232 THE LAND OF THE LION 
well informed; he has travelled, hunted and fought a great 
deal, and was careful and slow in his statements made to 
us around the camp fire. In the main, he said, the Elgoa, 
Kamasea, and Maraquette observe the same tribal customs. 
If a man among the Elgoa murders another member 
of the tribe—that is, kills him in unfair fight— he is handed 
over by the old men to the relatives of the slain, who kill 
him, no fine or other punishment being accepted.— (This 
is most unusual in Africa.) 
All his property, with the exception of certain goats 
and cows, dues as fees to the old men who act as judges, 
goes to the relatives of the man murdered. 
If this murdered man has offered grand provocation 
to his slayer, such as stealing his cattle or forcibly taking 
away his wife (and the first offence is counted a much graver 
one than the second), or if the killing is purely accidental, 
though the extreme penalty of death is not imposed, still 
the punishment is very severe. 
The old men decide how large a part of the slayer’s 
goods goes to the victim’s relatives and, when these ruinous 
fines are paid, certain social marks of tribal disfavour remain. 
He cannot touch blood. (All these tribes, as do also 
the Massai, count milk and blood, which is taken from their 
bullocks at regular intervals without killing them, as the 
chief delicacies of their lives.) If the tribe goes to war 
he cannot touch spear or shield, but must fight among the 
boys with bow and arrow only. He can purge himself from 
the tribal ban and these disqualifications only in one way, 
and a most extraordinary way it is. I at first fancied there 
must be some mistake, and that imperfect knowledge of 
the language had led to a misunderstanding, but after 
debating the question for several nights, and after much 
cross-questioning, I came to the conclusion that there could 
be no possible mistake made in reference to it. 
The warrior under the ban of this homicide, must kill 
