WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



fine, a slit being cut in the middle of the skin and the 

 head pushed through. 



Round the neck is fastened a long piece of 

 Americana or white calico, with coloured striping 

 running down it, which floats out behind like a cloud 

 when the owner is running. Round the ankles are 

 bands of the black hair from the colobus monkey, 

 and round the calves, just under the knees, the white 

 hair from the same animal. 



The only thing that spoils the whole effect is the 

 red mud and grease with which the Masai sees fit 

 to smear himself all over. 



The disposition of this tribe must have altered 

 tremendously of late years, for one has only to read 

 the accounts of the early travellers and explorers, 

 notably Thompson's Through Masai Land, to discover 

 what a bloodthirsty race the Masai were, how 

 their hand was against everybody's and everybody's 

 against them, how they were the terror of the vast 

 countryside and as merciless as they were warlike. 

 Yet to-day they are the most peaceful of natives, 

 minding their cattle and sheep, doing various 

 forms of Government work as game-rangers, runners, 

 guides, spearmen for hunters ; but whatever their 

 occupation, they insist on sticking to their spears. 

 They are also head and shoulders above their 

 neighbours in intelligence, and I always found them, 

 for savages, most courteous and polite. They would 



82 



