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National Geographic : 1960 Sep
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in the world you can still hope to find more than an occasional one." Black leopard! They are very rare. "Where do you hunt them? " I asked, my imagination on fire. "Hunting's not for me, old boy," my friend said. "I deal with a German in Addis. He makes safaris into wild places the government doesn't even know it owns, and he trades for the skins with people who'd likely spear you or me on sight. "My daughter Louise runs the fur shop in the New Stanley at Nairobi. I buy the furs, and she makes them into coats that sell for large prices." The plane crossed over the Kenya frontier and climbed steadily toward the mile-high Abyssinian plateau. Beneath the wings passed the Great Rift Valley, the high blue Ethiopian lakes, and mountain country so savage the thought of engine trouble caused chills. What giants men were in days of old! Ethiop kings led entire armies over this bitter KODACHROMEBY EDWARDS. ROSS @ NATIONALGEOGRAPHICSOCIETY Unchanging Africa: a Masai and His Herd Plod Kenya's Plain Fierce Masai crushed rival tribes in battle, en joyed the wary respect of Arab slavers, and proved their bravery by slaying lions with spears and short swords. When the Mau Mau terror arose among the neighboring Kikuyu, the Masai tribe volun teered to fight them, but Kenya declined the offer. Roaming bush country 1,000 to 3,000 feet in elevation, the now peace ful Masai seek pasture for their cattle. Because prestige hinges on the size of a man's herds, the nomads value any breed or mixture, no matter how mean or bony. A million of their cattle browse the plains, contributing to the diet of marauding lions, but often ruining the grazing for wild game. A Masai need not kill a cow to enjoy a repast. Using bow and arrow, he punctures the jugular vein and catches a gourd ful of blood to drink. Then he slaps mud on the wound, and the ani mal rejoins the herd, ap parently none the worse. 345
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