248 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



the old men retain their control In fact, with the 

 elders it is : " Heads, I win ; tails, you lose." 



At the time I visited the Embe, there was not one 

 man in the entire tribe, who was considered so great 

 and powerful in magic as to be placed above his 

 fellow-workers ; but not many miles distant from the 

 Embe, on the borders of the Janji country, there lived 

 a mighty wizard, named Donytuli Mono Vomari (Dony- 

 tuli, the son of Vomari). He was said to be an old 

 man stricken in years, but one whose skill and ability 

 were such that he had never been known to give 

 any but the very best advice in all matters connected 

 with either business or war. He was not a native of 

 the tribe among whom he dwelt. His father, Vomari, 

 was a Masai medicine-man, who for some reason had 

 settled among the mountain people ; and upon his 

 death his power, in greatly increased degree, had de- 

 scended upon his son. I was told that upon the 

 occasion of our visit to the Wamsara he, being asked 

 his advice, sent word to those people to treat us well, 

 in order that they might be treated well by us in 

 turn ; and that the defeat which the Wamsara had 

 sustained at our hands tended greatly to increase his 

 influence. So, upon some of the elders of the Embe 

 going to him, and telling him that I was going to 

 visit their country, he laid stress upon it, that they 

 must treat us well in every way. 



As previously stated, the men of the Embe country 

 are divided broadly into two classes — the warriors and 

 the old men. Between these two come the young 

 married men. These in some cases (for example, when 

 they are poor) join the warriors — who in all cases 



