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THE SOUL OF CENTRAL AFRICA

ANKOLE: MEDICINE-MEN READY FOR WORK

The Soul of Central

ArriC3. <^ General Account of
The Mackie Ethnological Expedi-
tion ^ By the Rev. John Roscoe,

Hon. M. A. (Camb.), Leader of the Expedition

With 56 Plates and Map

Cassell and Company, Limited, London

New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1922

SIR PETER J. MAGKIE, Bart..

whose munificence made the Expedition possible,
these pages are gratefully dedicated.

PREFACE

IN this book I have aimed at giving a general account
of the journeyings of the Mackie Ethnological Ex-
pedition in Central Africa and of the lives and ways
of the peoples visited, leaving such information as is more
of a purely scientific character and not so much of popular
interest to be published later. Some of the customs of
these tribes are, indeed, of such a nature that they
cannot well be described in a book which is intended for
the general reader. I have, however, mentioned in pass-
ing a few of these customs, without entering into details,
in order to let people at home know that there still exist,
in this age of enlightenment, human beings .whose lives
are spent in such terrible darkness.

When I ceased to be a missionary in Africa I was
several times asked whether it would not be possible for
me to return to the country and complete some of the
investigations which I began during my twenty-five
years of work there. It was thought that as I had been
resident in those parts for so many years, and not only
knew the country and the peoples, but had also some
knowledge of their languages, their characteristics, and
their modes of thought, I was more suited for conduct-
ing an ethnological expedition than a younger man, who
would take months to acquire the preliminary knowledge
that would be necessary before he could start the real
work of investigation.

For some time funds for such a purpose were not

vii

viii Preface

available, but Sir James G. Frazer, who first aroused in
me an interest in anthropology, was unceasing in his
attempts to find some means of financing the work. At
length, owing to his efforts, Sir Peter Mackie, of Glen-
reasdell, became interested in the project, and most
generously came forward and shouldered the whole
financial burden, handing over to the Royal Society
ample sums for the purpose. The Royal Society under-
took the supervision of the expedition and exerted its
great influence to remove obstacles and difficulties in
the way of travelling arrangements in Africa, and in
many other matters.

When, however, we had found so generous a patron,
other difficulties arose, for the war made the expedition
impossible, and, when peace came, travelling difficulties
were so great that it w^as June of 1919 before I finally
started. That I got a passage even then was due to the
interest of Sir Peter Mackie, who made arrangements
with the Clan Line of steamers to carry me and my
goods to Africa. I wish here to express my thanks to
this firm for the assistance which they rendered to the
expedition.

During all the preparations and throughout the whole
course of the expedition Sir Peter Mackie 's interest and
kindness never flagged, and he was indefatigable in his
endeavours to help me in every possible way. Personally
I owe him a great debt of gratitude, and words of
thanks are quite inadequate to express the service to
Science, to the Government, to Christianity, and, last
but not least, to the native of Central Africa, that his
generosity made possible. I can but hope that the results
of the expedition, incomplete as they are, may make a
fitting return for his munificence.

The objects of the expedition .were both scientific

yfn-/

Preface ix

and philanthropic. In the first place, science requires
information with regard to the tribes of Central Africa,
whose old habits and customs are fast disappearipg under
the rising flood of civilization. For the collection of
such information the time is now or never, for the only
records are in the memories of the people, and a very
short time will suffice to sweep them into oblivion.
Secondly, it was hoped that the information thus acquired
might be of some help to those who rule this part of
our Empire and, through them, to the native tribes who
inhabit it. The peoples of such a land are so entirely
different from us in their habits of life and thought that,
in order to secure just and peaceable government, their
rulers should know enough of their laws and customs to
avoid those flagrant errors and injustices which must of
necessity lead to discontent, bitterness, and strife. Such
a study may also show what ideas and tendencies already
present in the native mind may, with advantage, be
strengthened and developed in order to accelerate the
growth of these peoples in civilization, so that they may
take their place in the forward march of the nations of
the world. Then, too, for the missionary a right under-
standing of primitive beliefs is essential, for he should
be able to distinguish between customs which must be
ruthlessly destroyed and those which contain a germ of
truth capable of development. He must also be able
to present the Christian belief in a manner acceptable to
the native mind.

I have here and there set down criticisms which my
special knowledge of the native and of his language has
enabled me to make. These, I hope, may be of some
help in caUing attention to abuses which may have been
overlooked or of which the serious character has not
been realized.

X Preface

One important purpose of the expedition remains
unfulfilled, for native risings and the unsettled state of
the country made it impossible to go through Karamojo
to the borders of Abyssinia in order to visit the Galla
tribes. This was just the part of the country in which
I had hoped to do the most valuable work of the expe-
dition, but it has had to be left for some future time,
it may be for some other worker, who, I trust, will be
more fortunate and more successful than I was.

Mr. Wellcome, of the well-known firm of Messrs.
Burroughs, Wellcome & Company, very generously pro-
vided me .with a medicine-chest and the drugs necessary
for the expedition. These were invaluable, and saved the
lives of my boys on more than one occasion, besides
enabling me to gain an influence among some of the
peoples by my ability to supply remedies for diseases
from which they were suffering. My sincere thanks are
due to Mr. Wellcome for this, and also for a donation
to enable me to collect objects of pharmaceutical interest
for investigation and exhibition purposes.

I desire here to record my grateful thanks to the
Rev. W. A. Cox for his kind help in reading over the
MS. and making suggestions; to my assistant. Miss
Bisset, for unceasing work which has relieved me of
much of the burden of producing this book; to Sir
James G. Frazer, who has kindly read the proofs; and,
finally, to Mr. Filleul, of the Uganda Protectorate, and
one or two others, who have supplied me with some of
the photographs.

OviNGTON Rectory,
Norfolk.

September, 1921.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER FAG«

1. The Start of the Expedition . . . .1

2. Mombasa — Nairobi — Kampala .... 26

3. Ankole — The Peoples . . ... 52

4. Ankole — ^Beliefs and Ceremonies of the Bahuma 78

5. Ankole and Kigezi ...... 94

6. toro and the journey to bunyoro . . .115

7. BuNYORO . . . . . . . . 186

8. BuNYORO (continued) . . . . . ' . 158

9. Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro . . 172

10. BuNYORo — ^Death, Burial and Succession . . 188

11. BuNYORO — Ceremonies, Religion, and Modern

Development ...... 204

12. Lake Kioga — ^Teso Country — Mount Elgon . 224

13. Mount Elgon — The Bagesu .... 242

14. Mount Elgon — Sabei 262

15. A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga . . . 280

16. Busoga — Farewell to Uganda .... 296

17. The Journey Home 314

Index 829

LIST OF PLATES

Ankole : Medicine-Men Ready for Work

Sir Peter J. Mackie, Bart. ....

The Derelict Rangkok being Towed into Port

Durban : A Native Hut ....

Durban : A Rickshaw and Driver

The Expedition Gar in a Swamp during the Journey to Ankole

The Cook to the Expedition

Ankole : The King and the Prime Minister .
Ankole : Cattle Grazing ....
Ankole : A Typical Hut ....
Ankole : Fat Woman being Carried on a Litter
Ankole : Fat Women Dancing
Ankole : The King with Sacred Staff and Spears
Ankole : The King with Sacred Bow and Spear
Ankole : Carpenters .....
Ankole : Smiths at Work ....

Ankole : Milk-pots

Ankole : The King's Sister, with her Husband and Child

Ankole : The King's Daughter and the Katikiro's Mother

Ankole : The Chief Medicine-Man

Ankole : Medicine-Men Exorcising a Ghost .

Ankole : Dancing to Drums made from Water-poti

Ankole : Sacred Drums in their House

Ankole : Crater Lake . . - .

Ankole : Crater Lake .....

An Old Woman of Kigezi ....

Man of Ruanda ......

Toro: The Salt Pools, Katwe Salt-works
Camp of the Expedition in Kigezi
Weaver-Birds' Nests .....

A Cannibal of Luenzori ....

Lake Albert : Gathering Water-weeds for Fuel
Lake Albert : A Government Station .
Lake Albert : Source of the White Nile
Toro : Our Last Camp on Lake Albert

xiii

Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

viii

102

112

122

126

132

XIV

List of Plates

FACING PASS

Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :

Cere

Bunyoro Type 136

Sir Samuel Baker's Assistant : Messenger between Sir Samuel
Baker and King Kabarega ....

Bunyoro Type .......

Bunyoro : The King with his Wife and Daughters
Bunyoro : The Royal Milk-pots and Churn .
Bunyoro : The Royal Meat Dish

Bunyoro : The King and Milkmaids ready for Milking
monies .......

Bunyoro : Two Wives of a Former King
Milking the Sacred Cows
Crowns Worn by Past Kings
Old Throne of the Kings
Rain-maker's Shrine ....

Bunyoro : Potters at Work .....

Bunyoro : Salt-works at Kibero ....

Bunyoro : Houses of the Salt-workers on the Lake Shore
Kibero ........

Bunyoro : Salt-works at Kibero. Scraping up the Sand
Bunyoro : Salt-worker at Kibero, with Pots in which Sand
Washed ........

Bunyoro : Carrying Salt ......

Packing Salt in the Market-place at Kibero .
Iron-smelters in Camp .....

Iron-smelters at Work .....

Sacred Pool for Human Sacrifice at Kibero .
Wicker Frame for Fumigating Bark-cloth
Taking an Augury from a Fowl .
Bunyoro Fetishes .......

Bunyoro : King with Chiefs of the Sacred Guild in the Old
Ceremonial Dress ......

Bunyoro : Present King with Court and Bodyguard

The King in Court .....

Band of Trumpeters for New Moon Ceremonies
Dance at New Moon Ceremonies .
Bunyoro : Assembling for the New Moon Ceremonies .
Bunyoro : New Moon Ceremonies. The King Advancing Along

the Sacred Pathway, preceded by Spear-bearers .
Bunyoro : The King's Jester .....

Bunyoro : New Moon Ceremonies. The Sacred Spears .
Bunyoro : New Moon Ceremonies. The King Pardoning a Chief
Bunyoro : New Moon Ceremonies. The King Under the

Canopy 214

Bunyoro : Court House at Masindi with King's House in Back-
ground 218

Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :

Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :
Bunyoro :

List of Plates

FACING PAC«

Bunyoro : Drums Used at New Moon Ceremonies . .218

Canoes on Lake Kioga ....... 232

Teso : A Granary 232

Bagesu Women, showing Scarifications ..... 244

Bagesu Men, showing Dress ...... 244

Bagesu Initiation Ceremony : The Dance before the Ceremony 254

Bagesu Initiation Ceremony: The Dance after Healing. . 254

Bagesu Initiation Ceremony : Taking the Oath . . . 258

Bagesu Women Carrying Food ...... 258

The Sipi Fall, Mount Elgon 266

A Government Camp on Mount Elgon . . . . . 266

Sabei ; Men and Women Carrying Food .... 274

Sabei : Porter Carrying Cowskins ...... 274

Sabei : Milk-woman with Gourd Pots, Carrying Baby . . 276

Women of Sabei 276

Sabei : Marriage Dance . . . . I . . . 278

Sabei : Houses with a Granary in centre .... 278

The Caves on Mount Elgon ...... 292

The Ripon Falls, Victoria Nile 292

The Owen Falls, Victoria Nile 294

Elgon Scenery ......... 294

Sud on the Nile 316

Old Nile Boats 316

A Temple on the Banks of the Nile 318

Rejaf : Gordon's Hill 318

A Native Fort in the Sudan ...... 320

Marchand's House at Fashoda ...... 320

The Nile Boat 322

A Wood Station on the Nile 322

Omdurman School ........ 324

On the Nile : Carrying a Baby in a Gourd Shell . . . 324

View on the Nile 326

A Native School on the Banks of the Nile .... 326

Map .328

GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS

Bagesu, the people living on the south and west slopes of Mount
Elgon.

Bahera, sing. Muhera. Serfs or slaves of Ankole and Bunyoro.

Bahuma, sing. Muhuma. Pastoral people. Used in this book
more especially of the pastoral people of Ankole.

Bakama, " the people of the King," a tribe on Mount Elgon.

Bamalaki, the heretical sect in Uganda who are followers of a
man named Malaki.

Bamuroga, the most important chief in Bunyoro.

Bantu, the people living in Central Africa, extending from the
Nile and far to south and west, who are allied by language and customs
and differ from the pure negro of the West Coast.

Basabei, the people living on the upper part of Mount Elgon to
the north and east.

Buganda, the country ; this word is now confined to Buganda
proper. Baganda — sing. Muganda — people of Buganda. Luganda,
the language of Buganda.

Bunyoro, the country next Buganda, extending to Lake Albert.
Banyoro — sing. Munyoro — the people of Bunyoro. N.B. Munyoro
means a freed man and was applied in scorn to the Banyoro by the
Baganda. Lunyoro, the language of Bunyoro.

Busoga, the country on the north end of Lake Victoria. Basoga,
the people of Busoga.

Kabaka, the title of the King of Buganda.

Katara, the true and original name of Bunyoro. Bakatara, the
people of Katara or Bunyoro.

Katikiro, the principal chief in Buganda.

Lewali, title of the Arab Governor of Mombasa.

Mbuga, the name of the capital or residence of the King of Buganda.

Muchwa, the reception room of the Queen of Bunyoro.

Mugabe, the title of the King of Ankole.

Mugole wa Muchwa, the title of the Queen of Bunyoro.

Mukama, the title of the King of Bunyoro.

Munyawa, title of the chief of tlie royal clan of Bunyoro.

Nyina Mukama, title of the mother of the King of Bunyoro.

Uganda, the coast name for Buganda. This name is now given
to the Protectorate and not to the part Buganda.

xvi

THE SOUL OF CENTRAL AFRICA

CHAPTER I

THE START OF THE EXPEDITION

Africa, a New Country — The Mackie Ethnological Expedition —
Delays and Difficulties — Life on a Cargo Ship — Cape Verde
Islands — Cape St. Vincent — A Storm — War Experiences at
Sea — Natal— Durban — Unloading Cattle and Cargo — Delagoa
Bay — Loading Coal — A Change of Ship — Mombasa.

IT was but a few years ago when, with those of us
who dishked geography, the map of Africa was the
favourite in our atlas. It called for least knowledge
and effort when we had to reproduce it from memory;
few mistakes were possible in the accuracy of our repro-
duction, because scarcely any rivers, towns, or villages
were known. The map contained just a scattering of
names along the coastline, with here and there a name,
based more on fancy than on fact, marked in the interior,
while a chain of mountains in the centre, bearing the
singular name, " Mountains of the Moon," completed
the design. To-day this schoolboys' paradise is a thing
-of the past ; explorers have trodden this hallowed ground ;
men such as Livingstone, Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker,
Stanley and others have crossed this great continent,
marking on the map, as they travelled, rivers, lakes and
mountains, and dividing it up into countries with actual

2 The Soul of Central Africa

and unpronounceable names, and thus niaking it almost
as difficult to study as any other.

This paradise may have been lost, its bubbles of deserts
and trackless wastes may have burst, and the map with
its ease of reproduction from memory have been snatched
from the hands of the youth with a distaste for geography,
but these pioneers have given us something of a more
romantic and fascinating character which will interest the
dullest intellect. They tell us of lands abounding in
wonders, of peoples of extraordinary characteristics and
manners; some whose homes are hidden away in rocks
and caves or buried in remote forests; others, whose
homes are built upon vegetation floating on the surface
of the lakes; while others, like birds, build temporary
habitations to be used for a short time and then
abandoned. There are beasts and birds of the strangest
habits, reptiles at once beautiful and repellent, unfamiliar
fishes gleaming in the sunny waters, and the most
beautiful plants and flowers the mind can picture. These
wonders may well fire the imagination of youth and set
the blood racing through the veins with a longing to sally
forth to explore this fairyland or to engage in the pursuit
or study of its wild animals.

At this period of the world's history there are people
who tell us that Africa is completely explored, and some
young folk are apt to think that the glory of African
adventure is gone, that the age of the discovery of new
lands or peoples is past, and that there remains only the
prosaic drudgery of sifting out the dregs which others
have left. Such people might, with as good reason, tell
us that England is perfectly known to the man who
visits it and passes by a straight road from north to
south without turning aside to see those towns which are

The Start of the Expedition 3

off his route or even to visit objects and sights of interest
in the towns through which he passes. Africa, though
much better known than it was even ten years ago, still
retains by-paths along which no civilized man has passed,
and there are many parts into which the white man has
not penetrated. Its flora and fauna are little known to
science and its mysteries of rock and earth are still
unsolved.

It was to find out a little more about some of its
peoples that the present writer ventured to go forth, at
the invitation of the Royal Society, upon an expedition
rendered possible by the munificence of Sir Peter Mackie,
the object of which was, briefly, to throw more light
upon the social life of one or two tribes living in
that part of the interior of Africa which is known as
the Lake region, and to add, by a more careful in-
vestigation, to our actual knowledge of these strange
groups.

Owing to the Great War the expedition was held
up for some time, the Government considering that the
presence of an Englishman wandering about in Central
Africa during that time was not desirable; there was
also further delay due to the difficulty in fitting out such
an expedition, when most of the goods necessary for it
were required for the troops. Not only was this the
case, but there were tribes to be visited who were con-
sidered to be in an unsettled state, while in other parts
Germans were going about inciting the natives to rise
against the English. For these reasons matters were
delayed until the Armistice, when the prohibitions were
withdrawn.

Difficulties of another nature, however, now appeared.
There were few passenger ships sailing to Africa, and

4 The Soul of Central Africa

those going were unable to grant any requests for accom-
modation, as every available berth was already taken and
there were long waiting lists. The procuring of pass-
ports, without which no one could leave England, was
also a lengthy business. All this seemed to involve
further months of waiting. A more speedy way of
reaching my destination, however, at length appeared,
for the suggestion was made to me that I might go out
in a cargo ship as a member of the crew. It was a
new idea, and at first seemed a somewhat doubtful
solution of the difficulty; but the assurance that there
would be no call upon me to undertake impossible duties
or disagreeable work changed my attitude. Moreover,
there was always the chance that the experience thus
gained would be useful in some way or other. I there-
fore readily consented to go in this way, and was duly
shipped as a supernumerary to the crew.

Even then some weeks elapsed before the ship could
sail ; there was first one and then another cause to detain
us. The ships available for the voyage were frequently
taken over by the Shipping Controller for other duties
which were considered more pressing, and when we did
at last sail it was with a large quantity of coal for one
of the coal depots which had iDcen depleted during the
war. These delays were useful in some respects, as they
enabled me to get the necessary outfit, which war con-
ditions had made it difficult to procure, and also to find
a substitute to carry on my parochial duties during an
absence which might extend to eighteen months or even
longer. The ship to which I was finally assigned was
the Ch7i Mac Arthur, carrying a general cargo to South
Africa. She was one of the regular Australian ships
fitted with special machinery for carrying cold-storage

The Start of the Expedition 5

meat, and now had to ship a large quantity of coal for
the Cape Verde Islands.

The ship was said to be lying at Cardiff, but upon
my arrival there I found she was taking in coal at Barry.
Here further delay occurred in getting the coal on board.
During the few days spent at Cardiff there was an
outburst of bitter racial feeling between the White and
the coloured sailors. This rose to such a height that
the men lost all self-control, and fighting took place.
Two or three of them lost their lives in affrays during
the three or four days these animosities continued.

It was therefore with feelings of relief that I went to
join the ship at Barry on Saturday, June 14, 1919, and
,was taken to the shipping office to sign the ship's articles,
a strange formality, but essential before I could sail in
a cargo vessel. Though the ship was due to sail when I
arrived, there still appeared to be much to be done
before we could leave the dock. The chief officer pointed
out a number of wooden stalls containing cattle which
had yet to be shipped, and which were all, as he told me,
valuable animals for South Africa. The task of shipping
these animals took some hours, as many of them would not
walk on board, but had to be put into stalls, which were
slung by cranes and secured on the deck. There were
in all two bulls and fourteen cows, with two or three
calves. The difficulty of getting them into their places
on board terrified them, and for two or three days they
were timid and unfriendly, but the gentleness of the
sailors and the frequent little attentions shown them made
them at last perfectly quiet and really fond of being
noticed and talked to by those who passed.

At about four o'clock the ship began to move out
from the docks, and soon, as we were passing down the

6 The Soul of Central Africa

diannel, we saw the last of the English shores as the sun
was sinking. My cabin was the office of the chief
engineer; it had a table under the berth, so that, when
I got my things unpacked, it formed a comfortable
room. I found there were some twelve other super-
numerary sailors who, like myself, had secured a passage
in this way in order to get abroad earlier than they could
otherwise have done. Among these passengers I soon
found two or three who became firm friends.

The /master of our ship was Captain Stirling, whose
seniority in the service had given him the opportunity of
important and varied work in the mercantile marine
during the war. He had run many risks from German
submarines and from mines, but his ships had escaped
being sunk, though the grave responsibility and constant
strain of such work, wdth the loss of countless hours of
sleep, had told considerably upon his nervous system.
He proved to be one of the considerate, thoughtful men
we occasionally meet with in life, and he became a most
helpful friend to me during the voyage. Each day, after
we got out to sea, I spent many hours on the captain's
deck, where I had a chair and could read in comfort.
At first the sun was not too warm to sit exposed to its
rays, but we speedily passed into a region where the
awning was acceptable. The decks of cargo ships are of
iron and made for rough work, but the captain has a
deck for his own use, and this was boarded and comfort-
able for a passenger.

Life on board ship is so familiar that there is no
occasion to go into details about it; still, as this was a
cargo ship, it may be interesting to some readers to
know how things are done. The number of the crew is
limited to the bare requirements for working the vessel,

The Start of the Expedition 7

so that cleaning of paint and deck-washing have to be
reduced to a minimum, though a chief officer who takes
a pride in his ship and its appearance will not allow it to
get dirty, and will find means to have the decks washed
down frequently, if not daily. There is, as a rule, good
accommodation for the members of the crew in the way
of bath-rooms and other conveniences, and there is an
air of comfort when the ship gets under weigh and all
have settled down.

The duties of officers engaged in working the ship
are the same as on passenger boats. The chief officer
seldom keeps his watch alone ; he has one of the appren-
tices to help him, for, as the general oversight of the
crew falls on him, he is often called away from the bridge
to other duties. His .watch is from four to eight in the
morning, and at the same hours in the afternoon, thus
allowing him reasonable time for rest at night so that
he may be available at any time during the day if
required. The officers have a nice saloon for their mess,
and can sit there on wet days or during cold weather if
they wish to enjoy each other's company.

There are usually two or three apprentices who assist
the officers in navigating the ship. One of them is
generally on the bridge, but they have also other duties
to perform, and studies to carry on in their cabins when
they leave the bridge at the end of their .watch. Their
studies and preparation for examination in seamanship
proceed daily under the supervision of the chief officer.
In like manner the engineers have duties to perform
when they leave their watch in the engine-room; the
machinery must be kept in order, and those of them who
have higher examinations to pass have to study for them.
Thus ships' officers have a busy life, which keeps them

8 The Soul of Central Africa

from being dull or finding time hang heavy on their
hands.

We supernumeraries .were quite numerous enough
to be able to form sides for games, and soon deck
iquoits were in fashion for those who favoured that recrea-
tion. It has always been my rule to take regular
exercise in the form of walking for a certain length of
time each day in the morning and again in the evening,
and to spend the rest of the day reading and writing.
I found sufficient room on one of the decks to promenade,
sometimes alone, at others with an officer or occasionally
one of the passengers. I had brought with me certain
books which had reference to the work I had to do, and
these occupied me for the whole voyage. On board ship
the novice soon settles down to the routine of life;
indeed, in a few hours he feels quite at home, and after
two or three days he does not seem to have had any
other existence. We had a good wireless installation and
two operators, one being on duty at all times, and each
day we thus had bits of information from home until
we were nearing Cape Verde Islands. This information
was passed from one to another, and formed a pleasant
variation to the small talk we had to make at meals.

At the close of a week we were drawing near our
first port of call; we had seen little of the unpleasant
part of the seafarer's life during that time, as we had
been favoured with good weather. The Bay of Biscay
did not cause us any inconvenience, for we were too
far out at sea to feel the usual effects of the troubled
waters. The first place of call was to be the Cape Verde
Islands, and we approached them at the end of a week
on the Sunday evening. The islands are desolate and
poor — at least, from what jve could see of them as we

The Start of the Expedition 9

approached Cape St. Vincent, which was our particular
port. Bare rock jutting up from the sea was all that
met the eye until we drew near to our anchorage, in a
bay shut in from rough winds by the islands between
which we passed. As we neared we descried a few houses
on the shore, with here and there what looked like a tree,
but there was no grass or any green for the eye to rest
upon. Though it was dusk when we anchored, we could
see that two ships, with their masts above water, were
submerged near the shore. We learnt later that these
vessels had been sunk by a German submarine which
entered the bay in the early hours one morning, tor-
pedoed them, and escaped before anyone realized that
it was about or the fort guns could be turned upon it.

The Cape Verde Islands belong to the Portuguese,
and there is a small fort on Cape Vincent, which is the
base station of the Western cable, and therefore of
importance; it is also a coaling station for shipping
passing to Cape Town and America. It is difficult to
know why the British cable should be on such a very
desolate island when, we were told, there are other more
productive places near. We had on board a quantity of
coal for this station, and one young man who came as
a passenger with us was to reside there for a period of
five years. As we had to discharge some five hundred
tons of coal, we were interested to see what appliances
there were for the purpose, and were surprised to learn
that the work had to be done by natives. These shovel
the coal into large baskets, which are hoisted to the deck,
and the coal emptied into iron chutes which convey it to
barges fastened to the ship's side. We could readily
understand that this jvas going to be a formidable and
dusty task, lasting about a week. The captain kindly

10 The Soul of Central Africa

put up screens to shut out as much dust as possible from
the upper deck, but what device can shut out coal dust
when coal is being discharged or loaded? The heat now
began to tell upon us after the cool weather we had
experienced, so that the screens made it almost impossible
to sit on the enclosed deck and read.

The day after our arrival we noticed an American
ship of the new wooden type, and made some inquiries
concerning such vessels. The reply we received was that
neither the ships nor their engines w^re of great value,
and would only last about a year, when they would
become unseaworthy.

We daily betook ourselves to the island for the pleasure
of a walk and also to see what the place w^as like. We
were rowed to the shore, which took about an hour, and
when w^e landed beggars besieged us and clung to us like
the pestilential flies which were also abundant. Each
day there was a crowd of natives on the sea front, some
of them dressed in the bright prints commonly worn
in West Africa. The people were all of them either
West African from the mainland or else drawn from
the islands near, and they live at this place because of
the coaling industry, which is evidently lucrative. Many
of them are fishermen, who not only find a ready sale
for their fisih when ships call, but do a good trade among
the people themselves.

We found one main road, along which we took our
walks; it was in all some eight miles long, and led to
the opposite side of the island. The road had been built
by someone w4th a knowledge of engineering; he had
taken his levels so as to negotiate the hills and make it
possible for wheeled traffic to pass that way. There ,was
no good earth to be seen; all we could trace appeared

The Start of the Expedition ii

to be pulverized stone which had been washed down
from the upper parts of the rocks into the valleys. Yet
there were small plots of land or gardens under cultiva-
tion, with feeble plantains, coco-nut palms struggling
for life, and here and there acacia trees for fences.
A few of the more energetic inhabitants cultivate a
little maize and a few vegetables, chiefly cabbages. This
cultivation is the more remarkable since everything
requires constant irrigation, Which has to be effected by
small pumps erected on the plot of land. The pumps
are worked by little windmills, and keep a constant
stream of brackish water, drawn from wells sunk in the
rock, flowing over the gritty surface. It was wonderful
to see here and there small herds of goats and sometimes
a cow. The goats browse upon the scanty herbage,
which has to be sought for carefully or it might be
overlooked. There can be no doubt that their meals
have to be augmented by grass and fodder brought from
the more productive islands.

The town is small, containing a few shops in two
short streets, a market square, also with shops round it,
and the native quarter, which is the nnost insanitary place
imaginable. The supply of vegetables and fruit comes
daily from one or other of the islands, and all the fresh
water for drinking is also brought daily by a small vessel
which plies to and fro with its tanks. The few European
houses and the telegraph station face the sea front. The
residents have a bathing place and tennis and football
grounds, and thus manage to exist in what seemed to
us, as visitors, a most dismal spot.

It was while we were lying at anchor at Cape St.
Vincent on Saturday, June 28, at two o'clock in the
afternoon, that we learned that peace had been signed

12 The Soul of Central Africa

that day. We were made aware of the fact by the fort
guns booming forth, and at the same time all the ships
in harbour began to sound their sirens together. Then
a small steam launch, sent by the Government, came
racing round to confirm the news. Soon all work ceased
and the ships were covered with bunting, while the sirens
went on sounding for some hours longer, expressing the
joyous feeling of all in most discordant tones.

While we were discharging coal a large steamer called
for coal supplies and water. We learned that she was
a German ship which had been taken by our Government
and handed over to the Union Castle Line, and this was
her maiden voyage. We were further told that she had
been built by the Kaiser for his own use. Gossip added
to this that she was to have been the ship in which he
was to travel round the world visiting his new possessions
when he had won the war. The name of this monster
ship was Cappalonia. She had four decks, and many
modern arrangements for pleasure and exercise, a gym-
nasium, with various up-to-date appliances, and, finally,
a promenade on the upper deck for the amusement of
the passengers and troops on board, where dancing was
a frequent entertainment. Some of our company went
on board to inspect her, and returned saying that they
preferred the cargo ship, with all that they had before
considered to be her inconveniences, to that magnificent
vessel. She sailed two or three days before we were
ready, but when we reached Natal we heard she had
not reached Cape Town.

Before the Cappalonia left Cape St. Vincent she had
to give an account of herself. One night after sunset
a man-of-war came in with her searchlight showing
brightly and casting its beams far ahead as it swept the

The Start of the Expedition 13

sea in search of hostile ships. She ran to within hailing
distance of the great vessel to inquire about her, and,
when she received a satisfactory report, dropped back
and anchored. It was interesting to see how a man-of-
war does her work and how beautifully the men can
handle such ships.

Before we sailed from the Cape Verde Islands the
captain called me up one night to settle a question I had
asked him some days before — whether he had ever seen
the North Star and the Southern Cross at one and the
same time. We w^ent to the bridge, and there I saw
for myself this wonderful sight; to the north was the
Pole Star shining brightly, and then, turning to the
south, I beheld the Southern Cross well above the horizon.
It was a bright, clear sky, with millions of stars visible,
and would have delighted the heart of any astronomer.
To me, with my very slight knowledge of the heavens,
the sight was inspiring.

The weary stay at St. Vincent came to an end none
too soon for us; the coal dust was washed from the
decks, and soon the ship began to assume the appearance
of never having been degraded to such a task. We were
able to sit about on deck again and read without any
feeling of suffocation from dust, and we again heard the
music of the regular beat of the engines as we made our
way towards Africa. It was disappointing to learn that
w^e were not to call at Cape Town, as we had no cargo
for that port, but were to go straight to Natal. The
day after leaving the Cape Verde Islands the weather
became a little cooler, and as we continued our southern
course it became decidedly cool, and we realized that it
was now winter in South Africa. After we rounded the
southern point of the continent, and altered our course

14 The Soul of Central Africa

to sail up the east coast, we encountered bad weather,
and as we proceeded the sea became rougher, until we
were in a severe storm. This was not my first experience
of a storm, and did not cause me the least uneasiness,
but it was a reminder of what the waves can be. The
wind howled and rain swept over us in torrents, while
the sea was lashed into mountains of water, rising and
falling with roars like angry beasts. My cabin soon
became a chaos ; boxes and chairs were sliding from side
to side, and had to be arranged in such a way that one
case secured the next and each prevented the other from
moving out of place ; everything that could move did so
until fixed in some way. That evening I found that
lying in my berth was more comfortable than trying to
sit in a chair and read. During the night the engines
had to be stopped, for the waves were so huge that, as
the bows sank into the hollow, the propeller was raised
out of the water, and the engines, thus freed, were
'^racing." After this we went on slowly, moving just
enough to keep the ship under control. The cessation
of the thud of the engines waked me, but when I heard
them go on again I realized that all was well, and did
not trouble to rise to ascertain the cause. Next morning
I found that the waves had been so high at one time
that the captain feared the cattle would be thrown down
and their Umbs broken or, what was worse, that they
would be washed overboard. We escaped any such
accident, though the sea was still running high and the
weather might still be termed, in nautical phraseology,
^' dirty."

When passing East London a signal from the shore
asked us to look out for a wreck and try to save the crew
who were on it. It was with considerable difficulty that

The Start of the Expedition 15

we were able to take the message, as it was a flag code,
and we could not easily distinguish the flags through the
rain and mist. We sailed past, and had to return to
obtain another view before the officers were satisfied that
they had read the message aright. We passed on, but
though a sharp look-out was kept as we proceeded to
Natal, we saw no wreck nor any sign of wreckage
floating.

As I became more intimate with the officers and they
became more communicative, I learned some of the
terrible experiences they had been through during the
war. Several had been in ships which had been
torpedoed and sunk, some of their companions being
drowned. One man had been through such an experi-
ence twice. He was an engineer, and when the second
ship was struck he was on duty in the engine-room. He
remained at his post until the rising of the water warned
him that the ship was sinking ; he then ran up a ladder
through the skylight, and jumped overboard as she went
down. After swimming about for some time, he was
picked up, with one other man from the ship, these two
being the only survivors.

Two other men, who were brothers, were in a ship
that was attacked by the German raider on the west coast
of Africa. They described the raider as appearing show-
ing signals of distress ; the engines were slowed down to
enable her to come within range, when she ran up her
true flag, lowered her false sides, and displayed her guns.
The British captain was not to be daunted, and he
determined not to yield without making some attempt
at escape. He therefore ordered the ship to go full steam
ahead, and at the same time fired upon the raider with
considerable accuracy. The raider, however, was too

i6 The Soul of Central Africa

fast, and gained upon them, firing as she steamed.
Having crippled their engines, she then sent armed men
to make the officers prisoners and sink the ship, after
removing from her everything of value. The members
of the crew were ordered into their boats, and after a
time were picked up and kept some days as prisoners on
the raider. Here they found numbers of other men
from British ships which had been sunk, who were,
like themselves, prisoners. All these men were, some
days later, put on a captured ship and sent, with a
special German crew, to a neutral port. The captain,
as he had killed some of the German sailors when he
fired on them and had done some damage to the ship,
was kept prisoner on the raider to be taken to Germany.

One fine afternoon the captain called my attention
to a desperate fight going on between a shark and a
whale. For an hour we watched these monsters of the
deep, the one striving to escape, the other attacking and
seeking to kill his prey. Whenever the whale rose to
breathe, the shark leapt out some feet clear of the water
and tried to come down upon the whale before it had
time to dive out of danger. The splash was tremendous,
and we waited a little while to see the result. The whale
would rise again and spout some distance from the former
place, and again the great bulk of the shark would be
seen well in the air, followed by the splash of water. It
was an exciting race between the two, the one battling
for life, the other for his prey. We passed out of sight,
leaving the struggle still raging, and never knew its end.

On July 19 we reached Natal, and were piloted into
a beautiful port. It was a great change from the last
visit I had paid in 1887, when we had to remain at
anchor some miles outside, and steam launches carried

The Start of the Expedition 17

passengers between the ship and the shore. Now we
went into a fine harbour and tied up to a dock wall.
Here some of the supernumerary crew ended their
voyage, while others were uncertain whether they would
be permitted to go farther by the same ship, as the
company had only agreed to their going as far as Natal.
Two of us knew we were to go to Mombasa if the ship
went there ; she might, however, be ordered to Australia
for meat. As there were no instructions, the captain
thought it right to go on, and made preparations for
so doing.

In Durban, in addition to the interest of the town
itself, we had much to watch on board, for here the
cattle were disembarked and a certain amount of cargo
was discharged. The cows had become extremely tame
and docile, but the manner of putting them ashore quite
unnerved them, for they had to be driven one at a time
into a box, and then hoisted over the ship's side on to
the quay, where they were taken out and led away to
a quarantine camp. All this, with the feeling of firm
ground again, made one or two of the cows perfectly
mad, so that six or seven men found it difficult to hold
them. The bulls, which we expected to prove the more
difficult, were quiet and lamb-like. The owners were
there to receive these valuable animals, and were respon-
sible for landing them and taking them away. They
were greatly admired by the men who had come for
them, who pronounced them perfect specimens and
their condition all that could be desired.

The ship's officers have their special places in working

the holds, each officer being in command over and

responsible for the cargo in a hold, while the chief officer

is over the entire cargo and has the general control of
c

i8 The Soul of Central Africa

discharging it. Men from the shore, trained for such
work, come on board to discharge the cargo, and are under
the orders of skilled men who understand how to load and
unload ships. The cargo has to be so packed that during
a gale or in rough seas, when the ship is pitching and
tossing, it cannot move and endanger the safety of the
vessel, for, should it shift, the displacement of its weight
might cause the ship to turn turtle. During the time of
discharging cargo the goods for the port are taken out,
and as they go are checked by the officer and also by
men belonging to the firm of receivers, who certify the
condition of the goods on arrival. A good stevedore in
charge can save his company a vast amount of expendi-
ture by keeping the cranes constantly working, whereas
a poor stevedore allows them to stand still while his men
are preparing the goods to be hoisted from the hold.

The engineers generally have some part of the
machinery to overhaul during the stay in a port, and
have to effect repairs which are impossible while the
engines are working. Thus both officers and engineers,
when they are in foreign ports, find employment of a
different character from the usual routine of w^atch and
navigation duties, though it is no less strenuous.

I was able to go about Durban to see the town and
also the museum, where I found some interesting objects
belonging to South Africa. While we were detained
discharging cargo the wreck of the sailing vessel Bangkok,
about which we had heard when passing East London,
was towed into the harbour by a tug that had been sent
to look for her ; she had lost her masts and rudder, and
was found in a waterlogged condition. Her captain
and two or three men, who were lashed to some part of
the wreck, were saved. She had sailed from Natal, a

The Start of the Expedition 19

week before she encountered the storm, with a cargo
of heavy wood. When her masts were carried away and
the steering gear damaged, the captain sent some of his
crew in an open boat to try to reach land and obtain
help ; these men had got to East London and reported
the ship's condition, when a tug at once went to her
aid.

We sailed from Durban carrying two or three of our
former supernumeraries with the addition of two others
who had arrived from England on a sister ship. We
had seen Durban in the height of the season, when
visitors from Johannesburg and other inland towns come
to enjoy a holiday at the seaside. Durban was full and
every place of amusement was as busy as it could be, so!
that we had been able to see the town at its best. Our
next port of call was Delagoa Bay, or, as the Portuguese
call it, Lourengo Marques. From Natal the ship took
only one day to steam round here. Again I found
great improvements, and, much to my astonishment,
the port was quite abreast of the times with its docks
and harbours, while its machinery for shipping coal was
even in advance of the best at Cardiff. This appears
to have been the work of the Germans, who, after visit-
ing English and other coaling stations, improved the
methods and appliances in use, bringing the place in
this respect up to and even beyond any other port in
the world. I had visited here twice before, and we then
had to anchor far out at sea and get a rowing boat to
carry us ashore. I well remembered the backwardness
and dilatoriness with which everything was done, or
rather was left undone, at that time. For example, on
my first visit a railway had been projected and some
carriages had been landed; four years later they lay in

ao The Soul of Central Africa

the same place on the shore, and no attempt had been
made to remove them or in any way to improve the
place. Now all that sloth was gone : a fine town, with
good paved roads, and tramcars running, greeted us ;
well-cared-for paths and good buildings betokened pros-
perity. Yet this was the place for which England, not
many years ago, refused to pay a few pounds ; and now
it is the coaling port for South Africa, and would be of
the utmost value to us for this purpose. We were to
discharge most of our cargo here, and were told we
should, in all probability, have to stay a week. We were
preparing accordingly for this rest when we received news
which at first made us anxious as to the completion of
our journey. The captain received a cable ordering him
to coal and proceed direct to Australia for meat.

While awaiting further news I paid a visit to the
large crane working the coal trucks, and found a remark-
able time- and labour-saving method in use. A train
of loaded trucks is brought, each truck carrying some
thirty tons of coal. A rope worked from the crane
engine pulls a truck on to a lift, which rises to a large
chute and tilts the truck, emptying the coal into the
chute, which runs into the ship's hold. The crane then
brings down the truck, which follows its original path
down a gradient and up an incline till it reaches auto-
matic points, which open for it on its return journey,
diverting it to a side line, where an engine takes the
empty trucks back to the mine to be refilled, thus work-
ing with the minimum of rolling stock. Coal is tipped
into the hold at such a speed that men are unable to
work and stow, or " trim " it; a second hold in the ship
has therefore to be worked at the same time, and there
is machinery which quickly moves the ship to and fro.

The Start of the Expedition 21

bringing each hold in turn under the chute of the crane,
and so saving time.

The news we had received directing us to leave our
ship and the friendly captain and officers was very trying
to all of us, as we had greatly enjoyed their companion-
ship and kindness, and we cast about in our minds how
we were to reach our destination. A visit to the com-
pany's agents was reassuring ; from them we learnt that
a sister ship, the Clan MacQuarrie, was about to sail for
Mombasa, and was at present taking on a cargo of coal.
We therefore visited the captain of that ship, and from
him obtained the promise of the assistance we needed.
He told us that he .would be sailing in two or, at most,
three days' time. Thus reassured, we returned to enjoy
the sights of the place and to learn the mysteries of
discharging cargo on our own ship.

There was a quantity of cargo to be dealt with, and
soon each hatch was opened and the officers were busily
engaged checking off the crates and packages of all kinds
and shapes. There were ironware and bars of iron,
stoves and iron cooking pots, crates of crockery and paint,
and, worst of all, barrels of tar, many of which had been
damaged, the liquid leaking into the ship's hold. When
the sound cases, of tar had been discharged, the men at
work in the hold had to walk about in some twelve
inches of escaped tar ; their clothing was soon in a terrible
mess, while hands and faces were bedaubed with it, yet
it had to be got out somehow. The deck of the ship
and the quay near were in a dreadfully slippery state,
and the harbour-master made the company's agents
responsible for cleaning the mess away.

