222 THE LAND OF THE LION 



No East African native seems to have the slightest idea 

 of a future life, not even those who profess Mohammedanism. 

 Their Mohammedanism is the shallowest of superficial 

 things. It offers them an alliance with a "caste," which 

 they have come to think of as a higher one than their own, 

 and as such they accept it and rather look down on the 

 tribes that remain heathen. But of the doctrines of Moham- 

 med they know nothing whatever. They have never seen 

 a Koran and they never say their prayers. 



Before I leave the, to me, fascinating subject of the Cher- 

 angang, I must mention one peculiarity of theirs and of the 

 Elgoa. It is their lack of all boastfulness or exaggeration, 

 and their accuracy of statement. They are careful observers, 

 these wild men, of the animal life around them, and many 

 were the stones told by our nightly fire. 



One of these supplements in a rather singular way that 

 remarkable incident Mr. Fleischman saw on the Tana 

 River, an account of which is published in Mr. Selous's last 

 book, where Mr. F.'s photographs are reproduced. In that 

 case a crocodile pulled a rhino under and ultimately 

 devoured him. 



The old chief of the Cherangang knew from his boyhood 

 the Nzoia river. He had himself killed forty elephants in its 

 neighbourhood. Once, he said, when he was watching at 

 one of the fords (the river there was running rather deep 

 and the banks were steep and slippery) a large herd of ele- 

 phants came to the crossing. There were several small toto 

 elephants with the herd, and one of these went under the 

 surface. The old man said he saw a big bull carefully put 

 his tusks under it and so lifted it slowly and carefully to the 

 bank and up the bank. He was asked if he ever saw the 

 bulls carry the totos on their tusks, as some native legends 

 say they do during long marches. He at once said he had 

 never seen it, nor did he believe the bulls ever did this. Then 

 he went on to tell how on the same river he saw a toto 



