NOTES ON THE MASAI 



children, these are taken over by the husband. 

 They are considered rather a recommendation than 

 a detriment, for they prove the girl is fruitful. 



Relieved of all responsibility the ex-warrior now 

 has full leisure to be a gentleman. He drinks a 

 fermented liquor made from milk; he takes snuff or 

 smokes the rank native tobacco; he conducts inter- 

 minable diplomatic negotiations; he oversees mi- 

 nutely the forms of ceremonials; he helps shape the 

 policies of his manyatta, and he gives his attention 

 to the accumulation of cows. 



The cow is the one thing that arouses the Masai's 

 full energies. He will undertake any journey, any 

 task, any danger, provided the reward therefor is 

 horned cattle. And a cow is the one thing he will 

 on no account trade, sell or destroy. A very few 

 of them he milks, and a very few of them he period- 

 ically bleeds; but the majority, to the numbers of 

 thousands upon thousands, live uselessly until they 

 die of old age. They are branded, generally on the 

 flanks or ribs, with strange large brands, and are 

 so constantly handled that they are tamer and more 

 gentle than sheep. I have seen upward of a thou- 

 sand head in sole charge of two old women on foot. 

 These ancient dames drove the beasts in a long 

 file to water, then turned them quite easily and 

 drove them back again. Opposite our camp they 



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