Note 71 — Chapter III · PASTORAL TRIBES.

Marea Tigres have a harder lot. Two kinds of obligations are incumbent on them: towards their respective masters, and towards the nobility en bloc. Even the poorest noble never becomes a Tigre, and does not perform degrading work, such as for instance milking. The Tigre pays his master yearly 8 bottles of fat, a measure of corn, and every week a leathern bag with milk. Of every cow killed by a Tigre the master receives a considerable portion; a cow belonging to a Tigre, which dies a natural death, falls entirely to the master. As for the Tigres’ obligations towards the nobility as a whole, on several occasions they have to give up their cattle for the nobility. Among the Black Marea the Tigres own most of the land; among the Red Marea the greater part of the land is in the hands of impoverished nobles, who live chiefly upon the rent of their landed property. Another class are the Dokono, who are obliged to choose a patron and pay a tribute, but are held in rather high esteem and often marry daughters of the nobles; they own land and herds and are much given to trading71.