Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/448

 864 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. many othi r peoples, that they are the elect of mankind. According to the national legends, they are of divine origin, being sprung from a god who has his seat above the cloud capped summit of Mount Kenia. Like the Wukwafi, however, they have already bt^come diversely intermingled with the surrounding Bantu populations ; but the domain claimed or roamed over by them stretches somewhat more to the south than that of the Wakwafi branch. They occupy nearly the whole of the op?n country which stretches between the Upper Pangani and Upc»go, and arc also very numerous in the volcanic depression separating the two plateaux. The triangular Dogilani depression situated to the south of Lake Naivasha belongs entirely to the Masai people, who, however, have frequently shifted the limits of their territory, either by voluntary migrations, hostile encronclinients, defeats, famine, and other vicissitudes incidental to their loosely organised political system. They certainly number at present several hundred thousand souls, and must be estimated at over a million if in this ethnical group are to be included the Wahumbas bordering on Ugogo and the Wahuma.s scattered over Unyamezi and around the shores cf Victoria Nyanza. The Masai jdiysical type is one of the finest and noblest in the whole of Africa. According to Thomson, the men of pure Masai blood average six feet high, and have generally slim, wiry figures, admirable for running. Their features fre- quently resemble those of Europeans, being distinguished especially by broad foreheads and straight, slender nose ; but the upper incisors generally tend to project forwards, especially amongst the women, many of whom even 6nd it diffi- cult to make both lips meet. The cheek-bone is also very prominent, while the eyelids and the orbits have the oblique disposition characteristic of the Mongolic races. The skull, which is elongated and well developed, is covered by a mass of hair somewhat less crisp than that of the Negro and at times even quite lank. But this feature can be observed only amongst the young men, for all married men and all women without exception keep their heads carefully shaven. In the same way all the Masai people pierce and enlarge the lower lobe of the ear, insert- ing at first little rods, and afterwards distending it by means of heavy pendants made of iron or copper wire. Like some of the Nilotic and North Abyssinian tribes, the Masai pastors will frequently remain for hours standing on one foot with the other planted against the calf, and the body resting on their' lance or shield. So F. L. James tells us that the Base tribe " have a very peculiar way of resting, which is, I believe, common among many of the tribes of the White Nile. They place the sole of the right foot against the left knee, a mode of repose which to a European seems most uncomfortable and almost impossible." * Being essentially a pastoral people, the Masai lead a restless wandering life. Their usages are also in many respects intimately associated with the nomad existence of herdsmen. In various ways they show the greatest veneration for their cattle, even respecting the very herbage which serves as the daily food of their herds. Grass is in their eyes a sacred plant, which may not be thrown to the flames, nor yet cut down to be used for thatching their huts or strewing over • WUd Tribes of the Sudan, p. 90. *