io6 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



IX 



supidity of neighbouring tribes, especially the Masai. 

 These two tribes were perpetually at war. The Wa- 

 Kikuyu is the only people which offered any real 

 resistance to the swaggering, fighting, raiding Masai. 

 In order to raid Kikuyu cattle the Masai warriors had 



to travel through the forest 

 along winding tracts beset with 

 pits, with the enemy lining the 

 side bush with bows and arrows, 

 swords and spears. On the 

 plains the Wa-Kikuyu warriors 

 were no match for them, but 

 in the depths of the forest the 

 El-Muran raiding parties had a 

 bad time. 



The warriors of Kikuyu 

 imitated their warlike neigh- 

 bours in many ways, such as 

 copying their customs in regard 

 to liair-.chessing, decorating 

 themselves with feathers, the 

 hair of goats, the long tails of 

 the guereza monkeys, and the 

 tusks of the wart-hog. Men 

 mutilate their ears in the Masai 

 style, practise circumcision, file 

 their teeth, and possess the 

 habit of standing on one leg. 

 They attach the same value to 

 spitting as a charm and a sign 

 of friendship, and imitate the 

 Masai in their weapons of war, 

 such as spears, swords (sime), 



bows, arrows, knobkerries, and shields. The warriors 

 also ape the El-Muran in the drinking of blood, which 

 they obtain from the cattle, by piercing the jugular 

 vein by means of the blocked arrow, as practised by 

 their warrior neighbours. Mr. and Mrs. Koutledge 



A Honey Barrel ornamented 

 with poker-work. 



