568 AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
is almost an impossibility to convey any clear picture 
of their appearance in words. 
Let us pause and in imagination watch some enthu- 
siastic young ditto buckling on the armour of her knight. 
First there is tied round his neck, whence it falls in 
flowing lengths, the naibere , a piece of cotton, six feet 
long, two feet broad, and a longitudinal stripe of 
coloured cloth sewed down the middle of it. Over his 
shoulders is placed a huge cape of kites’ feathers — a 
regular heap of them. The kid-skin garment which 
hangs at his shoulder is now folded up, and tied tightly 
round his waist like a belt, so as to leave his arms free. 
His hair is tied into two pigtails, one before and one 
behind. On his head is placed a remarkable object- 
formed of ostrich feathers stuck in a band of leather, the 
whole forming an elliptically-shaped head-gear. This is 
placed diagonally in a line beginning under the lower 
lip and running in front of the ear to the crown. His 
less are ornamented with flowing hair of the colobus, 
resembling wings. His bodily adornment is finished off 
by the customary plastering of oil. His sime or sword 
is now attached — it does not hang — to his right side ; 
and through the belt is pushed the skull-smasher or 
knobkerry, which may be thrown at an approaching 
enemy, or may give the quietus to a disabled one. His 
huge shield in his left hand and his great spear in his 
right complete his extraordinary equipment. For the 
rest you must imagine an Apollo-like form and the face 
of a fiend, and you have before you the beau-ideal of 
a Masai warrior. He takes enormous pride in his 
weapons, and would part with everything he has rather 
than his spear. He glories in his scars, as the true 
laurel and decorative marks of one who delights in 
battles. 
With astonishing hardihood, Moran and his comrades, 
thus terribly arrayed, shaped their course towards Swa- 
hili-land ; for, strangely enough, they have found that 
they can lift the cattle with greater impunity there than 
anywhere else — in spite of the Swahili guns and a large 
population. The reason is the complete absence of any- 
