THE KINGDOM OF ANKOLE IN UGANDA 143
swore before the Mugabe to come back with cattle or to die in the attempt. It was before this hut that eveiy new Mugabe was invested with office, before which cases of murder and treason were tried and punished, and where the peace ceremony was performed. All important meetings were accompanied by beer-drinking, the beer being served in individual calabashes by Bairu servants. The ekyikomi (great fireplace), we saw, was the common meeting place where minor cases were tried, where entertainment took place, and where every commoner had the opportunity to do homage to the Mugabe. The nyarunzhu rweterekyero, on the other hand, was the official centre of the Banyankole State, where only the leading men met to discuss and transact State business.
The Mugabe wras never completely free from danger. Not only foreign enemies, but rebellious subjects threatened his position. Chiefs who had fared badly in a distribution of captured cattle or who had had their possessions and positions taken from them were ever ready to revenge themselves upon the king. In the accession war, it sometimes happened that one of the Mugabe's brothers would flee to another kingdom and later endeavour to return and slay the king. Against these external and internal enemies, the Mugabe maintained a strong guard, permanently quartered in the orwekubzvo;-this enclosure was built next to the women's quarters, the nyarubug^y and was the enclosure into which the Mugabe retreated when the alarm was sounded by the gate-keepers. In the orwekubwo there was a special hut for the spears which were made by the Mugabe's blacksmiths. As a rule, the command of the king's private guard was in the hands of the king's mother's brother, who owed his high rank to the king and was, therefore, believed to be loyal and trustworthy.
As we shall see later, religion played an important part in the Mugabe's life. .Offerings had to be made to his ancestors and to his etnandwa, not only for his bodily welfare, but also for the success of his enterprises and for the health of his cattle. A special enclosure, the kagondoy was set aside for this purpose. In this enclosure there were the endaro, spirit huts for the ancestral and emandwa spirits. These endaro were so large that the spirit wives of the Mugabe were able to live permanently in them. The emandwa huts were the same in form as those used by the commoners, i.e. they consisted of a sheaf of grass tied near one end and set up to form a conical hut into which a pot of milk or beer could be