XV THE MASAI 



179 



Rinderpest also made its appearance, and their 

 cattle died in thousands, so that, reduced in luiinbers 

 and deprived of all means of subsistence, the poor 

 Masai were in a very sad plight. 



The British then appeared upon the scene, and 

 with the coming of the superior race, their last 

 fragment of prestige and importance vanished. 



They have now been allotted an excellent reserve 

 on the cool highlands of Laikipia, where the country 

 is well grassed and watered, and here they are 

 rapidly increasing in numbers and wealth. I myself 

 have noticed how greatly their flocks and herds have 

 multiplied during the last decade. Where ten years 

 ago only a very few cattle, sheep and goats were to 

 be seen, now there are thousands, and in the course 

 of my journey I must have seen at least 10,000 

 cattle and 30,000 sheep and goats. 



When I asked Abbudi how many warriors could 

 be collected on Laikipia he told me about 4,000, but 

 as he was prone to exaggerate everything very much, 

 I cut this number down by half, and should say that 

 they could probably put 2,000 spears in the field ; and 

 some day perhaps the bloodthirsty young warriors 

 may want to use them. 



In appearance the Masai are slender, with beauti- 

 fully modelled limbs and regular features, which 

 show they do not belong to the ordinary Bantu or 

 negro type. Abbudi himself was supple and lithe 



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