55G 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
to the line of the- house in the manner of a porch. The 
hut of the expectant Masai lady was one of a circle 
enclosing a considerable area in which the cattle were 
kept during, the night. As this central space was never 
swept up, its condition may be better imagined than 
described. The smells were strikingly suggestive of the 
farmyard ; and, if the reader is so inclined, he may ima- 
gine some charming picture of full-uddered kine, with 
their mild eyes and expression of repose, as they chew 
contentedly the cud. For any such picture, however, I 
can accept no responsibility. Outside the circle of huts 
there extends a strong fence of thorns as a protection 
from wild beasts, and in case of an attack. Inside the 
hut were gathered together the gossips of the kraal, 
mingling so far as space permitted with calves and goats. 
A number of large calabashes lay in one corner, and a 
coarsely -made earthen cooking-pot in another. Fleas in 
thousands skipped about, and the midwives had their 
time well taken up with the myriads of flies which perti- 
naciously would insist on cultivating personal intimacy 
with them. 
The anticipated event passed over safely. Indeed, the 
whole affair was hardly thought worthy of remark, ex- 
cept on the part of the mother, who heard with deep 
pleasure that her offspring was a boy. Girls are sadly 
at a discount among the Masai. They would always 
prefer to have boys, but happily Nature sees ahead a 
little, and takes care that a fair supply of girls is pro- 
vided. As there is no registrar or birth column, I am 
totally unal »le to state when our hero first saw the light. 
That, however, is a small matter. No particular cere- 
monies marked the occasion, and the happy mother was 
about next day, attending to her household duties as if 
nothing unusual had happened, the little stranger being 
warmly ensconced on her back beneath the bullock’s hide 
which formed the mother’s garment. 
Babies are babies everywhere, and for the first year or 
two, the embryo warrior grappled with the problem of 
life like a philosopher, as he sucked his mother’s milk. 
Then he spoke. Having next found his legs, he grew 
