The Masai (q.v.) and allied tribes are nomads and cattle raisers.
In many parts of Africa the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives; among the Amazulu, as among the Betsileo of Madagascar, certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes; the Masai, on the other hand, regard each species as the habitat of a particular family of the tribe.
Joseph Thomson, in his journey through the Masai country in 1883, was the first white man to see the lake and to correct the exaggerated notions as to its size.
But all over the savage world, especially in Africa, spirit worship has sprung up and choked the All-Father, who, however, in most savage regions, abides as a name, receiving no sacrifice, and, save among the Masai, seldom being addressed in prayer.
In the northern zone this check is absent, and the number of more essentially pastoral peoples, such as the eastern Hamites, Masai, Dinka, Fula, &c., correspondingly greater.