iv THE MASAI 35 



East Africa, acknowledged allegiance to his nominated 

 successor, Lenana, while the other, removing into 

 German East Africa, took as their chief Lenana's 

 brother, Sendeu. The two sections carried on a bitter 

 tribal war till 1902, in the meanwhile more or less 

 suspending their attacks on other tribes. By 1902, 

 Sendeu appears to have had enough, and the whole 

 tribe agreed to acknowledge Lenana as their para- 

 mount chief. In the meanwhile was coming the white 

 man, and gradually his influence was being felt. We 

 were unable to control the raiding propensities of the 

 Masai till after 1898, when the last raid on any large 

 scale took place. That we have been able to do so 

 without bloodshed must always be a feather in the cap 

 of the administration, which feather is largely due to 

 the good influence of Lenana. This chief, enlightened 

 and far-seeing beyond any native representative in 

 East Africa, was always on the side of order and of 

 the British Government. To his good influence the 

 British owe the fact that white blood was not shed, 

 and the Masai that their territories are wide beyond 

 their deserts. 



When the first white settlers began to arrive in the 

 years 190 1-2-3, tne question of what territory the 

 Masai could really lay claim to demanded consider- 

 ation. The Masai were of course a nomad people, 

 and they drove their flocks over a very large area to 

 wherever the grazing was temporarily the best. If 

 any other natives happened to be in possession, or to 

 want any special area, they were driven out. The 

 ruling Masai maxim was " might is right." The 

 would-be settlers arriving, saw on both sides of the 

 railway large tracts of splendid grazing land, apparently 

 not occupied at all, certainly not utilised to one-tenth 



d 2 



