Ways and Means 



delight, on reaching it, a case of whisky, kindly 

 left by our forerunners on the Anglo-German 

 Boundary Commission, after we had been out of 

 that commodity for a fortnight. I remember very 

 well he shot a succulent Tommy, and I shot an 

 ostrich, while we both had a good evening at 

 sand-grouse in honour of the occasion. Then 

 comes two days of rather monotonous trek, in 

 rather than over grass, through the Matambatu 

 country of the Masai. 



I may mention that the Masai are very splendid 

 fellows, born cattle-fanciers, and the old-time 

 terror of the countryside for miles and miles 

 around. They are still cattle-fanciers, and hard 

 to beat at that, though their fighting propensities 

 have died out somewhat, at least as regards 

 terrorism. The enlisted company in the local 

 regiment at Nairobi is, I protest, second to none, 

 and they were jolly good fellows into the bargain, 

 and quite the best friends in the savage line IVe 

 ever struck or hope to meet in this amazing world 

 of ours. The tribe, as a whole, has been divided 

 up into sub-tribes, who have certain districts 

 given them, allotted in the old days by their one 

 and only chief Mbatien, who, now he is dead, is 

 revered by one and all as a god. It is their 

 boast, and I believe perfectly true, that not one 

 single order or command of his was ever dis- 

 obeyed. That is extraordinary, if one knows the 

 savage mind, and it shows to what a tremendous 



203 



