TI1E OMAIIA SUNDAY DEEt MARCH 1, 1903. Queer People of the Great Rift Valley in Heart of British East Africa t 1 ' ' ' - - j - ' i si' ,fv " I : V . j i 1 J V r " - .... .. ,.. , .-. i i ' ' ' -s 1 0"- ; A jZ1 ON THE SHORES OF LAKE NAVAISHA. wears a lion's head and mane In addition to the circle of ostrich feathers about the face. His arms are a sword and club. He has a apear with a very long blade and an oval shield bearing figures which Indi cate his clan. Qnerr Cnntoiua of Marrlasre. These people buy their wives. Girls are looked upon as merchantable commodities i have a soft snap. They are required to do nothing until they are married. Before thit they play with the warriors, spending their time In dancing and singing and loaling about. The unmarried girl often does not do her own cooking. Tills condition con tinues for a long time after marriage and up until all the babies of the family are fairly well grown. As soon as that is ac complished, however, the hard-working ind are paid for in goats and cattle. After period begins. AlmoBt all of the hard labor the cattle are handed over the girl goes to 0f the tribe Is done by the older women, her husband, and she may not come back They collect the fire wood. They build the MASAI WARRIORS ARE FIERCE LOOKING. to her father's house alone thereafter, but must always have her husband with her. A Masai can have as many wives as he can pay for, and if he Is rich he has a hut for each one. If not, he may keep 'wo or three In one hut. The first wife Is always considered the chief wife, and is supposed to boss the establishment, al though the favorite sometimes supersedes fier. Such marriages, however, are not sup posed to take place until the Masai be- people always drink their milk fresh, but this method of cleaning the gourds gives It a smoky flavor The? Drink Blood. The Masai are blood Jrinkers. Their country has practically no salt, and I am . told that they keep In health by blood drinking. Thoy consume all the blood of the animals they kill and sometimes bleed their cattle In the neck and then tie up the wounds so that they grow wtll afc-ain. Bometimes a strap Is tied around an ani mal's throat and an arrow Is shot Into the Jugular vein. As the blood gushes r. V'--- ---' -'! V -'.'..-.,Jt,.I ':'; .- Ji- (ill ! Mil?' mud houses and gather the cow manure with which their walls are smeared. When the villages are moved from place to place forth It is caught In gourds and drunken these withered dames take the parts of the warm. donkeys and bullocks In carrying the bur dons. They erect the new huts and they are, as a tule, mere hewers of wood and drawers of water. Nation of Stock RaUera. These Masai do no farming. They are a The people eat but few vegetables and they do no farming whatever. Their cooking Is usually done In pots of burnt clay, varying from, eight to twenty lnehes In height. The larger pots are not placed over the fire, but at the side of It, and are turned around, now and then, In order ,,,7-?: t7rVY- 1 W 3 ' v lflsMssssapM.ssssssssas I III llswsssasMssWSMssM for nBMnn -t,.v .n i... ond nwn hrd nf that t hpv m n.v hth evenlv heatmL tuopyrignt, iu, oy riwm j. i nrptnwi.i uiiucr iiiu nn, urn moi.iiii- nuuui wi eomes an ewer inai is, unui no re&cnea mA w,ih hv drivA iivicin n.i.ioV, B-o. ifri u!,t lo.rir,. v, . hen - . . m mki. i. caiue, sneep ana goats, wniui iuojt iuirw 3 AIVASHA, British East Africa, waist, leaving the breasts bare. N (Special Correspondence or I The Bee.) In the heart of the rjUfll AUILMI ins "(a((uo1 no " south of the Mediterranean sea as New York Is distant from Lenver,and as far west of ilia Indian ocean as Pittsburg Is west of the At lantic, I am writing this letter for my These Masai are by no means pure ne groes. They belong to the Bantus race and their skins are dark brown. Their noses are often straight and their Hps not very thick. As to their hair, I can't tell you whether It Is woolly or not. The women shave It close to the scalp, using razors the age of about 27 or 80. This Is after his warrior days are over and he Is ready to settle down, as it were. The warriors and the young girls of the tribe live to gether up to that time in a separate es tablishment apart from the rest of the people. In order to marry, a warrior has to asl; permission of the elders of the tribe. If MASAI WOMEN IN PARTY DRESS. Mombasa on the rocks overlooking the been near Mount Kenla, In a country which $ Indian Ocean. The house Is decorated with he says Is phenomenally rich. He tells me A Talk with aidney I,. Illnde. trophies secured by Mr. Hlndo and his that the Uganda railway goes through Tha most of