To me it was interesting to see the care that had to
be taken when cases of spirits were discharged. During

22 The Soul of Central Africa

the voyage these eases have to be kept in a special hold,
which is under the charge of one ofRcer, and is carefully
locked. This officer told me how necessary it was to
observe every movement of the men working this cargo,
because, do what they would, the men found means of
obtaining some of the spirit. They would drop a case,
and so break some of the bottles in it, and drink the liquor
as it ran out, or, if that were prevented, they would drive
their hauling-hooks through the wood, pierce a bottle,
catch the spirit in tins, and drink it. During the time
these cases were being handled the men would strive to
divert the attention of the officer and broach a case
without being detected.

Before we could leave the one ship and join the other
we had to visit the English Consul to have our names
transferred to the papers of the new ship. It was late
at night when we finally took our leave and moved to our
new quarters. I found I had made some warm friends
and that the parting was not a mere formal " good-bye,"
but a severance from real friends. Early the next morn-
ing we steamed away from Delagoa Bay, and were soon
out of sight of land on the last stage of our voyage. We
soon learned that Captain Oliver, of our new ship, was
a kind-hearted man, though of a different type from his
colleague, especially in the reserve of his nature. I soon,
however, became on intimate terms with him, and found
he was no other than the captain, of whom the steward
of the former ship had told me, who had been a prisoner
in Germany for firing upon the German raider and trying
to defend his ship. He told me that during his imprison-
ment he had for some months to lie on the bare floor of
his cell, and was treated with great disrespect and cruelty,
while he daily expected to be shot. He .was then brought

DURBAN: A NATIVE HUT

'-jP' %^^

DURBAN : A RICKSHAW AND DRIVER

The Start of the Expedition 23

up before a number of officers when Captain Fryatt was
being tried, and was asked to state whether he did not
consider Captain Fryatt to be in the wrong and the
German verdict, that he should be shot, to be just. He
reaUzed that his answer, whether for or against Fryatt,
would be used against himself ; all that Germany wanted
was something that could be published as having been
said by another English captain. The answer was charac-
teristic of the man. He replied : *' I could only decide
how I should act if placed in similar circumstances."
This incensed the officers, who would have shot him at
once, had not the admiral, who was the commander of
the raider, saved him. After suffering many hardships,
he was released when the Armistice was signed.

A voyage of six days brought us to Mombasa. We
passed Zanzibar during the early hours of the morning,
keeping well to the north of the island, w^hich I saw in
the distance as the dawn broke. As we approached
Mombasa the island on which it stands, with its beautiful
fringe of trees, came into sight; next we saw numbers
of well-built houses, looking cool in the shade of large
trees, and as we neared the port other changes became
apparent. It is no longer necessary to wait about for
the tide to carry the ship over the coral reef, as in old
days when the harbour was on the east side of the island ;
ships now go at once into Kilindini port, where there
is always deep water. It is, however, wise to enter when
the tide is running out, as otherwise a ship may be carried
along by the current so quickly that she cannot answer
her helm in time to round the island and follow the
channel, and is in danger of running ashore. A small
launch came out with a pilot in answer to our signal, but
he found it difficult to catch us up, though we were going

24 The Soul of Central Africa

slowly, just making enough headway to navigate the
ship. The course to the anchorage from the open sea is
tortuous, and we were carried from side to side by the
current, which was running swiftly.

We dropped anchor opposite the custom-house, which
was the most advantageous site at which to discharge
cargo and take on board goods for England. There is
still no jetty or anything approaching to a wharf, so
that cargo has to be transhipped to lighters and taken to
the shore to be put on board the train. All this handling
of goods adds to the expense and delay in delivering
them and also increases the risk of damage. On the
other hand, great improvements have been made to
facilitate the loading and unloading of the ships.

It is a pretty and interesting view; of Mombasa that
meets the eye as the ship enters the harbour ; the island
stands well above the sea, and has steep rugged sides
running down to the beach, which is so narrow that the
shore is inundated at high water. The slopes of the
land can be well seen, with the cleared spaces for the
golf links and the park-like grounds surrounding the
Government houses. To the north, still on the island,
are the old ruins of the Portuguese fort, ^while farther
north the mainland stretches, covered with coco-nut
palms. To the south again is the mainland, with its
fringe of trees looking green and fresh, and in the
farther distance are the Shimba Hills, which now supply
Mombasa with good water. The new harbour forms a
much better approach than the old one afforded for any
person coming to East Africa for the first time. On the
north side of the island the Arab and native town was
always unpleasant. The harbour could only be entered
at high water, and even then careful bearings had to be

The Start of the Expedition 25

taken, for the coral reef left only a narrow passage by
which ships of any size could pass in and out. Upon
landing there were the dirt and the evil smells common
to Arab and Eastern towns, which not only offended the
organs of sense, but also tested the powers of endurance.
Now, to the south, at Kilindini, there is a clean landing,
where either motor cars or the old trolly of the Imperial
British East Africa Company are available to take the
visitor to the hotel without carrying him into the native
town at all. We had to go through the usual forms of
seeing first the doctor and then a passport officer, who
gave us the necessary permission to land. Though this
takes time, it is a necessary precaution to prevent
undesirables from crowding into the new colonies.

CHAPTER II

MOMBASA — NAIROBI — KAMPALA

First days in Mombasa — Lewali's Stories — Mombasa and Frere
Town — Journey to Nairobi — Nairobi — Journey to Lake Victoria
— Crossing the Lake — Entebbe — Kampala — The . Cathedral —
History of Kampala — Native Habits and Conditions — Religion
— Agriculture — Journey to Ankole.

4T Mombasa I spent a busy week trying to find

/ % suitable men to accompany me as photographer

and typist ; but as these were not to be found I

determined to go on to Nairobi as soon as possible and

make further inquiries for them. I took no English

assistants out with me, but trusted to finding natives

who were sufiiciently trained for my purpose. In this I

was not very successful, for the boys I got, with the

exception of my excellent cook and his assistant, were

not of much use. I felt, however, that the presence of

a second white man might, as well as adding greatly to

the expenses of the expedition, have the effect of making

the natives less communicative.

We passengers who had signed articles as members

of the ship's crew had to go to the Consulate and sign

the official papers stating that we were leaving the

ship; and there were many other things to be done in

Mombasa. I found there a few old friends, among them

the Provincial Commissioner, from whom I learned many

things concerning those of the Galla peoples who are

said to live near the coast. He told me that there are

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 27

now only a few of these people scattered among some
of the more prosperous tribes, among whom they live,
two or three together, and work as herdsmen to the
tribe.

One afternoon I spent with the Arab Lewali, the
native Governor of Mombasa, who told me some amusing
stories about the Germans and their treatment of certain
natives whom they suspected of being disloyal to them-
selves and friendly to the Sultan of Zanzibar. When
he learned that, at the beginning of the German occupa-
tion in 1888, the Germans had refused to hand over our
ransom and I had therefore been a prisoner with the
Arabs in Bagamoyo, an incident which I have described
in '' Twenty-five Years in Africa," he was more
communicative.

He told an amusing story of a trader who was sus-
pected of having killed a German. One trader was
jealous of a neighbour more prosperous than himself,
and for a time he sought, but in vain, some means to rid
himself of this rival. One day a murder was committed
and, though a prolonged search was made, the murderer
could not be found. The trader saw his chance of getting
rid of his rival and determined to seize it. He went
secretly to the German officer, told him that he knew
who had committed the murder, and gave the name of
his rival as the culprit. The officer immediately sent a
guard and arrested the man, who was ignorant of the
cause of his arrest until told in prison of the charge
against him. When brought before the judge for trial
he realized that there was no possibiHty of escape, that
his word would not be taken nor his witnesses accepted.
He learned, further, who had accused him of being the
murderer, and saw that his case wa^ hopeless. There

28 The Soul of Central Africa

was still, however, a means of revenge — to implicate the
man who had accused him. When he was again brought
up for trial he said to the judge : " That man only knows
that I am the murderer because he helped me. He held
the feet of the German while I cut his throat." As a
result the informant was also imprisoned, tried, and
condemned to death with the accused man — and neither
of them had in reality committed the crime.

Another good story he told concerned the first Sultan
of Zanzibar and how he came to marry the daughter of
the Shah of Persia. It happened at the time when the
Sultan had become conqueror of Zanzibar and the coast
of East Africa, that he went to his small possessions in
Arabia and sent to the Shah requesting the hand of his
daughter in marriage. The request being scornfully
rejected, the Sultan, who had just returned from some
victories in Africa, was highly incensed. Unable for a
time to find any means of pressing his claim, he nursed
his resentment until at length he heard that the Shah
was about to make a pilgrimage to Mecca with his wife
and daughter. Here .was his chance. Some of his vessels
were quickly prepared and armed, and he set out to
waylay the Shah. In a few days the Persian vessel came
in sight and was attacked by the Sultan's ships. After
a short battle the Shah and his wife and daughter were
made prisoners and carried to the Sultan's port. The
Shah was then glad enough to come to terms with his
captor, giving him his daughter in marriage as a ransom
for himself and his wife. Thus the Sultan at once
avenged the insult he had received and gained his desire.

The Lewali has many excellent stories relating to
the early history of places along the east coast, and his
father holds a letter from the captain of the first British

Mombasa— Nairobi — Kampala 29

man-of-war that came to Africa. The father was an
important chief at a town north of Mombasa and
suppHed the man-of-war with fresh water and meat.
He was paid in full for the stores, and a letter, thank-
ing him for what he had done, was given to him.

At the end of a week I found that the climate of
Mombasa was beginning to try my nervous system. The
discovery was not pleasant and made me wonder whether
the heat would be too trying for me and thus bring
the expedition to an early close. The best plan I could
conceive was to hasten to the interior and try whether
the higher ground would suit me better.

Before leaving Mombasa, however, a few words about
the island may be welcome. The visitor of to-day can
hardly realize what a change has taken place since the
early days before the British East Africa Company
settled there, or even since, at a later date, it became
the terminus of the Uganda Railway. Many people
spend a few days there before passing into the interior
without even being aware that they are on an island.

In the early days visitors went to Mombasa by ferry
from Frere Town to see the ruins of the ancient Portu-
guese fort, which was destroyed in 1631, partially rebuilt
a few years later, and is now a prison. Another sight
of interest is the old fort on the north-east point of the
island which, though not often visited now, has some
peculiar features. A staircase cut in the rock, which
is invisible to anyone outside the fort, leads down to the
shore, or, when the tide is in, to the water. If I
remember aright this entrance can only be reached by
water, as that part of the shore is cut off by a point of
rock. The fort itself, on the peak, is overgrown with
grass and many of the stones of its walls have been

30 The Soul of Central Africa

rompved and used in other buildings. The native town,
however, with its dirt and smell, had little attraction, and
Frere Town, then the show place, was where the visitors
stayed. In Mombasa there were no European houses,
and an Arab house is pointed out as the residence of
the first missionaries, Krapf and Redman. \

Frere Town was then a thriving station of the
Church Missionary Society, and, as there was a large
settlement of freed slaves, a school was established for
training them to work and earn their own living. It
was here also that the bishop had his headquarters when
the diocese included Uganda. Bishop Hannington, the
first Bishop of Central Africa, resided in Frere Town
and started from there on his fatal journey to Uganda.
The dangerous part of the route he passed through safely,
but when his dilHBculties might have been considered at
an end he fell through the enmity of Mwanga, King of
Uganda, whom he had every reason to trust as his friend.
Farther round the point to the north, on the mainland
opposite to Mombasa, is the graveyard where the wives of
the pioneer missionaries, Krapf and Redman, are buried.
This sacred spot is to-<lay little known and seldom
visited by Europeans. Frere Town has dwindled to an
insignificant mission station where now only one or two
English people live.

The work of the mission has been transferred to
Mombasa, where the Hannington-Parker Memorial
Cathedral w^as built. Here the Bishop of Mombasa had
his headquarters after he moved from Frere Town in
order to be near the centre of activity. He has now
been compelled for the same reason, that is, the move-
ment of the centre of British Government, to follow the
flow of Europeans to Nairobi, and the only part of the

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 31

mission organization which still flourishes is the Buxton
'School, which is doing excellent .work among the cosmo-
politan population of the island.

At Mombasa, too, were the headquarters of the British
East Africa Company when it began its operations.
For a time the Arab town was the only place in which
they could find accommodation, but later on houses were
built on the higher parts of the island outside the native
town, and there the Europeans speedily congregated.
Before the British Government decided to make British
East Africa a Protectorate a small railway for light cars
or trollies had been laid to carry passengers to and from
their offices. When the Protectorate was formed Mom-
basa became an important port and for some years the
white population grew rapidly. The island was soon
connected by the Uganda Railway with the mainland,
and the number of people engaged on railway work
greatly increased the population.

The excessive and usually moist heat of Mombasa,
however, makes the place trying to Europeans, though
some who have been there many years affirm it to be
not unhealthy, and even to be good for white men.
These, however, are perhaps only the few who, being
more robust, could have been well anywhere. When
the railway opened up the country the highlands of
Nairobi began to attract the British resident, who decided
to make that his headquarters. The site was undoubtedly
more attractive. There was room for expansion, it was
more healthy and less trying for Europeans, and it was
more central for the Protectorate. The removal of the
staff and the decision of the railway to make Nairobi
their base for working the line to Lake Victoria soon
caused a general exodus from Mombasa to the highlands.

32 The Soul of Central Africa

The town of Mombasa has now dwindled to the few
residents who require to be on the coast for the shipping
and railway work, and it is the headquarters of the
Administrative Officer for the coast district and province.
The European quarters are on the southern side, and
extend from the higher part to the port, Kilindini. The
island is not more than three miles long and a;bout half
as wide, and more than half of this is taken up by the
residences of the white population and their recreation
grounds. The native town continues to attract multi-
tudes, and the population is very cosmopohtan. There
are Arabs and natives from almost every part of Africa ;
there are Indians of all types and classes, attracted from
many parts of India by reports of the possibilities of
trading and growing rich in a short time at the expense
of the African ; of the Western or white races it would
be difficult to name the people not represented there.

Though people who have lived on the island for a
number of years speak of it as a pleasant place and of
the climate as good, I confess I never visit it without
longing to get away quickly from the trying heat and
pitying the " washed-out " looking people who live there.
In the early days of the European residents the only
fresh water was rain water, which was caught as it ran
from the roofs of the houses, carefully stored in large
cisterns built in the ground, and strictly reserved for
drinking purposes. Since the British Government
brought fresh water from the Shimba Hills there has
been a great improvement in the comfort of the com-
munity in this respect; but, to anyone who knows the
interior, Mombasa remains a place to be tolerated only
until he can move on to the uplands.

It was now evident to me that I must get away from

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 33

Mombasa if I was to be able to remain in Africa long
enough to complete the work of the expedition I had
undertaken. It was, therefore, with a sense of relief
that I went to join the train at the station and booked
for Nairobi, without the long delay of those former days
when it was necessary to engage porters before com-
mencing the march to Uganda. When the train had
left the town and the mainland began to show itself,
with its trees and grass and the usual signs of unculti-
vated land, a sense of satisfaction stole over me, and
the freedom from the moisture of the coast belt soon
became perceptible.

The journey by rail is not in the least formidable,
though now it behoves the traveller to keep a sharp
watch over his goods. Thefts from the carriages are
frequent, and it is not only when the carriages are left
unguarded during meals and stoppages that these experts
manage to pilfer — they will rob you by night while you
are in your compartment. The comfort and ease of the
carriages is equal to that of any English railway, while
the stops at the food-bungalows are so arranged that
the train runs into the station just in time for a meal,
and kindly waits while you enjoy your dinner or what-
ever meal you wish to take. The guard informs you
when the next stop will be, and until then you can be
comfortable in your coach and amuse yourself as you
please.

For me there was the attraction of the changed face
of the countryside as we journeyed. In former times I
knew the long stretches of the country as waste land, but
now we were continually passing through the cultivated
farmsteads of European settlers, with here and there
well-built houses and plantations of trees, in marked con-

34 The Soul of Central Africa

trast to the .wilder parts. No.w and again we passed
lorries drawn by oxen, evidently journeying to one of
the railway depots, or, as we neared some homestead in
the evening, we saw the cattle returning home for the
night. This seemed .wonderfully strange in those places
where I could remember the weariness of long journeys
on foot with seldom even a native village to which one
might go for water or to purchase some article of food,
such as a fowl, a native necessity which, however, when
intended for my table, sold at a high price as a luxury.
Now at nightfall the rugs were spread, the dust-shutters
drawn, the seat turned into a bed, and soon sleep relieved
the weary hours as the train journeyed on. In the early
morning we stopped for a few minutes at a station where
it was possible to procure a cup of tea, and then on ,we
went until breakfast time, when we had a reasonable
pause at one of the Indian bungalows.

The country from this point on to Nairobi is full
of animal life, the Athi Plain being the part where
animals of almost every description peculiar to Africa
roam about in the preserves. There are large herds of
zebra, antelopes of various kinds, wild pigs, an occasional
lion in the distance, on rarer occasions one or two giraffe
jvith their heads well in the air, and ostriches feeding or
making off with long strides. A remarkable feature is
their fearlessness of the trains; in many instances the
animals simply raise their heads to gaze on the train,
and then continue grazing, just as a number of cows
would do at home. Sometimes there are animals on
the permanent way, and the driver has to sound his
steam whistle to frighten them off.

I remember this neighbourhood in the past, when it
was more noted for lions than nowadays. On one

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 35

occasion, ,when we were camped for the night near the
Athi River, Uons were prowling about, and the men,
getting nervous lest they should spring amongst them,
begged me to move farther away. So I had to strike
camp at midnight and march some ten miles to another
place. Fortunately, it was moonlight, and the walk,
when once I had left my comfortable bed and taken
some light refreshment, was not really unpleasant.

In due time Nairobi was reached and I was struck by
the extraordinary growth of the place with its substantial
houses, shops and offices, with their stone walls, and its
hotels with all the comforts of civilization, which almost
make you forget you are in Africa until the heat of
the sun brings the fact back to you. Here are streets
of dwelling-houses, banks, shops, and even a theatre
standing out with its attractions; then farther on there
is the church, while the residences of the Governor and
the better class are on the higher ground. There are
various open spaces for recreation and games, not least
among them being the race-course with its stand. The
worst feature of the town is the streets and roads, which
are far inferior to the buildings and not only decidedly
detract from the appearance of the place, but are quite
insanitary. On one side is the native town, separated
from the European and thus giving more freedom to
the people to live their own lives without annoying the
Western races by their Eastern customs. Nairobi is no
longer the vast empty plain upon which I first camped ;
then, in all the wide expanse over which the eye could
travel before the view was obstructed by trees, one grass
hut was the only dwelling in sight.

It was from this district that I made my first journey
by rail to the coast. Starting from the other side of the

36 The Soul of Central Africa

Mau Escarpment I went as far as Nairobi in a covered
iron truck, a mode of travel that was a luxury in those
days. My tent awning was hung as a screen to form a
bedroom, while another part of the tent served to shut
the boys out of my sitting-room, which was by the open
door where, sitting in a deck-chair, I enjoyed the air
and could read. The boys cooked my food in their part,
and at night I retired to bed in my part of the truck.
When I thought of those weary marches day after day,
when fifteen miles was a good journey, what a luxury
it seemed to sit in a train which could cover that distance
easily in a few minutes ! Still those old days of slow
marching had their pleasures, even their fascinations,
with the cheery porters and the excitement of some
adventure to be met or some difficulty to be overcome.

The few days spent at Nairobi were full of work,
but it was not possible to find the men required for the
expedition, so when the next train for the interior arrived
I made ready to go on to Lake Victoria. Nairobi, being
the headquarters for the railway, has wonderful workshops
where every kind of repair to the machinery or rolling
stock connected with the railway can be carried out.
With its vast system of lines and signal-boxes and its
many workmen busy with all kinds of railway repairs,
this is the Crewe of the Uganda Railway.

The rise in altitude from the coast is so gradual as
to be almost unnoticeable except for the fresh feeling
in the air which invigorates the traveller. In Nairobi
the height is about 4,500 feet, the nights are cool and
the days not oppressive. The heat may register as high
as 80° in the shade without causing languor, and in the
morning and evening a healthy person feels even brisk.
The land continues to rise until the top of Mau Escarp-

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 37

ment is reached at some 8,000 feet above sea level, whence
it falls again to the lake at 4,000 feet.

There are differences of opinion respecting the suita-
bility of the climate for European settlers and their
families. Some maintain that children born there may
enjoy as good health as in England, whilst others of the
older school are convinced that they need to return to
the cool English climate periodically. I learned that
there was a growing feeling among the people in general
that a change, even to the coast, was good. Schools for
the Enghsh children have been opened and are flourish-
ing, but the adverse mental and moral influences of the
environment are, I think, another reason for their being
educated in England. My personal experience leads me
to think that it will always be advisable, after a number
of years in the tropics, for one to seek a change to a cool
climate in order to restore the tone of the nervous system.

The progress in the environs of Nairobi is perhaps
even more wonderful than in the town. The farms of
the settlers stretch for miles on every side. Time did
not permit me to make journeys far out of town, and I
had to be content with seeing the extension of these
settlements from the train as we passed along to the
interior. Seen thus, the constant succession of fields and
houses leaves the impression of a large population of
planters in the highlands. It was indeed striking to see
the fields stretching as far as the eye could reach on
either side of the railway as we ascended the escarpment
from the town. There appears to be little land left
unoccupied all the way from Nairobi till the dip down
to Lake Victoria is reached.

On reaching the lake side of the escarpment, however,
all travellers with a love for beautiful scenery must feel

38 The Soul of Central Africa

regret at the utilitarian destruction of the picturesque
country. Once the railway passed through beautiful
woods which, with their fine trees, ferns and creepers,
.wpre well worth a visit. These have been destroyed to
supply fuel for the railway, and bare mountains now
meet the gaze where formerly there were glades with
waterfalls whose sides were covered with the most
beautiful ferns and tropical plants. This side of the
escarpment as viewed from the railway has, for any lover
of nature and landscape beauty, lost all attractiveness
and become an eyesore, when a little care and fore-
thought might have preserved it as one of the beauties
of the railway journey.

At Lake Victoria the train runs into the station
where a line takes your carriage alongside the steamer
which is to convey you over to Uganda. There is no
effort or trouble for you beyond stepping from your
coach on to the steamer. Porters carry your baggage,
and all you have to do is to find your cabin, give your
order for the goods you require in it, and then take
your place in the saloon, as the train runs you into the
station just in time for breakfast. In a short time the
passengers with their baggage are on board, the order
to cast off from the wharf is given, the engines start,
chains and ropes rattle, the ship moves away from her
berth, and your voyage on the mighty lake begins.

For some two or three hours as you move along the
creek to the open lake the scenery is not impressive.
The shore of Kavirondo is low-lying and the mountains
in the background are too far distant for you to see
more than their general shape. When, however, you
pass near some of the islands the tropical beauty of the
trees and the grass begins to impress you. The birds on

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 39

the trees are of such variety that the most unobservant
are at once attracted to the side of the ship to watch
them. Then, as you pass along, you come upon small
rocky islets with cormorants and various fish-eating birds
upon them, and here and there a fish-eagle, which sounds
forth its somewhat mournful note. You begin now to
feel the fascination of this wild life. The divers seem
to be hung out to dry on the trees as they stand motion-
less with heads erect and outstretched wings, only now
and again showing any sign of life. Overhead beautiful
kingfishers hover as if suspended by invisible strings,
their tiny wings fluttering rapidly. Then you may see
a crocodile basking upon some rock; he lets you come
quite close to him and then flounders into the water with
a great splash, leaving nothing to be seen but ripples, or
perhaps the black line which is the ridge of his back.
If you are fortunate you may see, far away in the shallow
water near an island, one or more hippopotami taking a
leisurely bath. You can see them rise up and puff away
the water before sinking again out of sight.

At night the ship has to come to an anchorage beside
one of the islands, for, as the lake has no lights, the sub-
merged rocks make it unsafe and unwise to go on in
the dark. The quiet is pleasant, but it is not always
comfortable near an island. The mosquitoes may pay
you a visit and irritate you until you find it wise to
retire under the protecting net. In the early morning —
very early if there is a moon — the sailors are about, and
in a short time the ship resumes hej* course towards the
Uganda coast.

On approaching Entebbe station you see first the roofs
of the buildings, which are visible an hour or more before
you reach the land. It is always a little exciting to see

40 The Soul of Central Africa

those places which now wear the garb of civilization and
are so different from what they were in those early days
when there was nothing but the virgin forest. The
shores and islands were well peopled before the sleeping
sickness made it necessary to remove the inhabitants, and
in those early days the islands showed signs of life and
activity. People were frequently to be seen passing to
and fro between island and island, or from the islands
to the mainland in canoes, trading or doing other business.
To-day there is seldom a canoe to be seen, and not until
the shore of the mainland is neared is any life perceptible.
When in Ankole I was interested to hear that an attempt
was being made to re-people two or three islands as an
experiment. Investigation having shown the flies (Glos-
sina palpalis) to be free from trypanosoma, medical
opinion has favoured, in a few cases, this attempt at
re-population.

When we were near enough to the coast of Uganda
to distinguish the buildings, I could see that great
changes had been made during the last ten years. Now
there is a wharf, where the ship can tie up and discharge
her cargo into the custom-house without the expense
and delay of lighters. Travellers also pass direct to the
custom-house, and thence to the motor cars or other con-
veyances which await them. Those who wish to save time
can use the large Government van, which takes passengers
and luggage to Kampala, instead of waiting for the ship
to sail round in the evening. In the general plan of
Entebbe no great changes struck me, though there were
developments in detail and many new houses had been
built. Government House is now on a hill, thus enjoy-
ing more air and a better view than the Governor's
former house, which was much lower, near the lake shore.

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 41

As much of the trade has been diverted to Kampala, the
town has dwindled, leaving only a few shops belonging
to Indian occupants, and almost all the residents are
connected with the Government in one capacity or
another. The native town hes to the north, two or
more miles distant from the European settlement. After
making a few inquiries about the place, I determined
to take a motor to Namirembe Kampala to spend a few
days with a friend. The drive of twenty-two miles was
soon over; my native driver seemed to know both his
machine and the road, and we arrived in an hour's time.
I had arranged to stay a month in Kampala with an
old friend. Archdeacon G. K. Baskerville, at the C.M.S.
Mission, in order to fulfil my first engagement for the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who had entrusted me with
a letter to the Bishop of Uganda to be read at the open-
ing of the new cathedral. The first church I attended
in Kampala, many years ago, was entirely of reed and
thatch, and could seat about eight hundred people. It
was low and dark, as the roof came far down to keep
out the driving rain during the wet season. The
windows were holes cut in the reed walls, and the floor
was beaten earth, which was extremely dusty. The
church was built on the lower slopes of the hill Nami-
rembe, and we missionaries lived in grass houses near by.
Every Sunday the congregation, numbering from two to
three thousand, crowded into and around this church.
When they were packed in, they sat on their rugs of
skin, and it was impossible to get out until those near
the doorway first got away. After an hour in the church
the air was vitiated and stifling, and when, at the close
of the service, the people rose to leave, the dust was
suffocating. When we got our second church, also of

42 The Soul of Central Africa

reed and thatch, but built on the summit of the hill, the
pride of the people was great and our joy was likewise
intense. We now had a building that would seat com-
fortably nearly four thousand, and it had often to accom-
modate five. Inside there was a forest of pillars, but the
rows were regular, and from any point of view the align-
ment was wonderfully good. Then, too, there was more
light and air. For some years this building lasted, and
then the poles rotted, and a heavy storm blew it down.
Archdeacon Walker was in it at the time, with a class
of about a hundred, all of whom had wonderful escapes
from the falling edifice. Later on a third church, a fine
building of sun-dried bricks with a thatched roof, was
built. This was a wonderful place, seating upwards of
four thousand. The builder was Mr. Borup, the energetic
Industrial Mission Superintendent, who has done much
for Uganda in teaching brickmaking and carpentering,
and who also started cotton- and rubber-growing.

When this third church was consecrated as a cathedral
by the Right Reverend A. R. Tucker, the first Bishop
of the diocese of Uganda, I was in charge of it, and
had to make arrangements for the service. The multi-
tude of natives who attended was extraordinary. Though
the service did not begin till 8 a.m., the building was
packed by 6.30, and the people remained until nearly
3 P.M. The offertory that day was remarkable ; it took
fully an hour to collect the alms. There were cows,
goats, sheep and fowls, all alive, and we had difficulty
in restraining the people from dragging them to the altar
over the heads of the congregation seated on the fioor.
The currency contributed consisted of rupees, cents and
cowry-shells. I was in the cathedral from 6.30 a.m.
until 3 P.M. without rest or food. When I set two men

Mombasa — Nairobi— Kampala 43

to count the collection, it took them a little over a
month to do so.

This cathedral was struck by lightning and burned
down, and in its place a fourth, the present edifice, was
built. This is a stone and brick building, and was erected
at so great a cost that the native resources were crippled,
and a debt still remains on the building.

I stayed in Kampala for a time, seeking men to go
with me on the expedition as photographer, typist and
botanist. After some days I found two or three who
professed to be able to type and who, further, claimed
to know English. These men were carefully tested, but
one after another they had to be dismissed as incom-
petent. The botanist was both idle and conceited, and
was altogether useless. The man whom I tried as photo-
grapher was said to be the best of all who applied, and
he could not even open the camera, because, as he said,
it was a different pattern from what he had used.

While these men were being tested I had time to
visit a few old friends among the natives and learn from
them what changes had taken place in the native capital.
I was struck by the pronounced survival of heathen
customs. These were of a worse type even than when
Lubarism was in full sway, because then there were many
inherited beliefs, and a genuine zeal for that faith sup-
ported morality. As an effect of civilization, the belief
in ghosts and in the old gods, with the intense dread
of magic, have gone, while sexual laxity, theft and
drunkenness have, since the breakdown of the old social
customs which restrained them, grown to an alarming
extent. The removal of the theological college to a
place in the country has deprived the capital of a strong
band of Christian men whose lives and influence had a

44 The Soul of Central Africa

good effect on the families of the residents. Again, the
increased demand for labour carries away many men
beyond the sphere of Christian influence to surroundings
where they often get low conceptions of civilization and
Christianity. The congregations at the daily services
in the cathedral have dwindled down to about twenty,
persons, of whom the majority are women in training to
become Bible women. To me the whole life of the Church
in the capital was depressing ; it had sunk to a low ebb.

Possibly the greatest change in Kampala is the
presence of many European settlers and shopkeepers;
there is now a regular town, and many of the shops
have English staffs, with natives to do the rough work.
Some of the shops and the post office have women
assistants and clerks, who carry on business in much the
same manner as in England. Two banks had been started
in my absence, a new post office had been built, and there
is also a large new hotel. The streets and roads are not
yet very good, but they are being built and metalled so
that motor cars and bicycles can run with ease. A neat
little church has been built for the English community,
and its clergyman is one of the Mission staff. The native
town is in a flourishing condition, and there is a railway
which connects it with the lake steamers some eight
miles distant.

The real Kampala, which was the fort during the first
years of the Uganda Protectorate, has now been turned
into a museum for native objects of interest. There does
not seem to be much enthusiasm connected with this
museum and it does not grow rapidly, nor do the best
objects for preservation find their way to it. It is this
Kampala, and not Nakasero, the hill of the new town,
that has the history. Here it was that the British East

Mombasa— 'Nairobi— Kampala 45

Africa Company first settled, and this was for some
years the home of the Government. When the British
Government took over the country it was at this old
Kampala that Sir Gerald Portal made his treaty with
the natives. Various native risings had their centre about
this place, one party defending it, and the other attack-
ing. Again, when the Sudanese troops mutinied, they
sought to take Kampala and to murder the Resident.
Now the whole Government has been moved to a bigger
and higher hill known as Nakasero, but as the post office
was registered in London under its original name, it still
retains the old name of Kampala.

The native capital commonly goes by the name of
Mengo, and the residence of the king, or Kabaka, is
known as Mbuga, a name which is used to signify not
only the regular royal enclosure on the top of the hill
Mengo, but any place where the king happens to be
in residence. Daudi Chwa, the present Kabaka, is still
a boy of some twenty years. He is the son of Mwanga,
and grandson of that famous Kabaka, Mutesa, who
entertained Stanley and so interested him that he wrote
his well-known letter calling upon English Christians to
send missionaries. This attracted the attention of the
Christian world, and the first Christian missionaries were
sent there. It was in those days a fine native town,
extending from the Kabaka 's enclosure on the top of
the hill Mengo fully a mile to the north, east and west,
with well-kept roads fenced on each side with elephant-
grass and tidy courtyards to each enclosure, but it has
now become a somewhat neglected and untidy place.
The fences are broken down, the roads need repair, and
in many places there are large forlorn-looking houses,
with untidy courtyards and walls and doors, which look

46 The Soul of Central Africa

the picture of neglect. The Kabaka's own courtyard is
another spectacle of untidiness, and his fences and drive
need considerable repairs. Such a condition of affairs
could not have come into being during the days of
Mutesa, or in Mwanga's time, unless the country had
been at war. The change is hardly an improvement on
the former state or worthy of British rule. There may
be, and I do not doubt that there is, much more freedom
and greater ease for the poorer class. Still, to an onlooker
who had known something of the former days when the
old regime prevailed, much was felt to be lacking in the
town and in the houses, both in respect of attractiveness
and cleanliness.

As for the manners of the people, there can be no
question of the superiority of the old days. Now you
may pass along the roads and no one gives you a greet-
ing; indeed, natives pass natives without so much as
speaking. Again, women stare at you and make impu-
dent remarks, certainly not an admirable habit. In the
olden days a woman would never dare to address any
man, and, had he spoken to her, she would have knelt
down to answer. If she were carrying a burden which
prevented her from kneeling, she would have answered :
" I am unable to speak; I have a load." There would
have been respect, not impertinence. As I was no longer
known to many of the inhabitants in Kampala, and was
regarded as a foreigner who did not understand the
language, I had an opportunity when going about of
overhearing remarks which I should not otherwise have
heard. These remarks were not always to the credit of
the British, but they were much to the discredit of the
native. It was sad to hear such things from a people
who used to be so polite that they even thanked you

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 47

for being well-dressed, or, if two Europeans were walk-
ing together, for walking in step. Workmen, on being
thanked, in accordance with the old custom, for carrying
loads or for doing any work, seemed surprised. While,
however, the younger generation has largely fallen into
these bad ways, there are exceptions, and it was a
pleasure to find a few of the older people who still
adhered to the courteous usages of former times.

There are fine instances, too, of Christian fervour to
be found in the native Churdh, men who have not joined
in the rush for riches, but are content to go on as before,
teaching their heathen brethren for the merest pittance.
There are still, too, a few chiefs of the old stamp who
hold ofiice in order to do what good they can to their
land and people. It is the younger generation who are
taking as their pattern foreign settlers and traders and
following the example set by their conduct, which is not
always worthy of imitation.

While in Kampala I heard a most extraordinary
sermon from a preacher belonging to the religious sect
known as " Bamalaki," with whom I shall deal more
fully later. Their belief seems to be a mixture of
Judaism, Christianity, and Christian Science. The
preacher spoke against immorality, maintaining as sound
the teaching of his sect that a man may have two or
even four wives, but that beyond these he must have
no dealings with women. He ended by placing Christ
crucified before the audience as the only means of salva-
tion. Though their teaching abounds in culpable errors
and chronological accuracy is cast to the winds, there are
among them some fine characters who might, with
patient sympathy, be enlightened and persuaded to
abandon these false beliefs.

48 The Soul of Central Africa

Kampala has been undergoing considerable change in
its system of agriculture. The natives have been clearing
the natural waterways and allowing stagnant pools to run
dry. As many of the swamps round the district have
disappeared, this should be entirely beneficial to the
health of the place, but the change will undoubtedly have
an unfavourable effect upon the vegetation. Already
there is reported to be a disease among the plantains.
This is attributed by superstitious natives to the intro-
duction of the locomotive and railway; whenever the
whistle sounds, they say, the grubs become active and
eat the roots of their trees. It is probable that the
disease is due partly to the drainage, which must affect
the humidity and thus the vegetable life, and partly to
many years of growth on the same ground. In the days
of Mwanga, and farther back in times before the memory
of living man, the custom was for the king to change his
capital every few years. The chiefs had to move with
him, and so new land was brought under the spade and
the plantains had fresh soil and grew freely.

A month at Kampala passed quickly, and I was faced
by the problem of getting porters to carry my loads into
Ankole. I found the labour question full of difficulties,
and my old friend the Katikiro could not help me. I
was thrown upon the experiment of a motor lorry, which
I was told would carry all the loads necessary, while I
myself could go by car in a day. This sounded promising,
but when it came to the point, though I had made a
contract with a firm, they failed to carry it out, and
there was no lorry available. At length, in despair, I
sallied forth with two motor cars, leaving almost every-
thing behind, and hoping to find men in Ankole who
might be sent back for my goods. At the last moment

THE EXPEDITION CAR IN A SWAMP DURING THE JOURNEY TO ANKOLE

THE COOK TO THE EXPEDITION

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 49

I was fortunate enough to secure a seat for myself in ,
another car going to Ankole. My own two were filled
with the goods and boys, and one morning at ten o'clock
we started out.

We were doomed to many trials on the way. First,
the roads were only tracks where the grass had been
cleared to a sufficient width for a car to run along.
These were passable in dry weather, but after a shower
of tropical rain became soft and entirely impossible for
traffic. We had a rainstorm soon after starting, and
our car stopped short in a low-lying part of the road. I
was told that the sparking plug was wet, and we should
have to sit still until the rain ceased. The storm lasted
over an hour, and then the track was so soft and slushy
that the wheels slipped round and we made no progress.
We had to get out and wade in the slush, pushing the car,
until a little solid ground was reached and we could get
on again for a few miles. Soon we came to another
depression, where again the wheels could not grip, and
we had to wade out and push. I had been told that we
should reach our destination in one day, though the
distance was one hundred and fifty miles. Now, how-
ever, it was evident that we would have to stop on the
road, so we tried to reach some Government station in
order to avoid sitting in the car all night. By a supreme
effort and by travelling in the dark until seven o'clock,
we reached Masaka, a station about half-way to Ankole,
and threw ourselves on the mercy of the Administrative
Officer, who not only showed us hospitality, but provided
me with all my requirements for the night. We had got
separated from the other cars soon after leaving Kampala,
and saw nothing more of them that day, so, as one of
them carried my camp outfit, I had nothing with me.

50 The Soul of Central Africa

However, Mr. Rubie kindly supplied me with all neces-
saries, and I spent a comfortable night.

Early the next morning the motor driver told me
that my two cars had passed in the dawn and gone on.
We took leave of our kind host and followed the track of
the other cars, which in due time we sighted in the dis-
tance. Fortunately I had with me a tin of biscuits, as
otherwise I should have had nothing to eat. A little
past noon we came upon the cars at a standstill, and
found that the driver of one had inadvertently gone a
little to one side of the road, and the wheel had sunk
to the axle in the swampy ground. We were fortunate
enough to secure the help of a number of natives, and
dragged the car through the swamp on to hard ground.
The road was so churned to slush in getting this and
the second car through that our car, coming last, sank,
and we had to get help to lift it out and push it over
the swampy part to firm ground. This delay took some
two and a half hours, and by the time we were ready to
go on again the sun showed signs of sinking. We had
still a long distance, fully thirty miles, to cover before
we reached our destination. We hurried forward, but in
a few miles we had a puncture, which took half an hour
to mend; then, when it was nearly dark, we ran into a
tremendous storm, but, fortunately, it did not stop the
engine.

A few miles farther on we again came upon the two
cars standing in the roadway, and found that one was in a
culvert, which had given way until the car sank up to the
axles and rested on its body. Here was another difficulty,
and we could find no natives to help. With the boys and
drivers we managed to get the car out, and had then to
fill up the deep gutter with grass, reeds and plantain

Mombasa— Nairobi— Kampala 51

stems to form a road for our car to get over. By the
time this was finished it .was dark, and we had to run
by the light of the lamps, which in Africa, with the
uncertain earth-roads and their ugly turnings, is no
pleasant undertaking. At length we reached the Govern-
ment station at Mbarara, the capital of Ankole, and a
guard came forward to learn about us and take our
numbers. We had still two miles to go along an
uncertain road to reach the mission station which I
intended to make my working centre. Still, it had to
be done, and after missing our turnings twice we came
to the station. All now seemed right, but on going to
the first house we found it empty. After some search
we found a youth who told us that the friend who had
offered his hospitality was ill and had gone to the English
doctor at the fort. It was an awkward position to be
left like this by night on the side of a mountain. What
was to be done? I was completely perplexed, and was
pondering what the next step should be, when a lamp
appeared in the distance, and soon a lady missionar>^
came and told me about my friend's sudden illness. She
also gave me hope by saying I could sleep in the empty
house. She could give me a meal, and next day it would
be possible to make arrangements for future action. So
ended my run to Mbarara. The cars were unloaded and
vanished in the dark, and I determined not to try them
again on such roads, but to rely upon the slower and
safer method of porters and my own bicycle, which could
be carried when the paths were too bad, while the tent
was always near for shelter and the food-boxes for meals.

CHAPTER III

ANKOLE — THE PEOPLES

The Country — Preparations for Work — The King and his Chief
Minister — The Bahuma — Appearance — Kraals — Herdsmen and

; the Cows — Divisions of Time — MoraUty — Polyandry and Poly-
gamy— Fat Women — Clothing — Famine — ^Agricultural Tribes —
Artisans — Baganda Traders — European Inhabitants.

THE district which is now marked on maps as the
Western Province of the Uganda Protectorate is
formed by the union with Ankole of several small
independent pastoral kingdoms. The British Govern-
ment determined to combine these kingdoms, and after
some dissension the tribes agreed to accept Mbarara as
their centre and the King of Ankole — called in the
language of the land the Mugabe — as their nominal over-
lord. In earlier times the people of Mporora, Muzumba,
Buhwezi and the other small states would have refused
to acknowledge any suzerainty of Ankole, but when the
British officers had selected it for their centre the sur-
rounding chiefs found it advisable to accept the conditions
of government imposed on them. According to the
Uganda statistics the area of the Province is 6,131 square
miles and the population numbers 266,500.

It is unfortunate that there are no translations into
the language of the country; those people who have
learned to read have been obliged to use either Luganda
or a corrupt form of Lunyoro, these languages being
used in both the Church Missionary Society and the

Ankole— The Peoples 53

Roman Catholic schools. When a few translations have
been made and the people have books in their own
language, greater progress will doubtless be possible in the
elementary schools. Prejudice against a foreign tongue
frequently deters pupils from study, and their difficulty in
understanding their teachers is a further barrier to success.
It requires a strong craving for knowledge to encourage
a pupil to persist and surmount the language difficulty in
such schools.

