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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year was the Huxley family heading to Thika?

2. What did Elspeth say she wanted more than anything?

3. What was Elspeth eating in a "funny" way at Mrs. Nimmo's the day after the party?

4. What did the author refer to as "that sovereign remedy for almost everything"?

5. Who had once killed a lion at the meeting place of the two rivers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the differences between Mrs. Nimmo and Tilly come through in their first meeting?

2. What happened to Njombo after he killed the man on the Palmer's property?

3. How did Huxley describe the Kikuyu attitude toward theft?

4. Why were the natives so eager to bring their children to Tilly?

5. How did Mrs. Palmer react to the condition of the man who was attacked and murdered on her property?

6. How did Mrs. Nimmo react to the wild New Year's party?

7. Why were the natives so fascinated by the lamp, but did not care about the gramophone?

8. Why did Elspeth get upset at the end of Crawford's story about the whydah birds?

9. What were the Huxley's first impressions upon seeing the land that they had bought?

10. What did Lettice Palmer find most disturbing about Africa and what was she most concerned about for herself and fellow Europeans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Elspeth Huxley described in detail the process of leaving Thika to return to England during the war. Write an essay describing the attitudes displayed by both the natives and the European settlers as the war descended. How were people on each side of the cultural divide affected by their experiences? How did the natives view the Huxley family?

Essay Topic 2

After Njombo killed a man in a fight, he had to pay a blood price to the victim's family in the form of goats. Write an essay discussing this method of justice. How did this system help keep the peace for the locals? How did the natives maintain peace and order (they were also known not to steal from one another) if there was no threat of arrest or prison? Why was Hereward Palmer determined to introduce Western-style justice to Africa? How would a trial and prison have affected both Njombo and the tribe as a whole? Can there be different cultural approaches to justice? Or is justice black and white?

Essay Topic 3

The Huxleys encountered two "foreign" concepts in marriage during their stay in Africa--the notion of a "bride-price" paid to the prospective bride's family, and polygamy. Discuss how these two practices could have impacted the society in Thika. What would have been accomplished by Njombo paying a family for a bride? Why was he not allowed to marry her without sufficient goats to give? Did the woman appear to have any say in the matter? How did the multiple wives live? What were the European attitudes toward these practices?

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