144 AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS
deposited. In the kagondo the okubandwa ritual for the emandwa spirits was performed, and here cattle were killed that were to be used as offerings and to act as the leader in the okubandwa ritual. Also that part of the moon ritual which entailed okubandwa was performed in the kagondo.
The milk and the meat which the Mugabe personally consumed was obtained from his own herd. For this purpose, a considerable number of cattle were kept in the ekyikari in an enclosure called the eka y'enkorogyi. The word enkorogyi means the herd which remains with the owner and differentiates it from the enshubi, or herds which are dispersed throughout the land. These terms are used generally by all Bahima when speaking of their herds. The Mugabe's herd, like the herd of every Muhima, was made up of cattle, some of which were set aside for the ancestral and emandwa spirits and others which served purely economic purposes. The Mugabe's herds were noticeable for the fact that they contained many black and white cattle. As cattle of these colours were used for special ritual purposes, any Muhima bringing the Mugabe a black or white cow would be well received and rewarded with cattle of other colours. This special herd was kept in the ekyikari, the Mugabe's private enclosure, and was clearly separated from the large herd belonging to the Mugabe, which was kept in one of the numerous enclosures surrounding the royal kraal. The cattle of this large herd were used to support the Mugabe's retainers and were given away as gifts to visiting Bahima. It was constantly being replenished by cattle which were confiscated from rebellious subjects, came in as fines, payment for trying legal cases, or in the form of okutoizha (homage payments).
So far we have concerned ourselves with the internal form of the ekyikari (royal enclosure). Within it we found the nyarubuga, with all the various enclosures for the Mugabe's women, the nyarunzhu rwetirekyere (meeting hut, the guard quarters), onoekubo (the ritual enclosure), kagondo> and the eka y'enkorogyi (cattle enclosure). Just inside of the gateway, mugdba, there was the ekyikom, or great fireplace, where the Mugabe's subjects gathered to ask favours and to pay him homage. The ekyikari, then, was the centre of the orurembo or royal place; around it were scattered the subsidiary kraals called the amachumbi.
In one of these amachumbi kraals lived the king's private warrior band consisting of several hundred men, commanded by a