VIII 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



373 



they are likely to find elephants, and move from one 

 place to another, as the wanderings of the herd of 

 elephants may dictate. 



Up to this time I had met three types of Wan- 

 derobbo : (i) Those that lived near the plains, and 

 subsisted upon antelopes, zebras, and giraffes; (2) those 

 that hid upon the sides or tops of mountains, and 

 lived upon honey and such game as they caught in 

 their traps; (3) those at Bugoi, who had no beehives, 

 and lived entirely upon the flesh of elephants, which 

 they sometimes entrapped, but oftener succeeded in 

 slaying with their spears. 



The Wanderobbo, as a race, are a low type of natives. 

 The true Wanderobbo has nothing to commend him ; 

 but, owing to the fact that some Masai and Berkenedji 

 have mixed with them, a cross has been produced, 

 which is much more vigorous and better developed 

 physically than the pure strain of Wanderobbo. Whom 

 the Wanderobbo sprang from will probably never be 

 definitely known ; but much evidence points to the 

 opinion that they were the original inhabitants of 

 what is now called Masai Land. As the Masai in- 

 creased in numbers, and extended the sphere of their 

 influence, they slew or drove to the mountain tops 

 all the former possessors of the soil. From the fact 

 that the Wanderobbo prefer starvation to cultivation, 

 one might suppose they were a pastoral people, and 

 unaccustomed to tilling the soil. 



All of them with whom I came in contact spoke 

 the Masai language; but it was stated by my Masai 

 interpreters that the Wanderobbo had a language of 

 their own, which they used among themselves. This 



