xxix MAHOMETAN FAITH, ETC. 257 



of the faith, and am finished with it now and 

 forever ! ' 



With these words, he took his prayer-board from 

 under his arm, broke it in pieces, and flinging the 

 fragments on the fire, sat down to a right royal 

 ' tuck in,' while my men, most of whom are 

 Mahometans from the coast, and the Wangindos, 

 unable to resist the humorous side of this little 

 tragi-comedy, simply rolled in the sand and yelled 

 with laughter. 



I'm afraid that the Mahometan religion has lost 

 many of its adherents in Africa owing to the 

 temptation of elephant meat, for I have, on many 

 occasions, been present when this taboo and the 

 teaching of the Prophet have fought a pitched 

 battle in the arena of a native's simple soul, to the 

 complete discomfiture of Moslemism. 