The country is especially suitable for cattle-breeding,
and the governing class is composed of a people ,who
are entirely pastoral, and who are known among the
neighbouring tribes as Bahuma or, in some cases,
Bahima. These Bahuma must have invaded the
country long ago, conquering the aborigines, who were
agricultural people, and making them their slaves, or
Bahera, as they are called. These Bahera are an
improvident class who serve the Bahuma, but for them-
selves keep only a few sheep or goats with .which to pur-
chase wives or pay fines. They cultivate fields of millet,
but raise only enough for their immediate use, and,
in their desire for drink, they often use so much of
this for brewing beer that their households are reduced
to great straits before the next season's crops are
available.

It was my particular wish to study these pastoral
people, the Bahuma of Ankole, more carefully. Some
twelve years earlier I had visited them and made a few
notes about them, and what I had then seen and heard
made me anxious to inquire further into their ancient
customs and religion.

As my friend Mr. Grace .was away ill, I had, . after
that first night, to make arrangements for some means

54 The Soul of Central Africa

of existence until my goods from Kampala could reach
me. This seemed a difficulty, as there was no hotel or
shop that could supply me with the necessary household
equipment; but Miss Baker, the lady missionary, came
again to my rescue, assuring me that I need not worry
in the least, as she could provide all that I needed
until Mr. Grace recovered and came back. She most
generously arranged for me to go to her house for meals,
and I made one of the spare rooms in Mr. Grace's house
into my bedroom and settled down. The problem of
getting my goods from Kampala was soon solved by a
visit to the Government station at Mbarara, where, with
the help of the officials, I was able to find the men
required. At the same time I was able to see and
reassure Mr. Grace, who was much perturbed because I
had found him away on my arrival. It was a pleasure to
discover in the Assistant District Commissioner the son
of an old friend, and the beginning of my work in the
district was made easier by having someone I knew near
me.

Such preliminary matters having been settled, my
next step was to visit the native king and his chief
minister, and through them to get in touch with com-
petent men who could tell me something about their old
customs. I had met both the king and his minister
several times, but as I had been out of Africa fully ten
years and had not seen either of them for some years
before leaving the country, I was uncertain as to my
reception. Still, I was there to win my way and get
information, and I therefore sought to make a favourable
impression. I sent my servant in advance to announce
my coming to the chief minister, and on my arrival I
found him awaiting me in a small house built on the

ANKOLE: THE KING (right) AND THE PRIME MINISTER

Ankole— The Peoples 55

model of the mission houses, but without any windows,
the only light being admitted by the doorway. The
reception room contained a table and chairs, and soon
after my arrival a boy brought in cups and saucers and
a tin of biscuits, and I found myself enjoying afternoon
tea. Over the teacups I was able to make known the
object of my visit to the country and my desire to secure
two or three reliable men who would be willing to give
me information about the past. The chief minister was
most kind, and, declaring that he owed me a debt of
gratitude for past help, promised to forward my work in
every possible way. I felt still more encouraged when
he stated that he would place the help I required at my
disposal in two days' time.

From the chief minister I went on to see the king,
who lives quite near, for as the responsibility for his
safety lies on the chief minister, this official must never
be far away and has ready access to his master at all
times. I found the king living in a large house built
after the English style, with a corrugated iron roof, doors
and glazed windows; inside were tables and chairs, and
on the floor was a good carpet. All this marked a con-
siderable advance from the time of my last visit to him,
>vhen I was received in a mud hut with a floor of hard
earth. In person he was not much altered, but he was
somewhat reticent, and even, I thought, lacking in
intelligence. He could not be induced to enter into
conversation, though now and then he would brighten up
and make a few remarks. On the >vhole, however, the
result of the visit was satisfactory, as he gave me promises
— though somewhat doubtful ones — of help and asked me
to come and see him again. On my next visit I found
him very different, full of life, showing a keen interest

56 The Soul of Central Africa

in the past customs of his tribe, and evidently anxious
that a full record should be made.

These visits enabled me to make definite plans for
work, and when the porters had been dispatched for my
goods I set about arranging my rooms and preparing,
on a veranda, a place where I might interview the men
from whom I hoped to get information. These details
only occupied me one day, and fortunately I had note-
books with me, so that on the morning of the third day
after my arrival I was ready to receive two old men who
came to see me, and I promptly set to work to elicit
information. From that time onwards for three months
these or other men came daily for fully four hours, and
I had many other visitors who corroborated or added to
the material thus collected. At first my visitors were
careful to impart nothing but commonplace information,
and some tact was required to persuade them to give
fuller details. They were especially cautious with regard
to the secrets of their sacred rites, on which the main
value and interest of the inquiry depended. In due time,
however, they became perfectly frank and gave me the
particulars of even their most private ceremonies without
any pressure on my part.

These Bahuma are not negroes, as are the peasants
of Ankole, but are undoubtedly of Hamitic stock, and
they differ from other branches of Bahuma in having
kept their race pure by refraining from intermarriage
with members of negro tribes. In appearance they are
generally tall, averaging about five foot ten; in colour
they are of a dark brown ; their features are good, and
their noses straight or aquiline ; their hair is less woolly
than that of the lower type of African, and in a few
instances it is wavy. The men are in general slightly

Ankole— The Peoples 57

built and athletic, and some of them have excellent
figures. The women are usually extraordinarily corpu-
lent; fat is looked on as beauty, and the fatter they are
the more the men admire them. The fat is not so firm
as that made through eating vegetables and meat, but
they seem to enjoy perfect health and are always merry,
laughing and showing beautifully white teeth. Project-
ing teeth are also admired ; to have upper incisors which
protrude is a mark of royalty, and therefore highly
becoming and a possession much to be envied. In dis-
position these people are bright and genial, ever ready
to smile, and easily amused.

The pastoral people live on a milk diet, and in this
respect also they have been more conservative than other
branches of Bahuma, who have generally admitted some
vegetables into their meals in the course of the day.
These Bahuma drink only milk from morning until night,
but, should there be any beef available, they will eat
that after sunset, abstaining for a period of twelve hours
thereafter from drinking milk. There are numbers of
them who hardly ever eat meat and prefer milk, and yet
they enjoy the best of health, to all appearance they are
quite strong, and they can endure a good deal of fatigue
during a day's marching. They have constantly to make
long journeys and are herding cattle all day. They are
strong of limb and active, with no lack of muscle and
no spare flesh. It may interest those who doubt whether
a purely milk diet can keep people healthy and strong, to
know that some of these cowmen were tested in the
Carrier Corps during the war and proved themselves as
fit for rough and trying work and as able to carry heavy
loads as the members of meat-eating tribes. This was
the more remarkable as these men were suddenly put

58 The Soul of Central Africa

upon a vegetable diet. In the King's African Rifles,
too, many of the young men gained excellent reports of
their capacity for endurance as well as of their intelligence
and discipline.

Ankole is the home of the noted long-horned cows
which are so well known in East Africa. So large are
the horns that women use them in some parts as water-
vessels because of their capacity and durability. The
main herds do not reside in any fixed centre, but roam
about as the herdsmen consider best for the health of the
animals. The kraals are temporary huts built to screen
the herdsmen from night dews and rainstorms. A few
thorny bushes fill the spaces between the huts, and with
them form a circle to keep the cows together during the
night and to prevent wild animals from invading the
kraal. Cows always live in the open, calves alone being
sheltered in the huts, both to keep them from taking all
the milk from their dams and to protect them from wild
animals. Wealthier owners and the better class people
have more permanent kraals built somewhere near the
king, who seeks for his capital a site with good pasturage
and a permanent supply of water. When a man is of
sufficient importance to have his kraal near the king's
residence, a number of cows are brought from his main
herd to this place, and are kept near to supply milk for
the owner and his family. After one or two months in
the capital they are sent back to the main herd, and
other cows are brought in.

The better built dwellings are merely conical-shaped
huts with their roofs supported by the smallest timbers
that can be made to serve the purpose and thatched with
grass gathered in the neighbourhood. Though there are
some forests with fine trees, timber is not abundant in

ANKOLE: CATTLE GRAZING

ANKOLE: A TYPICAL HUT

Ankole— The Peoples 59

this country, and generally has to be brought from a
distance to the place chosen as the capital; hence the
men do not select heavy timber, which, besides having
to be carried, is more difficult to work. Each house has
reed walls inside which divide the place into two or three
tiny rooms, one being kept for the girls and one for the
parents, while the boys lie about where they like in the
main room. The entrance to the girls' room is through
the parents' room, so that they are protected from any
intrusion.

Each kraal has in it a large fire of dried cowdung,
which is guarded by the inmates and must never die out,
nor may it be used for cooking purposes, being held too
sacred for such use. Cows love these fires, and crowd
round them, often struggling for places near them, as
the smoke prevents biting flies from settling on their
backs.

Some of the larger kraals of the more powerful chiefs
are formed of several huts built at short distances from
each other so as to enclose a circular space, in which the
cows gather by night, and in the centre of which is the
fire. The doorways all look towards the centre, and
are usually open spaces, a door being rarely found.
Between the huts rough posts are planted and tied
together with strong ropes of creepers, and the cowdung
is daily swept up and heaped on one side. So closely
identified are those cowmen with their cows that this
heap of dung forms their burial-ground. It is, however,
customary to move some months after a burial to a new
site somewhere in the vicinity of the old kraal, and a
shrine is built near the new gateway for the ghost of the
dead man, which has also a shrine inside the hut of the
nev^ owner, near his bed. Another reason for leaving an

6o The Soul of Central Africa

old kraal is that after some time the daily scraping up
of the dung and of the soft earth which the cows have
trampled leaves a hard, rough surface on which the cows
cannot lie with any comfort.

No cowman calculates his greatness or his wealth by
the amount of land he owns, but always by the number
of his cows. Land is only of value from the grass it
grows for the herd, for the cowman has one love which
surpasses all others, and that is for his cows. If a
favourite cow falls sick, he will tend it day and night,
and, should it die, his grief is extreme, at times even
greater than for a wife or child. Men have even been
known to become insane and to commit suicide when one
of these favourites dies.

The skill with which two or three of these herdsmen
can manage a large herd, often numbering four or five
hundred, is wonderful; they have the animals entirely
under their control, and can direct them by word of
mouth as easily as though they were rational beings.
Their remarkable power over the animals is seen at its
best when the cows are being watered. If the ,well is
shallow, the cows are allowed to pass down and drink
from it one or two at a time ; but if the well is too deep
for this, say ten to fifteen feet, then the water has to be
drawn in pails and emptied into earthen troughs. The
men who remain about the kraal are responsible for draw-
ing the water ; they prepare the trough and draw as much
water as it will hold before the cows return from the
pasture in the afternoon. When the men arrive with
the herd there may be two of them with from one to
three hundred cows. One man takes his place near the
watering-trough, while the other stands in front of the
cows and tells from six to twelve, according to the stand-

Ankole— The Peoples 6i

ing-room at the trough, to go to the .water and drink.
He then commands the rest to wait, and should any of
them try to get to the water before the previous lot have
finished, it is quite sufficient for him to hold out his
staff or at most to tap the animal and reprove it for
being so impatient. The man at the drinking-place sees
that the cows do not step in the troughs or break them,
and when one lot have had enough he orders them out
of the way to a place where grass fires have been lit.
Here they stand patiently near the fires until the whole
herd have drunk their fill. While the cows are drinking,
two or three other men may be engaged in drawing
water. Several different methods are employed for doing
this, a common custom being for one man to stand at
the bottom, often in the water, where he dips a wooden
pail and throws it up full to the man at the top, who
catches it, empties it into the trough, and throws it
back to be filled again. When all the cows have been
watered, they are pastured again, and go slowly home-
ward for the night. No cows are fed in the kraal ; they
have to wait until the next day for more grass.

Though men possess large herds of cows and c?ll them
their own, still the king can take any he wishes; all
the cows in the country are his, and no man can sell a
cow out of the tribe. Once a cow enters the tribe it is
the king's, and, though it may change masters, it can
only go from one cowman of the tribe to another, and
not to a man of another tribe. Cows are the highest form
of currency, and all prices are regulated by the value of
the cow. Women and slaves were bought by the pay-
ment of one or more cows, and the value of goats and
sheep is fixed by the number a man will pay for a cow.
These animals are used for exchange ; a man will barter

62 The Soul of Central Africa

them for young cows or a bull or sell them to buy
weapons or salt.

These cowmen have no idea of weeks; they reckon
time by the year, which is subdivided by the rains. These
come twice during our twelve months, the heavier rains
marking the new year and the lighter rains the comple-
tion of the six months of the half-year. The next division
is that of months or moons, marked by each appearance
of the new moon. To the African in general the new
moon is always a time for rejoicing; it is watched for
and hailed with songs and festivity. It is the waxing
moon that brings luck, and the period between new and
full moon is the lucky time for events of importance, such
as marriages and births. The month has its twenty-eight
days, each subdivided by the position of the sun. In all
these divisions of time the first concern is the cattle —
what is to be done with the cows, or how the season of
year affects them, either for pasturage or breeding pur-
poses. The divisions of the day are marked by the time
io take the cattle to pasture, to give them w^ater, to
allow them to rest, to bring them home, and to milk
them. The cow and its welfare are their be-all and
end-all.

In this tribe there is a high code of morality among
unmarried girls, and no parent would seek to shield a
daughter who had offended against the strict rule of
chastity. The offender is condemned to death by her
clan, with the full concurrence of her father and mother ;
she is taken to a great river, her body is weighted with
stones, and she is drowned. The gravity of the offence
is shown by the fact that no young woman who is being
led to death for such a crime is permitted to pass through
the main entrance to the kraal. An object of contempt

Ankole— The Peoples 63

to all the clan, she is driven out through a hole in the
fence. The reason for such relentless severity is that
the cattle are believed to suffer when such an offender
is shielded, and thus the all-important milk supply is
endangered. Parents take the utmost care of their
daughters, and their mothers guard them with unceasing
watchfulness until they are married and handed over to
the care of a husband. Where chastity is so stringently
enforced before marriage, it is surprising to find what
laxity is permitted afterwards. It is an accepted rule
of hospitality that a man must provide his guest with
sleeping accommodation, even to the extent of sharing
with the visitor his own bed and his own wife.

In connexion with marriage customs another interest-
ing fact is the existence of polyandry. Ankole is the
only place in this part of Africa in which I found this
custom. It has doubtless come about owing to the
stringent observance of the milk diet, with its inevitable
effect on the economic conditions of the homes of the
poorer class. In order that his cows may flourish and
his children be in health, a man must provide his wife
with a milk diet, and he often cannot afford to pay the
marriage dowry, which commonly amounts to ten cows
or more, and still retain enough cows to provide himself
and a wife with the amount of milk they require daily
for food. He will therefore invite one or two men, either
uterine brothers or *' clan brothers" — that is, members
of the same clan — to join him. These partners will pool
their cows and, by paying the customary dowry, purchase
one wife. The woman who becomes the wife of^ the
partner brothers does not object to this custom, but seems
to live happily with her various husbands, nor does it
appear that there is ever any disagreement between them

64 The Soul of Central Africa

about her. Any children that are born belong to the
oldest brother.

It is usual for a man to have only one wife, though
there is no law forbidding him to have more, and there
are instances of a iman's having two. This is generally due
to the first wife, who, being childless, may advise her
husband to marry another woman. It is only when a
man belongs to the better, that is, the well-to-do, class
that a wife can make such a suggestion. Only the wealthy
would be able to pay a second marriage fee and still retain
enough milk to feed two wives ; a poorer man would have
to put away the first wife before taking a second. When
a man keeps two wives there does not appear to be any
jealousy between them ; they live in the same kraal, enjoy
the same amount of liberty, and have the same interests.

Women have little work to do, their duties being
confined to washing and fumigating milk-pots and churn-
ing butter. There is no cooking, except on the rare
occasions when a cow is killed or dies. No matter what
the cause of a cow's death may have been, the meat is
always eaten. Then a wife may undertake to cook some
of the meat for her husband, but even this is generally
delegated to one of the male servants, lest the extra work
should be wearisome to her and, by sympathetic magic,
injurious to the herd. The result of this indolent life,
together with the quantities of milk which they drink,
is the abnormal fatness to which I have referred. This
obesity is looked on by all classes as a mark of beauty.
Girls, before marriage, are not allowed to walk about,
and are encouraged to drink as much milk as they can,
in order that they may become as fat as possible before
their afiianced husbands come to claim them. After
marriage women practically lose the power of walking ;

ANKOLE: FAT WOMAN BEING CARRIED ON A LITTER

ANKOLE: FAT WOMEN DANCING

Ankole— The Peoples 65

half a mile will take them two or three hours to accom-
plish, for a rest is necessary after every few yards. In
their dances these fat women remain seated and go
through a performance which consists in waving their
hands and arms gracefully and swaying their bodies to
and fro, making meanwhile a buzzing sound with their
lips, to the rhythm of which the men caper and jump
about, full of admiration for the women who are too fat
to stand.

The wants of these cowmen and their wives are small,
and can be supplied almost entirely by the produce ol
their cows. Thus a woman, who is more carefully dressed
than a man, wears only two cowskin robes, one around
her body and the other thrown over her head and descend-
ing to her feet. The strangeness of their attire is seen
when they move out of the house ; a woman cannot walk
far without resting, and she does not walk upright, but
stoops from the hips forward. As her clothing is over
her head, leaving only a small opening through which
to see, she resembles some ungainly animal. After walk-
ing ten or twelve yards she stops to rest, placing her
hands one on each knee, and from a distance looking
ridiculously like a camel. Until Western influence began
to be felt men seldom wore anything beyond a small
cape over the shoulders, and even now they wear only
the merest apology for a loin-cloth in addition to the
old shoulder covering.

Unfortunately, my visit to the country took place at
a time when rinderpest was carrying off the cattle by
the thousand, and people were reduced to the last stages
of famine through loss of milk ; many of them were dying
from starvation, while others were wandering about into
remote parts of their country looking for friends who had

66 The Soul of Central Africa ,

not lost their cows and could help them with food. In
some parts of the country men and women tried to live
on a vegetable diet, w^hich in many instances led to
digestive troubles and contagious diseases which caused
numerous deaths. What struck me most forcibly was the
rapid change among the women. Their flesh fell away
so quickly that their skin hung in folds, making quite
young girls look like old women. One or two such women
I met struggling along to seek help from distant friends,
and their cases were indeed pitiable. There were no
bearers to carry them, and they limped along with pain
and difficulty.

This tribe of pastoral people are most careful not to
intermarry with any of the agricultural tribes around
them. They consider these people their inferiors, and
use them to do their rough work and to supply them with
grain for their slaves and plantains for brewing beer.
They will not take any of the agricultural women as wives
nor allow any of their own daughters to be given to these
men in marriage. There are a few instances where a girl
who has gone wrong has fled to some agricultural home
for shelter, to escape being put to death. When such a
woman has weaned her baby, it is usual for her to become
the wife of the man with whom she has taken refuge.
Such cases are extremely rare, for the w^oman is for ever
an outcast from her tribe and has to adopt the customs
and become a member of one of the clans of the agricul-
tural people.

These agricultural people are the Bahera, or serfs,
whom I have already mentioned, and who keep the goats
and sheep of their pastoral lords and receive a percentage
of the young in compensation for their services. These
domestic animals are not tended by the pastoral people

Ankole— The Peoples 67

themselves, but are required by them for purposes of
barter or for furnishing the medicine-man with his fee
for giving an oracle and, in some cases, with the means
of taking the oracle, which is often read over the body of
some animal. The Bahera may possess goats and sheep
of their own, but seldom keep cows ; indeed, until the
advent of the British, after which their economic con-
dition improved, they were, in most cases, too poor to
accomplish their great aim and desire, which was to
possess a second wife, a custom permitted by their law.

These Bahera claim to be descended from the
aborigines whom the Bahuma found in the land and
forced into a state of bondage, and the pastoral people
agree with this account, which is probably a true one;
at any rate, the Bahera are now the servants of the
pastoral people, undertaking for them many kinds of
work which, by the regulations of their milk customs, are
forbidden to the cowmen. In the places where they settle
they dig plots of land and sow a kind of small millet
for food. They grow other vegetables, but seldom
trouble to sow more than just enough to last them
through the dry season, when nothing can grow and
nothing can be done to the earth until the rains come
again. They also grow plantains, but only in small
quantities, and, as they do not understand their cultiva-
tion and possibly do not consider them worth much
trouble, the fruit seldom comes to perfection. The people
do not know how to cook plantains as the Baganda do ;
the women merely peel and boil them like sweet potatoes,
which destroys the flavour and gives the food a most
unappetizing appearance.

In many of their customs the agricultural people
imitate their masters, the pastoral people, though there

68 The Soul of Central Africa

are differences in detail. They are not taxed for their
land, but their chief, who is their landlord, can, when he
requires it, demand a little corn for his household or
plantains for brewing beer, and they herd his goats and
sheep for him. No agreement is ever made between
the landlord and his tenants ; they can leave and change
their masters as they please. They settle as near to the
master's kraal as they can find suitable land, and there
they dig their fields and reap their crops, with no desire
to move unless there is some serious difference or some
other chief bribes them to come to him.

Their clothing is scant, that of the men being only
girdles of hide, while the women wear one skin tied over
the left shoulder and passing under the right arm, leaving
one side uncovered. They do not live in communities,
but each man settles and builds his hut on the ground
which he has chosen for cultivation. Their homes are
merely conical huts, larger and better built than those
of the herdsmen, but still very miserable for permanent
use. Their food is chiefly porridge of a flour made by
rubbing the millet between two stones until it is ground
fine. To vary this diet and to eke out the scanty grain
they sometimes use sweet potatoes. Meat is a great
luxury, and they will eat the flesh of almost any kind of
animal, whether wild or tame, but they rarely, if ever,
kill any domestic animal for food. Goats and sheep are
reared more particularly for the purpose of buying wives,
and a man will pay from twenty to forty goats for a
bride. The relatives may demand a number of goats or
sheep, and in addition the equivalent of so many more
to be paid in bark-cloths, hoes, knives and possibly food.
This fee is taken by the parents of the girl and divided
among the members of the clan.

Ankole—The Peoples 69

These clans are totemic, each family adopting the
totem of the father and wives accepting their husbands'
totems for their offspring. Marriage between persons
having the same totem is forbidden, and a man must seek
his wife from a clan with another totem — that is to say,
clan exogamy is enforced.

There was, before British rule altered matters, little
organized government, though each clan recognized a man
who was pronounced to be the " father " of the clan. To
this man the members came when in trouble, especially
when theft or cases relating to marriage required arbitra-
tion. Where more important matters — injury, violence,
murder or any question respecting land — were concerned,
there was in each district a chief who had to settle the
question.

Both for Bahuma and Bahera the king's was the
supreme court, but in the old days he had no court-house,
and the meetings were held in the open, the king sitting
in the shade of a euphorbia tree while the members of the
court from the different parts of the country took their
places in front of him and the people sat behind them.
There were no seats nor did even the chiefs bring rugs or
mats to sit upon, but simply squatted with their knees
drawn up under their chins in the manner of cowmen. The
more important chiefs had their places near the king, and
formed a guard to protect him should any man threaten
to injure him. The king sat on a skin, and behind him
stood one of his wives to support him if he wished to lean
back. Another wife held his spear and shield and any
other weapon he chose to have with him. The king's
wives were his special guard of honour, and had on all
such occasions to be near him, to warn him of any
threatened attack or sign of aggression among the people.

70 The Soul of Central Africa

A guard of personal police also accompanied the king and
stood before him.

The assembled people arranged themselves so that a
narrow path was left by which to reach the king. As each
man arrived he deposited his weapons at a distance, for
none might be brought into the assembly, and came up
the narrow lane to greet the king and shake hands with
him. Should the new-comer be a stranger, unknown to
the guards and not a regular attendant at the court, one
of the guard of personal police held out his spear a few
feet in front of the king, and the man had to greet him
and shake his hand without passing this barrier. The
special danger in the presence of a stranger was that
he might for some reason have been deprived by the
king of some cows. A man who had suffered this
greatest of losses would certainly seek to revenge
himself on the king and was a serious menace to his
safety.

The most important and difficult cases which were
brought before the king for judgment were those of
murder. This was not a common crime, for only some
matter connected with the most important thing in a
man's life, his cattle, would cause him to commit such a
deed. If a man discovered or suspected that another had
done injury to his cows, he would promptly attempt to
kill the evil-doer. If successful, the murderer might seek
safety in flight, but this would mean deserting his cows,
which were more to him than life, so that as a rule he was
easily found. The relatives of the murdered man would
put him to death on the spot unless he succeeded in
placing himself under the protection of his chief, saying
he was accused of murder and pleading for help. In such
circumstances he was given an opportunity of pleading

ANKOLE: THE KING WITH SACRED STAFF AND SPEARS

Ankole— The Peoples 71

his cause, and, if convicted, of making his peace by pay-
ing a fine. The chief of the district in which the crime
was committed had to make the necessary arrangements,
and the murderer and his friends had to be brought face
to face with the victim's friends and relatives in the
presence of the king.

An open space was chosen, and the two parties
gathered there, leaving room for the king to stand
between them. A branch of the sacred tree, kirikiti
(Erythrina tomentosa), was planted in the ground between
the opposing parties, and one of the drums which were
attendants on the sacred drums was brought out and laid
beside it. The murderer had to provide a cow or bull and
a sheep, and the sheep was tethered near the king beside
the sacred tree.

The king, after hearing the evidence from both parties,
asked them if they were willing to come to terms. If
they agreed, the aggressor or one of his friends plucked a
little wool from the sheep and handed it to one of the
injured party, who imitated the action, handing the wool
to the first man. The wool thus plucked was placed on
the tree. Next the cow or bull was killed, the blood being
caught in a vessel, into which the representative of each
party dipped a finger and rubbed the blood in the palm
of the other's right hand. The king pronounced his
decision as to the number of cows the culprit would have
to pay as compensation for his crime, and the parties
joined in a feast before the sacred tree, eating the meat
of the slain animal as a sign of reconciliation. The
number of cows for the fine might be from fifty to one
hundred, and of these six went to the king for judging
the case and making peace.

Other cases were frequently tried at these open courts,

Tz The Soul of Central Africa

but the murder trials aroused most interest and were
attended by larger crowds than any others.

One of the most binding as well as one of the most
interesting ceremonies still performed by the people in
many parts of Ankole is that of becoming blood-brothers.
When two men have formed such a deep and sincere
friendship that they wish to proclaim it and cement it
for life, they do so in the following way. One man
arranges to spend the night at the house of the other.
On his arrival he is greeted and entertained as an honoured
guest by the host and his sister, who is present as special
witness. At daybreak the two men, each accompanied
by witnesses, go to some place not far from the house,
and there they spread a rug on which they sit a little
distance apart, facing each other. The sister of the host
and the witnesses watch the proceedings carefully. On
the rug between the two men is laid the arrow which
is used for bleeding the cows, a coffee berry in its husk,
and a twig of the sacred tree, kirikiti. The host takes the
arrow, scratches his stomach until he draws blood, and
passes the arrow to his guest, who does the same, and each
catches a few drops of blood in his right hand. The coffee
berry is divided, and each takes half and places it in the
palm of his right hand, smearing it over with the blood.
The host takes hold of the guest's right hand, and with
his lips takes the half-berry from the palm and swallows
it, the guest repeating the process with the other half-
berry. The host then takes the arrow, places it first
against the thumbnail of his right hand as though he were
about to cut it, raises it to his head as though he meant
to shave off some hair, and passes it round his head and
down to the nail of his great toe as though he meant to cut
it. The guest takes the arrow and goes through the same

*.^

ANKOLE: THE KING WITH SACRED BOW AND SPEAR

Ankole— The Peoples 73

actions, placing it, when he has finished, on the rug
between them. They make promises to be faithful and
true to each other and to each other's family and relations
through life, to serve each other until death, and never
to allow anything to sever the friendship. The host's
sister then takes a hand of each and tells them they must
live together always. Each presents her with some gift
for her services as witness, and the ceremony is complete.

Among the Bahera, who are the servants of the
Bahuma in Ankole, and are used in all agricultural and
building operations, there are artisans who comprise three
distinct trades, the smiths and ironworkers in general,
the carpenters, and the potters. Upon these people the
pastoral clans depend for various necessary weapons —
tools, household furniture, milk vessels, and water-pots.
The ironworkers I will not deal with here, for the smiths
are not so skilful as those of Bunyoro and there are few
smelters, the smiths obtaining their metal from Bunyoro
and other countries.

All artisans have to observe certain taboos before they
can set to work. The carpenters, for example, have to
propitiate the tree spirit before they can cut down a tree
for boards or for wood to make milk and water vessels
or such furniture as they require. The priest of the forest
accompanies the man to the tree he has selected, and, after
having poured out the blood of the sacrificial animal on
its roots and possibly tied a string of beads or cowry
shells round its base, they eat a sacred meal there. Then
the carpenter may proceed to fell the tree and cut from
it as many boards or, if the wood is to be made into milk-
pots, as many large blocks as he requires. In Ankole
few boards are ever cut, their chief requirements being
milk-pots and water-pots, and the trunk is therefore

74 The Soul of Central Africa

chopped into logs of the required length. The pot is
roughly shaped with the adze, and is then left for a time
to dry before it is hollowed out. The carpenter sits on
the ground, holding the wood with his legs or feet, and
hollows it out with chisels. The timber dries and seasons
slowly while he is doing this, and he has to watch it
carefully lest the wood should crack through drying too
quickly. Water-pails are also made of wood, and, as they
are of a size to hold about two gallons, require larger logs.
Smaller vessels for milk and butter and for wash-basins
are also made by these men, who become fairly skilful in
this craft.

Here, as in many parts of Africa, the w^omen are the
chief potters, though the art is not strictly confined to
them, and there are men here and there who give their
time to it. This may be accounted for by the fact that,
with the exception of the king and a few chiefs, it is the
lower class for whom the vessels are required, and they
cannot afford to purchase them from professional potters,
but make for their households what pots they requife.
The king and a few chiefs have their own men to make
milk vessels for them, and in the work they produce there
is a higher standard of style and workmanship than in the
pots of the humbler class. There can be little doubt that
the type of pots, and indeed the art of making them, have
filtered into Ankole from the Banyoro, who are much
superior in all the arts. All pottery is made by hand, and
no attempt has been made to use any kind of wheel for
the cylindrical pots. Still, the shapes are wonderfully true
and the curves of some of the milk-pots are beautifully
formed. As the clay is seldom well worked or prepared
and the pots are never thoroughly burned, the vessels are
brittle, and, unless frequently re-dried in the sun or over

ANKOLE: CARPENTERS

ANKOLE: SMITHS AT WORK

ANKOLE : MILK-POTS

Ankole— The Peoples 75

a fire, they are liable to break when lifted or carried. The
tools used are of a very primitive character. A piece of
a gourd forms a rest for the base of the pot while the
sides are being built up, and another small piece is used
as a trowel to smooth both inside and outside. The
worker builds up the walls and smooths them with the
gourd trowel until the whole is complete. Such pots are
kept some days in a hut, and ,when fairly hard are
exposed to the sun until quite dry. They are then heaped
together, covered with grass and reeds, which are set on
fire, and kept there until they are supposed to be quite
hard. The water- and cooking-pots of the peasants are
never polished, though they have a rude decoration in a
sort of herring-bone style on them. Milk-pots for the
king and chiefs are made thinner, and when dry are
rubbed with a smooth stone and burned and then polished.
This is done by holding them in the thick smoke of
burning plantain leaves and fibre, and polishing them with
a rag of bark-cloth while they are still hot and have the
oily smoke on them. The potter can thus obtain a fine
black polish, which he burns on, and which will last the
life-time of the pot.

It is the custom to break earthen pots when the owner
dies, and, unless a pot is in perfect condition, it will be
placed on the grave with a hole broken in it; the least
chip on a pot from the house of mourning is sufficient to
condemn it when, after the funeral, the pots are examined
before the purification ceremony.

Basketry is carried on by both men and women, in
some places almost entirely by the women, the men
making only the stronger baskets of willow. The finer
basket-work is done by women, who prepare certain
grasses and the fronds of palm leaves and aloes for their

76 The Soul of Central Africa

work. Princesses and ladies from pastoral clans also
weave a neat basket from the fronds of the wild palm,
and use it to carry coffee berries in when they pay a visit.
Other rough, strong baskets are used by peasants in
their fields, and hens with chickens are kept in them
during the night to protect them from wild animals.

During the past few years quite a colony of Baganda
have congregated in the capital of Ankole, Mbarara,
where they have cultivated fields of plantains. These men
are mostly Mohammedan, and are the scattered remnants
of the Baganda Mohammedan party which, some twenty
years ago, tried to set up a king of their own in Buganda,
but who, after a sharp fight, fled, some towards Koki and
others to the north of Buganda into Ankole. The Chief
Minister of Ankole is responsible for their entrance into
that country. Some years ago he began to feel nervous
with regard to the growing power of a certain party of
Bahuma who were not friendly to him. He feared that if
their power continued to increase they would end by
deposing him. In order to avert this calamity he deter-
mined to add to the numbers of his own party by inviting
these Mohammedan Baganda into the country and placing
them on his estates so that they might support him in
case of need. They are traders, and keep shops from
which can be obtained almost every article the natives
require. Their presence in the capital has driven the
pastoral people farther away, and only a few cows are now
kept by the king and chiefs for the daily needs of them-
selves and their households. This may have its compen-
sating features now that a permanent capital has come
into being, for good pasturage and sanitation are of the
utmost importance to cow-keeping. The present primitive
conditions in Ankole and the limited resources of the

Ankole—The Peoples 77

country make the provision of good sanitation in and
around a permanent settlement a problem for which the
Government officials have so far failed to find a satisfactory
solution.

The Government stations have greatly improved
during the past ten years, but the accommodation for
married servants of the Crown needs further considera-
tion, and marriage should be encouraged among them,
alike for their own health and comfort and for the general
uplifting and education of the natives. Roads for motor
transport are rapidly being constructed into the far
districts. These are really essential for the abolition of
the drudgery of porterage and for saving labour, which is
becoming an acute problem among settlers.

CHAPTER IV

ANKOLE — BELIEFS AND CEREMONIES OF THE BAHUMA

The Gods — Fetishes — Transmigration of Souls — Death and Funeral
of the King — Purifying the Country — A Lion Hunt — Illness —
Sickness in the Herd — Death and Burial of Ordinary People —
Purification Ceremonies — The Ghost — Death of Women — Marriage
Ceremonies — Children — Milk Taboos.

A MONG the Bahuma of Ankole, beyond the daily
LjL rite of offering milk to the ghosts, there is no
■*" "^" regular form of worship. They acknowledge the
existence of a Creator, but he has no temple or shrine
and is not asked for any favour. His work is finished
and he has delegated his powers to other gods. There
are four gods who are said to be the sons of Ruhanga,
the Creator, their names being Isimbwe, Ndohola,
Wamala, and Kashoba. These deities were at one time
resident upon the earth in the form of men ; when they
retired from this world, certain servants became their
mediums and priests, and there has been a succession of
these mediums from that time to this. These gods are
only appealed to on special occasions ; they are called upon
during war, or when there is any trouble among the herds.
When the men go out to war, the women gather from
the kraals and go into the bush, where they sit under
trees and from time to time call upon the war god,
Kashoba, to protect their husbands and sons. They take
with them pots of milk, and they drink this and talk in

the intervals of praying and calling on the god. Earth-

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 79

quakes are attributed to the movements of one of the
gods, and thunder and lightning are the manifestations
of another. Thus, when any calamity happens, and either
men or cattle are struck by lightning, the people call for
the priest to come and see the dead before they attempt
to remove them, and an offering must be made to the
god before the rest of the herd can be taken away from
the place where some of the cows have been struck down.

Amulets are worn by men and women at all times,
for everyone wears a special charm as protection against
any complaint to which he, or she, is particularly subject ;
but the gods are kept before the minds of the people in
the shape of special fetishes, and large sums are paid for a
good fetish made by the priest of one of the deities.
When men go to war they each carry two fetishes, which
are usually short horns of some animal filled with in-
gredients provided by the clan medicine-man. Each clan
has its own vendor of these goods, who makes them and
who has to see that they are more powerful than those
of rival clans. The warrior carries one fetish on his left
shoulder and a second in his shield, and his wife has a
third in her house, to which she has to make daily offerings
during her husband's absence. Should a wife prove un-
faithful to her husband during his absence, or neglect to
offer the daily libation to the god through the fetish,
the husband will be left to face the risks of the war in his
own strength; the god will neglect him, or even cause
him to become nervous and sick ; it therefore behoves a
wife to be careful in her behaviour at such times.

The priests must also tell the owner of cows when
he may kill an animal which belongs to a ghost or which
is to be given to a god. The bones of such an animal
may not be broken ; the meat is carved from the bones

8o The Soul of Central Africa

and cut up, and the bones are burnt in the open. The
supernatural being who exercises the greatest influence
in the family and regulates all its morals is the ghost of
the father of the kraal.

In many respects the pastoral people of Ankole differ
in their beliefs from other tribes of the same Hamitic
stock. They believe in the transmigration of royal souls,
and the king is therefore not deified after death, as are
the kings of Buganda and Bunyoro, but is thought to
pass to what we should consider a lower grade and take
the form of a lion. The other members of the royal
family also take, after death, the forms of animals and
reptiles, the king's wives (who are not necessarily of royal
blood) becoming leopards, while princes and princesses
take the form of pythons. What becomes of the lion,
leopard or python into which the soul of a royal person
migrates seems to be of no consequence when the animal
has played his part ; neither the king nor his people feel
any concern beyond the immediately preceding genera-
tion, and the lion representing the last king is never known
to die during the reign of his successor. Should such a
misfortune occur, the priest will produce another and
the reigning king and the people will be none the wiser. I
could not ascertain what is supposed to happen at the
death of the lion that represented the last king but
one, for when a king dies, and the forest priest,
announcing him to have become a lion, has shown the
cub representing him to the new king's messengers, the
greatness of the former lion-king, who was consulted by
his successor on any occasion of difficulty, lapses, and
the new king follows the counsels of the spirit of his
immediate predecessor, as learnt through the medium
priest from the new lion-king. Should this priest, how-

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 8i

ever, on any occasion be placed in a dilemma by the
occurrence of some unforetold event of importance, such
as an invasion which was unexpected and perhaps contrary
to a given oracle, he will lay it to the charge of a former
king, to whom he will appeal through a neglected and
forgotten lion, and thus explain any discrepancies in his
augury. Such occasions are, however, extremely rare.

The old office of Priest of the Sacred Forest carried
with it considerable honour and power, for the priest was
in most political matters adviser to the king. He was
wealthy, for he had under his control all the cattle which
belonged to the lion-kings, and all offerings for the de-
parted were sent to him. The priest was assisted by
his sons and other followers, and a son usually succeeded
his father in the office. A childless priest might adopt
as his son the child of a clan brother.

The King of Ankole never wished to die a natural
death, nor would he allow himself to lie ill for any length
of time. Should he feel ill, or through age find his
strength failing him, it was his duty to end his life by
taking a dose of poison. The ingredients for this were
always kept at hand by the royal medicine-man, who
stored them in the shell of a crocodile's egg. It must
have been a strong poison, for it took effect very rapidly,
ending the king's life in a few moments. I could not,
however, discover the ingredients; the men absolutely
refused to divulge this secret. The king thus experienced
no lengthened illness, but passed away in a few minutes
after swallowing the fatal potion, and his body was at
once prepared for the ceremony which the people claimed
to be his rebirth in the form of a lion cub.

All work now ceased in the land, every spear* was
wrapped up, and no sharp instrument might be displayed

82 The Soul of Central Africa

until the new king began his reign. Firewood had to
be broken, not chopped, and the fires in the royal kraal
were allowed to die out. All goats and dogs found in the
neighbourhood of the royal kraal were killed. A bride-
groom awaiting his marriage day must go at once in
haste to claim his bride, or, if that were impossible, he
must send to her a belt made of the strap which he used
for tying his cows during milking, and she must wear
it. If he neglected this his engagement was at an end
and he had to seek another bride.

The body of the king was arranged with the legs bent
up so that the knees came under the chin, an attitude
favoured by cowmen when they squatted at rest while
herding their cows. A white cow which had had only
one calf, and whose calf was still living, was brought, and
two or three men twisted its head sharply until its neck
was broken. A white sheep was also killed and its skin
prepared for use in the burial rites. A little milk was
taken from the cow before she w^as killed; some was
poured into the mouth of the dead man, and the remainder
over some grain which lay in the sheepskin. This was
put on the dead king's stomach, and the skin of the cow
was secured tightly over all. For two days the body lay
in the royal kraal, and it was then taken to a sacred
forest, where it underwent a further process of washing
with milk. After some days the priest came forward
with a lion cub and announced that the king was reborn
in this form. The men who brought the body had to
remain for a few days to see that the cub was in good
health and making fair progress. They then returned to
the capital to tell the widows and relatives, and mourning
for the loss of the king who had thus left them began
and continued all that day and night without ceasing.

ANKOLE: THE KING'S SISTER, WITH HER HUSBAND
AND CHILD

ANKOLE: THE KING'S DAUGHTER AND THE KATIKIROS
MOTHER

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 83

The next day the heir to the throne was brought
forward, and he appointed a sister to cleanse everyone
and everything before he could commence his reign. All
the milk vessels which belonged to the late king were
brought out and examined by specially appointed men.
Any earthen pots which were chipped or had any flaws
were broken, while any wooden pots which had decora-
tions upon them or had any defects were also destroyed.
The perfectly sound pots were placed on one side and
underwent cleansing with the princes, the people, the
cattle and the land.

The ceremony of cleansing was carried out with care
and solemnity. A boy, whose parents must both be alive
and both strong and healthy, was sent to the king's well
to bring a pot of water. This was poured into a wooden
bowl, and white clay was mixed with it until the mixture
looked like whitewash. A bunch of herbs, of a kind re-
garded as efficacious for cleansing, was handed to the
chosen princess, who stood beside her brother, the king
elect. Near him also were the princes and princesses, and
beyond them as many of the people as cared to come, and
the herds of cattle. The princess took the bunch of herbs,
dipped it into the bowl of ceremonial water, and touched
her brother upon the forehead and upon each knee. She
then sprinkled some of it towards each quarter of the
land, thus removing any taint of death or sickness, and
leaving the country and its inhabitants clean for the new
king to commence his reign.

