THE LUMBWA AND ELGON CAVES 
289 
as far as we know, rarely, however, excavated caves ; his 
implements were of too rude a character for extensive work 
of this kind, and he generally occupied such caverns s s nature 
provided. We have no evidence of the period which has 
elapsed since Elgon and the Nandi and Lumbwa plateaux were 
first occupied by man ; the present tribes have not been in 
occupation more than a few hundred years at the outside : they 
came in from the country north-west of Elgon, viz. from the hilly 
country east of the Nile. They were also probably the first 
people to bring domestic animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats. 
If this premise is correct, it tends to confine the period during 
which natives would have dug into the earth for salt. When 
they arrived in this area from the north we do not know if they 
found the country already occupied by agriculturists, but 
some think that this may be the case on account of the existence 
of what appear to be ancient dams for conserving water for 
irrigation. The real ancient inhabitants were, however, the 
Dorobo or Oggiek or Okiek, and these were the people who 
fashioned the stone implements, arrow-heads, and bowls which 
are now being brought to light as the country is opened up. 
They are generally classed as Neolithic in type, but this 
diagnosis fails to give us a date, for there is no reason to believe 
that stone implements in Africa are contemporaneous with 
implements of a similar type found in Europe, and which 
were gradually superseded by those of the bronze age, and 
later on of the iron age, and so on until we can obtain a grip 
upon a basis of historical dates. 
In order to render some of the previous references to earth 
movements, &c., clearer to readers, the tabulated statement 
on p. 290, given by Professor Gregory (vide his book, ‘ Great 
Eift Valley,’ p. 285), is republished. It is an attempt at the 
correlation of the volcanic rocks and earth movements in 
British East Africa, and is a marvellous example of geological 
insight, especially when one considers the limited time that 
scientist had in the country and the scanty information at 
his disposal. 
So far as I am aware, the sequence he sets forth generally 
stands, but I am venturing to suggest the following amend- 
ments : 
