NOTES ON THE MASAI 



ven, in company with others, charge of a flock 

 sheep. Thence he graduates to the precious herds 

 cows. He wears little or nothing, is armed with 

 throwing club, a long stick; or perhaps later a 

 broad-bladed, short-headed spear of a pattern pe- 

 culiar to boys and young men. His life is thus over 

 * the free open hills and veldt, until, somewhere be- 

 tween the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, the year 

 of the circumcision comes. Then he enters on the 

 long ceremonies that initiate him into the warrior 

 class. My knowledge of the details of this subject 

 is limited; for while I had the luck to be in Masailand 

 on the fourth year, such things are not exhibited 

 freely. The curious reader can find more on the 

 subject in other books; but as this is confined to 

 personal experiences I will tell only what I have 

 myself elicited. 



The youth's shaved head is allowed to grow its 

 I hair. He hangs around his brow a dangling string 

 of bright-coloured bird skins stuffed out in the shape 

 of little cylinders, so that at a short distance they 

 look like curls. For something like a month of 

 probation he wears these; then undergoes the rite. 

 For ten days thereafter he and his companions, their 

 heads daubed with clay and ashes, clad in long 

 black robes, live out in the brush. They have no 

 provision, but are privileged to steal what they need. 



317 



