NOTES ON THE MASAI 



valuable beasts brought into existence only to die 

 of old age. If these matchless herders and cattle 

 breeders could be brought into relation with the 

 world's markets everybody would be the better. 



Beside his sacred cattle the Masai raises also 

 lesser herds of the hairy sheep of the country. 

 These he uses for himself only on the rare occasions 

 of solitary forced marches away from his herds, or 

 at the times of ceremony. Their real use is as a 

 trading medium for more cattle! Certain white 

 men and Somalis conduct regular trading expeditions 

 into Masailand, bringing in small herds of cows 

 bought with trade goods from the other tribes. These 

 they barter with the Masai for sheep. In Masai 

 estimation a cow is the most valuable thing on 

 earth, while a sheep is only a medium of exchange. 

 With such notions it is easy to see that the white 

 man can make an advantageous exchange, in spite 

 of the Masai's well-known shrewdness at a bargain. 

 Each side is satisfied. There remains only to find 

 a market for the sheep an easy matter. A small 

 herd of cows will in the long run bring quite a decent 

 profit. 



The Masai has very little use for white man's 

 products. He will trade for squares of cloth, beads 

 of certain kinds and in a limited quantity, brass and 

 iron wire of heavy gauge, blankets and sugar. That, 



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