The lion, as the animal into which kings migrated,
was held sacred in certain places, and in no part of the
country did men care to kill one. Should a lion attack
and kill anyone, the relatives resorted to a medicine-man,
who consulted the oracle. He might pronounce the lion

84 The Soul of Central Africa

to be possessed by the spirit of a king, in which case this
outburst of ferocity betokened annoyance ; the king had
been offended or neglected in some way, and the offence
must be atoned for before the attacks would cease. The
medicine-man could also tell what offerings would serve
to propitiate the irate monarch.

Should the oracle, on the contrary, declare the lion
to be merely a savage beast, a hunt was organized, in which
from two to five hundred men took part, A few men
followed the track of the beast and discovered its haunts
so that, when the hunters arrived, they could tell them
where it was. The huntsmen made a wide ring and
advanced, singing and beating down the grass, ever
narrowing their circle until they came upon the lion.
As the terrified beast was clubbed to death by a shower
of blows from the hunters before it could summon up
courage to spring, it was seldom that any man was
wounded in such a hunt. It sometimes happened, how-
ever, that an animal, wounded but not stunned, had time
to spring upon its assailants, clawing and tearing them
badly. Such mishaps were regarded as due to magic
rather than to the natural ferocity of the scared beast.

It is singular how fearless of wild animals herdsmen
become ; they will drive away lions from their herds of
cattle with no other weapon than a stick, and even by
night they seldom resort to the use of a spear to protect
the cows. As pythons are also sacred the people never
kill one, unless it has become a menace to the lives of
children and the priest has condemned it as merely a
dangerous reptile and not the possessor of any royal spirit.

The people of this region enjoy good health and are
quite as free from serious illnesses as other African tribes.
They have many strange ideas as to the cause of illness,

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 85

so that, when they have anything wrong with them, they
are subjected to a great amount of doctoring. The
medicine-man is called in not only to cure the patient,
but also to decide whether the sickness is caused by magic,
and, if so, to discover who has been at work and why.
As a cure he may order the patient to drink an infusion
of herbs ; or he may advise blistering, which is done by
applying a hot iron to the skin over the painful place;
at other times he orders the application of a plaster of
herbs.

When a man of the ordinary class is said to be under
the influence of magic, it is the duty of the relatives to
do ,what they can to have the curse removed, and they
employ a man who professes to have the necessary know-
ledge and power. Should he pronounce the illness to be
the work of a ghost, he has to discover whether it is a
ghost belonging to the clan or some hostile ghost from
another clan that is at work. A ghost belonging to the
family may give trouble and cause epilepsy because the
family as a whole has transgressed in some way, or be-
cause some member of it has committed an immoral act
which the ghost resents. Ghosts are ever watching over
the affairs of the clan to keep its members from straying
from the right path. On the other hand, ghosts from
other clans may come with evil intent, causing illness
or possibly death. Those have to be captured and
destroyed; but the ghost of a member of the clan has
to be persuaded to forgive the offence and come out of
the patient, and to accomplish this the relatives will give
it large presents of cattle.

Ghosts often become rich in cows, and each day, after
the morning and evening milkings, the milk from these
cows is placed before the shrine and left for a time so

86 The Soul of Central Africa

that the ghost may absorb the essence. Then the owner
or head of the family calls his children together, and in
the presence of the ghost they drink what remains. For
this purpose there is in every home a shrine before which
milk is placed for the ghost, and where it comes twice
daily to visit the family and to have its meal. It can
come and go as it wishes, and, though it cannot be seen,
it is looked upon as a member of the family.

More ceremonial importance is attached to sickness
in a herd than in a household. When sickness or plague
appears among cows the owner of the kraal sends a
messenger hastily to the chief medicine-man to come
and ascertain and remove the cause and prescribe
remedies. This king of the medicine-men is received with
honour, a special house is prepared for him, a bull is
killed, and he is feasted on the best they can provide.
His general procedure is first to inspect the herd and
listen to all the men have to say, and then to take the
omens. This is usually done over the body of a goat
or a sheep, but in more serious cases over that of a bull.
The animal is killed, and by watching the flow of blood
from the severed arteries and noticing markings on the
liver and small intestines he forms his verdict. In the
evening another bull is selected to be the bearer of the
disease of the herd. The medicine-man takes a bunch
of herbs, rubs them over each of the cows, and ties them
round the neck of the bull. The animal is then marched
round the outside of the kraal several times and returned
to the herd for the night. At dawn the medicine-man
and his assistants kill the bull in the kraal gateway ; the
blood is caught in vessels and the inhabitants and cattle
are all sprinkled with a brush of herbs dipped in the
blood. The next procedure is for the people to pass

ANKOLE: THE CHIEF MEDICINE-MAN

Ankole—Geremonies of the Bahuma 87

out of the kraal over the dead bull, and the cows are
then made to jump over it as they go out. The disease
is thus transferred to the bull and the rest of the herd
go out free, to be treated later with some herbal remedy
for their sickness. The herbs from the neck of the bull
are tied over the doorway to keep the disease from
re-entering.

When a man who is not of royal blood dies, his body
is buried on the same day in the dungheap in the kraal.
The grave must not go deeper than the dung ; when the '
earth is reached the men cease to dig. The body is
washed and the legs are bent up under the chin in the
favourite squatting attitude. It lies on the right side with
both hands under the right cheek, and is wrapped in the
cowskin on which the man used to lie. The body remains
in the house until the cows return from pasture and are
in the kraal, after which it is taken for burial. That night
none of the cows is milked, nor may the calves be fed,
and during the night the cows low continually and the
calves call to their dams. The people sit outside by the
gate of the kraal, where fires are lit, and not even the
small children are allowed to sleep. They weep and
mourn when the body is taken to its resting-place, and
they continue to mourn till the heir comes. As until
that time none of the mourners may enter his house to
rest, it is customary for the heir to come early in the
morning following the funeral. When he arrives, the
chief bull of the dead man's herd is killed and cut up
for the food of the mourners ; then the cows are milked
and brought to stand near the entrance of the kraal. The
milk vessels and other utensils are brought out from the
house and inspected, those that are faulty being destroyed
by the grave, while the rest are placed ready for purifica-

88 The Soul of Central Africa

tion. The heir next brings a favourite sister to act as
the purifier from the taint of death. She is given a bowl
containing a mixture of white clay and water and a bunch
of herbs. With these she sprinkles first the heir, then
his relatives and friends, then the cattle, and ends by
throwing her bunch of herbs towards a few cows, generally
the pick of her father's herd, which thereupon become
her property. Women, as a rule, cannot possess
property, this custom of a sister taking a few cows after
purifying the inheritance of her brother being an ex-
ception, and apparently a relic of an old law of matrilineal
descent, when property went to the son of a man's sister
rather than to his own son. Even here the cows can
hardly be considered entirely the woman's property,
for unless she has a son she may not take them away,
and if she has a son they are regarded as belonging
to him.

After the purificatory rites are ended the heir usually
gives a few cows to the ghost of the deceased, and these
cannot be taken away or used for any purpose without
the sanction of the ghost, which must be obtained through
the priest, who ascertains its wishes by oracle. The milk
from the cows is placed daily before a shrine made by
the heir near his own bed. After the death of the owner
of a kraal new bulls have to be introduced into the herd,
as all the fully-grown male animals are offered to the
dead during the days of mourning. They are used as
food for the mourners, who may drink no milk during
this period, nor may they come into the presence of the
king until they are purified. The mourning ordinarily
lasts two or three days, and the mourners are isolated
from other people. In the case of an important chief,
however, the mourning may last six months, the relatives

ANKOLE: MEDICINE-MEN EXORCISING A GHOST

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 89

living at a distance from the rest of the clan the whole
of the time.

Should a man die childless, his widow becomes the
wife of one of his brothers; and should she then have
children, the eldest boy is called the son of the dead
man and inherits his property.

The heir to a property does not remain in the old
kraal long after his succession, but chooses a new site,
which is not necessarily far from the old one. When
he removes he pays no further attention to the grave;
but he is careful to build a new shrine in the house
near his bed, so that the ghost still retains its home in
the family. Besides this shrine in the house, there is a
small hut built outside, near the kraal gate, which is also
dedicated to the ghost.

A woman is not given so much honour at her death.
Her husband sees that she is buried in the cowdung
heap, and he probably obtains a new wife from the same
family, who is then known as the heir of the first wife.
She will care for any children there may be, and will
also keep the memory of their mother fresh in their
minds. The property of a woman is practically nil,
probably only a few milk-pots, and she is not expected
to have much influence in the next world. A woman
is entirely under the rule of her husband, and she seldom
desires any other arrangement.

In all marriage ceremonies cows, milk, and the milk-
pots play a prominent part in the pledges. A bride shows
that she accepts the man as her husband by taking a
mouthful of milk and squirting it over him. Up to this
time she has very probably never seen the man, so that
there is no question of love ; expediency and custom alone
prompt the desire of the parties to enter their new estate.

90 The Soul of Central Africa

When the bridegroom brings his bride home she is accom-
panied by a number of girl friends, who remain with her
two or three days. During the first evening when the
bridegroom goes to see his bride, the girl friends contest
his entrance; they fight him and his companions, biting
and scratching them until they bleed freely. This simu-
lated protest is very probably the remnant of an old
custom of marriage by capture. In my former notes
in " The Northern Bantu " I have described a custom
still more closely resembling marriage by capture : " The
bridegroom enters the kraal and is conducted to the hut
in which the bride stands waiting, wearing the usual
dress of women, which covers her from head to foot. He
takes her right hand and leads her forth from the house
and out of the kraal to the assembled guests. A strong
rope is produced by one of the bride's relatives and tied to
the bride's leg. Sides are then chosen by members of
the bride's and bridegroom's clans, and a tug-of-war takes
place. The bride's clan struggle to retain their sister,
and the bridegroom's clan strive to carry her off. During
this contest the bride stands weeping because she is being
taken from her old home and relatives ; it is the correct
thing to do. The bridegroom stands by her, holding her
hand, and when the final pull is given in his favour he
slips the rope from her ankle and hurries her a few yards
to a group waiting near with a cowhide spread on the
ground. The bride sits upon this, and the young men
raise her up and rush off with her in triumph to the
bridegroom's parents' house, chased by relatives and
friends."

For two or three days before the marriage a few
friends of the bridegroom remain at the bride's home
completing the final arrangements, and a parting feast

Ankole— Ceremonies of the Bahuma 91

is held. Then in the evening of the wedding day there
is the ceremony of carrying the bride home. This is timed
so that she may arrive as the cows are returning from
pasture, for the bride who enters with the returning
herd will be a mother and a happy wife and bring luck
to the kraal. As she enters she scatters a few seeds on
the ground, thus sowing plenty and prosperity. She is
received into her new home as a daughter and sits first
in the lap of her father-in-law and then in that of her
mother-in-law. Then she is taken to rest by her mother-
in-law for a short time before drinking some of the fresh
milk warm from the cows. A young married couple may
remain with the bridegroom's parents until their first
baby is born before they seek a home of their own, and
during this time the bride takes part with her mother-in-
law in the duties of the household.

When a child is born the mother is kept in seclusion
for a week, and a nurse is appointed to care for the child.
This is usually an elderly woman related to the husband,
who has complete charge of the child and cares for it until
she dies. As a rule a mother will nurse her baby for three
years, during which period she is separated from her
husband. In some instances, however, babies are taken
from their mothers after a few weeks and weaned ; they
are then fed on cow's milk, while the mother goes back
to her husband and her household duties.

If the child is a boy, the father places him at the age
of four months on the back of a cow and gives him a
name. This cow becomes the property of the child and
provides him with milk. A girl is the special care of the
mother, who gives her a name, taking her to the door
and pointing out the four corners of the globe as the
quarters from which her wealth comes. At the age of

92 The Soul of Central Africa

four months a girl is usually bespoken in marriage. Some
man of another clan presents her parents with one or two
cows and she is thereupon betrothed to his son. These
cows provide the child with milk in infancy and form part
of the marriage dowry. The first four or five years of a
child's life are a happy time, though the children, like
those of our own country, long to grow up, thinking that
to be men and women means to enjoy life. When they
are five years old they begin to be responsible for some
duties either in the kraal or in the house ; and at the age
of nine girls are shut up and, to improve their appear-
ance in preparation for marriage, are fattened to such an
extent that they find it difficult even to move from room
to room. Boys have to learn all about the cows and go
to the pastures with them, and have also to take their
part in keeping the kraal clean.

The wife has her duties in the kraal. She has to wash
and dry the milk vessels and place them on the sacred
dais before the shrine until the evening time, when the
cows return to be milked. Then she has to hand the pots
to the milkman. Each cow has its own milk-pot, and
the milk must not be mixed indiscriminately, as some
cows are taboo to the owner. For instance, he may not
drink the milk from a cow which has a calf only two or
three days old ; the milk from such a cow may not be
drunk by any married person, but only by a young boy,
who has to refrain from drinking any other milk. Should
these restrictions be neglected, the cow will cease to give
milk and the calf will die. Some cows belong to the
ghost of a member of the family, and the milk has to be
set aside before the shrine for the ghost's use. Some
again may have drunk salt water, according to the custom
of the tribe for doctoring animals, and that day their milk

Ankole—Ceremonies of the Bahuma 93

may not be used by the owner or his family, but is given
to the herdsmen. It is the duty of the wife to see that
these taboos and restrictions are observed. Then, too,
there is milk to be set aside for the herdsmen, and some
must be kept for making butter. All this has to be
decided and arranged daily before the milk is drunk.

CHAPTER V

ANKOLE AND KIGEZI

Ankole — Sacred Drums — Western Ankole and the Pastoral People
— Kigezi and the Agricultural People — The Bakyiga — Lake
Edward — The Bakunta — Crossing the Ferry — Toro Salt-works.

DURING my stay in Mbarara, the capital of
Ankole, I paid frequent visits to the king, and I
was able to see and photograph a house in which
are the only drums which this king or his people possess.
It was a surprise to discover that these people have never
been in the habit of using drums in any of their ceremonies
or dances. This is most unusual, for the African in
general is utterly devoted to his drum ; he learns even in
babyhood to beat it, and, should it for any reason fail
him, he will improvise something to give forth a similar
sound. Though the people of Ankole do not use drums,
the king has come into possession of two. These are small,
some two feet high and eighteen inches in diameter, and
the skin on them is white cowhide with a black strip
let in across the middle. They are kept in a hut, which
is dome-shaped and has no pinnacle. As the hut has
only a low doorway to admit both air and light, it is rather
dark, and the drums lie side by side on a stand facing
the door, thus giving, as you enter, the impression of
two great eyes staring at you. On the floor on either
side stand several drums, which are of a later date and
of less importance than the chief drums, being, as it

ANKOLE DANCING TO DRUMS MADE FROM WATER-POTS

ANKOLE: SACRED DRUMS IN THEIR HOUSE

Ankole and Kigezi 95

were, attendants upon them. Under the stand there is
a row of milk-pots belonging to the sacred drums; for
these drums are fetishes, and are supposed to have spirits
and to be able to bring good or evil to the country. A
large herd of cows also belongs to them, and daily the
milk from a number of these is brought and placed before
them. The drum-spirits drink the essence of the milk,
and later the priest and priestess drink what is left as a
sacred meal in the presence of the drums.

At one time these drums were kept in a shrine at
some distance from the king's residence ; they might not
be on the same hill as he, and a stream of water must
run between them and him. When the king became a
Christian he had the drums brought to his own hill, but
in the minds of most of the people they retain their old
importance ; the priest cares for them as of old, and their
milk is given to them each day with certain ceremonies.
Each new king had the drums restrung at the commence-
ment of his reign, and a rumour, which I could not
verify owing to the reticence of the priests, stated that
when the drums were repaired there was always a human
sacrifice, and the blood of the victim was allowed to run
into them.

On the same hill, near the hut of the drums, there
is another hut to which princesses go when they marry.
In Ankole princesses are allowed to marry, another
custom in which the Ankole Bahuma differ from all other
pastoral tribes, whose princesses are forbidden to marry
anyone except their half-brothers, and, if they break the
rule, are punished by death. In this hut there is an
attempt at decoration, patterns being painted in red,
white and black over the common clay plaster of the
walls. This was the only attempt at painting which I

96 The Soul of Central Africa

found in the country, and it consisted only of straight
lines arranged in geometrical patterns. The king in-
variably chooses the husband for any princess, and she may
not marry without his consent. The husband must come
and reside with her for a few nights in this special hut,
and by their coming there the marriage is supposed to be
blessed and made fruitful, so that the couple live happily
together, enjoy good health, and have a large family.

After having spent fully three months in the capital,
I thought it time to leave and visit the kraals in the
country, in order to obtain a better idea of the homes
of the people. During my stay the Government officials
were extremely kind and helpful to me, the Provincial
Commissioner, Mr. SulHvan, being ever willing to further
any project, while his assistant, Mr. Filleul, the son of
an old friend, was no less ready. The Government station
was only a mile away, so that I could go over and see
them whenever I wished, and my stay in the neighbour-
hood passed very pleasantly.

The western part of Ankole is much more hilly than
the capital, and there are a large number of extinct
volcanoes, the craters of many of them being now occu-
pied by lakes. In some instances the slope down to these
lakes is very precipitous, while in others it can be de-
scended, though the climb down calls for some care. In
some of the larger depressions I could see that the
agricultural people had made little gardens, and the vege-
tation on the sloping sides, which led to a comparatively
level bottom some four hundred feet below, had, as seen
from the sunmiit, quite a picturesque effect.

On the top of one of these hills I had a side-slip and
a fall from my bicycle. I was riding on a fairly level place
along the ridge of a mountain, and had gone about half

ANKOLE: CRATER LAKE

Ankole and Kigezi 97

a mile when a boy ran out in front of me. Seeing the
bicycle, he shot ahead as though afraid, and I continued
at a gentle pace in order to let him get away. He ran
on in front and went straight on down the side of the
hill into a garden of plantains. 1 followed, not noticing
that he had left the path, which there took a sharp turn.
I was too late either to pull up or to turn, and in my
attempt to keep the path the machine shot from under
me and I fell, to find myself looking over the side of
one of these deep craters. Luckily there was no harm
done, but it might have been serious, as I might easily
have been precipitated either into the crater or down the
side of the hill among the plantains. In England such
a corner would have been marked "Dangerous for
Cyclists," but I had no such warning. I mounted again
and went slowly down the hill with both brakes on, keep-
ing the machine as far as possible under control, and
holding myself in readiness to jump should I come on
a bad place in the road or should the slope become too
steep for me to control my speed.

As I journeyed towards Kigezi I left the road usually
taken and wandered about a little to see the life of the
pastoral people, and the visits I paid to some of the
kraals by the way were both pleasant and instructive.
Sometimes I found large herds of cows, and saw the
little kraals, into which they were crowded by night, sur-
rounded by the men's huts, with a rough fence of thorns
between them completing the circle and keeping the
animals together. The huts were built with doorways
but no doors, so that the men, as they lay on their beds,
could see their cows, and could easily come out to protect
them should the visit of some wild animal create any
disturbance during the night. In one kraal the chief

98 The Soul of Central Africa

had built a scaffolding some twelve feet high, with a
cover over it and a wall on two sides. From this, he in-
formed me, he intended to watch for a lion which had
on several occasions attacked his cows, and was becoming
so persistent in its attentions to his herd that he had
decided to shoot it.

I wanted to visit a place called Kyagamba, where dwelt
a Muganda chief who had been placed there by the British
Government to stop the inroads of the Bakyiga in the
past, and to try to reduce the country to some kind of
order. The road I took to the enclosure of Kasuju, the
chief in question, led through a mountain pass which was
formerly the route followed by most people when going
to Kigezi, but which is no longer used. In some places
the way led through passes of the mountains, and the
path ran well up the sides of the hills. Beneath, in the
valley, flowed a stream of water, and above, the tops of
the mountains seemed to reach the sky and penetrate
into the blue. In some places the gorge was so narrow
that the sun did not reach the valley until it was high
in the heavens; the mountains were like walls on either
side above and below me. Sometimes these walls were
rocky and showed formations which would rejoice the
heart of the geologist and repay him well for his investi-
gation, for he would find specimens enough to occupy
and interest him for many a day. Here the rock would
look like layers of slate laid flat one upon another, while
a little farther on the layers would stand on end, rising
many feet. In one place traces of what appeared to be
iron were abundant, and then there would be a change
to what looked like quartz and hard stone. One such
pass in particular seemed a very paradise for the geologist,
for the outcrops of rock on the hillside were very varied,

Ankole and Kigezi 99

and loose stones, with here and there large pieces of talc,
lay about in all directions. The fascination of the ever-
changing scenery and the interest of these varying rock
formations made it a path through an enchanted land.

At times on this journey my bicycle became some-
what of a trial, for I had to push it up many steep places
where the task of keeping my own feet was one of
difficulty, and the added burden of having to push the
machine threatened to prove too much for my strength.
It was a relief when a comparatively smooth place would
permit me to ride a short distance, resting from my
severe exertions and making, at the same time, more
satisfactory headway towards my destination.

I visited one kraal, where I found a few people at
home, and I managed to obtain two or three photographs
of women. It was interesting to find how strictly they
observed the custom of keeping themselves veiled before
men. The son of one of the women was with me, and
his mother refused to unveil until he had gone away,
when she allowed her face and shoulders to be exposed
for me to photograph. These women were still fairly
fat, though they had not nearly so many cows as formerly
to supply them with milk, the plague of rinderpest having
passed through the district and carried off a great number
of their cattle. It was singular to find how some tracts
of country had escaped that distressing plague, so that
the cows were in good condition and the people com-
fortably well off, whereas in other places there was not
a cow to be found.

At Kyagamba I visited one of the Government
inoculation qamps, and for some time watched the men
at work. The cowmen were very unwilling to have their
cows inoculated ; they had no faith in preventive measures,

100 The Soul of Central Africa

and it was only force majeure, the authority of the British
officer, that made them comply.

Near this place is a beautiful lake called Mwoka. This
is merely a widening out of the River Rufuki, which here
reaches a width of fully half a mile over a distance of
possibly ten miles, forming this fine lake among the hills.
Here I witnessed what might have been a serious accident
to one of the natives on the Government inoculation staff.
Some of them had gone out on a papyrus raft and dived
off it into the water; in a few moments we saw to our
horror that one of them was unable to swim and was
drowning. It was with difficulty that we succeeded in
attracting the attention of his companions, and he had
already goiie down twice before they went to his assist-
ance, caught him, and towed him into shallow water. It
was fortunate that they happened to be Christian lads,
for otherwise they would have left him to drown as a
victim to the dreaded water-spirits. Most Africans are
in terror of these water-spirits, believing that they attack
certain people when in the water and drown them. The
Baganda are most superstitious in this respect, and will
leave a companion who has got into difficulties in deep
water to drown, because they fear the water-spirit will
resent it if any help be given, and will avenge himself
upon the rescuer at some future time. The lake is a
fine sheet of water fringed with trees and dotted with
islands. Hippopotami were noisy during the night, but
we slept in comfort without any fear of them.

At this camp I got one of the two punctures which
my bicycle suffered during the hundreds of miles I rode
it. On this occasion I was not riding, but had allowed
a man to push the machine through some tall grass, where
a large thorn pierced the tyre. In all my wanderings.

Ankole and Kigezi loi

in spife of the rough paths and the steep mountain de-
scents, I never had a breakdown or any serious trouble.
This speaks highly for the bicycle and tyres which I used,
for it required excellent materials and workmanship to
give such complete satisfaction in wilds where delay is
tiresome, and at times even dangerous, owing to the
risks run from exposure to the tropical sun.

When we crossed the boundary of Ankole into the
Kigezi district the country became wilder and fewer cattle
people were found, the true inhabitants, who were en-
countered here and there, being an agricultural tribe.
These people of Kigezi are mountaineers, and find the
steep hill-sides no difficulty ; their fields extend up the
slopes of the mountains and are marked off from each
other by ridges where the weeds and stones are gathered
together. After a few seasons the fields become regular
plateaux, for the rains wash the earth from the higher
ground against these ridges and form terraces raised above
the lower fields. As I wandered along a path on the
side of a mountain and looked over to the opposite side
of the valley the fields looked as though they were laid
out in terraces and fenced. Some were planted with
peas, which were in full bloom, with blossoms of three
or four colours — a sight quite new to me, as I had never
seen edible peas with any but white blossom. Cattle
plague had not penetrated into this district, and at each
camp there was an abundance of milk to be obtained ;
indeed, in many places pots of milk were presented in
such quantities that I had to refuse some of it.

It was my desire to see something of the pygmies in
Kigezi, but I found they had left and, having crossed
into Belgian territory, were out of reach. I had been
told that they had formed a camp in Kigezi, and I had

102 The Soul of Central Africa

hoped to spend a few days with them to learn some of
their habits by actual observation of their life. It .was
regrettable to find them gone and not to be able to learn
where they had encamped. There were traces of their
presence in the shape of large devastated areas, from
which the people had fled in fear of the pugnaciousness
and rapacity of these pygmies.

Cerebro-spinal meningitis was prevalent in the far
part of Kigezi, which made it unwise to go farther west
with carriers, who are always liable to contract disease
.when marching. I therefore spent some days among the
Bakyiga, whom I found to be a wild set of people without
any cohesion or regard for authority. The more I learned
of them the more their customs reminded me of those
of the Bagesu on Mount Elgon, but I found no one who
could give me any satisfactory account of their early
migrations. They themselves could give no account of
their forefathers, merely stating that their history only
went back two generations, to their great-grandfathers.
There are a number of clans, each possessing its own
totem and social arrangements. The women are hard
workers, each wdfe being provided with a field from which
she obtains enough food to support herself and her
children and to help to keep her husband. The husbands
are the real ow^ners of the land, and when they marry
the wife is given what is considered sujB&cient to support
her and any children she may have. Each husband has
his own cultivated plot, the produce from which he uses
for his own purposes, for brewing, bartering or for food.
If he has more than one wife, each of them sets aside
a portion of food for him from her own harvest store.
This is kept and cooked for the husband whenever he
pays a visit to the wife. Each wife assists the husband

Ankole and Kigezi 103

in cultivating his land, and he in turn helps her to dig
hers. In the home there is little order or idea of comfort,
and the amount of affection shown by a mother for her
child is but small. When the children are well and can .
run about they lead a happy life, but when one of them
falls sick it gets little sympathy or attention. The mother
seldom remains at home to nurse her child ; she merely
places some food, either porridge or potatoes, near it, and
then leaves it to eat or not, to live or die.

The men are the most unruly I met with in all my
journeyings; they have no respect for old or young, if
they come from another village, but will spear down
anyone they meet who is not of their locality. It is
dangerous for a man to make the shortest of journeys
alone ; even when he goes to dig his field he is in danger
of being killed ; he must carry his weapons with him and
keep them at hand, as he may be attacked at any moment.
Even men of the same village are easily aroused to anger
against each other, and will use their spears freely,
wounding or killing anyone upon the slightest provoca-
tion. Murder was said to be quite common, even though
the murderer had to pay the penalty by losing his own
life in a manner which one would think was sufficiently
terrifying to restrain him, for he was buried alive under
the body of the man he had murdered.

In this district, when a man wants to marry he kid-
naps the woman he wants, and then, from some place
of safety, calls to her relatives and informs them of what
he has done. Girls are prepared for this mode of mar-
riage, and, when they are once installed in a home of
their own, they seldom attempt to run away. The relatives
are asked to come to some particular place to receive the
dowry, which is placed ready for them in accordance

104 The Soul of Central Africa

with an accustomed scale ; they may then demand more
than the amount paid, and arbitration may last for some
weeks before both parties are satisfied. Little friendship
between members of different clans arises from the new
relationships; the bride's brothers retain their spirit of
enmity against the other clan, and will kill their brother-
in-law as readily as they would before he married their
sister.

Men may marry more than one wife, and frequently
have three and at times four, though two is the most
common number. The wives are always taken to live
with the husband, who builds each her own house in his
compound. A strange feature about these marriages is
the complete lack of friendship between the different wives
of the same man. Should one wife fall sick and die, the
other will take little, if any, notice of the motherless
children ; and, unless there has been some previous bond
of union or friendship between the mothers, the second
will not pay the slightest attention even to a helpless
child of the dead woman. The father has to care for it
as best he can. This spirit of unfriendliness is unusual
among African tribes, where, should a mother die, some
relative is almost always found to adopt a baby.

I found in Kigezi a capable Government officer of
the Civil Service, doing admirable work in reducing these
wild people to order. His task requires great tact, be-
cause there has been no recognized ruler among them,
and any taxation is hotly resented. As I was leaving
the country I was informed that one or two native servants
of the Government staff had been murdered while trying
to help some villagers to preserve their cattle from rinder-
pest. The people mistook the proffered assistance for
interference with intent to rob, and used their spears

Ankole and Kigezi 105

before matters could be explained. At one camp a man
who was the worse for drink tried to force his way into
my tent, and when opposed by some of his companions
.was about to use his spear. He had to be overpowered
and disarmed, whereupon he proceeded to make himself
troublesome by hurling great stones at the men who were
trying to keep order.

From the capital of Kigezi we journeyed along the
eastern side of Lake Edward, seeing many people who
do not often have visits from strangers; some of these
showed timidity, though curiosity more frequently over-
came fear. The mountain tracks proved trying when
the bicycle had to be pushed up them in the heat of the
day, though it seemed worth the trouble when I reached
any fairly level place .where I could ride, for not only
did I cover more ground than if I had had to walk, but
it was a rest to sit on the machine. On this journey it
was necessary to employ fresh porters daily, as the men
would not go more than one stage carrying loads. The
men had to be engaged in the afternoon and evening,
and usually came in the early morning soon after five
o'clock, carrying off the cases and tent as soon as they
could see; if an extra early start had to be made they
slept in the camp. I seldom found any man who shirked
or did not turn up to carry his load, and I was able to
go on ahead to the next camp agreed upon, leaving the
men to follow. When they came into camp they assisted
in erecting the tent, and then went away perfectly
satisfied with a small payment in the Uganda currency.

Soon after I reached each camp I found myself the
object of much curiosity, and men came to look at me.
As I was well ahead of the porters I had thus an oppor-
tunity of chatting with them and gathering information

io6 The Soul of Central Africa

for some two or three hours before the goods came along.
Whenever possible I found one of the Government rest-
houses and sat in it. These houses are to be found in
most places, because the District Officer makes periodical
visits to each part of a district, and the chiefs gather to
that centre to meet him. It was only when I heard of
some place of interest or of some village specially worth
a visit that I left the usual rest-house and made my
camp in some out-of-the-way place. As a rule it was
preferable to visit these district centres when making the
journey, because there m^n could be got through the
native agent who resides in the vicinity, and also because
there are well-defined roads from rest-house to rest-house.
It was always possible to save time by wandering off from
the rest-house, after the porters had arrived, to visit any
place of interest or to take photographs. Usually, how-
ever, I had plenty of work to do when a camp was
reached, for I would generally find some men who would
be willing to sit and chat, and from whom I gathered
information of value for general survey work. At each
camp it was possible to obtain food and, as a rule, milk,
and the person who brought it would be amply satisfied
with a small present. As I had no escort of police with
me, I generally asked the chief of the place to supply
two or three men to sleep near my goods and protect
them from thieves during the night. These guards often
supplied me with useful information concerning their
tribe and its customs. When evening came I did not
sit up long, for I had to remember the early hour at
which it was necessary to rise and prepare for the march ;
therefore at eight o'clock I shut up the tent and retired
to rest.

During the whole expedition there was never any

Ankole and Kigezi 107

night disturbance ; wild animals might be heard in the
distance, but every traveller expects that, and they never
disturbed the camp. On one or two occasions there were
heavy thunderstorms which threatened to bring down
the tent. One storm experienced on this part of the
journey was terrific, and I thought the guard had been
killed by lightning, which struck some trees quite close.
The thunder was deafening, and the rain came down in
torrents, flooding the ground all round. Fortunately the
tent w^as pitched on rising ground, so that the water
quickly ran away. When the storm was over I found
that Ihe guard were safe in a hut near, though they
confessed to having been startled by the severity of the
storm.

When leaving the Ankole district, which we had had
to re-enter on its western boundary before reaching the
ferry between Lakes Edward and George, I travelled
through some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole
tour. The mountains are covered with magnificent
forests, with much fine timber, ' sometimes extending
from the valleys to the very summits, and the sight in
the early morning, when the rays of the rising sun fell
upon the varied green of the foliage, was most striking.
The path often skirted the mountains, winding in and
out at a height of five to six thousand feet above sea
level; in places the gradients were such that it was
possible to ride a bicycle for two or three miles without
dismounting to push it over the crest of a hill. In some
places the cone-shaped hills were found to be extinct
volcanoes with the sloping sides of the crater clothed with
grass and trees and ending in a pool or small lake, making
a pretty picture in the sunshine, for the tropical growth
of creepers and often beautiful flowers showed amongst

io8 The Soul of Central Africa

the variously tinted foliage of the trees. Here and there
streams trickling down the side of the mountain had to
be crossed, and sometimes we encountered larger streams,
over which fallen trees formed the only bridges. In other
cases, however, the natives were being trained by Baganda
agents of the Government to make better bridges, over
which a bicycle could pass. Once or twice we came
upon splendid waterfalls dashing down from a height of
six or seven hundred feet into the rocky basin below,
and flowing off in a fine river. Where these falls occurred
the face of the rock was covered with ferns and flowering
plants, which, watered by the spray, grew fresh and green.
Where natives had settled, these mountain sides were
cultivated in the most primitive manner, but in most
places Nature had her own way undisturbed by man.
The natives confined their work principally to the cultiva-
tion of the smaller kind of millet and potatoes, though
here and there were fields of peas, which had blossoms
of varied tints from deep red to white ; possibly the cooler
atmosphere here is more favourable to the growth of
peas than in most of this part of Africa. In Kigezi
Mr. Phillips, the Commissioner, had a wonderful English
garden in which potatoes, turnips, carrots, celery and
cauliflowers grew freely. His strawberries were the finest
I have seen or tasted in Africa. In addition to this
garden he grows wheat and oats, grinds his own fiour
and makes his own oatmeal. These facts will suffice to
show that in such a country almost any kind of European
produce could be procured by settlers. I found the
nights rather cool, and from six to nine o'clock each
morning there was a cool breeze which, with a mist that
rose between eight and nine o'clock, made a fire quite
acceptable.

Ankole and Kigezi 109

As the expedition descended from the upper parts
of the mountains we came upon plantains again. On
the higher levels they yield no fruit and are not much
grown. With plantains are found the various kinds of
beans and maize and the larger millet. The cold of the
higher mountains prevents these from making sufficient
growth to encourage the natives to cultivate them.

As the traveller passes along the mountain range in
Kigezi and Western Ankole to Lake Edward he finds
the country full of animal life ; and where there are many
animals there are always lions about. At some of the
places we passed they were said to be troublesome,
attacking not only cows but men and women as well.
At one place two men came to the camp at three o'clock
in the afternoon, saying they had just escaped from three
lions which stood in the road. Had one of the men
been alone the beasts would in all probability have
attacked him. The native chiefs asked me not to travel
unaccompanied in the early morning, because omen were
being attacked if they went to their fields alone at day-
break. Probably the beasts of prey were suffering from
scarcity of food, for many wild pigs and other animals had
died from rinderpest. The lions were consequently forced
out to hunt for food in the daytime, and attacked men.
I often heard lions and other animals, but only once or
twice saw them, and was never molested by them.

Near Lake Edward there is a flat stretch of land,
six to ten miles wide, lying between the foot of the
mountains and the water, which is known as a sleeping
sickness area. All the inhabitants have been ordered up
the mountains, leaving the country to wild animals.
Here we encountered small herds of antelope which were
fairly tame and allowed me to pass near them without

no The Soul of Central Africa

fleeing away. I found that the inhabitants had been a
people caUing themselves Bakunta, who were originally
a Baganda tribe, and had had to flee from their country
because their chief had killed a prince in battle. In
Buganda, in the past, when a prince rebelled and fought,
or when the king died and his sons fought for the throne,
any chief who succeeded in killing one of the princes was
at first highly applauded and given great honour, possibly
even enriched by the king, who would give him lands
and cattle. Before he had enjoyed these honours and
rewards for many months the priests would come to the
reigning king and tell him that the ghost of his brother
demanded the life of the man who had killed him, for
it was forbidden to shed the blood of a prince ; if one
had to be killed, he must be strangled, burnt to death,
or allowed to die from starvation. In the case of the
chief of this Bakunta tribe it was the king for whom
he had fought and whom he had rescued by killing his
brother, who now sought his life. In spite of this obliga-
tion, the king's fear of the vengeance of the ghost was so
great that he turned against his rescuer and sought to
destroy him. When the chief heard he was to be brought
before the king for the service which had thus become
an offence, he fled into Ankole; then, fearing he might
still be captured, he went on to the shores of Lake
Edward, w^here he settled down with a number of his
retainers who had followed him. He became an import-
ant chief, ruling over many of the local tribes who became
incorporated with his original followers. The man has
now been dead some years, but his followers and children
still live, and just before entering the infected area I
saw some of these descendants, who told me how the
sleeping sickness had greatly reduced their number. The

Ankole and Kigezi iii

remainder have now been removed from their old country
to the hills in order to be away from the infected area.
I had heard of these people many years ago, and it was
interesting to me now to meet some of them.

Passing down into the plain to the ferry at Lake
Edward, we entered the infected and deserted fly region,
and had therefore to carry food with us for the night we
spent before crossing to the lakeside. We found the heat
of the plain trying after the cool nights in the mountains,
and I knew how important it was to press on lest the
men should be depressed and contract fever from mosquito
bites, thus leaving me in the difficult position of being
porterless in the hot plain. On the shores of the lake
live the people who manage the canoes, and there is a
Government agent in charge of them. On the Ankole
side a chief takes toll from passengers for his king, while
on the Toro side there is a chief acting for his master,
the king of Toro.

For several days before we reached the lake we found
the road constantly traversed by men and women carry-
ing large and heavy loads of salt home from the Katwe
salt-works in Toro. These people travel from great
distances in Ankole, and even from Buganda, taking
animals or food or other kinds of barter goods which
they know that the salt-makers require. When they
reach the ferry they pay the canoe men a sum for the
return journey, and, having gone to the salt-works to
barter for their salt, are free to cross again when they
return. The task of purchasing the salt may take several
days, for the men are never in a hurry to start for home
again, and they take some time over the bartering.

We reached the ferry soon after seven o'clock, and
as I had cycled in advance to prepare the ferrymen and

112 The Soul of Central Africa

secure canoes for the whole of my party, we were soon
aboard. These are '* dug-out" canoes — that is, trunks
of large trees hollowed out, and can carry two or three
cows if necessary. My twenty loads and twenty-five men
were soon seated in three of the largest, and we paddled
over in a little more than an hour. The crossing is a
fine expanse of clear water over a mile wide, where the
current flowing from Lake George into Lake Edward is
quite evident. Our canoe paddlers kept the bows point-
ing up the stream and worked away merrily. There were
numbers of water-birds flying about, most of them fish-
eaters, while swallows darted here and there, skimming
over the glassy surface and catching the midges. On
the Toro side the landing is steeper than that in Ankole,
which dips gently down to the water.

When we had crossed I sent off the men by a short
road to the camp, while I started for one of the more
important salt-works. There are two places where the
salt is worked, one giving the coarser kind and one a
better grade, and I elected to go to the latter. I had
to cycle off the main road and make a detour of some
twenty-three or twenty-four miles out of my way to see
this place. I had with me a cyclist guide, who showed
me the nearest way, a path which was at times rough for
the machines. However, we were able to ride most of
the way, which was a comfort, for this proved certainly
the hottest place I had been in. I was warned that we
should find the heat trying for the men, and I found it
quite true.

When we reached the salt-works the head-man of the
village kindly came to act as guide round the works.
The place from which the salt is gathered is a depres-
sion like a huge pond on the surface of fairly level

TORO: THE SALT POOLS, KATWE SALT-WORKS

GAMP OF THE EXPEDITION IN KIGEZI

Ankole and Kigezi 113

ground ; it is nearly round, and about half a mile wide.
At the bottom of this depression there is a stagnant
pool, and scattered around are smaller pools. These are
converted into holdings by the salt workers, each hold-
ing comprising one or two pools varying in width from
twenty to forty feet; they are made in the soft mud,
and into each water is run by channels from the main
pool. When the water in the small pool reaches a depth
of about ten inches, the channel is stopped with a piece
of clay and the stream diverted into another pool. The
water is allowed to stand a day or two until a thick
scum rises to its surface and hardens ; this is then
scraped up, and the men carry it to their villages, where,
assisted by their wives and children, they spread it out
to dry. When dry, it is made up into packets varying
from two to thirty pounds in weight, but in the market
it was being sold by measure, not by weight, and the
purchasers made up their packages according to the
amount they wished to carry. The pools are kept con-
stantly filled, so that the scum is always rising and
hardening on them.

The head-man told me that, so far as he knew, there
was no spring in the depression; the water was, he
thought, surface water which drained in after the rains,
and the saline properties were derived from the earth.
I am inclined, however, to think that there must be a
boiling spring which gives its saline quahties to the
water, because there are hot springs on both sides of the
Luenzori range at places I have visited on former occa-
sions. On the west side, in the Semliki Valley, there
is a large boiling cauldron which overflows, leaving its
salt along the banks of the stream, and these deposits
are used by the natives themselves and for barter purposes.

114 The Soul of Central Africa

In the village .where the salt is dried and prepared
for barter there are a number of huts in which the salt
workers live. They do not trouble about cultivation, but
devote their time to salt making, which is more remunera-
tive. There are several guest-houses, which were full of
people waiting for salt, and under a large hut were fully
a hundred purchasers busily bartering animals, food and
other goods for packages of salt. A man will carry as
much as one hundred pounds' weight of salt and walk a
hundred miles with it to retail it or to deliver it to his
master for use in feeding the cattle.

In the depression the sun was terribly hot, and I was
glad to reach the higher ground. It was February and
therefore the hottest part of the year, and grass fires
were raging round, making the air thick with smoke
and dust from the burnt grass. This added to the dis-
comfort of travel and shut out the scenery; even the
mountain range of Luenzori, which was only a mile or
two from me, was invisible, and as I walked along the
lower slopes I could not see the mountain-tops. Each
day the dust and smoke rose in clouds, obscuring the
high, snow-clad peaks of Luenzori, and I never once
caught sight of the glacier. In the past I have often
seen it, but during this tour I was not thus favoured.

These grass fires burn for days and extend over large
tracts of the hillsides, while the crackling of the burning
trees can be heard distinctly miles away. By day nothing
can be seen but clouds of dense smoke, while flocks of
birds hover above, swooping down to attack any unfor-
tunate animal trapped by the spreading fire. By night
the hillsides are a mass of flame, and the picture is one
of brilliant colour.