my information about these wife during their Rtay In Africa. Upon the some of the poorest land in British East of Iron or glass, and they polish their American readers. I am in the Great heads with arease. so that they fairly ahlne i. trfvAn Via tralirhtwav Vmi va Vila wlf A Rlft valley, a mighty trough, which runs ln the sun. I understand they pull out an(1 ,( sno ls a fn8 looking girl she will almost north and south through this part the hair from all parts of their bodies cost m two cows, two bullocks, two sheep It begins at the Zum- and that even the babies are shaved. Many and Bome Koat gin,,.. This money aoes to of the continent. besl and traces of It are still to be found of the men carry about tweezers of iron ln Palestine. It is supposed to be formed to pull the hairs from their chins, cheeks by the earth half folding up after a and nostrils, and they keep themselves mighty volcanic eruption, which left the shaved until they are old enough to be craters of Kilimanjaro, Kenla and Elgon, warriors. This comes along about the . . iiuu 0l irum time they reach manhood. They then let somctimea returned. Widows cannot marry " l" -w.vuu K. the hair of their heads grow ana piait This great valley narrows and widens it into pigtails. A common way of wearing It rises and falls, and It has many great these pigtails ls down over the forehead, lakes. Broadly speaking, all the great it Is often soaked with oil and red clay lakes of East Africa are in It or ln Its m connection with a similar anointing of spurs. North of here are Lakes Barlngo the ret of the body. Tho warrior often and Rudolf, and still further north la the nearest relative of the woman he has selected, who may lower the price If he will. Divorces may be had for laziness and bad temper on the part of the wife; and In such cases a part of the marriage fee ls again. If her husband dies the woman goes back to her mother, or to her brother if her mother be dead. Old Women l)o tbc Work. As far as I can learn these Masai girls about from pasture to pasture. The cattle are of the humped variety like the sacred cows of India, many OX them being rat, Masai cornea from Captain Sidney Iang- floors are the skins of Hons and leop- aloek and fine looking. Bome of the anl- ford Hinde, the famous explorer and Hon ard., on the walls are the heads of mala are branded, and not a few have rude hunter. He Is now subcommlsslom-r of giraffes, antelope, gun and other b'g bells of Iron ln order that they may be this colony, and I met him at Mombasa game, and there are native spears and traced if they stray. The mast of the cat- on my way here. Captain Illnde was Weapons of every kind standing about. A tie are watched by half-naked boys, who born ln Canada, not far from Niagara large number of the skins are from anl- drlve them about with sticks from place to Falls. He received an excellent medical mals shot by Mrs. Illnde, She has herself place. Every morning and evening the education ln Germany and England, but killed several Hons, no end of antelopes cowa are brought into the villages to be began his life as a captain ln the Belgian and zebras, and one huge rhinoceros, milked, and nearly every town of mud huU colonial service During his stay there he jn my talk with Mr. Hinde, he told mo has its cow house, rr.e women ao me explored the upper LuaJaba and other milking. This la contrary to the custom ln rivers, and wrote a book entitled "The some parts of Africa, where it ls thought Fall of the Congo Arabe." About ten the cows wll go dry if any female touches years ago or so he came over into British them. The milk Is caught in gourds which Bast Afrfca and took part ln the sub are afterward cleaned with handfuls of Jugation of this country for the English. much about the Masai, saying that they were now quiet and are becoming semi civilized. They are now paying the annual hut taxes of about 3 rupees each, to the government. Three rupees means fl Amer ican. It seems but little until one remem- Africa and that the Kenla torrltory ' has great possibilities. Ho predicts that the railroad which is now to be buljt from Nairobi to Fort Hnll, under the shadow of Mount Kenla, will pay from the start and that Kenla will eventually be covered with rich farms. Said he: "When Mrs. Hinde and I first came into the province the country was In the same condition It had been for ages. We found that It contained about l,0ft),000 people, who lived ln little villages, each containing about ten huts or so. There were no great chiefs. Each village was independent on almost constantly at war with the neigh boring villages. The citizens of one settle- burnt