As to why the case had been brought I could have given the judge a good deal of information which would have enlightened him considerably, but as I had come so triumphantly out of the matter, I did not see that I had anything to gain by stirring up the mud. At that time there were not more than a dozen independent white men in the country; all the rest were Government officials, missionaries, or men engaged in the construction of the Uganda Railway, and, for some reason or other, the governing class were always bitterly hostile to the commercial and hunting element, and took every occasion of impressing upon us that we were not wanted in the country. Further than this, the class of men holding the Government appointments at that time were by no means representative of the best elements even of officialdom; being, in many cases, unsuccessful traders with a little backstairs influence, or the least useful class of Army officer, with absolutely no experience of the people or the country and no administrative training.[15] This state of affairs is by no means peculiar to British East Africa, but has been experienced in most of our other African Crown Colonies, and, indeed, prevailed in many of them up to quite recently, and may do so yet for all I know. Fortunately, so far as British East Africa is concerned, there are now good prospects of the carrying out of a saner and more intelligent policy under the guidance of the new Governor, Sir Percy Girouard. If the colony is ever to become anything more than a happy hunting ground for official inefficients, every assistance must be given to those who are willing to invest their money in the country, and petty officialism must be put in its proper place in the machinery of government. ----- Footnote 15: It must be remembered that the administration of the country was just starting. The Government had to put up with what officials they could get. ----- In my case there were many mixed motives underlying the conspiracy to get me ousted from the Kikuyu country, and if possible from the dependency, but it is perhaps better that I should be silent about all this. One reason, perhaps, for desiring my removal was the apprehension that existed out there that the authorities at home might think that after all the man who single-handed had reduced to peace and order a country into which no white man had ever successfully entered before, might not be a bad one to entrust with its future administration in the interests of the Empire. Of course, such an intrusion into the sacred official class by a common trader, who actually understood the natives—as far as a white man may—and was able to exercise a kindly influence over them, was to be prevented at all hazards, even at the cost of the said trader’s life if need be.