CHAPTER VI

TORO AND THE JOURNEY TO BUNYORO

Toro — Difficulties on the March — The Intense Heat — Crossing Rivers
— Camp Routine — Kabarole and Fort Portal — Kasagama, King
of Toro — Salt in the Semliki Valley — Hot Springs — Peoples on
Luenzori Mountain — Mission Work in Kabarole — Journey to
Lake Albert — ^Voyage to Butiaba — Arrival at Masindi — Work in
Bunyoro.

HAVING seen the salt-works and taken a few
photographs, I set out for my camp, and found
that the way led over very rough country ; where
there was a path it was never more than a foot wide, and
at times even that disappeared, and I had to make my
way over the rough roots of grass tufts where it was usually
impossible to ride a bicycle. Fortunately, I had a guide
who knew the country, for otherwise I could not have
found the way. The grass was burnt off all round, and
all paths and tracks were covered with dust and ash,
which rose in a cloud and filled the air, while the sun
beat down with tremendous power.

I reached the appointed place of meeting at noon,
only to find that no porters had yet appeared. We had
arranged to meet and camp at a rest-house which had
been built for Government officers travelling between
Ankole and Toro. I found the place in a very neglected
and forlorn condition, even falling to pieces, but it
afforded a little shade from the fierce rays of the sun,
and I sat down to read from the little store of literature

ii6 The Soul of Central Africa

.which I always carried with me for occasions when I
could find no natives to question. Here I could not see
a living soul, nor did I hear a sound which might indicate
the presence of human beings in the neighbourhood. I
tried in vain to quench my thirst with the small bottle
of coffee which I had on my bicycle, and waited, trusting
that the men would soon appear and end my discomfort.
After a time, as there was no sign of them, I wandered
out to try to find water, but a fine sheet about a mile
away proved to be brackish, and I returned convinced
that there was nothing to be done but to sit and wait.

When I had parted from my porters at the ferry
on Lake Edward to go to the salt-works, I had seen
them start off in good style, singing and shouting, and
I watched them out of sight before setting out on my
road, which ran at right angles to theirs. I learned
later that after a mile or two the heat began to tell upon
them ; it was greater than they were accustomed to walk
in, and even the path was unusually hot, so that their
feet soon began to swell. They found it necessary to
make frequent halts to rest, and at length my cook
started on alone, fearing that I should be puzzled and
disturbed by their protracted absence. It was he, there-
fore, who first appeared, to find me in the camp near
the salt lake, and to cheer me by the assurance that the
men would come, though he feared it might not be until
the cool of the day. His estimate of their powers was a
just one, for it was nearing four o'clock before the last
load was brought. The men as they arrived sat down
holding their feet, while some of them even cried with
the pam.

In spite of these trying experiences I found, when
the tent was pitched, that the thermometer did not

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 117

register any excessive heat, though even now, in the late
afternoon, it still felt far from cool ; in the shade of the
tent the temperature was only a little over 105^, but it
remained above 100° all through the night. The heat
was made so excessively trying by the presence of
moisture from the lakes and by the absence of any
breeze, the place being shut in by mountains.

The next difficulty was to get water and food. I
had sent a man in advance from my camp of the previous
night to warn the people of my approach and ask them
to bring food for sale, but when he turned up at the
camp his report was so unsatisfactory that I suggested
to my guide that he should go and find out from the
chief whether he intended to send food or not. My
porters were men from Ankole, who had agreed to carry
my goods to Fort Portal, and they could not be expected
to know where to find food in this strange land. The
usual well that supplied the camp was dry, and some of
the men wandered about for two hours before they
succeeded in finding water. Even then no one had
appeared to supply us with either food or information.
I waited until sunset, and as there was still no sign of
anyone, I had my last goat killed and cut into small
portions for the men, whereupon matters at once looked
somewhat brighter, for the smallest bit of meat seems
to give new life and vigour to the African.

Fortunately, at seven o'clock some bundles of plan-
tains and sweet potatoes .were brought, and the men were
soon busy cooking and rapidly regained their usual cheer-
ful frame of mind. The people who brought the food
had walked from seven to eight miles, and had to stay
the night in the camp ; their appearance with food and
their chatter and light-hearted child-Uke gaiety com-

ii8 The Soul of Central Africa

pletely restored good humour among the porters, and I
retired to bed feehng that the worst part of the trouble
was ended. Matters had at one time looked very black,
for the men had aflSrmed that they could go no farther,
but intended to return home, leaving me to get on as
best I could. Food and rest were therefore essential
that they might recover their bodily strength and their
customary cheeriness. Before I went to bed I saw them
all comfortable and reconciled to going on, and their
only request was that they might make an early start
next day, leaving camp at about half-past three in the
morning, in order to complete the day's march before
the sun was too hot for comfortable walking.

I learned that the people of this district lived on the
upper slopes of the mountains and belonged to various
cannibal tribes. They are not at all friendly to Europeans,
and do not wish to be interfered with or to have any
improvements introduced into their country; indeed,
they are convinced that the advent of the white man
^ill only add to their burdens and in no wise bring a
blessing. The country which I traversed between Lake
Edward and Kabarole, the native capital of Toro, was
therefore thinly populated, though I did pass one or two
small villages. After my experiences in Ankole and
Kigezi, where food and cattle were plentiful and the supply
of milk abundant, this change to scarcity proved most
unpleasant. The paths, too, .were in poor condition; in
some places I had to walk over long stony stretches, and
in others over sand so deep that the bicycle wheels
would not go through and the machine had to be carried
across.

Every night porters, either going to or returning from
the salt-works, passed the camp at all hours. Both men

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 119

and women .went to fetch salt, and they travelled in
small parties, three, four, or six together. Because of
the heat they walked by night, shouting and singing as
they went along to scare off wild beasts. We heard from
time to time the roaring of lions, while other animals
grunted or growled around, but they never came very
near our camp. One morning as I left the men in the
dim light of a setting moon and the rising sun I almost
ran into some animal like a leopard; at another place
my boys were anxious about my safety because a lion
appeared just after I had passed along the road. I, how-
ever, had neither seen nor heard it, and went on happily,
unconscious of its presence.

On two marches I found the crossing of rivers a
serious difficulty. I came upon the first of these after
a run of a few miles in the early morning. It was some
twenty yards wide, full of large stones, and two feet
deep, rushing down from the mountains in a rapid
stream. Fortunately, just as I finished my examination
of the obstacle, a man with a load of salt came along,
and I got him to carry first my bicycle and then myself
over it. He was a sturdy fellow, and managed well,
though the stones were slippery and the stream strong
enough in places to make him stagger. Having got
across, I thought my immediate troubles were over, for
I had only heard of one stream on that march ; how-
ever, I had only gone half a mile farther when I found
another, which, though not so wide or so stony as the first,
was deeper. In due time the man with his load of salt
appeared again, and another *'tip" persuaded him to
carry me and my machine over that stream also.

From the river I cycled on until the spot for the camp
was reached, and there I found a hut where I sat down

120 The Soul of Central Africa

to rest and read until the porters arrived. One of them
had fallen in the water with a box of papers, but no
serious harm was done, and the papers soon dried in the
sun. On these marches in Toro I seldom found people
to talk to, though now and then a pedestrian would stop
and chat for half an hour, giving some information about
the district, and at times I would find someone belonging
to the place where I camped who could throw light upon
the habits of the people. In Ankole it had always been
possible to get into conversation with casual visitors and
learn from them a good deal about the locality, their
mode of government and their social customs before the
porters arrived. When they appeared we saved time
by following a regular routine : while the tent was being
pitched the cook saw that I had some hght refreshment,
and if any shed or hut was available I was able to begin
writing up my notes of information secured from casual
informants on the ,way and from early visitors to the
camping-place. Meanwhile my bath was prepared, and
I was able to get a change of clothes before settling down
to the real work of investigation.

By this time, if the district were inhabited, as in
Ankole, the noise of the arrival of the porters would
have attracted the attention of some of the natives, and
they would have gathered round the camp. They ,were
curious to see what the traveller was like, and were seldom
in any hurry to go away, frequently sitting quite con-
tentedly for three or four hours as we chatted. I was
always successful in finding someone who knew a language
in which we could converse and who could act as inter-
preter between me and men who could not talk freely
in any of the languages I understood. I was thus able
to confirm and extend the information I had already

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 121

collected and to clear up difficulties which had occurred
to me in connexion with matters in the notes I had
collected at the stations. At camps near the boundaries
of districts I would often be able to gather some fresh
items of information which were of great use as a basis
on which to start work in the new district and among
a new set of people.

The people would often tell us legends about the
places we passed, and my porters were much impressed
by some of these. For example, the inhabitants of a
village near one of the rivers informed us that if we
wished to cross in safety we must do so in perfect silence,
for higher up on the mountain there dwelt a water-spirit
who must not know of our intention ; should he hear us
coming, he would send down a flood of water, and either
prevent our crossing or carry us away jvhen in mid-stream.
The porters firmly believed in the danger, and when they
drew near the river all road songs ceased, their voices
sank to subdued whispers, and they crossed in anxious
silence. I could have wished that the legend had been
considered applicable to all cases, for in erossing a second
river which ,was by no means so difficult as the stony
stream guarded by the .water-spirit, two of my men, both
carrying cases of paper, fell, and as a result my envelopes
were badly damaged and my notebooks slightly injured.
The mishap was wholly due to carelessness in crossing
and to the man behind following too closely upon the
heels of the man in front; but as a rule the men were
most careful in carrying their loads and seldom fell,
though it was often a puzzle to me how they managed
to keep their feet on the paths down some of the
mountain passes, for they were very steep and would
sometimes drop suddenly, leaving a long downward step

122 The Soul of Central Africa

with nothing but a few small tufts of grass by which a
man could steady himself. Only once did a load get
damaged by a fall on the path, when a porter, carrying
two chairs and a table, slid down a steep place on a moun-
tain side. Even then, though the chairs were broken and
the table damaged, none of them was rendered unusable.
When we were nearing Kabarole, in Toro, I found
I had lost from my bicycle the nut which held one side
of the front wheel fork. It had got loose and dropped
off while I was descending a steep path, but, fortunately,
the other side of the fork held until I was able to dis-
mount and examine the machine. I went back to look
for the missing nut, but failed to find it, and had to
secure the fork with string until I reached the Govern-
ment station, which is at Fort Portal, about a mile from
Kabarole, the native capital, and there I managed to get
a satisfactory substitute. The road into the Govern-
ment station was mostly downhill, and I had to ride
cautiously, keeping the machine under control so that,
if the string securing the front fork broke or was cut
through, I should not have a serious fall. As I passed
I called at the Church Missionary Society station and saw
a former colleague, the Rev. A. B. Lloyd, who was pre-
paring to set out for Kampala. At the Government
station I found an old friend, Mr. Browning, with whom
I stayed two or three days before starting for Lake
Albert to coast along it to Bunyoro. As can easily be
imagined, such glimpses of civilization and civilized society
were most .welcome, both for the rest they afforded and
for the opportunity of interchange of ideas, after days
spent in practical solitude among primitive peoples and
conditions. The Government officers I met were always
hospitable and ready to share mth. me their stores of

.JW£,

^^^ " ^ #'r

WEAVER-BIRDS' NESTS

A CANNIBAL OF LUENZORI

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 123

knowledge concerning the people of their districts. This
helped me greatly, for every scrap of information .was of
value for my purpose.

Toro is a modern kingdom, dating from the time
when Captain Lugard visited the district to remove the
Sudanese troops from Lake Albert, where they were
causing trouble. These Sudanese troops were men whom
Emin Pasha brought with him when he had to retreat
south during the Sudan trouble, at the time when Gordon
was killed in Khartoum. Stanley took Emin Pasha to
Bagamoyo, on the east coast of Africa, and his troops
were left for a time to the north of Lake Albert ; on his
return, Emin was killed by the natives, and his troops
were left leaderless and in a state of want. From this
dijBBcult position Lugard rescued them and took them to
Kampala. He was helped in this expedition by a Mun-
yoro prince named Kasagama, who as a reward for his
assistance was made King of Toro.

This Kasagama was descended from a prince of
Bunyoro who, on being sent by the king to collect
tribute from his subject peoples on Luenzori, rebelled
and refused to return to Bunyoro. He baffled the armies
sent against him, rejected all efforts to reconcile him to
his king, and lived as a rebel in Toro, gaining power
over the tribes there. His son, Kasagama's father,
declared himself the ruler of Toro and assumed kingly
powers over the whole country, which was thus entirely
lost to Bunyoro. Kasagama has not proved himself a
reUable ruler; sometimes he has worked well .with the
Government, but on other occasions his behaviour has
been most uncertain, and several times he has narrowly
escaped being deposed for his actions. His country is
not thickly populated, and he has never succeeded in

124 The Soul of Central Africa

gaining the confidence of the cannibal tribes on the
Luenzori mountain or in the Semliki Valley.

The country of Toro is not so productive as other
parts of the Protectorate, but in the crater region, where
little cultivation has in the past been attempted, coffee-
growing is proving a success. A few settlers have come
into the country, and are experimenting in the cultiva-
tion of coffee and cotton. The saltpans at Katwe, which
I described in the previous chapter, are now in the posses-
sion of the King of Toro, but they are not so productive
as they used to be. In the Semliki Valley there is a boil-
ing spring whose stream leaves a crust of salt along its
banks. The natives near collect the sand from the
stream, wash it, and evaporate the water to get the salt,
though they do not carry on any systematic trade with
it. The people in the neighbourhood are all fishermen,
and grow only a little grain for their household needs,
seldom more than is absolutely necessary.

On the eastern side of the Luenzori range there are
two or three places where boiling springs are to be found.
In many of them the natives have for long been accus-
tomed to take vapour baths when suffering from fever
or rheumatism. At one place the bubbling of the water
under a rock can be both heard and felt ; the people will
tell you that a rock-spirit dwells there and makes his
presence known by this noise. They used to make offer-
ings here whenever there were severe earthquake shocks.
These shocks are of frequent occurrence, and are some-
times severe enough to make it difficult even to sit at
table.

The mountain people on Luenzori are of a low type,
who at times rebel against the restraining influence of
civilization and seek to throw off its fetters. In the past

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 125

they were always liable to be attacked by enemy tribes,
and they never defended themselves, but simply left their
villages and fields and took refuge on the higher slopes
of the mountains, hiding in the forests until their pursuers
tired and left them. Sometimes, rather than fight, they
would pay their assailants a ransom in cattle and slaves
in order to be left in peace. They keep generally only
a few goats and sheep, and store what little grain they
grow in granaries, which are merely pits dug at a distance
from their houses or in the forest. With these stores they
can manage to exist for some months without coming
down to the lower parts of the mountain at all. The
British Government is trying to introduce some improve-
ments and bring them into line with the more civilized
tribes around, but it is a difficult task.

The Christians in the Congo region over the Semliki
River asked me to visit them, but the detour would have
taken nearly a month, and though I was anxious to inter-
view the dwarfs who have taken up their residence in
that part of the country, I could not spare the time.
The rains were threatening, and I wished to reach
Bunyoro and settle there for a few weeks of investigation
work while the rainy season lasted. Travelling during
the rains is not pleasant, and there is always the risk of
getting books and papers spoilt, with, in addition, much
danger of fever, for mosquitoes are prevalent in every
part.

When I heard that there was a boat due to call at
the south end of Lake Albert, and that I should be able
to get a motor-van on the north-eastern shore to carry
me to the Government station at Masindi, the capital
of Bunyoro, I decided to save two or three hundred miles
of walking by taking the lake route, and therefore set

126 The Soul of Central Africa.

out to meet the boat. I had only completed one day's
journey out from Fort Portal and Kabarole when a
messenger came to tell me that the boat was not due for
a few days. I summoned my boys, and after a short
consultation we decided to turn back to Kabarole and
wait there. I secured an empty house at the Church
Missionary Society station for use as an office, and Dr.
Bond most kindly and generously entertained me while
I spent a week examining two or three men from the
cannibal tribes of Luenzori who happened to be at the
hospital.

I ,was also able to see something of the activities of
the Church Missionary Society there. Dr. Bond has a
well-equipped hospital and does good work among the
people, but, from the missionary standpoint, he finds the
task a very uphill one. He was also practically single-
handed, having no trained nurse to help him. A lady
came to do what she could, but she was untrained and
inexperienced and could not relieve him of any responsi-
bility, while he had always to be at hand in case he
might be wanted and had to overlook and direct most
minutely all the nursing. There is a girls' school which
is deserving of notice, as it is perhaps the most flourishing
and well-managed of its kind in Uganda, with a system
and organization worthy of imitation. Work among
native women is always difficult, and especially so in the
case of the pastoral tribes, for any bodily exertion will
cause their fatness to diminish, and, as the well-being of
a man's herd is closely associated with the stoutness and
general condition of his wife, anything detrimental to
her will, by sympathetic magic, militate against the
good condition of his cows. In this school methods of
instruction which attract the pastoral women are followed.

LAKE ALBERT: GATHERING WATER-WEEDS FOR FUEL

LAKE ALBERT: A GOVERNMENT STATION

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 127

and hand- work, such as they may do without coming
into conflict with their milk customs and restrictions, is
being taught. Any disregard of those customs would at
once raise a storm of objection from members of the
tribe and be fatal to progress, for the men are full of
superstitions about their cows and the work their women
may or may not do.

After a week spent at Kabarole we set out again for
Lake Albert. The road was one of the worst we had
traversed, for here, in the neighbourhood of the lake, is
one of the sleeping sickness areas, which is practically
uninhabited. At only one of our camps did we find
people living near who could supply food, and I found
to my great comfort that the chief was a man whom I
had baptized some twenty years before. He kindly
undertook to see that food was sent to the lake for my
porters. This was necessary, because after leaving his
fields no more food could be procured. The next three
stages were quite uninhabited, though there was game
of all kinds in abundance.

As I was riding to the next camp I was accosted by
a man who ran out of some long grass and muttered
something I could not catch; after asking him once or
twice what he said, and faihng to hear his reply, I rode
on without dismounting. The path had been bad, and
I had found the journey tiring, for there were sandy
places where the machine had to be carried, rivulets
where I had to cross by stones with the machine on my
shoulder, and once a swamp where the footholds were
unsafe, and the bicycle on my shoulder made the
treacherous ground more difficult to negotiate. When,
therefore, I had found a short run of fairly hard ground,
I wanted to take advantage of it. About a mile farther

128 The Soul of Central Africa

on I came upon a dozen men in the road by a camp
who greeted me with the question, " Were you not
attacked ? " I naturally inquired , * ' By whom ? ' ' and
was informed that a large buffalo had been lying since
early morning in the path by which I had just come.
They could not persuade it to move and had been afraid
to go too near lest it should attack them. There was
no sign of it when I passed the place ; it must have gone
into the grass before I approached. I now realized that
the man who ran after me had been trying to warn me
not to go forward.

After leaving the second camp from Kabarole a
thunderstorm broke upon us, and in a few seconds every-
one was drenched. There was no place in which we
could take shelter, so we had to trudge on in the torrential
downpour. The path became slippery, and walking was
difficult, doubly so for the men with loads upon their
heads, and they got so thoroughly chilled that their teeth
chattered and their hands became numb and stiff. At
the end of half an hour we welcomed the reappearance
of the sun with joy, even though it drew the steam from
the ground in such clouds that we were almost choked.
We had then a trying escarpment to scramble down,
but, fortunately for me, my cook was .with me and under-
took to carry my bicycle. The path was very bad, and
in places so steep that I had to hold on to the grass and
shrubs to get down, but the boy managed to carry the
bicycle on his shoulder all the way without falling.
According to my aneroid there was a drop of some 2,500
feet in about a mile and a half, the top of the escarp-
ment being some 6,500 feet above sea level. When
nearly half-way down, as we stood for rest on a rock,
the cook asked me whether I could see some of the

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 129

advance porters nearing the camp. For some moments
I could not discern them, but at last, almost directly be-
neath us, I could distinguish them as moving specks. The
path took a zigzag course down almost to the foot and
then sloped in a long gradient into the camping-place,
where we found water. Here we were troubled at night
by a most boisterous wind, and though the men came
periodically to examine my tent-ropes, I had several times
to get up and secure them. Owing to the heat of the
plain, the cold air from the mountain rushes down after
sunset in tremendous gusts, making a tent an unpleasant
dwelling-place.

Early on the next morning we began our march over
the plain to the lake, some fourteen miles distant. As
there were no defined paths, and the tracks of wild
animals were quite as well marked as the one we had to
follow, I had a native guide trotting in front of me as
I cycled slowly over the rough ground. At one place
,we saw a large herd of antelope, and I began to count
them, but on reaching one hundred and finding three
or four times as many still uncounted, I gave it up and
betook myself to the bicycle, which had to be ridden
with caution, for the way ,was strewn with tufts of burnt
grass, and it sometimes required a little skill as well as
care to avoid them.

We went on for a mile or two, when suddenly my
guide jumped into the grass, poising his spear and point-
ing to a large wart-hog some yards from him. I dis-
mounted and asked why he did not throw the spear,
to which he replied that the animal was coming towards
him and he had only one weapon. The wart-hog walked
to within twenty feet of us and stood with its tail held
stiffly erect, except for a vigorous quivering of the
J

130 The Soul of Central Africa

extreme tip. The animal looked so absurd standing there
in our path face to face with my guide that I laughed
and rang my bicycle bell. The unusual sound startled
him, for he turned, trotted a few. yards away, and
stopped, looking as though he would like to charge. I
rang a second time, and he went still farther away to
consider what the peculiar noise could mean. As he had
now moved out of our path, I mounted and we continued
on our way. It was a district full of game, and at one
or two points I passed wild animals so close that I could
have struck them with a stick six feet long. In places
there were traces of elephants, some quite fresh, and a
good deal of large spoor, as though lions had been follow-
ing their prey.

When we reached the lake there was no boat in sight,
but that did not cause me any anxiety, for I expected
it to arrive in the morning. About ten o'clock the
porters came in, and were soon happily engaged in wash-
ing until they found that a monster crocodile was waiting
for them in the water a few feet away, whereupon they
retreated to dry land. I watched the reptile, and found
that he waited for three hours, hoping the men would
again venture into the water. Towards dusk I counted
twelve crocodiles floating over the bay to some rocky
land on the opposite side. The smallest of them was
ten feet long, and they went on their homeward journey
in a long line. My cook's assistant, a lad of twelve,
assured his companions that he had speared an antelope
with a pointed stick, which he produced, covered with
blood, to prove the tale. He wanted the men to go
hunting with him, but as the sun was setting they re-
fused, promising to go in the morning.

The expected boat did not come the next morning.

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 131

as I had been told she would, and hour after hour of
the day passed without any sign of her. In the evening
I sent a runner back to Fort Portal to make inquiries
as to the delay, and I determined to wait and see if
she came. The runner would require two days each way,
but the message could be transmitted from Fort Portal
by telegraph, and might possibly bring the boat on the
third day. My men had enough food to last one day,
and we sent back for more to the nearest gardens and
fields, half a day's journey away. The men who remained
began to fish and hunt, but the hunters did not find
game, and though the fishers were successful, I found
that none of the men would eat the fish they caught.
Crocodiles in great numbers were about again, and a
small one took up his station a few feet from the place
where the boys went to draw water for cooking ; he was
only about six feet long and was regarded with amuse-
ment rather than with fear. He evidently got weary
of waiting for someone to go into the water, and kept
raising his head to look round, causing much merriment
among the men, who greeted him with jeers and stones.
The day passed without any sign or news of the boat,
and I feared it would be necessary to return to the top
of the escarpment and take the road to Bunyoro on
foot. I was most disinclined to do this, as it meant
eight marches before we could reach Masindi, the capital
of Bunyoro.

Next day, in the early morning, the men went out
with pointed sticks and soon speared two antelopes.
They were busily engaged in cutting up the meat, when
to my intense relief I heard a distant siren and knew
the boat was somewhere in the neighbourhood. The
sound was repeated from time to time, but no sign of the

132 The Soul of Central Africa

ship could be seen for half an hour, when we saw first
a little smoke, then the funnel, and later the ship herself
approaching rapidly. When she cast anchor a. boat was
sent for us, and I learned that on the previous day a
mistake had been made and she had passed from the
Congo side without coming in to call for me. The sound-
ing of the siren had been intended to attract my atten-
tion and notify me of her approach, lest I might leave
the shore or start to take the road to Bunyoro. This
ship is named Sir Samuel Baker, and is a paddle-steamer,
drawing only a few inches of water and thus navigating
shallow parts of the lake with ease. It did not take long
to have the loads packed and shipped, and we were soon
ready to sail, leaving the porters to go back to Kabarole
and get their pay, which I had left for them at the
Government station.

The voyage was interesting and the constantly
changing scenery was refreshing. Each side of the
narrow lake could be seen, and at times objects on each
shore were clearly defined. Lake Albert is a depression
or valley in the mountain range, so that the hills shut
out all view of the country beyond them. Sometimes
the foreshore is several miles wide, but in other places
the mountains slope down to the lake. Butiaba is on a
fairly level stretch of land at the north-eastern end of
the lake. It is the port for Masindi, where the Govern-
ment station is situated, and the spot was chosen for
its nearness to the water's edge. The heat, however, is
found very trying, and the idea of moving the settlement
up the escarpment, so as to provide a healthier dwelling-
place for the marine staff, has been seriously considered.
The voyage took some nine hours or a little more, and
we had to enter the port at Butiaba after dark. There

LAKE ALBERT: SOURCE OF THE WHITE NILE

TORO: OUR LAST CAMP ON LAKE ALBERT

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 133

are nQ lights, but a large grass fire is lit on the beach
to guide the steersman into the harbour when the ship
comes in after darkness has fallen. I had to spend the
night on the boat, but I was quite comfortable, and my
boys slept soundly, in spite of the fact that they were
short of food, as we had failed to get enough for them to
bring any on board.

In the early morning we disembarked and started
to climb the escarpment towards the Belgian transport
station on the summit, between which and Masindi there
is a service of motor lorries. A good road has been
engineered down the escarpment for motor lorries to
reach the port, as this is the nearest way for Belgian
products to reach or leave the Congo. Machinery and
tools for the copper mines entering the country, as well
as exports on their journey to the east coast of Africa,
pass along this road. It took some time to make arrange-
ments for getting my luggage up, for it had to be
carried as no lorry was available. Porters were scarce, and
in the end some of the cases had to be left behind. I
was, however, cheered by the discovery that a motor
lorry was due to leave at noon, and I would be able to
reach Masindi that day. The Government lorry had left
the day before, but it had been arranged that the Belgian
one should wait for me. By the time I had made all
my inquiries and arrangements at the lake it was past
ten o'clock, and I had a hot walk up the escarpment to
the Belgian station.

On my arrival I learned that the Government lorry
had broken down the night before when going up a
steep hill ; the driving chain had given way and the vehicle
had run backwards down the side of a bank, but was
luckily stopped by a tree, which saved the occupants from

134 The Soul of Central Africa

a nasty accident. She had to be hauled out and repaired
before she could go on, so a Belgian car went to her
assistance. We followed, and reached the spot of the
accident just as the lorry was pulled safely to the road
again. When I saw the place I could hardly believe
that the lorry had run 14 feet down the steep bank
without overturning. There were a number of natives
in it af the time, but no one was hurt.

I was agreeably surprised to find that the road from
Lake Albert to Masindi, and from there to Masindi Port,
on Lake Kioga, a distance of some 68 miles, was
metalled, forming a good transport road over the whole
distance. It seemed quite strange to pass a steam-roller
at work on the road in the interior of Africa, and to find
good bridges over the streams and depressions. The
distance from Lake Albert to Masindi is 33 miles, and
the scenery all along the route was of interest, for wild
country would suddenly be broken by a few fields, cul-
tivated by the natives, and huts .with children playing
about them. It is not, however, comparable for beauty
with the mountain scenery of Ankole and Kigezi, and
the soil did not seem to me as good as that of Ankole
for coffee-growing. Still, we passed two or three culti-
vated stretches, sometimes over a mile long, with coffee
and cotton-fields, where well-built houses with flower-
gardens, standing in plantations of trees, indicated the
presence of the British settler.

A little before four o'clock we reached a station of
the Church Missionary Society, and on alighting from
the lorry I was greeted by an old friend, the Rev. H.
Dillistone, who was expecting me. He led me to a lawn
under the trees, where Mrs. Dillistone dispensed tea and
some of the luxuries of station life, which, needless to

Toro and the Journey to Bunyoro 135

say, were thoroughly appreciated. We spent the evening
chatting over old times, for I had known both these
friends in former years, when I was in Africa as a mis-
sionary. Thanks to their kindness and generosity, I was
their guest here for some three months while I gathered
information about the Banyoro. This proved to be
scientifically the most profitable piece of work I accom-
plished, though when I reached Bunyoro I had not the
slightest idea of what was awaiting me, and fully ex-
pected to be able to finish my task there and pass on to
some other place in two or three weeks' time.

CHAPTER VII

BUNYORO

Sir Samuel Baker and King Kabarega — Kabarega and the British —
Capture of Kabarega — Kings of Bunyoro — Former Greatness —
Origin and Influence of the Middle Class — The King's Herds— >
Sacred Cows — Herald, Milkmen, and Milkmaids — Milking the
Sacred Cows — The King's Meals — The King's Wives.

MY first task at Masindi was the inevitable unpack-
ing of goods and sorting of papers ; the contents
of the boxes which had been dropped in the
rivers as we came through Toro had also to be carefully
examined. When that had been done I was ready to
pay my visit to the King of Bunyoro and arrange, as
I had done at Mbarara, for men to come and give me
the information I wanted. For my purpose it was quite
profitless to talk to men who were versed in modern
civilization and politics, so I made arrangements for three
old and two young men, all of whom, I was assured,
knew more of the past than of to-day, to come and tell me
about their customs. At first they were most unwilling to
tell me anything, and refused altogether to talk about
their sacred rites, so that I began to fear I should have
to go away having learned little or nothing. It was
not until they had been, by the king's intervention and
assistance, aroused to take some interest in what I was
doing that a more communicative disposition appeared
and they began to show signs of friendliness and con-
fidence. When they found that they were dealing with

136

Bunyoro 137

a man jvho was acquainted with many customs and beliefs
similar to their own, they became quite wiUing to divulge
their religious secrets, and the investigation at once be-
came not only interesting and easy, but most valuable.

One of these men had been the messenger of a
former king, Kabarega, and had carried messages between
his master and Sir Samuel Baker, both on the latter's
first visit and later on when he came again and stayed
for some time. I found I was on the spot where Baker
and Lady Baker had made their camp in King Kabarega 's
day. From this man, Paul, I heard, from the Banyoro
point of view, the story of the trouble which had led
Baker to fight the Banyoro and necessitated his leaving
the country in a hurry. It appears that some beer had
been sent to Baker for his troops, and that they had
become excessively drunk. Concluding that the beer
had been " doctored," Baker, in order to have the matter
explained, sent for the chief who was responsible. He,
however, refused to obey the request, and when Baker
sent another messenger, this time accompanied by a
soldier, the messenger was speared down. The soldier,
fearing he also would be attacked, fired upon the assailant
and killed him, whereupon the people at once rushed to
arms. Baker, seeing that he might easily be overpowered
and killed, brought out a maxim gun, and when the
excited natives rushed up towards the camp he fired on
them and quickly put them to flight. Then, with a party
of soldiers, he went to see the king and obtain an explana-
tion. Kabarega, however, fearing for his own safety,
left the royal enclosure and took up a position on a hill
near. Baker, completely puzzled by the situation, set
fire to the royal enclosure, returned to his camp, packed
his goods, and beat a hasty retreat over the Nile, feeling

138 The Soul of Central Africa

it would be unsafe to stay longer in a country so hostile.
The natives now look on the whole affair as a mistake
and a misunderstanding, but its effect on King Kabarega
was serious, for from that time he regarded all Europeans
with deep suspicion, and was ever after hostile to
them and objected to the intrusion of foreigners into
his country. Emin Pasha was on friendly terms with
him, but some of the other men who attempted to pass
through were made prisoners, and one — I think it was
Captain Casati, one of Gordon's officers — was detained
for some months, and only escaped by entering into
blood-brothership with a chief, who, on being sent to
drown him in Lake Albert, put him instead into a canoe
and sent him away by night, concealing his escape from
the king, who thought the order had been carried out
and the man drowned.

In later years, when Mwanga, King of Uganda,
invited the British to come into his country, Kabarega
sent to advise him not to allow them to remain, and the
already existing enmity between the two peoples was
greatly intensified by Mwanga 's refusal to take this
advice. In after years Kabarega sent frequent raiding
parties into Buganda, and these became so irritating that
the British dispatched several expeditions against him.
For some time they did not succeed in capturing him, but
they made him a homeless wanderer in his own country,
and his people were reduced to dire poverty, for the
tillers of the soil were prevented, by the constant dis-
turbances, from cultivating their land.

This state of warfare went on for several years until
at last, after one of the Uganda risings — when some of
the rebel Baganda, with the Sudanese troops who had
joined them, fled into the remote parts of Bunyoro and

Bunyoro 139

the Teso country — a large expedition of Indian and
native troops, under British ofl&cers, was organized
against Kabarega. After some months of indecisive
guerilla warfare, during which the British never succeeded
in getting into touch with the fugitive king, some of his
men, weary of the situation and longing for peace, turned
traitors and revealed his hiding-place. A forced march
during the night brought the troops upon the king, who
was accompanied by Mwanga, King of Uganda, also at
this time a fugitive, having fled with the rebels. Seeing
that there was no possibility of escape, Kabarega, with
a few of his more valiant men and some of his sons,
made a stand. The king was armed with a rifle, and
fought bravely until his arm was broken by a bullet and
he could no longer hold his weapon. He was taken
prisoner, and along with him was captured the son who
is the present king of Bunyoro.

The wounded arm had to be amputated, though
Kabarega resisted this, preferring to die at once. After
the arm was taken off and he was left alone with his
son, he insisted that the latter should tear off the
bandages and let him bleed to death. For a time the
son refused, but the paternal authority was too strong,
and in the end he obeyed, and had started the flow of
blood when the guard at the door, realizing that some-
thing unusual was going on, looked in and found the
king bleeding profusely. He promptly summoned the
doctor, who was able to tie the arteries and stop the
haemorrhage. The father and son were then separated,
and a soldier kept watch in Kabarega 's room lest he
might again attempt to tear off his bandages. When
the arm was healed the king was taken, with Mwanga,
who was also captured, to Kampala, and both kings were

140 The Soul of Central Africa

shipped off to the Seychelles. Mwanga died there some
years ago, but Kabarega is still ajive. He is now an
old man, and has been converted to Christianity.

The kings of Bunyoro have always been noted for
their bravery, which is not surprising when we take into
account the way in which they fought their way to the
throne. Later on it will be necessary to give a more
detailed description of the method of appointing a new
king, but a few words on the subject will not be out of
place here. When a king died, the princes and their
followers rushed to arms, and the new king was the man
who succeeded in killing all rivals to the throne. The
fight for the crown was open to any prince who could
raise an army, but many princes preferred not to take
part, and the struggle was usually left to three or perhaps
four competitors. Sometimes the country remained six
months or even a year in this state of warfare while the
three or four factions pitted against each other struggled
for victory. The victor and only survivor of such a con-
flict must be a brave man, for in this kind of primitive
warfare the victory would naturally fall to the stronger
man and better leader, who thus became king. Kabarega
was the last of these warrior kings, the present king
having been elected by the British after trial had been
made of another man who proved to be but a weak and
incompetent youth.

The present king may have his faults, but he has a
strong personality, with the appearance and courteous
manners of a king, and he possesses the high intelligence
of the royal family of Bunyoro, who are in this respect
far superior to the rest of the people. In addition he
has the enviable and, for a good king, essential gift of
knowing how to deal with men. I spent many hours in

Bunyoro 141

his society, questioning him about old customs and also
learning much from him about the present condition of
his country, and I came to have a great respect for him.
He needs a friend to help him in overcoming a tendency
towards excessive indulgence in native beer, but he is
.well worth helping.

It is now, however, time to say something about this
country of Bunyoro, as it is now generally called, though
the real name is Katara and the people should be called
Bahatara. Bunyoro was a name given to it in derision
by the Baganda, and means " the country of freed
men," while Banyoro means " freed men," though it
was later used to denote the chiefs or ruling class, and
so became the accepted name of the people.

In the early days, when Speke, Grant and Baker
visited this country, it was the most powerful native
kingdom in the lake region of Central Africa, and the
kings, both in authority and personal prowess, were
superior to all the neighbouring monarchs. When at
this later date we survey their former condition, it seems
strange that, for no reason which can now be traced,
they were unable to prevent the Baganda from over-
powering them, and for several years before the British
finally came in to crush them they were being pushed
back from district after district. Now they are deprived
of a great part of their old kingdom, for many of the
districts which once owned their sway have been handed
over by the British to other peoples.

At one time the whole of Busoga was ruled by the
king of Bunyoro, and many of the Nilotic tribes owned
his suzerainty, while in the south the tribes of southern
Buganda to the borders of the Kiziba country were
under him. It was from Bunyoro that all the iron came

142 The Soul of Central Africa

which supplied the countries to the south and east, and
for many years the Banyoro smiths were superior to all
others. In addition to the iron, the salt districts, both
in Bunyoro and in Toro, which supplied all the tribes
for two or three hundred miles around, belonged to the
King of Bunyoro. These essential commodities were
important factors in their greatness, for they filtered
through to other tribes as barter goods, passing down
south and east until they reached the countries supplied
with salt and iron from the coast.

In other respects the pastoral people of the country
did not show any marked superiority over the Hamitic
pastoral tribes of the surrounding countries, while the
agricultural people — who, as in Ankole, are a different
race, evidently the conquered aboriginal inhabitants of
the land — were probably inferior to their neighbours,
with the exception, perhaps, of the serfs in Ankole, who
were a miserably poor agricultural people.

The greatest difference between the people of Bunyoro
and the neighbouring tribes is the existence of a middle
class, composed of people who have risen from the
agricultural and artisan class, having been freed from
serfdom by some king and raised to the rank of *' freed
men," or Banyoro, for it is from the title given to these
that the country takes its present name. When a man
of the lower class distinguished himself in any way the
king, as a reward, would announce, " You are no longer
of the slaves, but of the free men," and would make him
a chief. The man was then at liberty to marry a woman
from the pastoral tribe, and could easily find a herdsman's
daughter willing to be his wife. The herdsmen were the
lower ranks of the pastoral people, and could never hope
to possess wealth, counting themselves fortunate if they

Bunyoro 143

possessed cows enough to buy and feed a wife. The
daughter of one of those, though prevented by class
feeUng from marrying a common serf, would be wilhng
to marry this newly created chief, who might be wealthy,
rather than spend the rest of her life in poverty with a
herdsman of her own class. From such unions has sprung
a class of people who are inferior to those of pure pastoral
descent, but superior to the agricultural folk. People of
the lower class will kneel to a man of the middle class ;
even the parents of a man who has been raised to this
rank will kneel to him and greet him as a superior. The
existence of this middle class has led to the introduction
of mixed blood among the pastoral people, and thus to
the disappearance of the pure type we find in Ankole,
for men who would never marry women of the agricul-
tural peoples have taken wives from this middle class,
and the resulting difference in type between their
descendants and the pure pastoral people is often quite
evident.

Through the influence of the middle class also, the old
stringent regulations of the milk diet are now to a large
extent neglected and disregarded. The middle class
possessed large herds of cows, and lived to a great extent
upon milk, but not entirely so as did the purely pastoral
people; their influence therefore tended to make the
pastoral people more lax in the observance of their milk
customs. The regulations which were until recently care-
fully followed by the kings and the pastoral families of
unmixed blood show what was the custom of the whole
tribe in earlier times.

The king used to be allowed to eat meat only once
a day, when, as a religious offering rather than as a meal,
he was given a few pieces of sacred meat. With the

144 The Soul of Central Africa

exception of this sacramental meal, the food of the king
,was milk and milk alone, and it had to come only from
cows specially set apart for the purpose. The king was
held to be sacred, and therefore might not drink milk
from cows which supplied ordinary mortals. There was
a sacred herd, numbering hundreds of animals, from
which nine cows at a time were selected for the daily
use of the king. These cows were chosen for their beauty
and good health, and were taken to a district where they
might be kept apart from other herds, especially from
the bulls of other herds. Besides these sacred cows, the
king possessed large numbers of cattle which were divided
into herds according to their colour, each colour having
a special name; striped cows, cows of one colour, even
cows with different spots, had each their own name and
were kept in their own herds.

Though all the royal herd was carefully guarded
against contamination from other animals, the chief of
the royal herdsmen paid special attention to the nine
sacred cows. These were herded in the vicinity of the
royal residence, and had a kraal near. They were never
permitted to come through the main entrance to the
royal enclosure, but had their own special gate leading into
the court adjoining one of a row of sacred huts through
which the king passed daily to herd his cows, and which
were forbidden ground to the ordinary person. The
herald of the cows came first, and the animals followed
him through two of the huts into the royal presence,
where they stood before the throne-room to be milked.

Men were carefully chosen and set apart as herdsmen
and milkmen, and the herald had to be a member of a
particular clan. The milkmaids were chosen by the king
from among his wives. They were young women who

Bunyoro 145

had no children, and they could only serve the king when
in perfect health. The milkmen and milkmaids ,were
purified for the performance of their duties, and had to
observe certain restrictions during the time they were in
office. The men took leave of all relatives and friends
for their term of duty, which lasted four days, for during
that time they were not allowed to hold communication
with anyone but the chief of the kraal; especially must
they keep themselves apart from women, even looking
away if a woman approached, and refusing to answer if
one addressed them. For two days they were kept in
seclusion and purified, and on the third morning they
entered on their duties, relieving the two men who had
been on duty during the previous two days. The special
duty of one of the men was to brush any dust or dirt
from the cow's udder, and then to hold its tail lest it
should whisk any dust into the milk. The other man
milked the cow and returned the milk-pot to the milk-
maid who was responsible for carrying it to the dairy.
One of the milkmaids carried a large horn of water, to
cleanse the hands of the man who milked, and the brush
for brushing the cow's udder, while the other maid
carried the milk-pot, placed it in the lap of the milkman
when he was ready to milk, and took it away to the
dairy when full. Both men and maids had their faces,
chests and arms covered with white clay while they
performed their duties.