grass. The calves are brought along- He Uved with the Masai and other na- ners that It takes a native about a month ment knew nothing of those of the other side their mothers at milking time, and the tlves and made a study of them. When cows will not let down their milk without I met him he was acting as governor of they are present. If a calf dies It Is skinned British East Africa, ln the absence of the and stuffed with straw and then placed chief, and his home was one of the offl- under the cow's nose for milking. The clal residences, a beautiful cottage outside to earn that much, whin it becomes a great deal. About Mount Kenla. A great part of Mr. Hlnde's work has Abyssinia is Lake Tsana, the source of the Blue Nile. As I write I am looking out on Lake Nalvaaha, a beautiful sheet of blue water over which white cranes are flying. I oan see zebras and ante lopes feeding not far from the water, and with my glass can watch the ugly black head of three hippopotami bobbing up and down like giant fishing corks upon the surface. The shores here are swampy and are lined with masses of reeds. Just back of them the ground rises into rich pastures, which are pro tected from sportsmen by the reservations Disappearance of a Forty Thousand Dollar Chalice R OME, Feb. 18. Mystery sur rounds the disappearance of a historical chalice from the Church of Santa Maria ln Sil via, which forms part of the Abbey of Montlcelll near An- Tha church and abbey, once a fief of the Genga, was missing allotted to the Uganda railway and fairly delLa Genga family, was the favorite real- are now being nuicle. fine arts department about the safekeeping of historical and artistic objects, an In spector entrusted with the compilation of a catalogue made an investigation and dis covered that the challre, as well as sev eral sacred vestments and a heavily Jew eled cope, also a gift by Cardinal della Other investigations A few days ago a member of the Italian chalice among its treasures, generally the Parliament Identified ln an antiquary's shop In Paris the missing chalice of Montl celll and-hastened to notify the Italinn settlements about. A man dared not ven ture more than ten miles from his home, and he had little knowledge of the country outside that radius. There were no roads whatever, excepting trails, which wound this way or that over the land. The only meeting places were at tha markets, which were held at certain fixed points on certain days of the week or month. It ls a rule throughout Africa that warfare and fight ing must be suspended on market days, and no one dares bring arms to a market or fight there. If he should engage in gift of a pope or a cardinal, and yet the fighting and be killed his relatives cannot number of such chalices is dally diminish- claim blood money. swarm with big game. Falure Stock Conntry. The weather here ls delightful. We are so near the equator that one can almost straddle It, but the altitude ls such that blankets are needed at night, and It la never excessively hot during the day. Naivaaha ls a little higher up in the air than the top of Mount Washington, and the climate of the whole Rlft valley ls said to be BUlted fot white men. This matter ls being tested by settlers. Large tracts of land have been taken up ln different places, not far from the rail road, and there are many English who are going Into stock raising. Right near the lake the government of British Eafct Africa has started an experimental farm and there are large ranches ln the imme diate vicinity. There are no tsetso flies here, and the sebras, which one sees by the hundreds in almost any ride over the valley, are an evidence that horses will thrive. There are also many ostriches, and ln time we may have dence of Cardinal Annlbalo della Genga, It has been ascertained that as far back who afterward became Leo XII. Here he four years ago the authorities of Monti spent many days away from the noise and- co11' reported the disappearance of the bustle of the world trying to forget his ad- chalice to the Ancona police, who paid no venturous life with its many disappoint- attention to the report A curious circum ments in the pursuit of his two favorite "tanre In connection with its disappearance occupations, hunting and teaching the is the fact that neither the chalice nor the peasants to sing Gregorian chants. Occasionally he would return to the du ties of the papal court and he was often sent on delicate missions by Pope Plus VII. One of these was to the court of Louis XVIII of France. It happened that before certain negotia tions had been concluded the pope sent a seoond mission to the same