118 Sir Charles Eliot [May 1!), 



Physically they are tall, thin men, with features less regular perhaps 

 than those of the Hamites, but still not characteristically Negro, and 

 sometimes almost Caucasian. Their languages are sharply distin- 

 guished from Bantu, and not clearly allied to any known group. 

 They also agree in several remarkable customs. The men go stark 

 naked, though the women are carefully dressed ; there is often a 

 recognised class of warriors who live differently from the rest of the 

 population ; and, though some of the tribes are settled, there is a 

 strong tendency towards a pastoral and nomadic life. Other remark- 

 able customs found both on the Nile and in East Africa are the habit 

 of resting in a standing position on one leg, drinking the warm blood 

 drawn from living animals, and shaving the heads of women. 



It is eminently probable that these tribes represent a hybrid 

 between the Galla and Negro races which may have been formed at 

 an unknown period in the countries north and north-west of the 

 Sobat ; and it would appear, from Sir Samuel Baker's account of his 

 travels on the southern Nile, that the Galla have frequently invaded 

 these countries in historical times. The language and customs of the 

 Dinkas of the southern Sudan clearly connect them with this group, 

 and the same strain continues down the banks of the Nile in the 

 Latuka, Bari, and Acholi ; but the large tribe of the Madi are lin- 

 guistically at any rate different, and perhaps represent a West African 

 tribe which has advanced to the eastern side of the Nile. The Acholi 

 spread eastwards, and closely akin to them in language are the non- 

 Bantu part of the population of Kavirondo, and to the east of these 

 spread the Nandi, Lumbwa, Masai, and other tribes whom I have men- 

 tioned. It will perhaps be best to confine our attention to the 

 Masai, who are the most important and powerful of them. The 

 others resemble them in many points, but have not developed the 

 tribal military organisation in such perfection. 



The chief peculiarity of the Masai is this remarkable military 

 organisation, which has proved a most efficient instrument for success- 

 ful raiding, if not for territorial conquests. The young men between 

 the ages 17 and 27 or ;^0 are not allowed to marry, but live in separate 

 villages apart from the married people. They subsist entirely on meat, 

 blood and milk, and do not eat vegetables. In particular, they are 

 forbidden to smoke or touch intoxicants. Their only occupations are 

 warfare and looking after cattle. To herd donkeys, on the other 

 hand, is a great disgrace. At the age of about ;-]0 the warrior 

 marries and settles down, and is then regarded as an old man. The 

 Masai are nomadic in so far that they change their residence very 

 easily, and are accustomed to spend part of the year in the valleys and 

 part on the mountains, but they have also wooden kraals, to which 

 they return year after year. They differ from most tribes in not 

 killing or eating game, their energies being reserved entirely for 

 warfare and not dissipated in hunting. It is remarkable that they 

 never founded any sort of state analogous to Uganda and the other 



