With I-lashlight and Rifle ^ 



Merker deals also in his work with the common error 

 which ^issumes the Semites ot old to have been identical 

 with the Jews of to-day. As a matter of fact, the special 

 characteristics of our modern Jews did not come into 

 existence until after the Semites began to mix with the 

 race of Heth. The Bible touches repeatedly upon the 

 mingling of the two races, which began long before the 

 Hebrews settled down. 



I cannot enter further into these matters here. I shall 

 only say that, in INIerker's book, we have before us the 

 work ot a man who has been able to enter into the soul 

 of a people in a quite unique manner, and who has 

 consecrated many years to his task. He has amassed an 

 amount of material ^^•hich cannot but arouse the admiration 

 even ot those students ot the subject w^ho may not be 

 able always to subscril^e to his conclusions. 



Before he entered upon his study, tor which he was 

 well qualified by his scientihc training and his tamiliarity 

 with this kind of work, our knowledge of the Masai 

 was very scanty. No one else has ever undertaken so 

 thorough an investigation into their language and habits 

 and modes of thought. I think I am in a position to 

 estimate the immense difficulties he had to cope with. 



This is not the place to discuss Merker's theories in 

 detail. I must leave that to the experts. This much is 

 certain, that the " ol INIorani," the spear-wielding warriors 

 of the race, have dominated the velt-land for thousands 

 of years, roaming tar and wide, and increasing their herds 

 always by pillage and plunder among the other races 

 settled in the country. Like the Indians of North 



