With respect to clothing, weapons, dwellings, pottery, basketry, agriculture, and other forms of manufacture and enterprise, the inhabitants of East Africa are well advanced, while everywhere there is a great system of exchange or barter, which is not always found among more primitive savages, such as the Australian native tribes. Naturally, in so vast an area there are thousands of tribes, hence in this small book there will be space to tell only of a few of the most interesting inhabitants, who had their home in the “Dark Continent” long before the explorers Livingstone, Stanley, Mungo Park, Baker, Burton, Speke, or even early voyagers like Father Lado, Hanno, and the centurions of Nero ventured to penetrate the wilds. CHAPTER II THE FIGHTING MASAI In the year 1895 British East Africa, formerly governed under a Royal Charter held by the Imperial British East Africa Company, came directly under the management of the British Foreign Office. Thanks to the assistance of the Masai, hostile tribes, such as the Wakamba, were completely subdued; and on our side it may be said that protection was given to the Masai against their treacherous and warlike neighbours the Akikuyu. Perhaps the term “warlike” should no longer be applied to Masai tribesmen, for of late years they have been extremely peaceful. Misfortunes, such as loss of cattle by a disease called “rinderpest,” and outbreaks of small-pox, have made this very independent tribe rely on the British Government for advice and protection. There are certain points in which the Masai resemble Zulu tribes; for instance, their fighting men must not marry, and there is a royal family from which a chief is always selected. Some of the marriage customs are very similar, and among both Zulus and Masai there are like methods of painting warriors’ shields in order to distinguish companies and larger units. Against all these points of comparison there is one important fact, namely, difference in language, which very strongly suggests that the Zulus and Masai are not related. [Illustration: A MASAI VILLAGE.]