ELGON

elgon, also known as masawa, an extinct volcano in british east africa, cut by 1 deg. n. and 34-1/2 deg. e., forming a vast isolated mass over 40 m. in diameter. the outer slopes are in great measure precipitous on the north, west and south, but fall more gradually to the east. the southern cliffs are remarkable for extensive caves, which have the appearance of water-worn caves on a coast line and have for ages served as habitations for the natives. the higher parts slope gradually upwards to the rim of an old crater, lying somewhat north of the centre of the mass, and measuring some 8 m. in diameter. the highest point of the rim is about 14,100 ft. above the sea. steep spurs separated by narrow ravines run out from the mountain, affording the most picturesque scenery. the ravines are traversed by a great number of streams, which flow north-west and west to the nile (through lake choga), south and south-east to victoria nyanza, and north-east to lake rudolf by the turkwell, the head-stream of which rises within the crater, breaking through a deep cleft in its rim. to the north-west of the mountain a grassy plain, swampy in the rains, falls towards the chain of lakes ending in choga; towards the north-east the country becomes more arid, while towards the south it is well wooded. the outer slopes are clothed in their upper regions with dense forest formed in part of bamboos, especially towards the south and west, in which directions the rainfall is greater than elsewhere. the lower slopes are exceptionally fertile on the west, and produce bananas in abundance. on the north-west and north the region between 6000 and 7000 ft. possesses a delightful climate, and is well watered by streams of ice-cold water. the district of save on the north is a halting-place for arab and swahili caravans going north. on the west the slopes are densely inhabited by small bantu-negro tribes, who style their country masawa (whence the alternative name for the mountain); but on the south and north there are tribes which seem akin to the gallas. of these, the best known are the el-gonyi, from whom the name elgon has been derived. they formerly lived almost entirely in the caves, but many of them have descended to villages at the foot of the mountain. elgon was first visited in 1883 by joseph thomson, who brought to light the cave-dwellings on the southern face. it was crossed from north to south, and its crater reached, in 1890 by f.j. jackson and ernest gedge, while the first journey round it was made by c.w. hobley in 1896. (e. he.) eli (hebrew for "high"? 1 sam. chaps, i.-iv.), a member of the ancient priesthood founded in egypt (1 sam. ii. 27), priest of the temple of shiloh, the sanctuary of the ark, and also "judge" over israel. this was an unusual combination of offices, when it is considered that in the history preserved to us he appears in the weakness of extreme old age, unable to control the petulance and rapacity of his sons, hophni and phinehas, who disgraced the sanctuary and disgusted the people. while the central authority was thus weakened, the philistines advanced against israel, and gained a complete victory in the great battle of ebenezer, where the ark was taken, and hophni and phinehas slain. on hearing the news eli fell from his seat and died. in a passage not unlike the account of the birth of benjamin (gen. xxxv. 16 sqq.), it is added that the wife of phinehas, overwhelmed at the loss of the ark and of her husband, died in child-birth, naming the babe ichabod (1 sam. iv. 19 sqq.). this name, which popular etymology explained by the words "the glory is removed (or, stronger, 'banished') from israel" (cf. hos. x. 5), should perhaps be altered from _i-kabod_ (as though "not glory") to jochebed (_yokebed_, a slight change in the original), the name which tradition also gave to the mother of moses (q.v.). after these events the sanctuary of shiloh appears to have been destroyed (cf. jer. vii. 12, xxvi. 6, 9), and the descendants of eli with the whole of their clan or "father's house" subsequently appear as settled at nob (1 sam. xxi. 1, xxii. 11 sqq., cp. xiv. 3), perhaps in the immediate neighbourhood of jerusalem (is. x. 32). in the massacre of the clan by saul, and the subsequent substitution of the survivor abiathar by zadok (1 kings ii. 27, 35), later writers saw the fulfilment of the prophecies of judgment which was said to have been uttered in the days of eli against his corrupt house (1 sam. ii. 27 sqq., iii. 11 sqq.).[1] see further, samuel, books of; and on eli as a descendant of a levite clan (1 sam. ii 27 sq.), see levites (s 3). (w. r. s.; s. a. c.) footnote: [1] on the old views relating to the succession of the priests, according to which the high-priesthood was diverted from the line of eleazar and phinehas into that of ithamar, see robertson smith, _old test. in jewish church_, 2nd ed., p. 266.