court headed by Cardinal della Genga's political enemy, Cardinal Consalvl, with more amplo powers. Louis XVIII, realizing Cardinal della Genga's chagrin at being superseded by a person whom he disliked, presented him with a precious chalice, which the cardinal took back with him to Monticelll. When Plus VII died among the cardinals who hastened to attend the conclave for ostrich farming here as 'they have ln tna le-'t'on of his successor was Cardinal vestments figure ln the Inventory held by the present custodian, although It Is well known that they belonged to the church. South Africa. The average height of the valley Is something like 6,000 feet, and the grass ls said to be luxuriant everywhere. Land of h Masai. This is one of the strongholds of the Masai race, who have always been noted as warriors and stuck raisers. I see them about Naivaaha, and not a .few still carry spears and shields. They have many little towns nearby, and their settlements are scattered throughout the Rift valley. They live ln huta about four foot high, six feet wide and nine feet long. The huts look like great bake ovens They are made ft branches, woven together and plastered with mud. Sometimes they are smeared over with cow dung, material often forms the flours e-aina, skins are laid over the roofs to proloct them. The houses are usually built In a circle about an inclosure. In which the cattle are kept at night. The heep and goats are allowed to run ln and out of the houses. Some of the towns have fences of thorns around them to keep out the wild beaata. These Masai are a fierce-looking people. The men are tall and straight, and they walk as though they owned the earth. When they have their war paint on they use a decoration of ostrich feathers which aurrounds their faces, and Is supposed to carry terror to the souls of their ene Dilea. The men are usually bare to the waist, and not infrequently have a bul lock hide WTappeJ around them. Musi M eaten. I wish I could show you some of the Masai women. They are as vain as pea cocks and are loaded with Jewelry. Some of them have great rings of brass wire colled around the neck: ln concentric cir cles, wire after wire being used until the whole extends out aa far as the shoulder. They have brass wire woven about their arms from their waists to their elbows, and from the elbewa to the shoulders, and also great colls of similar wire fastened by string to the lobes of their ears. Aside from this they wear but little. A cloth wrapped around the body and falling to the knees or below them being about their only clothing. Bometimes this cloth della Genga, who. much to his sumrlse. was elected pope.' After his election he returned no more to Montlcelll, but to the church he presented the precious chalice and appointed his heirs as Its custodians. The chalice Is of pure gold studded with precious stones, rubies, topazes and in crustations of diamonds at Its base, and its value has been estimated as high as HO.Otf). It was the custom on feast days when mass was scld in the chapel to use this chalice, and many priests ln the dis tricts remembered having used It. The present holders of the land, Counts Pier Mattel and Puccl of Perugia, rarely visit Montlcelll, as their lands have fur several years been sublet to peasants and practically they have no Interest In the ind that cnurch. For the last four years the peas When It nta have noticed that the chalice was not used any longer, even on the feast of the patron of the church, and rumors were circulated that It had disappeared. Owing to the recent rules issued by the itV . I j J ' 1 Jf ' -" . ""1- rM j fU- on j- ?v Mm t-Mi.':.. r f i "1 fsx it f government, which ls - reported to have taken steps toward Its recovery. It ls more than likely that the chalice will be lost to Italy forever, first because It was not included In any government catalogue, and secondly, because Its Identity would be almost Impossible to establish, as It hus generally happened that a goldsmith hav ing successfully wrought such a master piece has had a replica made of it tor some rich patron, and therefore the chalice now ln Paris might not be the original that is missing from Italy. There la hardly a church of any Import ance in Italy that has not some valuable jSilVJm GiL-r CXSi &l C E W TUT' Prattle of the Youngsters Teacher Now, Elmer, spell chicken. 