222 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
Masai is the extraction of the two front teeth from 
the lower jaw. It is said that this habit originated 
at a time when lockjaw was very prevalent among 
the tribe, and it was found that if these teeth 
were pulled out food could still be taken. This 
explanation 
seems scarcely 
satisfactory 
or sufficient, 
and I give it 
only for what 
itis worth: but 
whatever the 
reason for the 
custom, the ab- 
sence of these 
two teeth con- 
stitutes a most 
distinctive 
identifying 
mark. - ] mee 
Ree AOA member once 
being out with 
a Masai one day when we came across the bleached 
skull of a long defunct member of his tribe, of course 
easily recognisable as such by the absence of the 
proper teeth. The Masai at once plucked a hand- 
ful of grass, spat upon it, and then placed it very 
