io6 EASTERN ETHIOPIA ix 
3upidit7 of neighbouring tribes, especially the Masai. 
These two tribes were perpetually at war. The Wa- 
Kikuyu is the only people which offered any real 
resistance to the swaggering, fighting, raiding Masai. 
In order to raid Kikuyu cattle the Masai warriors had 
to travel through the forest 
along winding tracts beset with 
pits, with the enemy lining the 
side bush with bows and arrows, 
swords and spears. On the 
plains the Wa-Kikuyu warriors 
were no match for them, but 
in the depths of the forest the 
El-Muran raiding parties had a 
bad time. 
The warriors of Kikuyu 
imitated their warlike neigh¬ 
bours in many ways, such as 
copying their customs in regard 
to hair-dressing, decorating 
themselves with feathers, the 
hair of goats, the long tails of 
the guereza monkeys, and the 
tusks of the wart-hog. Men 
mutilate their ears in the Masai 
style, practise circumcision, file 
their teeth, and possess the 
habit of standing on one leg. 
They attach the same value to 
spitting as a charm and a sign 
A Honey Barrel ornamented flieildsllip, and imitate the 
with poker-work. Masai ill their weapons of war, 
such as spears, swords (sime), 
bows, arrows, knobkerries, and sliields. The warriors 
also ape the El-Muran in the drinking of blood, which 
they obtain from the cattle, by piercing the jugular 
vein by means of the blocked arrow, as practised liy 
their warrior neighbours, Mr, and Mrs, Routledge 
