NZOIA PLATEAU AND ITS TRIBES — 233 
three women (of course of another tribe). The smallest 
child counts on the tally. When he gives proof of this, he 
is received formally. Spear and shield are returned to 
him, and he may drink milk and blood. I tried hard, 
but in vain, to find from the Elgoa some explanation of 
this method of removing the tribal ban. All they would 
say was, that they, the Kamasea, and the Maraquette, 
only obeyed the customs handed down to them by their 
fathers. 
The Cherangang had no such custom. Tribal homicide 
among them seemed extremely rare. The Cherangang 
chief had lost three daughters and two wives, some years 
before, to the raiding Nandi. I asked him whether if he 
had the power, he would kill the man who captured them 
and still held them. For, Enoch Arden like, the old Cheran- 
gang had made the dangerous trip across the plain, and had 
one night discovered the exact whereabouts of his missing 
family. His answer was strangely pathetic. ‘“‘No,”’ said 
he, ““why should I? He took them by strength.” Iam 
glad to say steps are being taken to bring them back 
to him. 
The Elgoa woman is allowed much greater freedom 
than is granted to the Massai. None can be sold by her 
father (inside the tribe or without) to anyone unless she 
approves the man. She can and often does, in the early 
days of her independence, seek out the youth she desires. 
If she would do this, she must observe the custom of her 
tribe. She must waylay him in the forest paths and, having 
met him, wait till he speaks. He says, “‘ What are you looking 
for’ She, “I am looking for my lover.” He, ‘Well let 
us go.”’ Henceforth she is his wife, and takes rank as his 
first wife if he marries other women. 
Their burial customs differ completely from those of 
any other community. If a man or woman dies leaving 
children, these take the body and bury it deeply in the ground. 
