214 THE LAND OF THE LION 



are not only polygamous but polyandrous, and I think in 

 great part this moral laxity is fostered by tribal custom. 



For many generations, how many no one can tell, for 

 African tradition reaches but a little way back, the Massai 

 tribe set the fashion (to put it briefly) in war and peace, for 

 East African native life. 



The power of this strange and strong people has been 

 broken. Wars among themselves, carried on with ruthless 

 determination, wars, in which for many days continuously, 

 thousands of warriors fought from morning to night an 

 endless series of desperate duels, man to man, while, camped 

 closely by, their women looked on, have decimated them. 



Then came the rinderpest, and carried away all their 

 cattle. On these they were wholly dependent, and the 

 Massai perished in thousands. If cruel fortune has in late 

 years dogged their path, none can say it was undeserved. 

 They had trampled bloody pathways all over East Africa. 

 The invaders had penetrated even the Mombassa streets; 

 and from time out of mind they had boldly lived up to their 

 creed, one article of which was, that God had given to the 

 original father of the Massai all the cattle on the earth, and 

 no other tribe could lawfully hold a goat, sheep, or cow.* 



The Massai were enabled to win their victories and main- 

 tain their power, because they alone were organized for war. 

 This war organization enabled them to mass their soldiers 

 at any given point more quickly than could other tribes. 



Every male Massai between the ages of twenty and thirty 

 was a warrior (moran). He lived in separate villages 

 (munyatas) with his fellow soldiers. And these soldier 

 villages were placed in such strategic positions as the chiefs 

 thought would best assure the safety of the other villages, 

 where lived the old and married men, and round which were 

 pastured the innumerable and splendid herds, which the 



* See "Massai Language and Folklore," p. 270, Hollis. Oxford, Clarendon Press, A most 

 interesting book. Notice in Mr. Hollis's book the extraordinary similarity between many of the 

 Massai folklore stories and the stories of Uncle Remus and Br'er Rabbit. 



