VIII 



THE MASAI 



99 



too freely into her hand ! Among these people spitting 

 is a custom with an infinite variety of meanings. 



The Masai take very little trouble with tlieir dead. 

 The corpse is carried a short distance from the village 

 and left to be devoured by hyrenas, jackals, and 

 vultures. They l)elievc that when a man dies it is the 

 end as with the cattle. To bury a corpse would, in 

 their idea, poison the soil. 



Masai drawing blooil from an ox l)y sliooting a lilockcd arrow into the 

 jugular vein. (From tlio Veleriiiarian. After R. .T. Stordj'. ) 



The principal food of the old men, women, and child- 

 ren is milk. The warriors drive bullocks into the 

 forest and slaughter them for meat. All the members 

 of a village would eat an ox if it died a natural death, 

 or if killed by a snake, or a beast of prey. They are 

 very fond of blood, Avliich is obtained from an ox by 

 shooting a blocked arrow into its jugular vein. The 

 blood they catch in gourds and drink it hot from the 



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