according to his means, and keep herds of cattle. His wives he purchases
from their parents, the usual medium of payment being cows or sheep. The
young women who have been living in the El-morani village are considered
quite as desirable as the young virgins. If there are children, these
are taken over by the husband. They are considered rather a
recommendation than a detriment, for they prove the girl is fruitful.

Relieved of all responsibility, the ex-warrior now has full leisure to
be a gentleman. He drinks a fermented liquor made from milk; he takes
snuff or smokes the rank native tobacco; he conducts interminable
diplomatic negotiations; he oversees minutely the forms of ceremonials;
he helps to shape the policies of his manyatta, and he gives his
attention to the accumulation of cows.

The cow is the one thing that arouses the Masai's full energies. He will
undertake any journey, any task, any danger, provided the reward
therefor is horned cattle. And a cow is the one thing he will on no
account trade, sell, destroy. A very few of them he milks, and a very
few of them he periodically bleeds; but the majority, to the numbers of
thousands upon thousands, live uselessly until they die of old age. They
are branded, generally on the flanks or ribs, with strange large brands,
and are so constantly handled that they are tamer and more gentle than
sheep. I have seen upwards of a thousand head in sole charge of two old
women on foot. These ancient dames drove the beasts in a long file to
water, then turned them quite easily and drove them back again. Opposite
our camp they halted their charges and came to make us a long visit. The
cattle stood in their tracks until the call was over; not one offered
even to stray off the baked earth in search of grasses.

The Masai cattle king knows his property individually. Each beast has