The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-09

of the breaEts bare. These Nandi were walking adg the railroad track, and were closely watched by the station agents l an old that they are great thieves and thd the British have had trouble with then because they steal bolts and rivets Khih hold the rails to the ties, and even limb the telegraph poles and steal the Nre. The women I saw had coils of bras wire around their necks and arms, and ong coils of similar wire tied to strings iItheir ears. In their own country telegraph wire brings big price as jewelry, anl they look upon the strands of iron stretched from pole to pole along the railroal just as our women look upon gold and silver jewelry. If the wires along our racks were made of gold and silver so tlat one could snip off a section far out ii the woods, and make a good necklace fr his girl out of it, you would have abolt the conditions that pre- vail here as to he telegraph. The native men are crazy br iron. They can use the bolts and rivet for slungshots to brain their enemies, and all the iron they have had in the pas has come from digging up the ore ano smelting it. The Nandi live northwest d here on a plateau which contains iron dsposits, and they make a business of mining and smelting. Since the railroad his been built they have COil6 uOWH ITDH lille lO llile dllu Tdlu- ed the tracks, and the British have had several little wars with them to keep them off. They had one in 1900 and an- other in 1903.
 Queer Nandi Customs.
 These Nandi are among the bravest of the African natives. They are much like the Nasal, dellghting in warfare. and ready to fight at the least provocation
 
 kuyu, and do considerable work in iron and leather. They have cattle, sheep and goats, and few do some farming Like the Nasal, they bleed their cattle, and drink the blood hot, sometimes mixing it with their porridge. After bleeding they close the wounds so that the cattle grow well again. They are good hunters, and have large dogs, with which they run the game down so that it can be killed with spears, They also trap game by digging wedge-shaped pits and covering them over with grass. They have donkeys which they use to carry the iron ore from the mines to their furnaces, whero they turn it into pig metal.
 These people have about the same cus- toms of marriage as the Nasal. The young girls live with the warriors until they reach a marriageable age, and mar riage is always a matter of bargain and
 
 is three goats, a COW and a good fat hen, and the belle of the tribe may bring twice as much. Among the Nandi the woman who bears the most children is considered the most valuable. She who has twins is a mascot, and is given cow the milk of which goes exclusively to her. The women of this tribe wear small aprons of leather, ornamented with beads. and the young men go practically naked The married men dress much like those I saw on the track.
 I understand that the Nandi live about the same as the other natives about here. They have circular huts of boards roofed with thatch. Each hut has a fireplace In the center and on each side of this lit- tie bed consisting of a platform of mud built along the wall of the hut. The peo- pie sleep on the mud, and use round blocks of wood for pillows. The children sleep with their parents until they are years of age, when they are moved off into smaller hut outside, built especially for them. They believe in witches and men. and they have sky god to whom they pray every morning and to whom they sacrifice when times are hard
 People Who Dress In Beads.
 Nearly all these Africans believe In witch doctors. The Wal1amba, whose