HORNS AND THORNS 49 



if we could be certain of tliis he would make liim walk 

 back and forth to the water hole all afternoon, or until 

 some El Moran obhged. After some strong persuasion, 

 the boy fearfully made his way toward the spring, 

 taking a wide circle around all possible hiding places. 



The Masai are a nomadic people, inhabiting the high 

 plateau steppe of Kenya and Tanganyika. Their 

 historical beginnings are lost in the dim past. A theory 

 was once put forth that their ancestors immigrated 

 from Arabia by way of Egypt into tropical Africa; 

 that they were descendants from the same Semitic 

 stock of nomads as the ancestors of the Hebrew nation 

 of herdsmen. However, they are a purely pastoral 

 Hamitic people, speaking a Nilotic language. Closely 

 allied and speaking the same language are the Samburu. 

 Other East African tribes classed as Hamitic negroid 

 are the Nandi, the Suk, and the Turkana. It now 

 appears that this strain originated in the steppe coun- 

 try of the Abyssinian Highlands by the intermixture 

 of Galla and Somah with Nilotic Negroes. 



The pure blooded Masai is considerably Ughter in 

 color than the Negro, has clear-cut features, well 

 formed hands and feet, and is of magnificent physique, 

 seldom under six feet in height. The stalwart, bronze- 

 colored El Moran with his spear and shield is the very 

 embodiment of physical courage and force. He is still 

 the proudest of men, fearing no danger and looking 

 down on all who are not so warHke as liimself. Since 

 time immemorial, the Masai El Moran or warriors 

 have roamed over this vast steppe, keeping the other 

 tribes in subjection and incidentally enriching their 

 own cattle herds by raids, for these men made of 

 cattle rusthng a fine art. 



