AMONG THE MASAI.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 November 1923, Page 4

AMONG THE MASAI.

!a -A Whit'- Woman Among lie .Ma .:,:" .Mrs Marguerite Mail, u ha- ! ie-eri bed ber experiences during an extended \ isil to an "stale in an ontej the-vay pan <•: l-.a-i Alriea. I iom I, -ginning to end she I; el an exciting nine. A 1 Mooiisi-su. ,-m tbe way up. v ,;.s , rdied Upon to nurse an invalid in Lite 'a-t -n-g-e- oi • - -a uinpr Wk. and a !!->., I deg. Abe avenged them heth. shot ti-.e culprit and promptly fainted. However, her ne’-ves v.ei-e soon -leele-L ami she lackled lions, leniiards. rhinos, and other formidable i-ii-Lnier' wi; limit torunig i, bail". In the intervals oi -port -he bet a nised, and al-o oardenvd "itli 5iic- ......... SI;,, le.i'bea I'-- to tell U- Ir.e-ize of I lie nuiiiii oi - us she i-. i. for fear that we -hmibl think she was romancing. She is an etil iiU'i.islie booster ol Ma-a ila ml. but one gathers that U . ismylkiiig but an Arcadia, as Ibe bib loving chapter heading indicates: — “Visitation W beetles- - wlii-tc ants—big spiders- bee - gras-lfnppei s—caterpillars ticks monkeys---python'. Ami (p.iite apart from animal and iii'd t p Ho' ilii-iii am a lighting race, and, though in general well behaved, they are liable lo sudden outbreak.- in v. liit-li thrv lent, burn, and destroy in-

hiscrinonnt ely. A I'ising to the Masai forci :1 l!:e aiilli r and her hot to take to icciir. and they e.•tinted ihem cite, lucky in escape alive with the loss ol most 01 their possessions. However, Mis, .Mai to it do s not dwell on the. disagreeables. She gossips pleasant !,V about life in the wiid. >incoin mimic a : it, to i!. • • render the delights of going "..11 safari." and the niys!'-! ions fascination of tin jungle, particularly alter sninlown. She spent a night -m .1 tree, and saw in tin* suit moonlight all manner of animals, "rent and small. feeding and passing on tin or way. oMiiions oi l-.er presence. I Inis ; •• Hounding down the avenue came two cheetahs: I always entertain feelings of something near akin to affection for these boasts, so virile, so careless iii their movement.- are they. Nothing of the <•;! h'tila I ing, -tealthy I read of ihe leopard, nothing "i ns venomous haired tor mankind. They never at tack human doings, ra--1 her aim'd them, and when tamed make inn-: iniere-1 ing and all'cetinnat .■> pets. 1 town this fairy glade, stepping lightly, fitting accompaniment to this sylvan scene, came a small herd of blue duiker. Tiny legs, no thicker than the founlain pen with which I write, heatitiful hi lie, or perhaps slate, silky bodies, -mail graceful heads sot on such slender throats, and big lustrous eyes, they look only lit ted for such surroundings as these, such absolute stillness and peace. I!y twos and threes the.i came, scarcely deigning to touch the ground. I almost held m,v breath for fear I should -untie them. Smaller than a hare, infinitely more graceful, they tiled out into the moonlight, beauty personified.” Hut in Africa, in the most idyllic -citing, there always lurks a villain— in this ease a leepanl, whose intrusion scattered tins ill ini y pro. cs-ioii.