THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY AND THE MASAI tude over four thousand feet. The zebras, which one sees by the hundreds in almost any ride over the valley, are evidences that horses will thrive. There are also many ostriches, and in time we may have ostrich farming here as in South Africa. The average elevation of the lake valley is something like six thousand feet, and the grass is said to be luxuriant everywhere.

This is one of the strongholds of the Masai race, who have always been noted as warriors and stock raisers. I see them about Naivasha, and not a few still carry spears and shields. They have many little towns near by, and their settlements are scattered throughout the Rift Valley. They live in huts about four feet high, six feet wide, and nine feet long. The huts, which look like great bake ovens, are made of branches woven together and plastered with mud. Sometimes they are smeared over with cow dung, which material often forms the floors. When it rains, skins are laid over the roofs to protect them. The houses are usually built in a circle about an inclosure, in which the cattle are kept at night. The sheep and goats are allowed to run in and out of the huts. Some of the towns have fences of thorns around them to keep out the wild beasts.

These Masai are a fierce-looking people. The men are tall and straight, and walk as though they owned the earth. When they have their war paint on, they use a decoration of ostrich feathers which surrounds their faces, and is supposed to carry terror to the souls of their enemies.

These natives are by no means pure Negroes, but belong to the Hamitic-negroid or non-Bantu group. Their skins are dark brown, their noses are often straight, and their 287