6mall Elmer I'm not old enough to spell chicken. Try me on hen. Little Elsie (at the theater) Mamma, Is that man on the stage crying In eurnestT Mamma No, dear. Little Elsie-Well I don't see how he can cry for fun, Small Bobby Nurse, do you know where the doctor lives that brought the baby? Nurse No, Bobby. Small Bobby Well. If the kid loses an arm or leg or anything, how II you know where to get new partaT Teacher (at night school) What la a sacred cow, and why ls It so called? Shaggy Haired Pupil "Sacred Cow" ls a corruption of "sick red cow," its sickness being caused by a large hump on Its shoul ders. Little Marjory, after having fallen from the sofa, got down on her knees and began "What are you doing, dear," her mother asked. "I lost my balance, arid I'm hunting for it." .0 I i , Mi r M Tl ' V 'jl TT f . , . ' . HI cfe . ing. It ls a well known fact that within the last twenty years several chullces of value have It en missed. They have either been sold ubroad, a comparatively easy undertaking considering that they are easily portable objects, or Use they have carefully been hidden In order to prevent their being seized by the government and placed in museums. Many subterfuges have been resorted to In order to exclvdc sacred vessels from the government catalogues, and in many cases valuable cttlices are known to have been replaced by Inferior Imltutlons. Still the collection of chalices In the churches of Italy Is Important and complete, as It con tains specimens of all styles and schools, from the earliest glass vessels of the cata combs, which resemble ordinary drinking cups rather than sacred vessels, to the beautifully carved massive specimens of the renalusance. Many of these chalices are no longer used; as they are so heavy and ornate that they are more suitable to adorn the treasury of a church than to serve for the celebration of mass. The Fine Arts department has evidently realized the necessity of pruvent Ing the dispersal and loss of sacred vessels from the churches and to this end a special law has recently been passed declaring all sacred vessels of artistic value, whether owned by churches or by private Individ uals, to be Inalterable, even If they are not registered in the government catalogues. At the nmn time the pope has ordered a complete lk' of all the valuable vessels ex isting In the churches and has instructed the parish prleBts that they are not to soil any cf them without the consent of the Holy See. The Joint action of the govern ment authorities and the vatic an will con tribute to keep intact the collection of chalices In the churches of Italy. Does It Pur to lie (iaadt "Dad." began Ton-my, "haven't I been real gomt since I've been going to Sunday school?" "Yes," answered dad. "And you trust me now, ilon't youT" "Yes," sulci c'ac'. "Then," d inainled Tommy, "what raak" New noidi Made by tbc British. "When we tool: posReeslon of the Kenla province," Captain Hinde went on, "we had to fight our way In. As soon as we had subdued the people we made them work at making roucls as a penalty for their Insur rection. We connected all the villages by roadways and gave ench town so much to take care of. As a result we now have In that province alone 4t0 miles of good wagon roads, each ten feet ln width. We have also made it the law that every road shall be considered as having all the rights of a market place. This means that no native can assault another while walking upon them and that all feuds must be burled when traveling over the roads. Many of these roads conneet villages which were formerly at war with each other, and the result Is that they have become peaceful and that the citizens can now travel safely from one town to another. They are really changing their natures and are going through a process of travel-education. As I have already Baid, five years ago they never left home. Now thousands of them travel over our roads down to the sea coast and we have something like 1,800 na tives of Kenla here at Mombasa." Evolving a Civilisation. These remarks of Captain Hinde show how John Bull ls gradually evolving a civilization in these African wilds. The Masai are about the most Intelligent of the natives, and there are millions about here who are much farther down on the Bcale of barbarism than they. As I shall show in other letters, some go absolutely naked, and some are Btlll as far back In the arts of civilisation as were the people of the stone and iron ages. It Is only a few years since slavery was common and can r.lbullsm was more or less carried on. Then Justice was unknown and life of no ac count. The British ore now gradually changing all these conditions. The Masai now knows that he dares not assault his neighbor and he is gradually becoming a decent cltlsen. Both ho and his fellows of other tribes are beginning to understand the value of labor. The Masai will not dig, but they are paid you keep