MASAI, TURKANA, SUK, NANDI, ETC. 829 



that at Nairobi alone there were over 2,000 deaths. About this period a 

 Somali trader explained to the Masai of the Rift Valley and Nairobi the 

 principle of inoculation. Numbers of them voluntarily submitted to this 

 rude prophylactic measure, and went through, as a result, a mild form of 

 smallpox, which, however, in some cases, ended fatally. Since that time, 

 however, the Masai have thronged to the European doctor, wherever there 

 is one, to be vaccinated. I verily believe that but for the advent of the 

 European the pastoral Masai would in a few years have become absolutely 

 extinct between smallpox and the cattle plague which induced famine. 

 Lung diseases are rare, the Masai having been inured from early youth to 

 extremes of heat and cold; but in this case it is rather the survival of 

 the fittest, as there is considerable mortality amongst the children. They 

 suffer much from intestinal worms, chiefly from the Taenia, or tape-worm, 

 and the Ascarts, or round-worm. Perhaps the malady which troubles them 

 most frequently is chronic ophthalmia. This by neglect leads in time to 

 cataract. The eye disease is spread from one Masai to another by the 

 millions of flies that follow the Masai wherever they go, attracted by the 

 cattle. As in Egypt, so in Masailand, it is no uncommon sight to see the 

 eyes of children bunged up, with flies feeding on the moisture, the child 

 making little or no attempt to get rid of the pests. They suffer much 

 from sloughing ulcers (Phagedenic!) and from eczema, which is often due 

 to the swarms of head -lice. Dyspepsia and dysentery are rarely met with 

 under normal conditions. Venereal diseases were unknown amongst them 

 until the Swahili traders and porters came on the scene, and even yet. in 

 >pite of the immorality of their women, they are not seriously affected with 

 syphilis, as is the case with the Bantu tribes further inland. It should, 

 however, be mentioned here that another cause of the stationary or 

 decreasing condition of the Masai population seems to lie in an increasing 

 reluctance on the part of the men to settle down in the married state and 

 beget children. The women, stung by this indifference, drift away in 

 increasing numbers to the trading camps of the Swahilis or the Indian 

 coolies on the Uganda Railway. It is said also that, like the Baganda 

 women, the Masai females are becoming increasingly sterile. 



As regards remedies, the Masai possess several therapeutical and 

 empirical remedies. Of the last description are the small pieces of metal, 

 wood, or unclassified rubbish sewn up in skin bags, which are given to 

 them by the " Laibon," or priest -doctor, and are worn round the neck on a 

 chain or wire. They are, however, acquainted with roots, bark, leaves, and 

 sap of curative properties — astringents, laxatives, tonics, sudatories, and 

 excitants. These drugs are sometimes taken in milk, or are mixed with 

 tin- food (meat) which is being stewed or boiled. 



With regard to surgery, they are able in a rough-and-ready fashion to 



