All being
perfectly naked (I mean the girls and the boys), there is no expense,
and the children act as herdsmen to the flocks as in the patriarchal
times. A multiplicity of wives thus increases wealth by the increase of
family. I am afraid this practical state of affairs will be a strong
barrier to missionary enterprise.
A savage holds to his cows and his women, but especially to his COWS. In
a razzia fight he will seldom stand for the sake of his wives, but when
he does fight it is to save his cattle.
One day, soon after Bokke's visit, I heard that there had been some
disaster, and that the whole of Mahommed Her's party had been massacred.
On the following morning I sent ten of my men with a party of Ibrahim's
to Latome to make inquiries. They returned on the following afternoon,
bringing with them two wounded men. It appeared the Mahommed Her had
ordered his party of 110 armed men, in addition to 300 natives, to make
a razzia upon a certain village among the mountains for slaves and
cattle. They had succeeded in burning a village and in capturing a great
number of slaves. Having descended the pass, a native gave them the
route that would lead to the capture of a large herd of cattle that they
had not yet discovered.
