DEESS OF THE WAJAGGA 



213 



fired, they would all hurry away together, and only approach 

 again with shrinking timidity. Although they were evidently 

 very poor, these natives of Kilimanjaro were better formed 

 and healthier looking than those we had seen to the south of 

 the mountain, probably because the soil is not so fertile here, 

 and they are obliged to work harder to get a living. In spite 

 of this they are generally beaten in a fight, but that is the 

 fault of their weapons and their want of guns. Their spears 

 are smaller and not of such good metal as those of other 

 natives of these parts, for they are much less often visited by 

 caravans and therefore get less iron wire. Their oval-shaped 

 shields are from about 12 to 16 inches broad and from 24 to 

 31 inches long. They are not nearly so much ornamented as 

 those of most Masai tribes, and altogether the get up of these 

 mountaineers is much simpler than that of their neighbours 

 in the south. The only garment of the men is a girdle of 

 undressed oxhide from about 1^ to 2i inches broad, whilst 

 most of the women wear nothing but a strip of beautifully 

 dressed brown kid-skin about a foot broad round their loins. 

 Some of the elder women, however, sport spiral brass orna- 

 ments on their arms and legs and a head-dress of large blue 

 beads, which stands away from the hair like a little tuft ; and 

 a few of the girls wear strips of leather decked with cowry 

 shells on their feet. It was a pleasure to note that their ears 

 are not distorted, both sexes wearing only from one to three 

 little tin rings in the lobes. We saw neither iron chains nor 

 small jagga beads here, only the common white china samhaj 

 and the green or blue glass rings called murtinarok. What 

 were most in demand were the red sam.esame Masai beads, 

 about the size of a pin's head. The natives did not care so 

 much for the white uschanga beads, and, like all the people of 

 Jagga, they disliked dark blue ones. 



We were often able to see Kilimanjaro during this halt, 



