MASAI, TURKANA, SUK, NANDI, ETC. 



879 



I 



502. SPEARS OF THE KAMASIA 



set aside for lier use, and sbe drinks its milk. Cliildrcri are trained with 

 H certain amount of discipline, and, like the ancient Persians, are taught 

 to draw the l)ow and speak the truth — in fact, amongst most of these 

 people it is thought very wicked to tell a lie, and it is believed that 

 (rod punishes lying by striking the untruthful person with lightning. 

 If a son refuses to 

 obey his father in 

 any serious matter, 

 the father solemnly 

 strikes the sou with 

 his fur mantle. This 

 is equivalent to a 

 most serious curse, 

 and is supposed to 

 be fatal to the son 

 unless he obtains for- 

 giveness, which he 

 can only do by sacri- 

 ficing a goat before 

 his father. 



After a successful 

 raid the elders of the 

 clan divide the spoil 

 (which is, of course, 

 cattle, sheep, and 

 goats), and the war- 

 riors so far respect 

 the old men that j 

 they allow them to } 

 take what they re- 

 quire from out of the 

 loot, while at least 

 seven of the captured 

 cattle are sent to 

 the medicine man. 

 When this has been 



done, the rest of the loot in live-stock is left to be snatched at by the 

 warriors. This proceeding results in a general rnt'lee, in which men some- 

 times get killed by spear or club wounds. 



Among the Nandi the body of a dead person is not buried except in 

 the case of some big chief or medicine man. The corpse is carried away to 

 an open place, and laid out under a skin. Xo arms, food, or utensils are 