The person of the boy-caller or herald was sacrosanct,
and he was looked upon as so closely connected with the
king that he had to be careful how he acted during his
years of office. He was chosen when about nine or ten
years old, and continued in office until he reached the
age of puberty, when he was given a .wife by the king

146 The Soul of Central Africa

and another herald was appointed. Should he fall sick
during his period of office and his condition be considered
serious, the chief medicine-man had him strangled, for
his illness was a danger to the king. Again, he was not
permitted to do anything that might hurt him or cause
him to lose blood, for a scratch or a cut endangered the
health of the king ; while to strike the boy was equivalent
to striking the king, and was therefore a capital offence.

Each day this lad went, about four o'clock in the
afternoon, to lead the sacred cows from their pasture.
The cows were brought by the herdsman to some place
from which the herald could lead them to the royal
enclosure without walking in grass where hidden thorns
might scratch him. They were then passed over to the
herald, who at once began his special cry and walked
in front of them, while some of his companions followed
them. At the sound of the herald's cry people fled out
of the ,way of the sacred herd and knelt in the grass or
in side roads until they had passed. When the cows
entered the royal enclosure through their special gate
they stood near the throne room, in which the king sat
to watch the milking process.

A bundle of freshly cut grass was spread on the
ground to form a carpet, and upon this one of the cows
stood while the herald brought her calf and allowed it
to suck until the milk flowed freely, when he pulled it
away and held it before the dam to keep her quiet while
she was being milked. The first milkman came forward
and, taking the brush from the milkmaid, rubbed the
cow's udder free from dust or other unclean matter.
The brush was handed back to the milkmaid, who then
poured some water from her horn over the hands of the
second man. The first milkman took his place behind

Bunyoro 147

the cow and held her tail, so that she should not whisk
any dust into the milk. When the milker had had his
hands washed, he squatted by the side of the cow, and
the second milkmaid placed the pot in his lap ; he might
not touch it or anything else after his hands had been
cleansed. The man took from the cow as much milk
as he considered she could give without harming the
calf ; when he had finished he raised his hands, the milk-
maid lifted and took away the pot, the cow was led away,
and the next was brought. Two of the cows were thus
milked, and then the milk was carried into the dairy for
the king to drink. The other seven cows had to wait
to be milked until the king had finished his meal. Some
of the milk from the other cows was used for making
butter to anoint the king, and some the king gave to his
favourite wives when they visited him in the evening.

When the milk had been carried into the dairy, the
dairymaid set it ready for use and prepared the stool
on which the king sat. She also was purified and had
her hands, face and chest covered with white clay. After
preparing all things for the meal, she entered the throne-
room by a side door, knelt by the throne and said, " The
milk has come, sire," and retired to await the coming
of the king. When he rose from the throne, the guard
called in a loud voice, " The king has gone to drink
milk," whereupon all the people within the royal
enclosure knelt down, covered their faces, and kept
silence. No one might make the sUghtest sound, for a
cough or even a clearing of the throat would bring down
the royal wrath upon him, and in all probability the
offender would promptly be put to death for thus
endangering the royal life.

In the dairy no one but the dairymaid was allowed

148 The Soul of Central Africa

to be present during the meal. She carried the royal
milk-pot, a beautifully-made vessel set in a shallow stand,
round the edge of which was arranged a white fibre made
from the fronds and pith of the leaves of the palm-tree,
which stood up in a thick bushy circle round the pot.
On the side of this stand was a holder into which fitted
a wooden handle holding a sponge; this the milkmaid
handed to the king, who wiped his lips with the sponge
and returned it to her. She next handed to him a pot
of milk, taking oflP as she did so a lid of fine wicker-work
which she held as a screen before her eyes, that she
might not commit the sacrilege of beholding the king
drink. Then from the floor where she knelt she took
a fly-whisk, which she waved gently to keep any flies
and insects from settling upon him. When the king
had finished his meal he tapped the pot to attract the
milkmaid's attention, handed it to her, rose without a
word, and returned to the throne-room. The guard
announced his return to the kneeling people, who might
then rise and come to address to him their petitions or
greetings. The other cows were then milked, and the
milk was carried to the dairy.

It was at this point during the evening milking that
princesses were wont to pay their visits to the king.
They sat near the throne, and the king might, if he so
desired, present to them for their refreshment some of
the milk from the royal herd. Towards sunset the king
walked out in his enclosure and visited some of his wives,
or perhaps some of his cowmen came to give accounts
of the herds over which they had charge. This business
often lasted until eight or nine o'clock, and then the king
might order one of his wives to bring a pot of beer for
the men, and they would entertain him for a time by

BUNYOROrTWO WIVES OF A FORMER KING

The one on the left is said to be over 100 years old

BUiNYOKO: MILKING THE SACRED COWS

Bunyoro 149

singing songs, telling stories, or by an exhibition of
jumping, dancing or wrestling.

Each afternoon, before the cows came in for the
evening milking, the king had a sacred meal of beef.
For this the flesh of a yearling bull from the royal herd
had to be used, and the meat was strictly reserved for
the king's use or disposal. The cook lived near the royal
enclosure, but outside, for no cooking might be done
inside. The chief whose charge it ,was to remind the
king of his duties told him when the time for his meal
had come. The king rose from the throne, and, taking
a drumstick, he gave one beat on each of nine drums
which were hung round the throne-room; this sound
warned the people that the time of silence was at hand,
and also told the cook that the king was waiting for
him. The cook might not pass through the main gate-
,way with the king's food, but had to walk round the
royal enclosure and enter by the gate of the sacred cows.
When he reached the throne he knelt down, and, taking
the pot of meat from his servant, dismissed him and
turned to wait upon the king. He had to feed the king,
who was not permitted to touch the food. With a two-
pronged fork the cook took a piece of the meat and
placed it in the king's mouth ; this was done four times,
and if at any point the cook allowed the fork to touch
the king's teeth he was put to death on the spot. When
the meal was over, a second basket of food was brought
to the king, and he ordered it to be distributed among
his pages, who were summoned to the courtyard outside
the throne-room for the purpose.

The king was not supposed to eat any other meat,
the rest of his food being milk alone, and this ceremonial
meat-eating was regarded, not as a meal, but as a sacrifice

150 The Soul of Central Africa

to bring blessing on all the food of the land. In these
later days the kings have broken away from the old
custom, and now eat a meal of vegetable food and meat.
Still, no cooking of food is even now permitted within
the royal enclosure; it has to be done outside in the
cook's house, and until within the past few years the
food was carried secretly into a specially built house and
eaten in secret. Many dishes of all kinds were prepared
to tempt the royal appetite, and were carried to this
house, and the king would steal away from the court for
his meal. Having chosen the dishes of which he would
partake, he was quickly served, ate standing, drank some
beer, and then returned to his court as though he had
been engaged in some quite legitimate occupation.

In the olden days, if any meat remained over from
the sacred meal, it was eaten by someone appointed by
the king; but only a small amount from the sacred
animal was cooked, and the rest of the meat was dried
and used as it was required. When another animal was
killed, any raw meat remaining from the last was given,
by the king's order, to one of the herdsmen.

The king kept a large harem, because he could
command any woman in the land. The queen must,
however, be one of his half-sisters, of whom he could
have as many as he wished in his harem. Princesses
were forbidden to marry any but princes, and they
.were themselves careful to keep apart from the common
people. Other girls were brought to the king by his
regular scouts, for he kept a body of women for this
special purpose. These were constantly going about the
country to see the girls as they grew up and reached a
marriageable age. Mothers kept their daughters care-
fully shut up— in fact, practically prisoners— for months

. (11

BUNYORO: CROWNS WORN BY PAST KINGS

BUNYORO: OLD THRONE OF THE KINGS

Bunyoro 151

to prepare them for marriage, but these scouts of the
king would manage to hear of any girl who was con-
sidered good-looking, and would go to examine her for
themselves. If they considered her worthy of the king,
they gave her a necklet of beads, which marked her
henceforward as the king's property. It might be that
she was already betrothed and that the bridegroom was
waiting for his wife, but he could not claim her, though
he might appeal to the chief of his district, who would
lay the case before the king, and the man would be
granted compensation in kind.

The marriage of a daughter to the king was by no
means an unmixed blessing, and sometimes parents would
resort to every possible device to keep the women scouts
away. To begin with, it was an expensive honour.
Though the parents received a gift of cows from the
king, they had to accompany their daughter to the royal
enclosure and wait there sometimes for ten days or even
more, leaving their own kraal, family, and cattle until
the king pleased to hand over to them the gift and
allow them to go. They had, moreover, to supply their
daughter with a sufficient number of cows for her food
and also with milk-pots and clothing, and her outfit had
to come up to a certain standard, for it was examined
by a woman who reported to the king before the girl
was brought into his presence. Any failure in this
respect brought the king's wrath on the parents, and
they were even liable to death for such a dereliction of
duty. In addition, there was always the risk that their
daughter might offend the king and bring them into
disfavour and even danger, for if the girl's offence was
serious the king might order the parents to be put to
death along with the disgraced wife.

152 The Soul of Central Africa

The chosen girl might not be summoned to the king
for some time after the visit of the scouts, and when the
call came the special feeding and anointing which were
necessary took a few weeks. On admission to the royal
enclosure she was introduced by the woman who had
found her, and was placed in a waiting-room off the
throne-room, where she had to remain for twelve hours,
closely watched by a woman guard. Then she was
handed over to the care of one of the king's wives, and
it might be months before she was finally called into the
king's presence. Before her marriage visit to the king
she had to undergo further purification and anointing
for about a month. After marriage the new wife was
given a house of her own in the royal enclosure. As a
rule she would not enter the presence of the king again ;
only the possession of some special gift or charm which
attracted the king would secure her a second visit. Few;
royal wives had more than one child, and many never
became mothers.

The wives were, on the whole, a happy party. In
accordance with the custom of the country they were
not permitted to do any work, and had nothing to do
but amuse themselves and pass the time as pleasantly as
they could. They were not allowed to go outside the
royal enclosure, except by permission and with a suitable
escort, but inside, though they might not hold communi-
cation with any men except their own relatives, they had
plenty of company among themselves.

CHAPTER VIII

BUNYORO — (continued)

The King as Priest — Rain-making — The Chief Medicine-man — Salt
and the Salt-works — Plantain Fibre — Smelting — The Smiths —
Pottery — Carpentry — Basketry — Bark-cloth.

AMONG a pastoral people like the upper classes
of the Banyoro all social customs have their origin
^ and centre in the cattle. This was more apparent
some time ago than it is now, for in earUer days the
pastoral class were a people apart; the gulf which
separated them from the lower orders, that is, the agri-
cultural people, was very wide, for the latter were then
much more degraded, and there was no intermediate
class. The influence of Christianity and Western civiliza-
tion tends to bring the classes closer together, and the
formation of a middle class, to which I have already
referred, has bridged the gulf of separation and led to
much intermingling in marriage.

In every branch of social Hfe the king was the head
and leader, and, in his character of priest, the people
placed complete reliance upon his power as the mediator
between themselves and the supernatural powers. At one
time the king, in this capacity, concerned himself with
the pastoral people alone, but when the middle class began
to be a recognized body with considerable power, it was
found necessary for him to pay attention to their needs
and requirements also, and he had to respond to their

153

154 The Soul of Central Africa

requests for assistance, especially in the matter of the
regulation of the weather.

For this important purpose the first authority to be
approached was a body of medicine-men, who were the
officially appointed rain-makers, and whose duty it was
to regulate the weather for the benefit of the country.
These were scattered over the kingdom so that they might
attend to the particular needs of the different localities,
and each of them had many assistants. When the
country needed a change of weather the people would
apply to the rain-maker for their district, who, on receipt
of a suitable gift, .would promise the fulfilment of their
desire. Should he fail and matters become serious through
flood or drought, the people carried their complaint and
request to a higher authority, and appealed to the king.

These rain-makers are still to be found in many parts
of the country, doing their work as of yore, though they
are not now held in such universal honour, and are forced
to carry on their office in secret, for the Government
are determined to put an end to their practices, and are
attempting to do so by vigorous methods of repression.
This policy is to be regretted, though careful supervision
should be exercised to keep these men from exploiting
the superstitious feelings of the natives. Rain-making
ought to be regarded in the same light as any other
religious belief, true or false, and should be left to stand
or fall on its own merits when considered and tested by
the light of reason. Christianity will expose its false
pretensions and make an end of it much more quickly
unaided by the strong arm of the law. As it is, the
ceremonies are still widely practised, though in secret,
and the power of the rain-makers over the impressionable
minds of the people is only increased by the persecution

Bunyoro 155

to which they are subjected. The men are imprisoned
and their outfits confiscated, but this does not convince
them of wrong-doing, and on their release they resume
their work with renewed vigour. A much more eflFective
method would be to punish them only when they ex-
torted payment from the people, whether in money or
in kind, for their assistance. If the emoluments of their
craft were thus denied them, and it was made clear that
they must practise it simply and solely from the desire
to benefit their fellow-men and without thought of
reward, the custom would die a natural death and be
got rid of much more rapidly and eflPectively than by the
present system.

I was granted the privilege of visiting one of the
sacred places where the rain-making ceremonies are
carried on, but I had first to promise not to reveal the
whereabouts of the place or the names of the rain-makers.
The shrine was in the heart of a forest, through which a
path was cleared, but even then I had to leave my bicycle
two miles away, as it was impossible to ride. Far in the
forest we came upon a beautifully shaded glade, in which
the trees, though they met overhead, were not so dense
as in the surrounding forest. The objects which first
attracted the attention were two depressions, which looked
like pits made by artificial means, but which the people
believe to be supernatural in origin and the work of
the god of rain himself ; they were about five or six feet
deep and four feet in diameter. At the back of one of
them was a wall composed of fetishes, which were long
horns of cows and antelopes tipped with iron to stick
in the ground. In front of these were other fetishes, .
and, standing upon a leopard skin, there was a stool on
which rested the chief fetish, a large decorated buffalo

156 The Soul of Central Africa

horn. One or two iron spears, stuck in the ground beside
the upright horns, completed what might be termed the
altar, and the ground around was carpeted and the sides
of the pit were covered with newly cut scented grass. On
one side, in a place among the trees like a side-chapel,
there were a number of pots, many of which were broken,
but the broken pieces were left jvhere they had fallen
.when the pot was last used.

In due time the ceremony commenced, and I saw
most of what is done upon these occasions. The pits are
for sacrificial purposes, and, when offerings of animals are
made, the rain-maker, who is also the priest of the god,
slays the victim over one of them and allows the blood
to flow into it. The fetishes are smeared with some of
the blood, and the blessing of the god of rain, ,who is
present in the chief fetish on the stool, is implored. After
the sacrifice one of the assistants is sent to a sacred well
in the vicinity to draw a pot of water, which is carried
before the altar and presented to the god before being
emptied into some of the pots in the side-chapel. If
rain is required the water is left in these pots as a re-
minder to the god, and the priest, presenting his request,
draws the god's attention to them. This action denotes
a kind of sympathetic magic — like producing like. If
rain does not follow in the next few days the sacrifice
has to be repeated.

When rain refuses to come and the crops all over
the country threaten to fail, the people appeal to the king
for help against the rain-makers, who have taken their
offerings and done nothing in return. It never occurs
to them to think that the men may be incapable of doing
what they require ; for some reason they are disinclined
to work and must be made to fulfil their engagement.

BUNYORO: RAINMAKER'S SHRINE

BUNYORO: POTTERS AT WORK

Bunyoro 157

The king accordingly sends for all the rain-makers and
asks their reason for not bringing the necessary rain.
He then commands them to do so without delay. If a
day or two passes and there is still no rain, the men are
brought to the king and placed in the burning sun in the
courtyard before the throne-room. The king's cook pre-
pares a special dish, composed of the liver of a sheep or
a cow cooked in butter, with as much salt as can be got
into it. This the unhappy rain-makers have to eat as
they sit in the sun, and there they remain with the per-
spiration streaming from them and their throats parched
with thirst. No mercy is shown. When they beg for
water the only reply is : '' Bring rain and quench your
thirst." Even should one faint from thirst he does not
escape. They may obtain a little respite by promising
to go and make rain, but nothing except the coming of
the rain will end their diiSiculties.

When, on the other hand, rain has fallen in sufficient
quantities or has been too abundant, the rain-maker is
called on again, this time to bring sunshine and fair
weather. Again he resorts to all manner of devices to
prove to the people that he is doing what is required
and also to obtain further gifts from them. He goes
to the forest shrine and makes an offering of an animal
or a fowl to the god, praying that, in return, the rain
may cease. All the pots of water are overturned, and
the attention of the rain god is carefully drawn to the
fact. Lack of success will again lead to a general appeal
to the king, who will summon the whole company of rain-
makers and issue his command that the rain be stopped.
If this has no effect the men are again brought before
him, and each is presented with a large pot of rain-water
caught from the roof of one of the huts. The king com-

158 The Soul of Central Africa

mands them to drink until the pots are empty, and though
they are often made sick by the amount they have to
drink — no mercy is shown unless the rain stops.

The rain-makers have many devices wherewith to play
upon the imaginations of the people in order to keep
them from appealing to the king, and it is not often
that they suffer punishment for failure to satisfy their
clients. When the confidence of the people is so un-
shakable it is little wonder that these men sometimes take
advantage of them, and, if they dare to refuse any demand
for an animal or other gift, threaten them with the loss
of crops from drought or from wind and rain. Those
of the rain-makers whom I was able to interview were,
on the whole, reticent, but I succeeded in securing a
certain amount of information from one and was able to
persuade others to confirm it.

Among the different classes of medicine-men the
most important is he whose duty it is to prescribe both
for people and cattle. If he is sent for to cure a herd
of cows in which disease has broken out, the owner of
the kraal must be prepared to pay him a handsome fee
in cows and also to provide for him a good house with
abundance of food. He may be called upon on other
occasions than outbreaks of disease, for here, as in
Ankole, there is the strange belief that when lightning
strikes and kills any cows, the rest of the herd may not
be removed from that place until the medicine-man has
released them by making an offering to the god of
thunder. This may detain the herd in some place far
from the kraal all day and all night; the calves, which
are in the kraal, are thus left during the night without
a meal, and the cows are not milked until the medicine-
man has been able to make his offering of a cow and

BUNYORO: SALT-WORKS AT KIBERO

BUNYORO: HOUSES OF THE SALT-WORKERS ON THE LAKE SHORE AT

KIBERO

Bunyoro 159

can assure the herdsman that the wrath of the god is
averted.

The general knowledge possessed by these men of the
methods of treating the cows in sickness and of keeping
them in health is much greater than most people imagine.
They are successful in treating all kinds of diseases with
which they are famiUar, but rinderpest — which was
unknown until an epidemic broke out thirty years ago
— has so far baffled their skill. Many diseases they
ascribe to magic, and perform special ceremonies to
discover and defeat it, but after the magic has been
destroyed the treatment is usually rational.

The giving of salt to the cows is considered essential
to their health, and the cows themselves seem to enjoy
the day on which the salt is administered. The owner
of the cows has to be careful not to drink milk from
any cow which on that day has eaten salt; he believes
that this will be in some way detrimental to the milk,
and, as it is contrary to his totemic rules, the milk is
taboo that day for him and is given to his servants after
the evening milking. In order to provide the cows with
the amount of salt they require, he has to purchase large
supplies, and for it he barters goats, sheep and butter.
He will even sometimes kill a bull and send the meat,
or some of it, in exchange for the necessary salt; this
is the method chiefly adopted by the king, who does not
condescend to barter, but gives presents of meat.

The salt districts are therefore of great importance
and are worked with considerable skill by men and
women whose whole lives are spent in the production
of the necessary supply. The salt-works of Bunyoro are
situated at Kibero, a district which lies along the shore
of Lake Albert and on the lower slopes of the escarp-

i6o The Soul of Central Africa

ment. There, during the rainy season, the water from
the hills rushes down to the lake in a river which, for
the time, floods the salt-beds and prevents the collection
of the salt. Under the rocky bed of this intermittent
river there runs a stream of hot medicated water, which
bubbles up through the rock in hot springs all along the
course of the river for fully a mile and a half from the
base of the escarpment. In the river-bed are the salt
claims of the inhabitants, each claim well defined and
marked out with stones. To obtain the salt they spread
over the rock surface in the dry season a kind of sand,
and the water, which contains many saline substances,
bubbles through the holes in the rock and saturates the
sand. After lying for some hours the sand becomes im-
pregnated with salt and is scraped up and washed in pots,
which are perforated with small holes at the bottom,
so that the water, carrying the substances held by the
sand, filters into a large vessel underneath. This water
is then put into pots over a wood fire and evaporated,
leaving a crust of salt deposit behind it. This is very
impure and dark in colour, but, if necessary, it can be
washed and evaporated repeatedly until it becomes fairly
white. Even when thus purified it contains other com-
pounds than sodium chloride, and to a European the
flavour is unpleasant, though it is possible to use it in
cooking without finding the taste too pungent. The
people have no knowledge of the art of refining the
product and eliminating the objectionable ingredients.

At the salt-works there are two sacred pools in which
the spirits who control the production of salt are supposed
to dwell. The king used to send to the chief spirit an
annual offering of several cows and a slave- woman. The
cows were not sacrificed, but were kept by the chief

BUNYORO: SALT-WORKS AT KIBERO. SCRAPING UP THE SAND

BUNYORO: SALT- WORKER AT KIBERO.
WITH POTS IN WHICH SAND IS WASHED

Bunyoro i6i

priest for his own use. The woman was given to one
of the priest's servants on the understanding that the
first-born child should belong to the spirit. If there was
no child there was no offering, but, if a child was born,
it was given as a sacrifice when the king sent his next
annual offering. The infant was taken to one of the
sacred pools, and there its throat was cut, the blood
poured into the water, and the body dropped into the
pool as a sacrifiee to persuade the spirit to grant greater
quantities of salt. In the evening a sheep was thrown
ahve into this pool and left swimming about. The people
were told that, if the spirit accepted the offering, the
sheep would be taken by an underground channel from
the pool to the lake, and the dead body would be found
next morning cast up on the lake shore. The priest told
me that some of his servants went after dark to the pool,
drew out the sheep, and took it by canoe some distance
out on the lake, where they cast it into the water and
watched it drown. The body was then drawn up on to
the shore, and left there for the people to find on the
following morning.

To reach the second pool it is necessary to climb
some distance up the rocky cliff. Into this pool a goat
was cast annually by the chief of the place and the priest
of the pool. The animal was left to swim about all
night, but there were ledges on which it could support
itself, and it was generally found alive in the morning.
It was then taken out, killed, and eaten at the side of
the pool by the priest, his assistants, and the chief.
These two annual ceremonies were observed with great
solemnity and, in the eyes of the people, were of the
utmost importance, for they were confidently regarded
as sure and certain means of increasing the output of

i62 The Soul of Central Africa

salt, and the result of neglecting them would as certainly
be a failure of the salt supply.

Hundreds of natives from all parts of the country
visit these salt-works to purchase the salt. There is a
covered market-place in which the purchasers sit while
the vendors measure out quantities of salt in accordance
with the value of the goods brought for barter. These
barter goods are a strange medley, for the purchasers
bring goats, sheep and fowls, food of various kinds — such
as sweet potatoes, millet and other grain — cooking-pots
and firewood, and also bark-cloths and skins for girdles.
The king's clerk is always present to levy a toll upon
all the salt going out, for this is one of the chief sources
of the royal revenue. The tax is levied in kind, and the
man uses a special measure to deduct the king's due
from the salt measured out for each purchaser. There
is a special hut in which the salt intended for the use
of the king and his household is purified. There the salt
undergoes two or three washings and evaporations, and
comes out quite white.

When the purchasers have secured their quota of salt
they make it up into packages weighing from thirty to
one hundred pounds, and tied up with plantain fibre.
This method of wrapping things up deserves a little
notice. Plantain trees, so called, are not woody growths,
but consist of a central pith or core about an inch thick,
round which grow layers of a fleshy material full of cells
of water. The stem of a good tree is from ten to twelve
inches in diameter, and as it grows the outer layers of
this fleshy material dry and are pulled off by the
gardeners. Some of them are from eight to nine feet
long and eight inches wide at the base, and when quite
dry are as strong as thick brown paper. There are no

BUNYORO: CARRYING SALT

BUNYORO: PACKING SALT IN THE MARKETPLACE AT KIBERO

Bunyoro 163

plantains in the neighbourhood of the salt district, so
that the intending purchasers have to bring with them
their material for packing the salt. It is really wonder-
ful to see the expert way in which the natives will wrap
up the salt, laying these fibres together and making up
long bundles, usually some four feet long by eight inches
in diameter. So skilful do they become that, if fibre is
not available, they will even at times make use of blades
of coarse grass as wrapping for salt or other things.

The people who work the salt are of the lower class,
and live entirely upon the proceeds of their trading and
upon fish which they catch in the lake. Some of the
men hunt hippopotami along the shore, and the meat
of these animals is regarded as a delicacy.

Another important industry in this part of the
country is iron- working. The members of this trade are
divided into two quite distinct branches, the smelters
and the actual smiths. The smelters do their work in
the hills, going there in a body of from ten to twenty.
They build temporary huts, and settle there until the
work is finished. During this time they do not like men
to visit them, and a woman may on no account enter
the camp. Their wives bring them food, but must leave
it somewhere near, and never attempt to come in, for
their presence would be disastrous to the success of the
work. If a man were to have his wife with him in the
camp, the whole of their labour would be in vain and
the metal would fail.

The first part of the work is to cut down a tree for
the preparation of charcoal. This may not be done
until the permission and favour of the tree-spirit has
been secured. The priest of the district accompanies
the men to the tree, and makes an offering before the

i64 The Soul of Central Africa

work may proceed. Unless this is done fheir axes will
make no impression on the tree, or else, when the
charcoal has been made, it will refuse to melt the ore.
However, if the good will of the spirit has been secured,
all will go well; the tree is cut and burned, and the
charcoal is gathered in heaps or packets ready for use
when the ore has been dug and prepared.

Before beginning to dig the ore the men have to
resort to another priest in order that an offering may
be made to the spirit of the hill, for if this is neglected
some accident will happen during the digging of the ore,
or, when it is dug, it will prove a failure — fire will not
melt it, or for some other reason it will be impossible
to work it. Anyhow, the men are firmly convinced that
something will happen, and they therefore pay their fee
to the priest cheerfully and go about their work confident
that all will go well. The victim, both in this case
and in the last, is usually a goat; the animal is killed,
and the blood poured out at the roots of the tree to be
felled or on the spot where the men want to dig. The
flesh is there cooked and eaten by the priest and the
workers, who are thus brought into communion with the
spirits concerned and receive their approval and blessing
on the work. The men may then proceed to quarry the
soft stone, for they never work any solid rock, but always
the loose soft surface rubble. They use two kinds of
stone ^ one producing a soft metal, while the metal pro-
duced from the other is very hard and is used specially for
hoes. Their knives, spears and more carefully prepared
weapons are made from a blend of the soft and hard
metal. The ore-stone is broken into pieces about the
size of walnuts and kept in packets ready for use when
required.

Hit'

1 ■

BUNYORO: IRON-SMELTERS IN GAMP

BUNYORO: IRON-SMELTERS AT WORK

Bunyoro 165

The smelting furnace is both simple and efficacious.
A hole like a well, about two feet wide and two to four
feet deep, is dug, and the walls are smoothed and lined
with clay. On the bottom are laid dried grass and reeds,
and then sticks and charcoal, then a layer of ore-stone,
then another layer of charcoal, then ore again, and so on
until the pit is filled with alternate layers of ore and char-
coal. The mouth of the pit is covered over with clay,
leaving a small hole in the centre to act as a chimney.
Through this also more charcoal or ore can be added when
necessary. Round the furnace and at an angle to it
three or four tunnels are driven, entering the pit a few
inches from the bottom, and in these are put clay blast-
pipes which are attached to the mouths of the bellows.
The bellows, of which there are usually four pairs, are
made either of wood or clay, and are shaped like pots,
about six to eight inches wide, the mouth, through which
the air passes, being a hole in the side. The top of the
pot is loosely covered with goat-skin, with a handle
attached to the centre by which the men raise and lower
the loose skin rapidly, thus creating a blast through the
hole at the side into the furnace. One man will work
two such bellows, sitting between them and keeping up
a constant blast into the furnace until the ore is con-
sidered to be smelted, the process taking from six to
ten hours, according to the amount of ore. During this
time the blowing must never cease ; the men may relieve
each other, but the blast must be continuous.

When the ore is ready the bellows are removed and
the pit is broken open to allow the iron to cool a little.
The molten metal is then lifted out by means of branches
of trees used as levers, and two men set to work to cut
it before it is cold, one man holding the lump with a

i66 The Soul of Central Africa

branch, while the other, using a common hatchet, chops
it into pieces of different sizes for making spears, knives,
hoes and other things in common use.

The smiths purchase these pieces of iron from the
smelters, paying for them with goats or fowls, which
are supplied by the person ordering the article which is
to be made. The taboos which the smith has to observe
are connected not so much with the materials as with
the obtaining or manufacture of his implements. To
procure an anvil he goes to a hill, chooses a stone of
suitable size and shape, and makes an offering to the
hill spirit in order that he may be allowed to remove it.
He then pays a number of men to go with him and carry
it to his house. When he is near home his wife comes
out to meet them, carrying a new bark-cloth to spread
over the stone, which is treated as a bride and brought
with great ceremony into the house. For two days the
man does no work, and the stone remains in his house
in seclusion like a bride. Then it is taken out and
carried to its place, where it is set up and a little beer
poured over it. The men who carry the stone are feasted
as they would be at a marriage, and the wedding of the
smith to his anvil is complete. These ceremonies are
deemed necessary for the success of the work and the
prosperity of the worker. The first piece of iron worked
is made either into a knife, which the smith sells, giving
the proceeds to his wife, or into a hoe, which he presents
to her. This is, he says, for luck, that the iron may work
well and the stone form a satisfactory anvil.

Along with the anvil the smith chooses and brings
in a stone to serve as the heavy hammer, such as in
England is used by the assistant, or " striker," when
the smith is working a piece of metal too big to be dealt

Bunyoro 167

with by the ordinary hammer. The assistant stands
opposite the smith on the other side of the anvil, and,
as the smith indicates with his hammer the spot for the
blow, he raises the stone in both hands and brings it
down on that place.

Special ceremonies are also performed when a smith
makes a big iron hammer. These hammers are heavy
pieces of iron eight inches long and from two to three
inches thick, tapering almost to a point at one end so
that the man can hold it. The smith may not make
this for himself, but, having bought the iron for it, he
asks two fellow-smiths to come and make it. On the
night when it is to be made he must also invite his
parents to be present. The two smiths come in the
evening, and commence work about three o'clock next
morning. When the hammer is formed they give it,
while it is still hot, to the smith's father, who puts it
into water to harden it. It is then handed to the owner,
who covers it with bark-cloth and treats it also like a
bride, secluding it for two days, after which it is brought
out and a feast is made, at which the two men who made
the hammer are the chief guests. The owner then makes
a knife and barters it for coffee berries, which he presents
to his father, and the hammer is ready for ordinary use.

Potters in Bunyoro are far more skilful than most
of their craft in this part of Africa. The royal pots
are made of clay, and are as thinly' worked as many
vessels in England. They are always made by the spiral
method; that is, the clay is worked into long thin rolls
which the potter winds round and round, building up the
walls of the pot, and smoothing them as they are built
by rubbing them with small trowels of gourd. The pots
are then very carefully dried, for exposure to the sun or

i68 The Soul of Central Africa

rapid drying by any means will crack them. When the
pot is dried and hard it is rubbed ^with a polished stone
until perfectly smooth, and then polished. This is done
iwith graphite, which is obtained by the potter from a
mine in a hill. I saw this mine, and found it went
quite twenty-five feet into the hill. The potter takes
the graphite to his home, where he grinds some of it to
powder, and mixes it with water and the juice of a herb
with glutinous properties. The sides of the pot are
painted with this mixture and left to dry. The pot,
before being baked, is again rubbed with the smooth
stone until it attains a highly polished appearance. This
polish gives it a silvery-grey tint, making it look as
though it had been painted ,\vith silver paint. These
pots are mainly for royal use, though the upper classes
also seek to have them for milk-pots. Elegant shapes
such as we find in Ankole are not made here; the pots
are all either round or shaped like two gourds, one on
top of the other, and lack the long, slender neck which
adds so much to the beauty of the Ankole ware. The
shape of the latter is, however, its only point of
superiority, for it is inferior to the Bunyoro pot both
in material and lasting properties, the clay being thicker
and neither so well mixed nor so well baked.

The wooden vessels used for milk and also for
vegetable dishes are more numerous than in any other
part of Africa, and are made with a much neater finish.
The chiefs use large wooden vessels for their meat and
soups, and the smoothing and final polishing of the wood
is done with the rough surface of a certain leaf. No
saws or planes are known, and tools like chisels and adzes
are the only instruments used. It requires years of
training, in addition to natural aptitude, before these

Bunyoro 169

tools can be manipulated with the skill to which some of
the carpenters have attained. These artisans are all men
from the lower class who practise their trade from boy-
hood, and, as a rule, a son follows in his father's footsteps.

The basket-work of Bunyoro is also finer than that
found in any other part of the lake region. It is almost
entirely done by princesses, who spend many hours pre-
paring the fibre for the purpose, which is obtained from
the bark of a common tree. The bark is wrapped in
plantain fibre, and buried for some days until the pulpy
part begins to decay and separate from the stringy,
fibrous part. These strings are rubbed .with dry aloe
fibre until they are freed from all trace of the loose pulp,
and then commences the lengthy and tedious process of
making the fibre white. This is done by chewing : the
princesses hold the long strings between their outstretched
hands and pass them through their mouths, biting gently
until all the old dry bark is removed and the fibre is
almost white. This is next rubbed ,with white aloe fibre
until it is pure white, svhen it can be twisted into fine
cord or thread and woven into the beautiful soft baskets
for which the country is famed. Often the threads are
dyed red, yellow and black with a vegetable dye, and
thus patterns are made in the weaving. The stands for
the sacred milk-pots are made with coverings of this .woven
material in coloured patterns, and the effect is very
pleasing.

Another kind of work for which these princesses are
famed is painting the better terra-cotta coloured bark-
cloths for the king. On the best of these they work
patterns which they paint with blood taken from their
own veins. One of these bark-cloths often takes many
months to finish, because the amount of blood required

170 The Soul of Central Africa

to paint a cloth six or eight feet square is very great.
When finished, the princess presents the robe to her
brother, who is usually also her husband. The king has
quite a number of these bark-cloths, and changes his
dress two or three times a day for different court
functions.

The preparation of bark-cloth is another occupation
in which the people of Bunyoro at one time excelled. A
full description of the process may be found in my book
on " The Baganda," but here I may add that the culture
of the tree and the use of its bark were known to the
people of Bunyoro at a very early date, probably before
these arts were learned by the Baganda. At all events,
the best trees, which yield cloth of the finest texture,
are grown in what is now known as the Budu district of
Buganda, which in earlier times was part of Bunyoro.

The bark used is the inner, or second, bark of the
tree ; both barks are removed from the tree together, and
the outer, which is very thin, is then scraped off. The
inner bark is left during the night to dry, and any soft,
pulpy substance is scraped off the inside. The worker
then lays the strip of bark, which is some four to six feet
long, on a log with a flattened surface, and beats it with a
mallet which is not unlike a stonemason's, but has ridges
cut round it, thus leaving fine lines on the bark-cloth as
it is beaten. The man goes over the material with the
mallet until it is beaten out to the thickness of strong
brown paper, and by the time he has finished a strip of
bark which was four feet long by eighteen inches wide
will have become about six feet long and four feet wide.
It is then spread out in the sun to dry, and the exposure
to light gives the upper surface a tint somewhat like
terra-cotta, while the under-side is of a lighter shade.

Bunyoro 171

Any holes where branches have grown or any flaws in
the cloth are cut into neat squares and patched with
pieces taken from the edges so deftly that, in a well-
made bark-cloth, they are not noticeable. These cloths
are usually made up by the men into sheets eight feet
square, two lengths being stitched together and pressed
in such a manner that the seam is not seen when the
cloth is being worn. For thread they use strips of fibre
from the dry plantain stem. Women rarely, if ever,
learn to stitch these, and the work is left to the men,
for sewing is not the women's work, and it is only where
there are mission schools that women are now being
taught to use the needle.

The bark-cloths worn by the king and the more
wealthy people are fumigated after they have been worn.
For this purpose a wicker frame, like a very large inverted
basket, is used, and under it is an earthen pot containing
smouldering sweet-scented chips of wood. The bark-cloth
is spread over this and left until the smoke has thoroughly
permeated the material, finding its way into every fold
and crease and destroying all vermin. The sweet-smell-
ing, cleansed bark-cloths are rolled up and put aside in
readiness for further wear. The poorer people, having
only a limited number of cloths, cannot do this, and
often suffer much misery from their inability to keep
their bodies free from insect pests.

CHAPTER IX

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AMONG THE BANYORO

The Appointment of the Queen — The Queen's Reception-room —
The King's Mother — Marriage of Princesses — Children of the
King — Marriage Ceremonies — Education of a Young Wife —
Marriage in Agricultural Tribes — Settling in the New House —
Care of Children—Birth of Twins and Triplets.

THE marriage customs of Bunyoro are to a large
extent peculiar to that country, though in sur-
rounding countries, especially where the inhabi-
tants are of Hamitic origin, some points of resemblance
may be found. The choice of the queen and her marriage
to the king were the principal ceremonies of this kind, for
the queen naturally held the foremost place among the
women, her only equal in rank being the king's mother,
,who, when her son came to the throne, was officially
granted the degree and rank of Nyina Mukamaf or
''mother of the king," an office as important as that
of queen.

The queen must be a princess, but a half-sister and
not a full sister of the king, being the daughter of his
father by a different wife. No other person can hold
the office ; even the most favoured wife of the king, when
he had many, if she was not a princess, could not attain
to it. Since the present king became a Christian he has
had only one wife, who, however, as she is neither his
half-sister nor a princess, cannot take the position or title
of queen ; and that rank is held by a princess, who, though

172

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 173

only nominally the wife of the king, holds the title of
Mugoli wa Muchwa, or queen. We must go back
to the time of the late king to understand the value of
this ojBBce to its holder and the importance which once
attached to it. It is most probable that at one time
descent was counted through the mother, and therefore
only the sons of princesses were eligible for the throne.
Later, in order to secure the succession of a son of the
king to the throne, a king married his sister, and princesses
were forbidden to marry any but princes. By this means
the kingly office was retained in the male line.

In former times, when a new king had accomplished
all the preliminaries, that is, after he had conquered and
killed all his brothers who aspired to the throne, had
claimed and buried the body of his father, and had under-
gone the rite of purification, he took his place on the
throne and turned his attention to the appointment of
queen and king's mother.

All the princesses were gathered together for the
king to choose his queen from among them. As kings
had many children, and a large proportion of them were
girls, quite a number of princesses would assemble in the
reception-room of the queen, which is called Muchwa,
and is one of the seven sacred huts through which the
king passed on ceremonial occasions, such as the new
moon celebrations and the daily herding of the sacred
cows. This hut is of bee-hive shape, about twenty feet
in diameter and fourteen to sixteen feet in height at
the apex, with a floor of earth beaten hard. There is a
raised platform about eighteen inches high, also of beaten
earth, and this and the floor are carpeted with sweet-
smelling lemon-grass. This has to be done with care,
for every blade must lie perfectly straight, so that the

174 The Soul of Central Africa

whole may present an even and smooth appearance. On
the platform is spread a rug of cowskin, and over this a
leopard skin, on which the queen sits. Just opposite the
queen's seat one of the poles which support the roof
is stained with blood. By a singular custom the queen's
reception-room was also the place where a prince or
princess condemned by the king for any transgression was
put to death. A cord hung on this bloodstained pole,
and here the offending member of the royal family was
hanged.

When the king went into the assembly of princesses
to choose his queen he was accompanied as far as the
door of the hut by the members of the Sacred Guild,
his special councillors, but only two might enter with
him. The privileged men were Bamuroga, the chief
minister, and Munyawa, the head of the royal clan.
Inside, the assembled princesses anxiously awaited the
choice of their brother, each desiring, even if she dared
not hope, to be the favoured of the king. Before enter-
ing with his ministers the king had decided which of his
sisters he meant to appoint, and without any delay
he singled out the recipient of the honour, telling her
of his decision in an audible voice, that the others might
hear and there might be no doubt or future discussion
as to his choice. The chief minister then directed the
princess how to act. She had to rise up and sit upon
her throne, and her sceptre was placed before her. This
sceptre was a long iron rod or spear with a U-shaped
fork at one end, the points of both prongs being
sharpened; the other end of the spear was pointed, so
that it could be stuck into the earthen floor and made to
stand upright. A roll, some eight inches long and two
inches thick, made of cleansed palm leaf fronds and

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 175

beautifully decorated, rested on the forked end to pro-
tect the points. Near the queen was also placed a royal
spear, and lying by her side was a large knife ; but before
she might hold these or her sceptre she had to be con-
firmed in her office by a further ceremony.

When the king had seen his queen placed on her
throne he retired to the throne-room, and the queen ,was
greeted and congratulated by her sisters. She had then
to send to her home — for until this time she had dwelt
in the household of a chief of her clan — and get a cow
and a calf to present to the king. When these had
arrived she was led into the throne-room by the chief
minister, Bamuroga, who carried her sceptre and stuck
it in the ground before the king. The queen knelt on a
rug before the throne while Bamuroga announced : " The
queen has come to kiss the king's hands." The queen
presented her offering of the cow and calf through the
chief, who, on her behalf, asked the king for his hands.
The king extended both hands together, with the palms
upward, and the queen kissed them, and by this act
was confirmed in her office. The king glanced at the
cow and calf and passed them on to one of his cowmen,
who attended for the purpose of taking charge of the
animals, and the first part of the ceremony was over.

The queen might now go and rest, and her sceptre was
taken to her own apartment, but she had to appear again
for the ceremony of receiving the spear and knife and a
grant of land, for the king had to set apart a portion of
land, which became the queen's own property. Over this
estate and its people she had complete control, the king
only offering advice when a case was brought before him
by the queen. Besides this special ceremony of taking
office, the queen had to take the oath which was adminis-

176 The Soul of Central Africa

tered to all members of the Sacred Guild, and had to
drink of the king's sacred milk.

The queen had her own enclosure near the king's,
but it ,was in every respect separate from his, and she
went to visit him whenever she so desired. She had a
private entrance to her own reception-room in the king's
enclosure, and from there she could go to the king un-
announced at any time. She never remained with him
the whole night, but left him when he rose in the early
morning to go to the throne-room, or before that, and
returned to her own house.

