MASAI, TURKANA, SDK, NANDI, ETC. 



815 



the Sfik, and tlironi(h tlie liolc is inserted a brass ring, to which is tixcd, 

 close up to the nose, a flat disc of brass about the size of a florin. Iron 

 ■wire is made into rings, whieli are worn on the n))per arm, just under 



472. A GKUUP OF sC'K (showing TATTOOIXti OX AHMS) 



the deltoid muscle. Sometimes the Turkana wear on the right wrist a 

 curious circular or semi-circular knife. This is a thin blade of steel 

 with a sharp edge on the outer side, but a blunt one on the side 

 nearest the body. It has a shape something like a very thick 

 crescent or quoit. This arm-knife is found frequently amongst the tribes 

 at the north end of Lake Kudolf. Tlie Turkana warriors we;u- another 

 curious adornment on the right arm. It is a band of plaiti-d leather 

 from which hangs a long string of the same sul\stance, at the end of 

 which the long white hair of a cow's tail, or of the colobus monkey, is 

 fastened in a tassel. Or the armlet may be of leather with long pendants 

 of chains. F'estoons of chains or of leather may also be fixed to the leg 

 below the knee. The men sometimes u'ear a curious waisi-heH of leather, 

 which over the buttocks has a breadth of six inches and decreases round 

 the abdomen to three. The edge of this lentker girdle of goat skin is sewn 

 with small beads, generally made of brass. Tlie iron and steel of which 



