VIII 



THE MASAI 



99 



too freely into her hand ! Among these people spitting 

 is a custom with an infinite variety of meanings. 



The Masai take very little trouble with their dead. 

 The corpse is carried a short distance from the village 

 and left to be devoured by hyaenas, jackals, and 

 vultures. They believe that when a man dies it is the 

 end as with the cattle. To bury a corpse would, in 

 their idea, poison the soil. 



Masai drawing blood from an ox by shooting a blocked arrow into the 

 jugular vein. (From the Veterinarian. After R. J. Stordy.) 



The principal food of the old men, women, and child- 

 ren is milk. The warriors drive bullocks into the 

 forest and slaughter them for meat. All the members 

 of a village would eat an ox if it died a natural death, 

 or if killed by a snake, or a beast of prey. They are 

 very fond of blood, which is obtained from an ox by 

 shooting a blocked arrow into its jugular vein. The 

 blood they catch in gourds and drink it hot from the 



H 2 



