V TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 187 



blood, or some one of their many other customs. I 

 have never found that the natives construed in any 

 but a favourable manner the white man's willingness 

 to adopt their customs in ratifying an oath ; and al- 

 though it is annoying, and often a great waste of 

 time, to submit to the tedious and often disgusting 

 ceremonies connected with the making of blood- 

 brotherhood and the ratification of oaths, still, one's 

 time cannot be said to be wholly wasted, for there is 

 no better opportunity of learning native customs and 

 studying native character than at these ceremonies. 



At 4 P.M. word was brought to us that the natives 

 wished to go through the ceremony of binding us 

 together forever in the ties of blood-brotherhood. 

 This time we found about 600 warriors and old men 

 assembled ; but when we noticed that one and all of 

 them had come armed, we were disagreeably affected 

 by the sight. For the gathering more resembled a 

 hostile demonstration than one for the ratification of 

 a treaty of unending peace. 



On this occasion a young male goat was sacrificed. 

 Some elders, who seemed to be impressed with a 

 sense of their importance, together with Lieutenant 

 von Hohnel and I, seized and held on to the hind 

 legs of the goat, and its head was pointed carefully 

 in the direction of the highest peak of the range. 

 While the sacrifice was going on, the two elders. 

 Lieutenant von Hohnel, and I gave vent in the most 

 solemn manner to the direst curses and most vindic- 

 tive threats, which, however, were to take effect only 

 in the event of treachery on the part of the other 

 high contracting party to this treaty. This portion 