Next to the queen in Bunyoro came the king's mother,
whose office was really equal in importance to that of the
queen. She might be a princess or a woman of the
pastoral tribe whom the late king had taken to wife. All
sons of a king, whether born of princesses or of other
women, were legitimate heirs to the throne, and could
take part, on the death of their father, in the fight for
supremacy. The successful prince at once raised his
mother to this high rank, and she was installed with
ceremony by Bamuroga, the chief minister, in an en-
closure of her own near the royal residence. All the
estates of the last king's mother came into her pos-
session, though the king might permit the former owner
to keep some small portion till her death, after which
that too would fall to her successor.

The king's mother lived in state almost equal to that
of the king himself, and imitated to some extent the
ceremonial observances which hedged him round. She
kept a herd of cows for her special use, and called them
by the same name as the king's sacred herd. She had
one hut through which she passed daily to an enclosure
at the back to see her cows, just as the king passed

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 177

through his seven sacred huts to herd his sacred cows.
She held absolute sway over her own estates, and daily
sat in state with her special sceptre to try the cases .which
came before her.

From the time she took up her position the king's
mother might never again visit her son, nor might she
marry, though she might still be comparatively young.
If she fell seriously ill the king might call to see her,
but such a visit was looked upon as a sign that she was not
expected to recover. At her death she received greater
honour than that given to princesses, though the form of
burial was the same, and the king at once appointed a
member of her clan to succeed her.

With the exception of the queen, princesses were

never formally married, though they might become the

wives of their half-brothers. The king also might take

other princesses to wife besides the queen, and these wives

dwelt in the royal enclosure, but might only visit the

king when he wished them to do so. Besides the

princesses, the king could have as many other wives as

he pleased, and was ever adding to their number with

the help of the body of women scouts whose work has

already been described. All the wives, with the exception

of the queen, had houses in the royal enclosure, but when

one of them was about to be confined she was taken

away, for no such event as a birth might take place

inside, nor, indeed, might any sick person lie within

the enclosure. The wife was sent to a chief of the Sacred

Guild, whom the king ordered to take charge of her;

the chief chosen was usually one related to the woman,

that is, a member of the same clan having the same

totem, and therefore, as a clan-brother, in a position to

be the guardian. It was in a house provided by him that
M

178 The Soul of Central Africa

the child was born, and to him that the child looked in
after Hfe for help and friendship. At the end of three
years, or earlier if the king so desired, the child was
weaned and the mother left it and returned to the royal
enclosure. The chief took the place of a father, pro-
viding for the child and seeing that everything was done
for its welfare. If it was a boy, the king, in a general
way, supervised his education and named the kraal to
which he must go for instruction in all matters concern-
ing the cattle. He would see the child from time to
time to learn how he grew and what progress he made,
but the chief was responsible for his upbringing and
conduct.

When the king saw that one of his sons w^as grow-
ing up, he ordered him to have the six front teeth in
the lower jaw extracted. This was a tribal custom for
both men and women and was done at puberty, no man
or woman of the tribe being looked upon as fully grown
until it had taken place. Any person who refused to
undergo the operation was held in contempt; neither
men nor women would accept such a partner in marriage,
and such a man would be forbidden any share in the
deliberations of the court.

Princes married at an early age, in fact while they
were still merely boys, the marriage being always by
their father's wish and the bride being usually supplied
by him. When once the king had consented to his son's
marriage, the chief with whom the boy lived was not
slow to provide him with other wives, and the boy him-
self would sometimes hear of or see women whom he
would desire to take in marriage.

Fifteen was the usual age for a girl to marry, and
they were often mothers at that age. When a girl

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 179

showed signs of maturity her mother shut her away in
one of her private rooms, and though in years she might
not be more than nine or ten, she was no longer con-
sidered to be a child or allowed to play like one ; she was
not even permitted to walk about, for she had to grow
fat. Girls were frequently betrothed, in infancy, to
youths who were also children and could therefore afford
to wait until their brides were old enough to marry. The
boy's parents made the match, paying to the girl's
parents two or three cows, and the youth might not
have seen his bride until she was ready to be married.
Often, indeed, the young couple never met until the
wedding day. When the boy and girl were growing up
their parents told them to whom they were engaged,
and the boy sent presents periodically to his prospective
mother-in-law for herself and for his bride, thus showing
that he meant to carry out the engagement made for
him by his parents.

When the time arrived for the marriage to take place,
the bridegroom sent a brother or a near relative to ask
when he might take his bride. This messenger took
with him a present, and, in consultation with the girl's
parents, arranged the day of the marriage and also the
number of cows he must bring to them as a marriage
fee. As a rule the parents would demand twenty cows
and a few other things. The messenger went away, and
returned later, bringing the marriage fee and accom-
panied by a party of young men, who were prepared
to stay for one or perhaps two nights before the whole
of the marriage arrangements could be completed. The
parents might object to some of the cows, saying they
were not good enough, and these would have to be ex-
changed before they would come to terms. Then there

i8o The Soul of Central Africa

.was the final feast, when the bride said good-bye to the
friends and companions of her girihood. The messenger
received the bride from her father, who, with his daughter
on his knees, gave him solemn injunctions respecting
her treatment, and pointed out that, should she fail to
please her husband, or should he at any time ill-use her,
she could return to her home. The bride was also in-
structed as to her behaviour, and enjoined to be dutiful
and respectful to her husband. After this the father
handed her over to the messenger, who thereupon kissed
the father's hands as a sign that he took her with her
father's full consent.

The bride was veiled from head to foot so that she
could not be seen, and was carried, by the young men
who came with the messenger, in a litter made of cow-
skin. She was accompanied by her father's sister, who
was also carried, and in her train there were usually some
six or seven young girls, who remained with her for a
day or two. The party left the bride's home at an hour
which would permit of their reaching the bridegroom's
home at sunset, when the cows returned from pasture,
for this was the proper time for a bride to enter her new
abode. The party sang and danced as they went along,
and when they reached the neighbourhood of her new
home the bridegroom, hearing the sound of the songs,
would meet them at a few minutes' walk from the
kraal, driving before him two calves. When the party
reached him, the bride was allowed to alight to receive
his greeting, and she walked the rest of the way to the
kraal, preceded by the calves and followed by the bride-
groom, who, as her guardian, carried two spears. Even
when walking the bride was veiled from head to foot
in a well-dressed cowskin robe which concealed both

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro i8i

form and features, leaving only a small opening for her
to see through*

When they entered the kraal the bridegroom pointed
out the house of his parents, and the bride led the pro-
cession thither. Only the bride and bridegroom entered,
and the bridegroom presented his bride to his father,
who took her on his knees, embraced her, and passed her
on to his wife, who also took her into her lap and
embraced her, thus receiving her into the family as a
daughter. The sister of the bride's father and the bride's
girl friends then entered, and all adjourned to the bridal
chamber and sat down to await the further proceedings.

When the cows were milked, a young cow with its
first calf was chosen to provide the marriage milk. The
choice of the cow was important, for both cow and calf
must be in good condition and healthy. Should the
cow have lost its calf or the calf be sickly, either the
couple would have no children or those they had would
be unhealthy. The milk was brought by the bride-
groom's mother in a specially prepared wooden pot and
handed to her son, who drank a little and passed it on
to the bride. By drinking this milk the bride signified
her consent to the union and ratified the marriage bond.
The milk left over was handed back to the bridegroom's
mother, who set it aside until the early morning, when
she drank it as a final confirmation of the marriage.

The bridegroom next placed his hand on the inner
side of the bride's thigh as she sat on the bed by her
aunt, and promised to care for her. During the night
the party of young men who had brought the bride were
regaled ,with a plentiful supply of beer, and they sang
and danced, with the members of the household, in front
of the kraal until morning. The bridegroom sat with

i82 The Soul of Central Africa

his bride and the party in the bridal chamber, paying
now and then a visit to the men who were celebrating
the occasion outside.

At dawn the young people ,were summoned by the
bride's aunt to go through a purificatory rite, which, in
order to bring them blessing in the future, had to be
performed before the sun rose. They left the house and
went into the court, where they undressed and sat side
by side, naked, on the ground, surrounded by friends
holding bark-cloths to form screens, while the bride's
aunt took a bowl of water and a bunch of herbs and
sprinkled them from head to foot. She dipped the herbs
in the water and sprinkled the bridegroom first, passing
the bunch up his right leg and side to his head, and down
his left leg to his foot; when she had treated the bride
in the same way they both stood up, their clothes were
wrapped round them, and they returned to the bridal
chamber. This ceremony was supposed to annul any
magic which might have been .worked against them, and
thus to give them a fair start in their new life.

The bride's aunt remained several days with the
young couple to see that all went well and to advise and
instruct the bride in her behaviour, but the rest of the
party, having each received some present from the bride-
groom, returned to their homes earlier. When the aunt
left she was given a cow, or a cow and a calf, according
to the circumstances of the bridegroom. She had to
carry a report of all that had happened to the bride's
parents and comfort them for the loss of their daughter.
At the end of a month the bridegroom visited his wife's
parents, and was received as a son by being taken on
the knees of each and embraced.

The bride remained with her mother-in-law for some

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 183

months ; indeed, she often lived there until her first baby
was born. It was the duty of the mother-in-law to teach
her all about churning and the care of the milk vessels,
which was the only work the women of a pastoral family
were expected to do, though their leisure might be spent
in weaving a kind of basket or stringing beads. Though
the bride might have for years done this work, she had
to begin at the beginning again and learn it all from
the mouth of her mother-in-law, who explained it as if
to a child. The bride had to wash and dry the milk-
pots under her mother-in-law's supervision and to her
satisfaction, before she was allowed to perform the next
step and fumigate them with the grass furnace. Then
she had to learn all the details of churning, the names
and uses of the different pots, which of them belonged
to ghosts and which to the various members of the
family.

In agricultural families the ceremonies gone through
at marriage were much the same, but the sum given as
the marriage fee differed. The value might amount to
ten or more cows, but it was paid mainly in goats and
sheep, though bark-cloths, hoes and salt might be added
to make up the amount demanded. The parents often
asked for some gift in addition to the marriage fee — a
bark-cloth for the bride's mother, an animal for the
feast, a knife to kill the animal, salt to season the meat,
and so forth, until a large number of gifts had been
added to the original sum demanded. It was diflBcult
for the youth to refuse these, though he might see him-
self being drawn into an indebtedness from which it
would take him perhaps years to free himself.

The bride was veiled and taken to the bridegroom's
home in the evening, and went through similar ceremonies

i84 The Soul of Central Africa

of being received and taking the marriage pledge in the
presence of the mother-in-law. Instead of the milk-
drinking, however, a porridge-pot was placed on the
fire and the bride had to make some porridge, which
she and the bridegroom stirred together, holding the
handle of the same spoon. The bride then remained in
seclusion some four or five days, during which time she
was visible only to the bridegroom and a few very
intimate friends.

On the fifth day the bride's parents sent the materials
for the reception feast. This meal the bride prepared
under the supervision of her mother-in-law, who had to
give her minute directions as to the preparation and
cooking of the food. When the meal was ready, the
bridegroom brought his friends to eat it, and bride and
bridegroom were congratulated, the one upon her cook-
ing and the other upon securing such a good wife. To
complete the marriage ceremony the bride had then to
fetch a small pot of water from the well and, on her way,
to gather a few sticks. This drawing of water and carry-
ing of fuel typified the duties of a wife, who cared for
her husband's welfare and cooked his food.

At the end of four months the new house which was
to be the home of the young people was expected to
be ready and completely furnished according to native
requirements, with the exception of the fire-stones on
which pots are placed over the fire for cooking. For the
ceremony of putting these in place the bride's mother
came, bringing with her uncooked food for a meal. The
bride, accompanied by her mother and mother-in-law,
went to some place in the neighbourhood where stones
suitable for the purpose might be found. When chosen,
these were carried to the new home and set in position

Marriage Customs Among the Banyorb 185

on the hearth. The bride was then instructed how to
light the fire and cook savoury dishes, and advised .what
kind of food a man prefers. The bride, under the super-
vision of her elders, carried out these instructions, and
a meal was cooked which had to be eaten by the bride-
groom, with his mother and mother-in-law, before the
bride could settle in the house and use it and its contents
for ordinary work. Among these agricultural clans the
bridegroom might never look at or address his mother-in-
law again after the day of his marriage, but must sit,
on occasions such as this feast, where he could not see
her, and if he should meet her he must step out of the
way and avert his eyes or hide himself from her sight.
Should anything happen to prevent one or other of the
mothers from coming to this meal, the house could not
be set in order and the bride could not cook food in it ;
until both mothers were able to come, she must get some
friend to cook for her in another house. Unless these
rules were followed by the two, they could not expect
to have children or a happy home. Some evils would be
for ever coming upon them, and often in such a case the
unhappy marriage would be dissolved and the wife would
go back to her parents, who would return the marriage
fee.

Marriages are seldom, if ever, the outcome of love,
but are entered into for utilitarian and economic reasons.
In the higher classes the man has one great object in
view — that is, to have children; and in the case of the
peasant there is, in addition, the desire for more comfort
in his home life. In the case of the woman she obtains
from marriage all she considers worth having in life, for
a woman who is unmarried and childless is a despised
nobody, without position or rights. Both parties, there-

i86 The Soul of Central Africa

fore, agree to marriage as readily and as cheerfully as
though love drew them together. In many cases real
devotion and love do appear, but such feelings have to
grow after marriage, and the possibility of their arising
depends upon the disposition of the man. Though the
meaning of love is known, and it is often seen in the
attachment between husband and wife, the word is seldom
used, and, indeed, in most Bantu languages such a term
does not exist.

In most of the pastoral tribes it is usual for a man
to take only one wife to reside with him, but when there
is a baby the wife nurses it for three years, living
meanwhile apart from her husband, and this separation
frequently leads the man, if he can afford to do so, to
take a second wife. Whenever he can, the husband
will provide a nurse for his baby ; this will be a member
of his own clan, either a full-grown woman or a youngei:
relative, who will act as nurse until she marries. A
wealthy man will give his wife a slave-girl to look after
the baby and be responsible for it until it can take care
of itself. A mother is seldom expected to do more than
nurse her child, and if the husband wishes to take her
back to his bed before the expiration of the recognized
three years, she gives the child into the charge of the
nurse, and it is at once weaned and fed upon cow's milk.

Among the agricultural people a man seldom marries
more than one wife, and she nurses her baby for three
years, living apart from her husband. Among this class
communism is carried so far that all the wives of the
clan-brothers are held in common, so that the three
years' separation does not lead to the taking of a second
vs^ife.

The birth of twins is propitious and is the subject

Marriage Customs Among the Banyoro 187

of congratulation to the parents, who, however, have to
observe a number of taboos. Preparations are made for
a dance in honour of the twins, and while these are going
forward the father has to wear a distinctive dress and
collects presents from the friends and relatives whom he
summons to the dance. The mother, meanwhile, has to
keep in seclusion, and may not leave the house except in
the evening, and even then may not go farther than a
small enclosure at the back. Two small drums are beaten
almost continuously with a special rhythm peculiar to
twin dances, and people come daily to inquire and to
dance before the house. When the time of the dance
has come, the friends and relatives all gather together to
rejoice, and the twins are brought out and shown to
them. Twins are the gift of the god of plenty, and the
parents like them to be a boy and a girl. Should they
be two boys, the mother and her family hasten to make
offerings to the god of plenty, because, by showing the
husband this preference, he signifies that he is for some
reason annoyed with the female side of the house. If
they are both girls, the father and his family make offer-
ings to remove the ill-will which the god must feel
towards them.

Should a woman, however, give birth to triplets, she
and her children, her father and her mother, are taken
to some waste land at a distance, and all of them are put
to death. Such a birth is looked upon as a calamity, and
if these people were left alive they would bring some
curse upon the country. The father is not put to death,
but he must never again look upon the king lest he should
cause some evil to fall upon him. To guard against any
such danger his eyes are gouged out, and he is left to
live in blindness.

CHAPTER X

BUNYORO — DEATH, BURIAL AND SUCCESSION

Sickness — Exorcizing the Ghost — Burial and Mourning Ceremonies
— The Heir — Induction into the Sacred Guild — Worship of the
Ghost — King's Burial — Succession and Purification.

AMONG the Bantu peoples sickness and death are
seldom attributed to any cause other than magic
or supernatural influence, that is to say, the in-
fluence of some ghost, for the ghost is the only super-
natural agency they understand. They may, and in most
cases do, attribute the action of the ghost to human
persuasion or conduct, for not only may an alien ghost
be incited, by some person who bears a clan or some
member of it a grudge, to ,work evil, but a friendly ghost,
a ghost belonging to the clan, ,will ever ,watch carefully
over the behaviour of its own family, and will cause illness
in order to bring to the notice of the clan or the family
any infringement of law or custom. The procedure
followed in Bunyoro is, in its main points, typical of
that of the other pastoral clans.

If a man falls sick, and his wife considers it to be
only a cold or some slight ailment from which he will
soon recover, she will treat him herself. If, however, the
illness continues and she becomes alarmed, she at once
summons her husband's relatives and sends for a medicine-
man.

The first medicine-man to be summoned is one whose

188

BUNYORO: TAKING AN AUGURY
FROM A FOWL

BUNYORO FETISHES

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 189

speciality lies in the use of divination or augury to dis-
cover the cause of the sickness. There are several
different ways of taking the augury. Some use the water
test, in which powder is sprinkled in a pot of water and
the form taken by the floating dust is observed. Others,
again, shake seeds in a small shallow basket and then
scatter them upon a rug, and infer from the position in
which they fall the cause of the illness. Such tests do
not satisfy all inquirers, and in more important cases
the augury is taken from a fowl, a goat, or a cow. The
throat of the animal is cut so that both arteries are
severed, and the flow of blood is watched. This, however,
is only part of the ceremony. The medicine-man then
opens the animal and examines the liver and intestines,
reading from the markings on them the cause of the
sickness, and delivering therefrom his verdict as to
whether the man will live or die.

This man does no more than take the augury; he
never prescribes for the patient, but tells the friends
whom they must ask to prescribe and to carry out the
necessary treatment. If a ghost has been found to be
the cause of the sickness, it may either be a friendly
ghost, that is, a spirit member of the same clan who has
been annoyed in some way, or it may be an alien ghost
from another clan. The former has to be persuaded to
come out without the use of force, and no injury must
be done to it, but the latter may be forcibly exorcized,
captured, and destroyed. There are, therefore, various
ways of dealing with a person afflicted by a ghost, and it
is the duty of the medicine-man who undertakes the cure
of the case to exorcize the ghost in the proper manner
according to its kind. In the case of a ghost belonging
to the same clan as the patient, the usual way is to

igo The Soul of Central Africa

present to the ghost a sheep or a goat. The animal is
tied to the head of the patient's bed, and is sometimes
attached to the patient himself, by a cord which forms
a path for the ghost to travel along. At the intercession
of the medicine-man it is hoped that the ghost will accept
the gift, and show its acceptance by leaving the patient
and entering the animal. A wealthy person may even
offer a slave-woman to the ghost, and the slave will sleep
near the bed so that the ghost may enter her. The
animal or slave thus offered remains, until the end of its
Hfe, the property of the ghost.

When, however, the ghost which is troubling a patient
is found to belong to an alien clan the procedure is
very different. The object of the presence of such a
ghost is not mere punishment, as it may be in the case
of the clan ghost, but it comes to wreak on the patient
the ill-will or vengeance of some clan or personal enemy,
and its intention is to kill. Therefore it must be exor-
cized and captured. Sometimes an attempt is made to
compel the ghost to come out by making its dwelling-
place thoroughly unpleasant. The unfortunate patient
has to endure all sorts of foul smells, or is almost suffo-
cated by inhaling clouds of noxious fumes, in order to
compel the ghost to flee from him. More often, how-
ever, the medicine-man resorts to deception and entices
the ghost to leave the patient and partake of some
tempting meal. It is believed that ghosts dislike open
places, therefore the meat is put in an empty .water-
pot and a few blades of grass are arranged over the mouth
to form a screen for the shy spirit. The grass serves
another purpose also, for, though the ghost is invisible,
it cannot enter the water-pot without causing the grass
to quiver. Men therefore keep a careful watch on the

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 191

grass, and when it shows a movement they at once tell
the medicine-man, who is sitting on the opposite side
of the fire, chanting songs to encourage the ghost to
come out. On hearing that the ghost has entered the
pot, he quickly covers it with a goatskin, which he ties
down, securing the ghost inside. The ghost then calls
from the pot and squeaks and cries as though in terror
and distress. In some instances the medicine-man is
a ventriloquist, but if he does not possess that power he
uses an instrument which he conceals under his arm and
which squeaks on pressure. At all events he deceives
the patient into the belief that the ghost is caught, and
he carries the pot away and either destroys it by fire
or casts it into a stream. He then proceeds to give some
simple remedy to heal the sickness.

This healing by suggestion is commonly adopted in
many parts of Africa, and it is often found to work a
cure where drugs and other ordinary means would fail.
When their treatment fails and the patient dies, the
medicine-men are never at a loss to give an explanation
to the family, and their treatment and remedies are never
acknowledged to be in fault. The influence of a malevo-
lent ghost is always regarded as a satisfactory and com-
plete explanation of a patient's death.

The European who has an opportunity of looking into
the hut in which a patient lies is more surprised that
he can ever recover than that he often dies, for the
conditions are almost indescribable. There is never any
ventilation, and the dirt of weeks lies on the floor.
Crowds of people throng the room to show their sym-
pathy, and vitiate the already impure air still more,
while their constant talk and movement must be dis-
tinctly harmful as well as excessively irritating to any

192 The Soul of Central Africa

sick person. Added to all this is the fact that, though
a native does not generally succumb easily to anything
like a broken limb or an amputation, in which the danger
lies primarily in shock to the nervous system, he seems
to have no reserves of physical endurance, and gives
way rapidly when a call is made, as in fever, on his
strength of constitution and recuperative power, and the
addition of a mere suggestion of magical influence is
enough to make him collapse at once. Again, nursing
of any kind is not a strong feature in native medical
treatment ; the patient is expected to follow his ordinary
diet, or if unable to touch solid food, to live on milk
or beer, and he is allowed to take nourishment or leave
it just as he pleases. With all this to strive against, it
would seem that a patient has but little chance of recovery.
In cases of contagious disease, such as small-pox, people
are forbidden to visit the patient, and even dogs are
kept tied up so as not to wander near the hut. At such
times the patient is fed chiefly upon plantain wine, and
is only given other food upon recovery.

When a man dies the procedure is laid down by
clan regulations. In all cases except that of royalty the
dead are buried within a few hours, and all traces of death
are removed ; but a man of the pastoral people may not
be buried in the absence of his cows, so that the body
must wait until the cows come back to the kraal at night.
Among the Banyoro pastorals, as in Ankole, the body
is bent up into the sitting posture and the hands are
placed under the right side of the head. The body is
then .wrapped round with the cowskin on which the man
lay, or the bark-cloth with which he covered himself,
or with both if he possessed both. He lies in state for
a few hours until the cows return from pasture, and the

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 193

herdsmen, who were out .with the cows, can join in the
mourning. The body is then buried either in the kraal
or near it, and mourning and waihng begin and are con-
tinued without intermission throughout the whole night.
The cows, too, must take their part in the general noise,
so they are not milked and are kept apart from their
calves, which are shut up in the huts. The calves call
to their dams and the cows low in reply and try to get
to them all night. The people must not take any sleep ;
even children are made to lie outside the kraal with their
elders before a large fire, where they lament until morn-
ing. With the dawn the cows are milked and left with
their calves, and the children are fed.

With morning comes the heir, who is generally an
elder son of the dead man, though that is not necessarily
the case. In regard to property, clan-communism pre-
vails and a man has not absolute control over the disposal
of his possessions, for the heir must be acceptable to the
clan. He may be the eldest or some other son of the
deceased, or someone who, according to our Western
ideas, is no relation at all, for the clan may elect one
who is only a clan-brother to inherit. Whoever the man
may be, then, he is introduced to the mourners by a
clan-elder, in the morning after the funeral, as the heir.
He then decides whether there shall be a period of mourn-
ing, and announces where it shall take place and how
long it shall continue. He is responsible for the support
of the mourners during the period of mourning, when
they may not drink milk but are fed on beef and beer.
Should the deceased have been a wealthy man, possessing
a large number of cows, the period of mourning will
be proportionately long, because more beef will be avail-
able for the food of the mourners. Indeed, the custom

194 The Soul of Central Africa

is that all the full-grown bulls in each herd must be
killed. At the owner's death these animals are separated
from the cows and fresh bulls are introduced into
the herds. The full-grown bulls are then killed as
required.

When the arrangements for the mourning have been
made, the heir sits during the first day to hear any cases
of debt against the estate of his predecessor, and all
claimants must appear during that day or forfeit any
right of repayment or redress. The heir investigates
each case and must discharge every legitimate claim, but
he may appeal in open court against any claim he may
consider unfair. During the rest of the mourning period
the heir can do little olBicial work in public, for he also is
supposed to be a mourner and wears the guise of mourn-
ing, even though his connexion with the dead man may
be only clan-brothership, and though the death may have
caused him no los§! and much gain.

One of the most important steps that have to be taken
is to inform the king of the death. This is not so easy
as it sounds, because, as the king is supposed to be equal
if not superior to death, to tell him that death has suc-
ceeded in robbing him of a subject is a task fraught
with risk and even danger to life. The heir therefore
chooses two or three men whom he knows to be fleet
of foot, and in the early morning, with the first signs
of dawn just showing, these set out for the royal
enclosure, driving in front of them a cow. They follow
the main road until they approach the enclosure, when
they stop and send the cow forward at a run. As it
nears the gate they shout, " So-and-so is dead. Death
has robbed you," and flee for their lives, for the guards
of the great chief '' Bamuroga " at once rush out of the

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 195

enclosure to capture the bold men who dare shout such
an insulting message to their king. Capture would mean
death, but as the messengers have a good start and the
guard do not follow far, there is not much likelihood of
that. After a short chase the men of the guard return,
catch and kill the cow, and eat as much as they can before
daybreak. When the sun appears all that remains
must be quickly buried, and all traces of the meal
removed. Should the sun be allowed to shine on any
of it, it would bring disaster upon the king and the
country.

When the heir considers that the time has come to
end the mourning he commands the mourners to pre-
pare for their purificatory rites. During the time of
mourning they may not shave or wash, cut their hair or
pare their nails, so that, in cases where the mourning
has lasted several months, their condition can be better
imagined than described. Before they come into contact
with the outside world again all appearances of mourning
must be removed. The hair on all parts of the body,
even to the eyebrows, is shaved off, their nails are pared,
and, having washed, each mourner is given by the heir a
new garment to wear. Then they go to a special house
where the friends from whom they have been separated
all the time of mourning may welcome them. The final
act of purification is to visit the king and greet him,
presenting him with the compulsory offering of a cow,
after which they may return to their normal existence.

The king sends a messenger to see the heir and report
on his suitability for the post. Should the king dis-
approve, the clan members must appoint some other
person whom the king may suggest. The new owner
is then commanded to visit the king to be confirmed in

196 The Soul of Central Africa

his ofBce. He presents the king with a cow and seals
his appointment by kissing the king's hands.

Should the heir be a man who is to be admitted to
membership of the Sacred Guild, there will be a longer
and much more elaborate ceremony to be gone through.
Membership of this Guild is the highest honour to which
any man of the nation can attain, and is equivalent to
brotherhood with the king, the bond being made by the
drinking of the king's sacred milk. The members have
to stand by their king and be faithful to him until death.
When a chief has been presented to the king and com-
pleted the preliminary ceremonies, a few days are allowed
to elapse before he is called upon to take the vows and
go through the ceremony of being inducted into the office
of member of the Sacred Guild. To this function he
comes in fear and trembling, for a great responsibility is
about to be laid upon him.

On the day appointed by the king the novice arrays
himself in his finest garments, and, escorted by a chief,
comes to the royal enclosure. His companion is a
member of the Guild, who, knowing the necessary pro-
cedure of the ceremony, can prompt the novice. He
must bring with him a cow and a calf to present to the
king, and innumerable presents of other kinds, for after
the ceremony is over he can hardly move without paying
somebody for something. At the entrance gate the
novice waits until his arrival has been announced to the
king and the order is given for him to enter. He is
conducted to the throne-room by his adviser, who never
leaves him, and on being led before the king he kneels
down to greet him, whereupon the king tells him he is
about to become one of the select body of the Sacred
Guild. The man then calls for the cow and calf which

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 197

he brought with him, and presents them to the king,
after which the king gives him his hands to kiss, jvhich
is the sign of confirmation in office.

The king commands one of the dairymaids to bring
a pot of the sacred milk, and the novice is conducted
to a special hut, while the king goes there by another
path to watch him drink it. The novice is so overcome
by nervousness at the thought of the honour which is
being conferred on him that he often requires support
from his adviser while he drinks a little of the milk and
makes a declaration of loyalty. He then returns to the
throne-room on his way to the gate, but his progress is
now very slow, for, during his absence in the hut where
he drank the milk, triumphal arches have been erected
and barriers thrown up across his path, so that at every
turn he is confronted by some obstacle and has to pay
with gifts for permission to pass. His companion doles
out presents on all sides, and from the throne-room con-
ducts the novice to his own home. It is a day of rejoic-
ing, but an expensive one for the new chief, who is
expected to be willing to disburse large sums of money
in recognition of the honour paid to him.

When he reaches home he is seated in some con-
spicuous place, and relatives and friends come to look
upon their new chief ; but he may not speak until sun-
set, when the cows return. His first words must be
addressed to one of his trusted servants, one who has
been a faithful herdsman for years. To this man he
presents a cow, one of the finest animals he possesses, a
gift which makes the man a devoted servant for the rest
of his life. The new chief is now permitted to talk freely
with his friends and rejoice with them.

About this time a dairymaid from the royal enclosure

198 The Soul of Central Africa

comes with the milk-pot containing the milk left by the
novice at the time of the oath-taking, and this has to
be drunk by a man and woman, near relatives of the
chief. Even in the lifetime of a man's real father he
regards as and calls '* father" another man of the clan,
generally an uncle, and it is this man and his wife who
drink the remainder of the sacred milk. The milkmaid
remains with the new chief four or five .weeks, and is
treated with great honour. She has a new hut built for
her, and is fed on the best food they can procure. At
the end of her visit the new chief gives her a cow and
a calf. These she shows to the king on her return, and
he tells her to keep them.

The duties of an heir towards his predecessor must
not be forgotten, for there are many things to be done
for the dead. One or two cows or more may be dedicated
to the ghost, and the milk from these has to be placed
daily before the shrine for the dead. In each house,
between the head of the owner's bedstead and the place
where the roof of the hut meets the floor, there is a
shrine where the milk is daily offered. The shrine is a
mound or platform of beaten earth from two to two-and-a-
half feet high, four feet long, and two wide. It is
covered with scented lemon-grass, and on it is spread a
rug, usually a cowskin. The milk-pots placed on this
shrine are of wood, and may not be used for any other
purpose but the milk of the ghost. After each milk-
ing the wife of the house places these pots on the platform
for the ghost, who is expected to come and drink the
essence of the milk and thus to be satisfied. The owner
then calls one or more members of the family who are
resident in his house to come and drink the milk that
is left. Any son or daughter who is married or who lives

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 199

elsewhere is debarred from partaking of this milk, nor
may a man's wife, who is of a different clan, drink it.
If the ghost's herd of cattle increases, and the heir jvishes
to dispose of some of them or to kill any of the bulls,
he cannot do so without first summoning the priest, and
through him obtaining permission from the ghost to take
animals from its herd.

When a king died, his body had to be interred in a
particular part of the country which was reserved for the
tombs of kings. A large pit was dug for the grave, and
over it a hut was built. The body of the king was
arranged with the knees bent up towards the chin in a
squatting attitude, and was stitched in a cowskin. The
whole of the grave was lined first with cowskins and then
with bark-cloths, and the body was laid on a bed of
bark-cloth. Two of the king's wives were selected to go
with him into the other world, land they went into the
grave, laid the body on the bed as though sleeping, and
covered it with bark-cloths. Then they lay down, one
on either side of the body, and the grave was filled with
innumerable bark-cloths, some of which were spread over
the body, while others were thrown in until the grave
was full and they were heaped above the level of the
floor. No earth was put into the grave, which was filled
.with bark-cloths only.

In this large shrine or temple some of the widows
kept watch, guarding it constantly, and a priest and
medium were in attendance. People came to the tomb
to visit the king as if it were his court, and they made
requests of him and brought him offerings, which became
the property of the widows. At times the reigning king
would send gifts of cows to his predecessor, and the priest
and medium held communion with the dead and informed

200 The Soul of Central Africa

the king of anything that came to their knowledge which
concerned him or his country.

Once each year a mock king was chosen from a
particular clan to impersonate the dead king, and the
people believed that the monarch ,was temporarily re-
incarnated in this man. For a .week the man reigned in
the temple of the dead king and held his court there.
He was given great honour, and had the temple widows
as his wives, as though he were the late king himself.
The reigning king sent him gifts of cattle and slaves,
and he dispensed his favours royally during the one
,week of his reign. The principal minister of the king,
'' Bamuroga," came to conduct these ceremonies. He
placed the mock king on the throne, and saw that he
was given due honour by everyone who came. When
the week was ended, Bamuroga took the mock king
to the back of the temple and strangled him, casting
the body away on some waste piece of land. There ,was
no funeral or any ceremonial observance, and little, if
any, notice was taken of his death.

The temple of the last king was the place to which
the reigning king applied for advice on any matters con-
nected with the country, for the dead king, through his
priest and medium, could always give him help. The
temple, and in fact the whole place of the tombs, were
under the control of the great chief, Bamuroga.

This '' Bamuroga " was the greatest chief of the land,
ranking in power and importance next to the king. One
of his duties was to take charge of the country and guard
the king's body during the interval between the death
of one king and the accession of the next. As I have
already mentioned, the regular custom in Bunyoro was
for the question of the king's successor to be settled by

Bunyoro— Death, Burial and Succession 201

an appeal to arms. Immediately on the death of the
king those princes who .wished to assert their claim to
the throne gathered their followers and set to work to
exterminate all other claimants. Usually only a small
number were sufficiently powerful to take part in the
quarrel ; probably only three would go to war, jvhile the
rest would await the result. Each of the contending
princes had to take special steps for the safety of his
mother, for should she be captured and killed by a rival
he would lose the support of all those who had attached
themselves to her in view of the time when she might
be that important person, the mother of the king. Each
prince, then, would send his mother as soon as possible
to some place of safety outside the capital. The chiefs
of the Sacred Guild took no part in these wars. Their
duty was to assist in guarding the body of the dead
king until the victorious prince came to claim it for
burial.

When the time came for the actual burial of the
king the feelings of all concerned must have been some-
what mixed. The chief mourner — that is, the new king
— celebrated in the burial and mourning ceremonies his
victory over his rivals, while the people were rejoicing
over a return to peaceful conditions. The whole country
had felt the effects of the contest for the throne.
Agriculture could only be carried on in outlying districts,
while in and around the capital fighting took place daily,
and there was constant looting of cattle and foodstuffs.
The burial of the king's body ended this state of anarchy
and brought peace to the land, whereupon the people
were expected to begin to bewail his death, for until
this time no official mourning might take place outside
the royal enclosure.

202 The Soul of Central Africa

When the new king had buried his father, mourning
ceased and the country underwent purification. The
king chose a sister to perform this ceremony, whereby
she not only cleansed the royal house, but included in
the purification the entire people, the cattle, and the
land. She was given a bunch of herbs and a bowl in
which was a mixture of water and white clay, and .with
this she sprinkled first her brother, the new king, then
the princes and princesses, and finally the people, the
cattle, and the earth. During the sprinkling she covered
her eyes, and as she waved her brush for the last time
she indicated some place and said, " I see such and such
a land." She then departed and took up her residence
in that part of the country, where she was given an
estate sufficient to provide for all her wants, for never
again might she come before the king or enter the
capital.

There was yet another rite to be performed before
the purification ceremonies were ended. The chief
minister, " Bamuroga," went to one of the young princes
and persuaded him that the people had chosen him to be
their king. The boy was set upon the throne, and the
real king, with all the chiefs, came to do obeisance as
though they acquiesced in the choice and wished to take
the oath of allegiance to him. They brought with them
presents of cows and offered him gifts and congratula-
tions. When all had presented their offerings, Bamuroga
asked the real king, " Where is your gift to me? " The
king gave a haughty answer, saying he had already
given his gift to the right person, whereupon Bamuroga
pushed him on the shoulder, saying, " Go and bring my
present." The king thereupon called his followers and
left the enclosure in a hurry as if angry. Bamuroga

Bunyoro—Death, Burial and Succession 203

then turned to the mock king, saying, *' Let us flee;
your brother has gone to bring an army," and, taking
the boy to the back of the throne-room, he strangled
him. This completed the death ceremonies and the
subsequent purifications, and the new king could take
his seat upon the throne and begin his reign.

CHAPTER XI

BUNYORO — CEREMONIES, RELIGION, AND MODERN
DEVELOPMENT

A Day in the Life of the King — The New Moon Ceremonies — A
State trial — The Gods — Auguries — Warfare — Bunyoro To-day —
Cotton- and Coffee -growing — Possible Native Industries —
Transport — The Mission at Masindi.

A DAY in the life of the King of Bunyoro
brought with it many duties, among which all
. matters connected with the sacred cows and the
king's meals, because of their priestly character, took
first place. With the performance of these ceremonies
nothing was ever allowed to interfere ; whatever the king
might be occupied with, it had to give way when the
time came for the performance of any of the rites
connected with the cattle and the milk.

Beyond these, however, the duties of the king were
many and varied; from dawn of day till late at night
he was seldom free and got but little rest, and even his
time for sleep was disturbed and cut short. Until after
midnight he had to wander about the royal enclosure
to see that the guard were keeping careful watch, and
when at last he did retire he was only left in peace for
about an hour, for at two o'clock he was awakened and
had to betake himself to a chamber off the throne-room,
where he spent the rest of the night. Here a young
woman slept across the foot of his bed, so that his feet
might rest against her and run no risk of touching the

204

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 205

end of the bed or of being exposed. In the early morn-
ing the girl got up and anointed the great toes of the
king before retiring to the women's courtyard.

The king then rose and passed through the throne-
room to his bath-room, where two young bulls were sent
or driven to meet him. One of these had to be all black
with the exception of a white patch on its forehead,
while the other was red and black and had also a jvhite
patch. These bulls were taken from the sacred herd
and had to be quite young; indeed, when they reached
the age of one year they were removed and killed and
fresh ones chosen. They very soon got to know what
was expected of them, and would find their own way
to the king's bath-room before being driven out to
pasture in the morning. The king took the black one
by the horns and, placing his head against its white
spot, said, " May all the evils of the night pass from my
people and my country." Then, taking the red and
black one in the same way, he said, " May all that is
good rest upon my people and my country." Thus, as
priest, he removed any evil that might have come upon
his subjects during the night and destroyed any magic
that might have been at work in the hours of darkness,
so that the people were free to begin the new day
immune from evil influence.

In all his ceremonial actions it was evident that the
king was regarded as being in a very special sense the
priest of his people and country. He did not merely
represent his people and his land and act as their inter-
mediary with the supernatural powers, but he imper-
sonated them; for instance, by his next movements he
cleansed and purified them, for fetishes were now hung on
his person and arranged about him, while his face, hands

2o6 The Soul of Central Africa

and feet were washed and his body anointed with scented
butter. A servant produced a number of bark-cloths,
from which the king chose the garment he would wear
for his first public appearance of the day, and, when
ready, he proceeded to the throne-room and took his
seat upon the throne, while his subjects flocked to greet
him and wish him long life.

This reception continued until the sacred cows came
to be milked, when the king had to watch the milking,
and then to retire for his meal. When this was over
and all the sacred cows had been milked, he turned his
attention to the problems of government. Every import-
ant case had to come before the king for judgment;
even on occasions when a local chief had tried and judged
a case, it would come sooner or later before the king for
his confirmation or reversal of the verdict, for his court
was the final court of appeal from any local jurisdiction.
The courtyard outside the throne-room soon became
crowded, and the principal chiefs came into the throne-
room to give the king the news of the day. Many
intricate matters, of which the most common concerned
fines and unpaid debts, had to be settled and political
matters discussed, and the king was thus occupied until
the time came to herd the sacred cows.

This herding of the sacred cows was another priestly
act which the king had to perform for the good of his
country. Rising, he passed through the main entrance
of the throne-room, stepping over the ivory tusk which
lay outside. This was a kingly prerogative to which not
even members of the royal family dared aspire. Every-
one who wished to enter or leave the throne-room, with
the sole exception of the king, must walk round the
end of the tusk. As the king proceeded, mats were

BUNYORO: KING WITH CHIEFS OF THE SACRED GUILD IN THE OLD
CEREMONIAL DRESS

BUNYORO: PRESENT KING WITH COURT AND BODYGUARD

BUNYORO: THE KING IN COURT

Bunyoro— Religion and Development 207

spread for him to walk upon, the first stretching from
the door of the throne-room to that of the queen's
reception-room. These mats were made of grass-stems
tied together and rolled up, so that the keeper had only
to lay a mat down and give it a push for it to unroll
and lie flat. There were several of these mats which
were used when the king moved about the royal enclosure
on his ceremonial duties, and each was rolled up again
directly he had passed over it. The king passed through
seven sacred huts, of which the first was the queen's
reception-room. Each hut had a doorway at the front
and at the back, and a courtyard divided it from the
next. The courtyards were also directly connected by
gates, so that it was possible to go from one end of
the row to the other without entering the huts. Each
hut bore the name of a chief of the Sacred Guild, and
each chief might enter the one which bore his name but
no other; only the king might walk through them all,
though he might be accompanied by a page as he did
so. Each court and each hut was guarded, and the king
passed along the whole row accompanied by his own
guard, who, however, went from courtyard to courtyard
by the gateways, so that they need not enter the sacred
huts.

In one of these courtyards stood a guard holding a
royal spear, a custom which is worthy of note. This
spear had to be kept always in an upright position and
might never on any account be laid down. When the
king retired at night it was taken to the throne-room,
where it stood upright in a special stand until the morning
when the king was ready to take his seat on the throne.
Then it was taken to the courtyard of this hut, where
it was held erect by one of the guard. As it must never

2o8 The Soul of Central Africa

be laid down, the guard could not go away without
summoning a companion to hold it during his absence.
When the king was unwell or unable to be in the throne-
room, the spear stood there until he returned to resume
his duties. As the king approached, the man with the
spear moved to one side to allow him to pass, but did
not lower the spear.

