Therefore
they inhabit the grazing countries, and are nomadic. Their villages are
invariably arranged in a wide circle, the low huts of mud and wattles
facing inwards. The spaces between the huts are filled in with thick
dense thorn brush, thus enclosing a strong corral, or boma. These
villages are called manyattas. They are built by the women in an
incredibly brief space of time. Indeed, an overchief stopping two days
at one place has been known to cause the construction of a complete
village, to serve only for that period. He then moved on, and the
manyatta was never used again! Nevertheless these low rounded huts, in
shape like a loaf of bread, give a fictitious impression of great
strength and permanency. The smooth and hardened mud resembles masonry
or concrete work. As a matter of fact it is the thinnest sort of a shell
over plaited withies. The single entrance to this compound may be
closed by thorn bush, so that at night, when the lions are abroad, the
Masai and all his herds dwell quite peaceably and safely inside the
boma. Twelve to twenty huts constitute a village.
When the grass is fed down, the village moves to a new location. There
is some regulation about this, determined by the overchiefs, so that one
village does not interfere with another. Beside the few articles of
value or of domestic use, the only things carried away from an old
village are the strongly-woven shield-shaped doors.
Pages:
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257