226 AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS
centre chiefly round minor differences in custom: Foods eaten or refused, peculiarities of dress or ornament, and mannerisms such as particular ways of walking or talking. To tribes of non-Bantu stock, despicable qualities and sinister intentions are usually attributed. To the Logoli, the term avavo refers to their westerly neighbours, the Luo, and has the connotation of something evil and inferior. The Luo are ridiculed for differences in their tribal customs. They are derided because they do not practise circumcision, and cowardly boys, in a circumcision song, are told to run off to the Luo country and marry there, as the Luo women are satisfied to marry uncircumcised men. Among the Vugusu, an analogous attitude towards their non-Bantu neighbours prevails. The El Kony are merely ridiculed for their weakness in warfare, while numerous derogatory comments are passeH on the Teso who, next to the Masai, were the chief enemies of the Vugusu.
With such relations and attitudes prevailing between the different tribal groups, what were the motives for warfare? From accounts of war expeditions and an analysis of all the accom-panving circumstances, it appears that the two immediate aims in attacking other tribal groups were to capture cattle and to inflict a loss of life upon the group attacked. While the first of these two motives is clearly economic and requires no further interpretation once the significance of cattle in the tribal economic organization is known, the second motive cannot be considered an end in itself, as it leads to the further question: 'Why do people want to inflict a loss of life upon a neighbouring tribal group ?'
To a certain extent, the taking of life might be considered a necessary consequence of the raiding of cattle, as the owners will try to defend their cattle, so that violence naturally results. The conduct of warfare by the 'Bantu Kavirondo'shows, however, that open encounters with the enemy were not avoided whenever possible, but actively sought after. Apart from single-handed cattle-stealing, they employed very little cunning in their raids, but openly challenged the enemy once they had approached him. In war and victory songs, the killing as such is praised as the main purpose and achievement in a fight, and undoubtedly the thrill or 'sport' which warfare furnishes and the fame and prestige which the display of courage and daring bestows upon a warrior was a powerful motive and perhaps the strongest immediate incentive