your box of cigars hid the same for herding stock, and some of as ever? Forgot Her Maiden Name Teacher Now, Tommy what "t-o-o" spells? Small Tommy Yes, ma'am, too." Teacher That's right. And "t-o" spell, Johnny T Small Johnny I guess it spells "one. can you tell me It spells what does Is fastened over the ahouldeis. sometimes looking about as If In search of something. "Aha!" exclaimed the father, sternly, "you have been skating, although I told you not to." "How do you know?" chattered the boy In his dripping clothes. "Why, you're soaked to the skin!" "Well, dat's a sign I been swtmmln'." "Bo," said Tommy's father, "you took dinner at Willie Sluut's house today. I hope when it came to extra helpings you had manners enough to say 'No.' " "Tes, sir," answered Tommy. "I said 'Nv several tunas." "Ah! you did?" "Yes, sir. Mrs. Stout kept askln' me if I had enough." Minister Little boy, I suppose your par ents have taught you the golden rule. Will you now recite it? Boy Well, Just now it's "Shut the door and wipe your feet," but In the summer time It's "Don't let In the flies." "Mamma," asked a little girl, "why do bouillon cups have two handles?" "Well, you are stupid!" cried her young brother. "Don't you know it's because some people are lei l-handed?" A poor memory for names la a common defect, and probably most persons have been embarrassed by it occasionally. Cer tainly many a person has owned up to a queer soit of u-bsenunlndednt ss, which, for instance, would cause him suddenly to forget the name of a friend upon whom he had gone to tall. After the doorbell had been rung the unfortunate caller would discover that he did not know who to ask for when the servant should ap pear. Hut such performances as this have been completely cast in the shade by an exhibition of memory fail jre given re cently by a Mrs. I:., who lives uptown. On account of the death of a dlHtant relative she was obliged to go to the sur rogate j tfficc to a Ui.d t) so. ae .:.Uei concernlrg the will. It was necessary, In the course of the proceedings, f'ir her to sign to a certain document her maldn name. Telling her Just where the signa ture was to be affixed, the clerk handed her the pen and waited for her to write. But to his surprise for she had shown good business ability and vnOsrstandlng up to that Instant she merely stared at him, Willi increasing liewllclerment showing uiMin her face, and neither said a word nor 'n some places it even passes for money. the other tribes are doing actual work on the farms and on the railroad. They are beginning to have wants, and as these Increase they will work to supply them. Many of those who formerly went naked now want more or less clothing. Cotton goods are becoming popular, and, strange to say, the Ameri can white cotton sheeting brings the highest of prices amcng the natives. It outsells the Indian and English goods and mode any aiteir.pt at writing. "Just sign your maiden name, you know; that's all," repeated the clerk. "I I know what you say," stammered Mrs B., "but I can't remember It to save my life. I've been married twice, and it is a very lontf time since I've had oc casion to use my original name. I know you must think It's very queer, and It Is, Anotner ariicie Horn America that Is in great demand here is cool oil. The natives buy it to light their huts, and the big chiefs almost universally own one or more kero sene lamps. Other foreign articles much desired are umbrellas, knives and hard ware of vurious kinds. A system of East Indian stories ls going up throughout the country to supply the natives. The Hindoo but I shall have to gu home and find out traders cairy their goods everywhere, and tli' name." in years to cx.me a new people will take She disappeared hastily, relieved to es- the placs of the savages of the past, cape from the clerk's astonished eyes. As it Is now the missionaries ar doing In telling the story afterward to a friend considerable both here and In the countries he sulci that fcdu ..Dciil fully ten minutes about the great hikes. The most of such walking up and down the block ln front nf work ls now In the hands of the English, the building, trying desperately to recall but at Kljate, within a few miles of Lake the Inst name. At the end of that ttm Nalvasha, there Is an Industrial mission she gave up the el fort and went home, sc hool run by American Quakers, and that as she had at first Intended, to dig the same denomination has another Industrial necessary information out of an old book settlement In the Kavlroiido country beat which she had owned when a alM New LAke Victoria. ' York World FRANK a CAECNXBJU 4 'f W"