THE BANTU OF KAV1RONDO 229
The raiding of crops was customary only in the densely
populated areas and among predominantly agricultural tribes,
such as the Logoli and Nyole, while the more pastoral Vugusu
ridicule it as below the dignity of warriors.
It becomes apparent, therefore, that there was no need for a tribal military organization, but that each clan or a group of neighbouring clans would conduct their war expeditions, as well as their defence against attacks, on their own account. Actually, both for the Logoli and the Vugusu, there are no records of any 'wars' on a tribal scale, but only of fighting and raiding expeditions undertaken by the different clans. Since, of course, only the larger clans could venture to undertake raids and provoke an open fight, as only they possessed a sufficient number of warriors, the smaller clans either had to stay behind or to associate themselves permanently or temporarily with a larger clan for cooperation in raiding. Warriors of other small clans accompanied on their own initiative groups of warriors of larger clans, particularly those with whom they were related in the maternal line or by marriage or whose circumcision age-mates they were. Where hostile tribes lived on all sides of the tribal territory, as was the case both with the Logoli and the Vugusu, the clans living nearest those sections of the border which were most suitable for raids and attacks acquired leadership in warfare. Thus among the Logoli the clan of the Mavi which fought against their western neighbours, the Nyole and Luo, and the clans of the Yonga and Tembuli, which fought against the Nandi and Tiriki in the east, appear to have been the clans which were foremost in taking the initiative in fighting. Till to-day they boast of more famous warriors than the smaller clans.
Such leadership of certain clans in warfare did not, however, necessarily entail any political domination over the smaller clans. There was no 'calling up' of warriors, but participation in a raid was voluntary and the spoils of war were divided among all warriors according to the degree of their participation in the raid. The initiative to embark upon a raid came either from the young men or from the elders who, sitting on the oluhia, incited the young men to go out and capture cattle, 'as they had not seen meat for a long time'; or it arose from an incident, such as the murder of a tribesman by members of another tribe with whom peace had been concluded. If the raid was likely to prove difficult and to require