790 NILOTIC XEGROES 



Botli sexes drink llie hef^r which is made from o-raiii. l)ut the woiiien 

 iKncv (h'iiik witii the iiicii. 'I'lie women make the hnfttr. 



'I'hc men do not smt'll iron, hut ohtaiii it in pig form from the Bantu 

 l\a\irondo. Tliere is even a certain prt^judiee against hhichsmiths amongst 

 the .la-luo. They are ealhd " ^'othetth." and among some of the tribes 

 constitute a separate caste called "Uvir.o.'' They forfje spears, knives, 

 bill-liooks. and axes, but their hoes are imported frcm their Bantu 

 neigh bovn-s. Shields are made of butialo or ox hide, and also of ambatch 

 wood. Their siicurs haN'e .-mall heads, and shafts of tremendous length. 

 They use clnh.s. and also long leaf-shap,ed swords, wliich they have 

 borrowed from the Masai or Nandi. Bows and arrow's are still employed, 

 but the arrows r.re r.o longer poisoned. Poison was said to be derived 

 fioni the \enom of snakes, and also from certain herlis. Their musical 

 instruments are very similar to those of the Kavirondo Bantu. 



Girls are betrothed at the age of seven, and go to their husbands 

 <at the use of ten or eleven, itavment being made hv degrees over the 

 years elapsing between the betrothal and the marriage. The girl is taken 

 by her unmarried girl companions to her husband's house. The father of 

 the girl kills an ox and takes the meat, together with a quantity of 

 sorghum porridge, to the bridegroom's house to provide a icedding feast- 

 On tlu> following day the biidegroom's brothers, and his other wives, if he 

 has any, take the newly wedded wife back to her father's \illage, where 

 there is another great feast. The bridegroom dees not attend. The father 

 of the girl next day presents his daughter with a goat, and she returns to 

 her husband, who continues to make };ayn;ents to his father-in-law. The 

 total amount of the marriage payment may reach to six cows, or their 

 e(piivalent. If the man stops paying, his wife will leave him and go back 

 to her father's ^■illage until the payments are resumed. If within a year 

 of the marriage the wonjan does not bear a child, the husband may stop 

 Ids ])ayments. but he has no claim to the return of what has been already 

 paid, so long as iiis wife remains witli him. If a wife dies witliout having 

 l)orno children, the amount ]iaid for her is returned, unless the husband 

 agrees to acce})t one of his deceased irifes sisters, for whom only a 

 small comjilimt^ntarv present is paid. If a woman refuses to stop with 

 her husliand. she is given to another man, and whatever this man 

 gives for her is paid over to her fir>t husband. If a woman has a child 

 juid is ill-ti-eated, she may leave her husband, but must leave her child 

 behind with i he father. If the child lie a boy. wIkmi he grows up and 

 the mother gets old she generally returns to live with her son. If after 

 a marriage has Ixen arranged an a\ari( ions lather is loth to }»art with his 

 (laughter, the young man employs b.is friends to waylay the girl in the 

 <iaytime. It. liowe\er. the girl after capture refuses to stop with her 



