xi THE NDOROBO 137 



and is especially cultivated by the Ndorobo. These men 

 smelt the iron and make their own arrow-points and 

 spear-heads. Many of the smiths employed by the 

 .Ma^ai are Ndorobo. 



In villages bordering on the railway there is very 

 little smelting carried out now because it is so easy to 

 obtain imported iron. Thefts of iron along the railway 

 used to be common ; the keys with which the rails are 

 fastened to the sleepers were often stolen. 



It is difficult for Europeans to watch the native 

 smiths at work, and some of their tools are regarded 

 with great mystery, especially the bellows. The tools 

 arc few in number, and comprise an anvil, usually of 

 stone, a hammer, tongs, and bellows. It is not easy to 

 obtain specimens of their tools. Ethiopian artisans, 

 like the workmen in civilised countries, delight to 

 surround their craft with mystery. In this they are 

 on a par with some of the learned professions which 

 complicate their art with the jargon of dog-Latin and 

 complicated phraseology. 



The Ndorobo use the ordinary bow and arrow, but 

 only for smaller game. These men are useful to the 

 Masai, not only serving them as smiths, but also for the 

 ivory they obtain in hunting the elephant : this is 

 appropriated by the Masai. The Ndorobo are a shy 

 race ; all their trading transactions are done secretly, 

 or they would be robbed of everything by their stronger 

 neighbours. They are very persistent in killing with 

 poisoned arrows the beautiful Guereza or Colobus 

 monkeys. They hunt this monkey because they eat 

 its flesh and the beautiful skin finds ready purchasers. 

 The Masai and the AVa-Kikuyu warriors use those 

 parts of the skin with the long tufts of white hair 

 as ornaments for their legs when in full dress, and 

 the officers of a well-known British regiment employ 

 the skins for sporrans. This beautiful monkey is 

 named Colobus (from the Greek word signifying 

 mutilated) because it has no thumb : its hands are four- 



