into this "young and vigorous capital. But Canada, never produced such a motley throng of human beings—not qven Calgary, with its assembled In•dians in war paint, could even approach Nairobi, in the picturesque- ? ness of its display qf original setr tiers, the proud and friendly chiefs of 27 powerful tribes, ;ajnd their, counsellors, who had their first viepr of the future ruler of the Empire this aftenoon. He could not do more than glance hurriedly at the aristocracy of ‘African Kenya, Mustered at the station jj —125 peers 'of .the native tealm, at "the head of whom stood the aged paramount head of the {■Masais, a war. medal displayed on his ■chest. All were in ceremonial garb, and’ it was as dignified a gathering of rulers as could be found in any part of the white world. Farther along route were the . remaining, 1800 chiefs, lesser lights O|f the assembled tribes. They have travelled from remote parts of the Colony for. this meeting with the ‘ •Prince, and their temporary town of ' grass huts, built on the outskirts of \ Nairobi, forms the most interesting i and important mobilisation of native L rulers held here since European civilisation first rose out of the red dust. A Among the tribesmen were plum(Mkinned Somalis, ,w.ho had travelled Ja6oo miles from the northern frontier, k men from Jubaland, a like distance |mq the East, and others from Lake fc Rudolph. Their dress ranged from ||she tattered plaid travelling rug of B-the wrinkled Oganed, the Somali Ec.hief—his only covering—to the mkplendid “court regalia” of the KikiKkyus, with its iqfty head-covering of Ophite plumes. . These warriors wore Ka face-fringe like an early fresh \\ bfeard, and the polished spears which %they held above their tri-coloured ■.'.Shields of hide bore black pompoms. V There were chiefs in skins, in yelsGlow gowns, in drapery, like a High’./land tartan, and) their glory was no|t ■: diminished by a delegation of Chris- . tian tribesmen across .the way, who • had been submerged in loungje suits, grey hats, and flaming ties.