VI 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



247 



making an appearance, but it was he who at the time 

 of the division was strongest, and was able by the 

 might of his strong right arm to seize and retain the 

 greatest amount of spoil. 



Among the Embe as among the Daitcho, and in 

 fact among all the people who inhabit the slopes of 

 Mount Kenya and the Jombeni range, marriage is 

 by purchase; and the young warrior whose heart is 

 fired by the smile of some maiden whom he wishes 

 to possess is induced to go forth from his home 

 and plunder his neighbours, in order that he may 

 thereby acquire the means to purchase her from her 

 father. 



It is only by means of the rankest superstition that 

 the old men are able to maintain their supremacy over 

 the hot-blooded youths. They convince the young 

 men that in the hands of the sages alone rest the 

 fate and fortune of the warriors in battle. Before a 

 war party sets out, the warriors from each district 

 are presented by the most influential men of the dis- 

 trict (in all cases one who is not only the richest and 

 wisest, but also most fluent in speech, and can con- 

 vince them that he is possessed of supernatural power) 

 with some magic emblem, which they are told will 

 enable them to conquer in battle. If the party is 

 successful in the foray, the wise old man claims and 

 receives a share of the spoil. If they fail, he allows 

 no one to exceed him in the violence of his lamenta- 

 tions and imprecations ; and insists that the warriors 

 must in some way, by their own ill judgment, have 

 interfered with the proper working of the charm he 

 gave them. Owing to the superstition of these youths. 



