564 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
coiled botli above and below the elbow. Round the neck 
more iron wire is coiled — in this case, however, horizon- 
tally — till the head seems to sit on an inverted iron 
salver. When these ornaments are once on they must 
remain till finally taken off, as it requires many days of 
painful work to fit them into their places. They chafe 
the ankles excessively, and evidently give much pain. 
As they are put on when very young, the calf is not 
allowed to develop, and the consequence is, that, when 
grown up, the legs remain at an uniform thickness from 
ankle to knee — mere animated stilts, in fact. The 
weight of this armour varies according to the wealth of 
the parties, up to thirty pounds. Besides the iron wire 
great quantities of beads and iron chains are disposed in 
various ways round the neck. 
Such, then, were the people that now greeted Moran, 
who, being a novice, had to suffer a good deal of chaff 
from both sexes. He was, however, soon initiated into 
the mysteries of a warrior kraal, and had seen a bit of 
life. The strictest diet imaginable was the rule. He 
had to be content with absolutely nothing but meat and 
milk. Tobacco or snuff, beer or spirits, vegetable food 
of all kinds, even the flesh of all animals except cattle, 
sheep, and goats, were alike eschewed. To eat any of 
those articles was to be degraded — to lose caste ; to be 
offered them was to be insulted in the deepest manner. 
As if these rules were not strict enough, he must needs 
not be seen eating meat in the kraal, neither must he 
take it along with milk. So many days were devoted 
entirely to the drinking of new milk, and then when 
carnivorous longings came over him he had to retire 
with a bullock to a lonely place in the forest, accompa- 
nied by some of his comrades, and a Ditto to act as cook. 
Having solemnly made certain that there was no trace of 
milk left on their stomachs by partaking of an extremely 
powerful purgative — they killed the bullock either with 
a blow from a rungu, or by stabbing it in the back of 
the neck. They then opened a vein and drank the blood 
fresh from the animal. This proceeding of our voracious 
young friends was a wise though repulsive one, as the 
