148 AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS
the payment of poll-tax to-day, they accepted as part of the order of things. It was an admitted burden, but it had to be made in order that life could be carried on.
Okutoizha, or the payment of homage by the client to the Mugabe, was a source of considerable income. Here, again, the exact amount is beyond investigation. Every Muhima, upon becoming an omutoizha, or client, presented the Mugabe with from one to three head of stock, depending upon the size of his herd. Poor herdsmen who could not afford to give away cattle brought milk, butter, or calf-skins. The payment of okutoizha was made periodically and as long as a Muhima wished to be the Mugabe's client. Okutoizha differed from tribute in that it was freely given by the client, who believed that the protection received warranted the payment.
Although okutoizha was essentially a political instrument, a means for setting up the Mugabe-client relationship, we are here concerned with it as an economic measure, a specific institution for the maintenance of the State structure. As the cattle came to the Mugabe's kraal and were presented to him, they became his personal property; he knew the names and appearance of these cattle and knew also the increase which they constituted to his herd. The Mugabe, himself, however, did not use these cattle for his own food, but sent them to swell his herds distributed throughout the country of Ankole. For the purpose of keeping a tally upon his cattle, the Mugabe had special men called entuma, who knew exactly where every cow was stationed and from whom it had been received.
From the purely economic standpoint, cattle received through okutoizha formed a savings fund, a surplus upon which herdsmen in distress could draw. Any of the Mugabe's clients, when in need of cattle, could come to the Mugabe and explain his plight. After carefully hearing the matter, the Mugabe would present the man with a number of cattle in order that he could establish a new herd. The number of the cattle which the Mugabe would give to a client depended upon the man's former wealth and his relationship to the Mugabe. If the man had performed many services for the king, he would be given more help than if he were unknown. This differential treatment among the Mugabe's favourites was a source of ill will among the Bahima and often led to open rebellion on the part of dissatisfied herdsmen. It was the particular