ablutions, etc.) being over, the bride goes out with bells attached to her legs, indicating that she has become a wife. A missionary who witnessed the carrying off of a prospective bride without understanding the meaning of the business thought the girl's captors were very cruel, and raised his voice indignantly against such conduct. When told that it was the usual marriage custom of the tribe, however, he was greatly amused. The Masai tribe, who are fierce in war, act gingerly enough in love-making. When a swain falls in love with a young woman, he deputes his brother-in-law to go to the mother of the damsel with two cakes of tobacco. The mother usually accepts the love-token, and the daughter, as a rule, makes no demur. When the girl comes of age (they are all engaged long before this) the man brings a heifer, and later on two cows, a bullock, four sheep, and two skin bottles of honey. One of the bottles is made into mead for the purpose of offering up in sacrifice on account of the bride. The honey of the other bottle is squirted out of the mouths of father, uncle, and mother on to the body of the bride, and after this ceremony is finished she is given to the bridegroom. [Illustration: A MATCH-MAKING PALAVER IN PROGRESS. _From a Photograph._] Between betrothal and marriage there is no communication between lovers, and should the man come unintentionally upon his intended whilst eating, he runs home and brings two goats as a trespass-offering! Another custom of this tribe is equally curious. When a man has gained the affections of a woman whom he wants to marry, he sets off to the forest to look for wild honey. Having procured a calabash of the precious commodity, he takes it to the parents of his sweetheart, going a second and third time to the forest on the same business, as he must present three calabashes of honey before he gets a hearing. Three cakes of tobacco added to the above make him qualified to press his suit further. Afterwards he brings another calabash of honey, a heifer calf, a bullock, and a sheep. The honey is made into mead, and the suitor, with his friends, goes to the house of the young woman, where the ox and sheep are killed. Feasting now graces the proceedings, and the bride and bridegroom go through a ceremonial washing, which is the formal way of "tying the knot." The ceremony being over, the father-in-law and his new son-in-law address one another with the familiar and endearing epithet of "Wageri."