When the king reached the last courtyard he found
three animals awaiting him; one was an old cow whose
milk had stopped, and which was being fattened for kill-
ing, another was a calf, and the third a young bull. The
king looked after these animals in the courtyard for some
twenty minutes or half an hour daily, thus conferring
his blessing on all herdsmen throughout the country.
On his way back he took the same path until he reached
the throne-room, which he entered by one of the side
doors. He might then pass through to the dairy and
drink milk, but as this was not one of his compulsory
meals no attention was paid to it, and he might drink
or pass on as he desired. Other matters might now call
for attention, but as a rule he was free from official duties
in the throne-room for an hour or two, and was at liberty
to attend to private matters or to take exercise or
amuse himself.

A little before three he had again to take his place
in the throne-room to partake of his sacred meal of meat,
and by the time this was finished there would be heard
the call of the herald as he led the sacred cows home to
be milked. After that the king was again occupied with
public business and audiences until the time came for
him to inspect the guard of the royal enclosure before
retiring to bed.

In this country the passage of time during the day

BUNYORO: BAND OF TRUMPETERS FOR NEW MOON CEREMONIES

BUNYORO: DANCE AT NEW MOON CEREMONIES

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 209

was marked by the position of the sun, and the divisions
thus marked were named after some incident affect-
ing the cows, such as time to go to pasture, time
to be milked, time for them to drink, and so on. It
was therefore natural that the divisions of the year should
be calculated by the moon. The year was accordingly
divided into months, six months bringing the lesser rains,
and six more the greater rains and the end of the year.
There was no week, the month being divided into twenty-
eight days according to the phases of the moon. The
new moon was always a season for great rejoicing and
for feasting, in which the common people took part.

Outside the main entrance to the royal enclosure there
was a mound which was regularly used as a watch-tower
for general observation, and upon this the priest took his
stand when the time came for the appearance of the new
moon. Round the base of the mound stood the king's
band of trumpeters, ready to announce to the country
that the moon was visible. The priest watched until he
could see the moon, and the way in which his accustomed
eye distinguished the first faint glimpse of the crescent
was very remarkable. On its appearance he sent a
message to the king, who came out to give his blessing
to the people and land for the new month. The priest
was then commanded to make known to the country
that the time of festival had begun. This he did by
beating several times on a large drum, whereupon the
band, with a blare of ti*umpets, raised sounds of rejoic-
ing. At the sound people hurried from all directions,
and feasting and merrymaking went on in the royal
enclosure for seven days. During this time there was no
cessation in the music and dancing ; weary performers

might creep away one at a time to some corner to sleep,
o

210 The Soul of Central Africa

but no arrangements were made for rest, and they had
to hasten back to relieve some other tired companion.
During the night a large fire burned in the courtyard,
and by its light the drums and trumpets played and the
dance went on. Only when the sacred meals required
silence, and when the king enjoined it for a few minutes
while he performed some special ceremony, did the music
and noise cease. The king himself had to manage with
the minimum of sleep, for he had to sit in a conspicuous
place where his people could come to shout their bless-
ings upon him while he encouraged them in their dancing
and rejoicing.

On one of the seven days there was usually a solemn
procession to the courtyard of the seventh sacred hut,
the courtyard where the king herded the cows. On this
occasion the king gave his decision on any important
matter, or pronounced judgment on any chief who had
offended. The pronouncing of sentence on any member
of the Sacred Guild was a most impressive act, surpassing
in gravity any of the other ceremonies. Crowds
gathered outside the throne-room to see the king start
on his way to the place of judgment, and the royal
standard-bearers awaited his appearance. The royal
standards were rather curious. Three of them were
spears with long leaf -shaped blades, and the fourth was
an instrument rather like a two-pronged rake, on the
prongs of which were hung a bag of seeds and a bundle
of tinder for torch-making. These standards were held
aloft until the king emerged from the throne-room, when
the spear-bearers walked backwards before him to the
door of the first hut, where they lined up to allow him*
to pass. A chief of the Guild preceded the king, also walk-
ing backwards. Both he and the king wore their official

BUNYORO: ASSEMBLING FOR THE NEW MOON CEREMONIES

BUNYORO: NEW MOON CEREMONIES. THE KING ADVANCING ALONG THE
SACRED PATHWAY. PRECEDED BY SPEAR-BEARERS

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 211

robes and the crown with the long beard of monkey-
skin which marked the member of the Sacred Guild.
The robe consisted of a large sheet of bark-cloth wrapped
round the body, and a person dressed in this robe and
crown presented a most peculiar appearance.

The first hut through which the king passed was the
queen's reception-room, and there the queen, with any
of her sisters who wished to be present at the ceremonies,
sat to await the king. As he entered they all stood up,
and he passed slowly along, each in turn, headed by the
queen, greeting him in silence by placing her right hand
on his shoulder palm downwards and then turning it
palm upwards and touching his arm above the elbow
with the tips of her fingers. He passed in this manner
thjrough the hut> and so on to the next, which was
usually empty. His followers passed round the huts and
did not enter them.

In the meantime the chiefs of the Sacred Guild
assembled in their places in the last of the courtyards,
which they entered by a special gateway. Their entrance
was carefully guarded, and none but members of the
Guild could pass the guard. When the king reached this
last courtyard he took his place under a canopy against
one of the fences, where a rug was spread for him to
stand on. The chiefs of the Sacred Guild, each wearing
his crown, which differed from all the others and was
the mark of his special ofiice or rank, stood on one side,
while the culprit to be judged stood apart at the far
end of the court, awaiting the king's command to come
forward.

When all was ready the king gave the sign for the
man to be brought before him, and he came forward,
supported by one of his companions. His nervousness

212 The Soul of Central Africa

and terror were often so extreme that he was unable
to walk alone, and his companion had to hold him up
to keep his trembling legs from giving way under him.
He approached the king, who did not employ many words
to inform the anxious offender of his fate. If the verdict
was pardon, he extended his two hands together and
allowed the man to kiss them; if the hands were with-
held it mattered little what the king said ; he might even
tell the man he was forgiven and might go free, but if
he withheld his hands the doom of the culprit was sealed
and death was sure to follow. Sometimes he sank down
fainting and was carried off to death, or he was led away
and speared. The king marched back to the throne-room,
and the dancing went forward again as if nothing had
happened.

When the seven days were ended the band went to
the house of the king's mother, and music and dancing
were resumed there with renewed vigour for one night.
The people followed the bands, and both here and in
the royal enclosure meat and beer were supplied to the
revellers, so that to the people it was a royal feast-time.
When the night was over they went on to the enclosure
of the chief medicine-man, who, owing to his position
of authority in regard to all matters of sickness and
disease, was one of the greatest men in the country. It
was he who put an end to the festivities and sent the
bandsmen to their homes, where they had a respite until
the next new moon appeared.

In these countries the period of the waxing moon was
the most propitious time, and everything beginning then
would prosper. A child born with the new moon would
grow and be healthy and fortunate, whereas one born
when the moon was waning was regarded with misgiving

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 213

and sorrow. So if a marriage was to be prosperous it had
to take place when the moon was new, for it would
receive additional blessing from that luminary. Peasants
sowed their seeds and baked their pots, and smiths pre-
ferred to do any important work, in the time of the new
moon, because anything done then increased and was
strong, but the propitious time passed with the waning
of the full moon.

The moon was thus not only the divider of the year,
but was a kind of deity which brought many blessings.
Mothers would often take their children to the door to
point out the new moon, believing that the sight of it
would cause the child to grow.

In Bunyoro, as in Ankole, the cowman had religious
feelings and beliefs which meant something to him,
though they did not call for much in the way of formal
observance. He believed in certain gods who were super-
human beings, but, with the exception of the new moon
festivals, he did not feel it incumbent upon him to pay
them attention at any stated times. The seasons for his
offerings were determined by circumstances. When the
cloud of any threatened calamity, such as war or a cattle-
raid, appeared on his horizon he felt it was not enough
merely to prepare to resist the enemy to the utmost of
his power, but he had to pray to his god and make an
offering to him, in order to ensure his assistance either
in thwarting the intentions of the enemy or in overcoming
hini should he succeed in attacking. Again, should cattle
disease appear, he had to call on the god for an explana-
tion of the disease, its cause, and the needful remedies
before he could make any successful use of drugs or other
means of cure.

No temples or permanent shrines were raised to

cj.

214 The Soul of Qentral Africa

these gods. Though they had priests and mediums,
these Hved in their own houses and were either consulted
there or sent for to come and see the person who needed
their assistance. The priest would then decide by an
oracle the cause of the mischief, and, if it was seen to
be the work of a god, offerings would be made to him
and the priest would pray to him without building any
shrine. Shrines were built to honour ghosts and were
not used for the great gods. Some of the gods, how-
ever, had special dwelling places which were sacred to
them. Certain mountains, for example, were regarded
as the residences of particular gods. Some of these have
precipitous faces fully a hundred feet or more high,
over which animal and at times human victims were
hurled as sacrifices to the gods. In other cases the
mountains are extinct volcanoes and have large craters,
often containing deep pools into which the victims were
cast. One of these ,was especially famed, for those
victims who were favoured by the god were seen either
the same day or next morning high up on the mountain
side and still alive. There must be some outlet from the
crater through the side of the mountain, for its slopes
are sheer precipices impossible to climb.

The priests of the more important deities belonged
to a special priestly clan and their offices were hereditary.
They claimed to have the sole right to officiate in the
service of these high gods and looked down upon the
inferior priests who might be qualified for their office
by training alone and not by descent. The higher priests
obtained their knowledge of the wishes of the gods by
augury of the highest kind : they killed an animal, and
from the intestines and liver were able to solve their
problems. At times one of these superior priests might

/ ■ 1''

BUNYORO: NEW MOON CEREMONIES. THE KING PARDONING A CHIEF

^^^f

%tf

r^-'A

BUNYORO: NEW MOON CEREMONIES. THE KING UNDER THE CANOPY

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 215

employ one of lower rank to give an oracle by water.
This priest made seven pots of unbaked clay and, filling
them with water, washed his hands in them with a lump
of clay, stirring the water about till the clay made it
quite muddy. Then he poured a few drops of a certain
liquid into each pot. At once the water began to clear,
and the spreading of this clear spot was anxiously
watched. If it was unbroken and assumed a starlike
shape the augury was good; but if it broke up into
irregular clear patches, matters looked threatening.

The king kept large numbers of goats and fowls for
the use of the high priest when an augury was necessary.
The goats were divided into herds and the fowls into
flocks according to their colour, for the god would
specify the colour of the animal to be used for each
augury. The king appointed a head-man over the goats
and another over the fowls, and these had a number
of men under them to look after the flocks and herds and
see that the colours did not get mixed. The head-men
were responsible for keeping a sufficient number of each
colour always available, and they went about the country
looking for the colours they wanted. No owner would
refuse to give an animal for this purpose, and when it
was given it was dedicated to the gods and reserved for
future use in taking auguries. The priest, when an
augury was wanted, had only to give his order for an
offering of the necessary colour and it had to be supplied
at once.

Though people acknowledged these higher deities
they seldom approached them or washed to consult them.
Their everyday needs were sufficiently met by applica-
tion to ghosts or deified kings, and it was only under
very special circumstances that the gods of war, thunder,

2i6 The Soul of Central Africa

rain and plenty, the higher deities, were invoked. Under
exceptional circumstances offerings were made and
honour paid to them until the time of need had passed,
after which the god might be left undisturbed for a long
time before his help was sought again.

The nation was not really aggressive and no regular
army was maintained. It was only when some adjacent
nation encroached on their territory, or when a favour-
able opportunity for cattle-raiding tempted them, that
an army would be raised. At such times the king, before
taking any steps, would inquire of the god of war, through
his own priest, whether it was advisable to make the
expedition and who should lead his forces.

Raids by border chiefs into other countries were the
most common cause of disturbance. Some small chief
of a border district might see a fine herd of cows over
the border which seemed insufficiently protected, where-
upon he would swoop down upon them and carry them
off. Immediately the nation of the wronged man would
rise to his assistance and a regular expedition would be
sent against the aggressor. Such an expedition did not
take long to prepare, a few hours sufficing to raise and
dispatch the army. The robber chief would in the mean-
time gather some men together to protect his own land
while he drove away the raided cattle to some distant
part. Then the king's help would be sought and, as he,
the owner of all cattle, would be the real person to
profit by the raid, an army, if the god approved, would
be raised and sent to prevent the rescue of the looted
herd.

The army which gathered together in such circum-
stances was merely a mob of men eager for excitement
and hoping for the chance of loot and plunder, either in

Bunyoro— Religion and Development 217

their own country or in that of the enemy. For arms
most bore only spears and shields, while many of the
peasants carried only one spear, but supplemented it by
a large club. The leader had some power over the
under-chief s and those who were his own men, but he
had no direct influence over the bulk of his army and was
forced to rely upon the under-chiefs to get his orders
carried out. The peasants who formed the main body
of the army were kept in subjection more by the fear of
the god through whose oracle the expedition had been
commanded than by respect for their chiefs.

In such battles there was never any order or method
of fighting, and the bravery of one or two would do more
to settle the fortunes of the day than any concerted attack
I or regular plan of battle. One bold spirit would rush
I out and spear down one of the enemy, causing, by the
suddenness of the assault, some confusion and falling back
among the hostile forces, whereupon his companions
would rush forward against the wavering crowd and win a
rapid victory. Now and again one side would gain the
advantage through some appearance of strategy, which,
however, was usually to be attributed to chance and not
to any careful consideration of plans of battle. Unless
some such accident occurred, there was seldom much
difference between the two sides, and when three or four
combatants had fallen and a few had been wounded there
would be a mutual desire to come to terms.

There was an interesting custom which well shows
the native belief in the all-conquering power of magic.
When an invading army was reported to be approaching,
the medicine-man, taking with him a blind cow or sheep
and a dog, went to the road along which the enemy
was advancing. After reciting incantations over the

2i8 The Soul of Central Africa

animals he maimed or killed them and either left the
bodies lying or buried them in the path along which the
enemy must come. The effect of this was to strike the
invading army with blindness, and in their confusion they
were easily overcome and routed. Such magic-working
certainly often had the desired effect, for, believing that
the invaders were blind and helpless, the inhabitants
would attack with such vigour and courage that victory
was assured.

Bunyoro is the country that the earliest explorers
visited when seeking to solve the problems of the Nile.
It was here that Speke and Grant met Sir Samuel Baker
when he was on his way to discover and survey Lake
Albert. In these early days the country was rich in
people and cattle, but now it is impoverished, largely
owing to the long wars of Kabarega's time. The popu-
lation was then much scattered, and it has been further
diminished since the British occupation by the emigration
of many who wished to escape state labour and the hut
tax. There are few large herds left, for the great herds
of the king were taken over the Nile into the Teso country
during the wanderings of Kabarega and never came back
again. Those w^hich were not killed for food were
probably appropriated by local chiefs.

A few coffee planters have settled in the country, and
are finding that they can grow good crops with little
trouble, but the industry is yet in its infancy, and the
planters are only now beginning to meet the difficulties
which time is bound to bring ; they will have to learn by
experience how to cope with the diseases to which the
trees are subject in a new country. Up to the present
they seem to be prospering and have secured good crops,
but in most cases the planters have a very limited know-

BUNYORO: COURT HOUSE AT MASINDI WITH KING'S HOUSE
IN BACKGROUND

BUNYORO: DRUMS USED AT NEW MOON CEREMONIES

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 219

ledge of their business, and there seems no hope of their
learning otherwise than by painful experience, for they
have no books to consult and no instructors who couW
correct their errors and advise them as to the necessary
steps to be taken to keep the trees up to a profitable
standard.

Cotton is being grown with fair success, and its
cultivation is mainly in the hands of the natives, who,
though their methods might be improved by education,
manage to make their crops pay. They told me, how-
ever, that they were restricted in their dealings, the
only market permitted to them being through the
planters of the district, who bought up all the native
cotton. The natives had to sell their produce in certain
definite places and at a price fixed by the buyers. They
assured me that they could get better prices at other
centres, but that they ,were, for some reason, prevented
from taking their goods there. This matter seems to
call for investigation by the administrative service in
order that it may be put right.

The natives ought to be encouraged in every possible
way, for it is on them that the future of the country
depends. The European settler is a valuable asset, but
his value is enormously increased if he goes out with the
intention of helping the native to help himself. The
European in such a climate is, of necessity, but a bird of
passage, and while settled there can accomplish only a
limited amount of work, whereas the native is indigenous
to the soil and has not to contend with climatic diflBculties.
Therefore the most valuable colonist is he whose work
tends to make the native not only self-supporting, but
a source of benefit to the outside world. This is possible,
for there are many industries already to some extent in

220 The Soul of Central Africa

existence which might easily be made profitable to the
isvorld in general. In the lake region, with all its pastoral
tribes, it seems strange that no commercial cattle-rearing
has been undertaken and that no tinning and preserving
factories for meat, butter, cheese and milk have been
opened. Such industries would pay if once the natives
learned what was necessary for export trade and were
shown the best methods to adopt. As it is, no attempt
has been made to teach these men anything about the
different kinds of cows and their milk-giving qualities,
and they know nothing of breeding for market. As for
butter, the idea of this as a marketable commodity has
never been brought before them, and they have no
notion of cheese-making. As the commercial value of
these products does not seem to have been investigated,
the members of the pastoral clans — who are quite com-
petent for cattle-rearing and dairy work — are being
forced to undertake agricultural work which is not only
entirely distasteful to them, but is contrary to all their
inherited instincts and is considered by them to be
injurious to the well-being of their cows.

Since the British occupation roads have been built
over many parts of the country, even to the most
out-of-the-way places, and it is possible during the dry
season to travel long distances by motor. There is even
a regular service of motors between Lakes Albert and
Kioga, where in earlier times the paths were merely
cattle tracks, made by the herds in their movements from
place to place. A splendid metalled road now runs
between the two lakes, and native workmen, under
European supervision, are employed in working the
steam roller and in repairing the road. The motor vans
are also managed by African lads, many of whom learned

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 221

their trade during the war. They are said to be steady
and reliable youths who are well worth the trouble of
training. The motor service is connected by the steam-
boat on Lake Albert with the Belgian Congo and by
that on Lake Kioga with the railway through Busoga to
Jinja on Lake Victoria, and so to Mombasa. This is the
route taken by visitors journeying from Mombasa to
Khartoum and Cairo. It leaves still about one hundred
miles, between Lake Albert and Rejaf, to be undertaken
on foot, which for the ordinary tourist forms rather a
diflBculty, but even this could with comparative ease be
made a motor road. This strip of country is under the
Sudan Government, which took it over from the Uganda
Protectorate some years ago. It is the worst of any of
the recognized routes which I traversed during the expe-
dition. There is even no telegraphic connexion between
this district and Uganda, an improvement which might
easily be carried out and would be of untold value to
both Governments in their dealings with their out-
stations.

The advance so far made has opened up this part
of the Protectorate for trading purposes, but cotton and
coffee are at present the only products of which the
cultivation is attempted. Unfortunately, the district
round Masindi (the capital) is the worst in the country
for this purpose, and the places where cotton- and coffee-
growing is proving successful are generally at some
distance from the regular motor route, which passes
through the capital.

There is at Masindi a mission station which has an
excellent industrial branch attached to it. Here some
of the best cabinet work of which Uganda can boast is
turned out. The station belongs to the Church

222 The Soul of Central Africa

Missionary Society, and such good progress has been
made that tables, chairs, and sofas are supplied from this
centre to most parts of the Protectorate. The lads are
trained to work the native timber which they cut for
themselves in the forests. There is also a school attached
to this mission, but, owing to the lack of properly trained
men as teachers, it is not so well worked as the technical
branch.

As a Christian nation the Banyoro are, with the
exception of the Baganda, the most advanced in this part
of Africa. They belong to the church of Uganda, but
they are able to support their own few native pastors
and teachers. The standard of training of these native
pastors is, however, low, and might be raised with much
profit to the community. Another drawback is that the
native pastors are chiefly drawn from the lower classes —
that is, from the agricultural people, and they cannot
easily gain admission among the Bahuma, or upper
class, who despise them. Men of the latter class admitted
that they would pay more attention to pastors and
teachers drawn from their own ranks.

Another difficulty which now appears is one which I
foresaw years ago when I was attached to the mission
at Kampala ; that is, that the training of the secular
teachers and sons of chiefs is better than that offered
to the native pastors, who, being of the poorer class, are
unable to pay for the education given in the higher
schools. This is not without its effect on the youths who
are being educated in these secular schools and who show
a tendency to regard their religious pastors and teachers
with feelings of superiority. I fully realize that this is
not the spirit we should hope to find in a Christian com-
munity, but human nature is much the same all the world

Bunyoro — Religion and Development 223

over, and here, where the natives are still only just
emerging from barbarism, it behoves the Christian Church
to see that her pastors are not inferior in education and
training to the men they are expected to lead. Here
it is exceptionally easy for the native mind to draw false
inferences, for the superior secular schools and those which
give the inferior religious training are under the control
and management of the same mission !

CHAPTER XII

LAKE KIOGA — TESO COUNTRY — MOUNT ELGON

Hoima — Lions — Cultivation — The Graphite Mine — Kibero — Lake
Kioga — Journey to Lake Salisbury — Teso Country — Journey
to Mount Elgon — Mbale — Starting Work among the Bagesu.

I SPENT about five months in Bunyoro, and by the
end of that time I began to feel that both the
language and the life of the natives were becoming
really familiar to me. It was a busy time, though most
of it was spent in Masindi and I had little travelling
about to do. In Masindi my days w^ere well filled, for
the men from whom I got my information came for four
or five hours daily, and after they had gone I had to write
up and arrange my notes of the information I had elicited.
For a few weeks I wandered about the country visiting
various places of interest, getting photographs, and con-
firming the information which I had collected. The
king, or Mukama, as he is called, invited me to his old
capital at Hoima, some thirty-five miles from Masindi
where he now lives in order to be near the Government
headquarters. Masindi was chosen by the British Govern-
ment for their station because it lies on the route to Lakes
Albert and Kioga and to Buganda.

At Hoima I spent a most interesting month, for here
are to be seen fetishes, ornaments, and weapons which
tell of the olden days and of the past glory of the kings.

Here too I had an exceptional opportunity of seeing old

224

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 225

times brought, as it were, to life again, for the king was
good enough to arrange and carry out for my benefit a
week's pageant, so that I was able to follow the milk
customs and the new moon ceremonies as they were
actually performed. It was an interesting experience
and also most valuable, for it made clear to me much
of the information I had collected during the previous
weeks at Masindi and enabled me to understand many
difficult points. The interest and helpfulness of the king
did not stop here, for I visited him daily for some time
after this, and he explained to me what I had seen and
answered all my questions with the utmost frankness
and openness. He came several times to dine with me,
and showed himself quite familiar with our Western table
manners and customs. He no longer adheres to the milk
regulations, but has adopted English habits of life.

From Hoima I made excursions to one or two places
which of old were of much importance in the life of the
people. One of these was the rain-makers' temple, which
was well worth a visit for its own sake as well as for its
ceremonial interest. This beautiful glade lying in the
midst of the great dark forest was well adapted to add
mystery and solemnity to a ceremony which in itself
lacked neither element and to heighten its effect on the
imaginations of the people. The king supplied me with
a guide for the forest paths, which as a rule are so over-
grown as to be almost invisible to a stranger. A report,
however, had gone abroad before my visit that the king
was coming to the place, and the path had been cleared.

During my time at Hoima there were lions about,
and one of my attendants met one face to face on the
road in the early morning. He had to take refuge in a
house and remain there for some time before he could

226 The Soul of Central Africa

proceed on his way. The next morning the beast carried
off an elderly woman while she was on her way from
her house to her field. On receipt of this news the king
sent out a hunting party to track the lion, but the only
trace which could be found was the skull and one thigh-
bone of the unfortunate woman. I neither saw nor heard
anything of this lion, though it was in hiding as I went
to the rain-makers' place, and I must have cycled, with
my one attendant, past its lair. Early on the morning
after, however, I was awakened by cries near my camp,
and, thinking it was another woman in distress, I
hurriedly got up. Then I heard the call of the king's
police, and, knowing they were on the alert, I went back
to bed feeling that my assistance w^ould be superfluous.
The noise continued, and I was puzzled by the fact that
cries came first from one direction and then from another.
It is not the usual custom for the people to make a noise
when there are lions about, and I was at a loss for an
explanation until I heard in the morning that there had
been several lions wandering around, trying to enter
various places. The king's cow kraal had been an object
of special attention, and two lions had marched round
and round for a long time seeking an unguarded entrance.
Others had made futile efforts to enter some of the native
huts. One sat somewhere near me for fully three hours,
purring happily and roaring from time to time, much to
the disquietude of the people in the surrounding huts,
who fully expected the unwanted visitor to walk in upon
them at any moment. For several days these lions
remained in the neighbourhood before they took them-
selves off to some new hunting ground.

Lions are not as a rule in the habit of staying so long
near human habitations, but this was one of the districts

Lake Kioga—Teso Country— Mount Elgon 227

where rinderpest had carried off many pigs and other
wild animals. The lions were thus short of food, and
not only haunted the villages by night, but even attacked
stray people during the day, so that the women were
unwilling to go alone to their fields to work.

It is the women in this country who own the fields
and do all the ordinary work of digging and attending
to the crops. They turn the soil with short-handled
hoes, with which they dig to a depth of eight or ten
inches, drawing the earth towards them and throwing it
round their feet as they advance. They generally begin
their work on the fields at dawn and cease about ten
o'clock, when they gather a bundle of firewood and go
home to cook their midday meal, though the principal
meal of the day is in the evening. They work the same
land year after year without any attempt to fertilize it,
but when, after four or five years, the crops show signs
of deterioration, that field will be left to lie fallow for two
or three years and new ground will be broken up. In
this work the husbands help by cutting down the trees
and scrub and clearing the ground for their wives to dig.

I had been at Hoima some weeks when an epidemic
of influenza broke out, and the disease assumed a very
virulent form. Numbers of people were carried off in a
few days and there were several deaths in the royal house-
hold. The king's daughters, and then the king himself,
were attacked. This put an end for the time to the work
I was doing with the personal assistance of the king, so
w^hen I had put my notes in order I determined to take
a tour through the country and come back to Masindi
later, when I hoped the king would have recovered and
returned to his home there, so that we could resume our
work and complete it.

228 The Soul of Central Africa

The route I chose led me to the salt-works at Kibero,
passing on the way the graphite mine from which the
material for polishing the royal pots was obtained. It
was the time of the rains, and travelling was very
unpleasant. The mud on the roads was so deep and soft
that it clogged the wheels of my bicycle until they could
not move in the forks, and I had to carry the machine
frequently for long distances in the hot sun, taking
advantage of every bit of hard ground to ride and rest.

The graphite mine was interesting, not only in itself,
but because of the extraordinary number of bats which
have taken up their abode in the cave and at the mouth
of the working. When we took a light into the shaft
these creatures appeared literally by the hundred and
fluttered round us, striking our faces, getting caught in
our hats, and proving generally most annoying. I could
distinguish three kinds, and they varied from quite a large
size to the small insect-eating species which has such an
offensive smell.

The opening of the shaft to the working is so small
that we had to enter on our hands and knees, though
after a few yards we could rise and walk along the shaft,
which is dug on the level and runs about twenty-five yards
straight into the hill. The vein appeared to be quite four
feet thick, and might be even thicker, but as I had no
means of testing this I had to be satisfied with a rough
estimate from appearances. It is from this place that
the king's potters have for many years obtained graphite
for polishing the pots intended for the use of the king
and the better class people.

The path to the mine was through tall grass, and
would have been impossible to follow without the services
of a guide who knew the place. As we were going along

Lake Kioga—Teso Country —Mount Elgon 229

I noticed the man in front of me suddenly jump aside,
and, looking down, I saw two small rings of plantain
fibre lying on the path. I made no remark, but walked
on and watched the boys who were following to see what
effect the rings would have on them. Every one of them
turned aside to avoid treading on or stepping over them.
I then remarked casually to the leader, " Someone is
working magic here," to which he replied, "Yes; mis-
fortune is lying in wait for someone." As we passed the
spot on our return I Ufted up the rings of fibre with my
walking-stick and put them in my pocket, greatly to the
consternation of the men. The things had been laid there
,with the express purpose of bringing ill-luck on anyone
who even stepped over them, so to touch them would
certainly be fatal.

The morning of my entry into the district where the
salt-works are situated was dull and there had been rain
through the night. The road along which I had to pass
ran between grass so tall that it hung over me even
.when I mounted my bicycle, and in a short time I was
wet through from the steady dripping and from pushing
through the soaked grass. To add to my discomfort I
had to carry the bicycle nearly a mile through slush and
mud before I reached the top of the hill leading down
to the salt-works. From the summit I seemed to look
right down upon the village on the shores of the lake,
and could distinguish people moving about, though they
looked like black specks far below. The gradient was
much too steep and rough to ride or even to lead the
bicycle, and I realized that I must either carry it myself
or wait for the boys to come up. It ,was not tempting
to sit still in my wet clothes, so I shouldered the machine
and began the descent, hoping that the boys would catch

230 The Soul of Central Africa

me up before I had gone very far. However, they did
not appear — indeed, they were half an hour later than
myself in reaching the village; and, after all, I found
no serious difficulty in getting down, for the slope was^
not nearly so steep as some we had had to negotiate.

Between the hill and the lake there is a fairly level
strip about a mile in width, and here the huts of the salt
workers are built. They lie so low that a rise of a few
feet in the lake will flood them. This has sometimes
happened, for after heavy rains the water cannot get
away quickly enough to regain its ordinary level. The
people appeared to me to number between two and three
hundred, but I was informed that there are really more,
though some of them were away at the time of my visit.
They have a school for the children, under a native
teacher, who, in addition to imparting elementary
knowledge, is able to conduct Christian services on
Sunday.

My stay at Kibero was not a long one, for, on the
second day after my arrival, the steamer Sir Samuel
Baker appeared, and I deemed it advisable to take a
passage in her to Butiaba, and from there go by the motor
lorry back to Masindi. I had been warned that the path
along the lake-shore to Butiaba from Kibero was difficult
and unpleasant owing to the swamps formed by streams
running into the lake. There was no other road back to
Masindi, nor any means of getting a conveyance unless I
returned by the way I had come — through Hoima — and
I did not wish either to do this or to waste time by
travelling the whole distance across country with porters.

Before embarking, however, I witnessed the first part
of the funeral ceremonies of a boy who had died of
dysentery. I heard the mourning and saw the beginning

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 231

of the preparations for burial, though I had to go on board
before the actual interment took place. It was quite
pathetic to listen to the mournful wailing and calling to
the youth to return ; at intervals the noise would die down
to moaning while some part of the preparation cere-
monies was performed, then it .would break out with
renewed vigour and go on for some time without a
pause.

The voyage from Kibero took five hours, and I was
able to go ashore at Butiaba and pitch my tent for the
night near the custom-house. During the night there was
heavy rain, but I slept comfortably in my tent under a
mosquito net. The poor boys, however, had a miserable
time, for mosquitoes kept them awake in the hut in which
they were quartered. In ordinary circumstances they
could have smoked them out, but here there was no fire-
wood to be obtained, and they had to leave the hut and
sit on the little veranda outside till daylight. A few days
later they were laid up with malaria, which kept them
from work for two or three days.

From Butiaba I travelled by the motor van, reaching
Masindi the day after I left Kibero. I now felt I was
nearing the end of my work in Bunyoro, though there
were still some matters in which I desired to have the
assistance of the king. I found, however, that he was
still ill and had not yet returned from Hoima. He
arrived a few days later, and went at once to an important
meeting at the Government station, with the result that
he had a serious relapse and was laid up again for weeks.
On two or three occasions I visited him and saw him in
bed, but he was not in a condition to give me the required
assistance, so 5 as my time was fast passing and there were
still important places unvisited and much work to be done.

232 The Soul of Central Africa

I determined to go on farther and finish my work with
him on my return.

A week was occupied in preparing the loads which it
was necessary to take with me and in packing and sending
off goods for England. I then took leave of my friends
in Bunyoro and set out again for the unknown, a step
which I always find somewhat trying and which requires
a little summoning up of my courage. The motor van
took me to Lake Kioga, a four hours' journey, on which
I was accompanied by the Provincial Commissioner, him-
self an old friend and the son of an old friend at Cam-
bridge, Dr. Haddon, of Christ's College. Mr. Haddon
came to the lake and spent a short time on board the
boat with me before he left to return to his duties in
the capital.

The ship was one with a flat bottom, drawing only a
few inches of water, and thus suitable for navigating the
shallow parts of the lake. She worked with a stern wheel,
and pushed before her a number of lighters on which the
luggage and the cargo were loaded, the ship herself carry-
ing only passengers and fuel for her engines. When I
joined her there was only one other passenger on board,
but later in the evening we picked up two geologists, Mr.
Marshall Hall and Mr. Frame, who were examining the
rock formations and had been moving about the lake in
a large canoe. We arrived at the place where we were
to meet them sooner than they expected us, and we thus
had to wait while they packed and made their way down
through a deep belt of papyrus to their canoe on the lake
in order to tranship their goods. Mr. Marshall Hall, a
geologist of wide and varied knowledge, was engaged on
oil research, and intended proceeding direct to a new
sphere of work. However, the day after he came on

CANOES ON LAKE KIOGA

TESO: A GRANARY

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 233

board he found himself incapacitated by an attack of
rheumatism, and had to be taken to one of the Govern-
ment stations to undergo treatment.

I spent two nights on board the ship on the way to
Soroti, seeing several places of interest on the lake as we
went along. This Lake Kioga was not known until
Major, now General Sir Ronald, Macdonald, the famous
engineer who surveyed the Uganda Railway, hearing that
it was much larger than was at that time generally sup-
posed, sent one of his men to make a survey of it. Before
that it was thought to be merely a slight broadening of
the Nile, whereas it forms a large open expanse of water
and has arms reaching far into some of the countries
along its shores. Two or three ships are now employed
on it carrying produce from the planters who have settled
round about, especially in the Teso country, and who
trade in cotton and other goods which they buy from
the natives.

I was anxious to catch a glimpse of the Bakene, whose
mode of living in huts built on floating masses of papyrus
I had seen and hastily examined some years ago. How-
ever, as we made our way along the lake I saw no signs
of them, though I was told that they were still to be found
along some of the arms and in the more isolated parts
of the lake. This was a disappointment, as I had been
looking forward to the opportunity of adding to the
information I had previously obtained about them.

The scenery of Lake Kioga is not so fine as that of
Lake Albert and much inferior to that of Lake Victoria ;
still there was much of interest, especially in its many
far-reaching arms, along which the boat had to wind her
way in narrow channels through thickly growing papyrus
and grass. The land on either side does not rise so

234 The Soul of Central Africa

rapidly as the shores of the other lakes ; indeed, in some
parts the plains stretch for miles, and the gentle slopes
between the distant hills and the shore are in many
places cultivated by the natives to the water's edge.

At noon on the second day of sailing, a Sunday, we
arrived at Soroti, and I had to leave at once and set out
for the Government station which is about four miles
from the lake. I found Mr. Busted, the Assistant District
Commissioner, at home and was most kindly entertained
by him during the two days I spent there. I had hoped
to make this my starting-point for Karamojo and from
there to go on to visit the Galla people living along the
boundaries of Abyssinia. My plans, however, were
frustrated owing to disturbances among the Karamojo
people, who were being attacked by the Turkana. Soroti
was the centre of military operations, and, when I saw
the officer in charge of the forwarding department, I
learned that it would not be possible for me to go into
the country with porters unless accompanied by an armed
force of police. I explained that such conditions rendered
my work quite impossible, and after some delay I decided
to write to the officer in command for his advice. Waiting
for his reply would have involved much waste of time, so,
leaving an address where I could receive his answer, L
set off for Lake Salisbury, where, as I was informed,
some of the Bakene lake-dwellers were to be found.

The Teso country, through which I now had to pass,
is entirely different from the Bunyoro side, for it is flat,
with rocky hillocks dotted about, the grass is short, and
the few trees to be seen are stunted and yield poor timber.
The people also are quite different in language and
appearance, for the tribes here belong to what are
commonly called the Nilotic races. Both men and women

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 235

go about nude, the men without even an attempt at
clothing, while the women's attire, where there is any,
consists of small aprons of beads or string fringes four
inches wide and six inches long. Their chief delight is
in .wearing ornaments. The young women love to have
rings upon their fingers and toes and also upon their
bodies in the most unexpected places. I have seen them
with numbers of small brass rings threaded through holes
in the flesh across their chests, round the edges of their
ears, and even in some cases through the tips of their
tongues. All the rings, bracelets and anklets are roughly
made and the workmanship is crude and unfinished ; the
most welcome gift or article for barter is wire with which
to make these ornaments.

The men are a strong-looking race, of good height,
averaging about five feet seven, while the women are
generally but little shorter. I found them to be of a
happy disposition, and I never had any trouble as I
travelled on to Lake Salisbury and from there to Mount
Elgon, for men came forward readily every day to carry
my loads. It was a strange sight to see these nude men
carrying my European boxes and loads and dancing along
the paths singing happily, apparently as care-free as
children. What value the few coins they received as
payment had for them I fail to understand, for they have
no need to purchase clothing and they grow their own
food. The only use they could have for money was to
pay their taxes.

This is one of the chief cotton-growing districts,
and I found single fields extending over several miles.
There is a cotton company at Soroti who plough large
tracts of land with motor ploughs and then let the
ploughed land out to natives who sow it with cotton.

236 The Soul of Central Africa

paying the company for the work done with a certain
proportion of their crop. The surplus grown they sell to
the planters for payment in Indian currency, rupees and
cents, but, as in the case of the porters and their payment,
the only use they seem to have for cash is for the payment
of taxes. Until they have learned the use of articles
which they cannot produce for themselves and have been
educated up to the standard of Western requirements, the
payment offered by the planters is of no real value to
them and offers no inducement to them to work.

For their own consumption the people grow millet,
maize, and sweet potato. They live in small villages which
they encircle with growing fences of cactus or euphorbia.
Owing to the dryness of the land wood is scarce and
poor, and, as the people do not care to bring it from long
distances, they build their bee-hive huts to the best of
their ability with the frailest of timber. They keep both
cows and goats, though they are not a pastoral people.
There is no chief of any general power among them, but
each small section or village owns its own headman, while,
if matters of dispute arise, the aim of everyone is to
avoid, if possible, any appeal to force, and all the members
of the community assist in the endeavour to come to
terms. No attempt has ever been made to improve
either the country or the social life of the people, so that
we have a state of things jvhich must have existed for
hundreds of years without alteration or improvement.
The information I obtained was, however, limited, as I
was moving rapidly from camp to camp, never staying
more than a night in any one place, so that by the time
I had found someone who knew a language I under-
stood there was little time left for more than superficial
questioning.

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 237

On reaching the camp near Lake Salisbury I found
that there the lake-dwellers had forsaken their old
methods of life and had come to live on shore, for under
a more organized government the constant fear of attack
and robbery, which had made them take to life on the
papyrus-islands, had vanished. Both men and women
now gave more time to agricultural pursuits, though
they still made fishing excursions on the lake.

A striking feature of the district was the settlement
at various points along the route of Indian traders, who
were either simply cotton buyers or had small factories
for ginning cotton and pressing it into bales for shipment
to Mombasa, The requests I received from these settlers
at various points for certain medicines gave me the im-
pression that these men are propagators of venereal
diseases and that we shall have to reap hereafter a terrible
harvest from the seed they are sowing.

As my endeavours to inquire further into the lives
of the lake-dwellers were foiled again on Lake Salisbury,
and as I learned that some special initiation ceremonies
were about to be performed on Mount Elgon, I decided
to make a hurried march thither and try to see them.
I was specially anxious to see these ceremonies because,
in addition to their value to science, I should then be able
to put before missionaries the actual facts concerning
matters which have proved an almost insuperable barrier
to all efforts to evangelize the mountain tribe known as
the Bagesu. My informant concerning the approaching
ceremonies was a man who, hearing of my presence in
the Teso country, came to see who I was. I discovered
4:hat he had been a pupil of mine many years ago in the
theological school at Kampala in Buganda. It was not
only of personal interest, but from a missionary point of

238 The Soul of Central Africa

view it was most encouraging to find, so many years later,
such men, far removed from European influence and
help, carrying the Gospel to heathen like the Teso people.
There were, I found, two of them working in that region,
and I managed to see both and gained from them much
valuable information concerning the people among whom
they were labouring.

From Lake Salisbury I made forced marches to
Mount Elgon in order not to miss the ceremonies. Each
day I rose before daylight, found men to carry my loads
for the first stage, and rode off as soon as it was light
enough to see. When I had gone half the day's journey
I sought out one of the chiefs, and through him arranged
for another relay of men to be ready on the road to take
over the packages directly the first lot of men arrived.
Each set of porters carried my packages on an average
ten miles, when they were relieved by the men waiting
for them. The first then received their pay and returned
home, leaving the next relay of men to carry the goods
forward. This system of porterage has been introduced
since the British Government has been ruling the outlying
districts; it answers well on the whole and relieves the
traveller of the responsibility of feeding his men.
Having secured the second relay I was able to go for-
ward to the place I had chosen for camping and wait for
the porters to come in.

The boy I had engaged for the special purpose of
drying medicinal herbs and obtaining specimens of native
drugs was the person who should have looked after my
goods, but he was the most incapable and incompetent
fellow that could well be imagined. Fortunately my
cook was very different, and I came to rely on him for
all these matters. Each day he managed to see that all

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 239

went well with the porters and the loads, and yet he
was always in camp with the first of the goods, ready to
attend to my needs. The boy who should have been
engaging the carriers had heard such tales of the treatment
meted out by the Teso porters to unpopular headmen that
he began to be afraid for his life, would have nothing to
do with them, and refused any responsibility with regard
to my goods. My cook had to undertake all the arrange-
ments and report to me on his arrival at the camp.

Only once, at my last camp, did trouble arise either
with or among the carriers. Fortunately one of the
Baganda teachers was at the camp, and he took the matter
straight to the chief of the place without allowing the
men to apply to me, so that the difficulty was settled
without coming under my notice at all. I did not even
know there had been any trouble until I asked later what
the noise had been about.

The tracks through the Teso country are generally
smooth and there are few hills, so that I could cycle mile
after mile without any great exertion, but the last stage
before reaching Elgon was the worst I had experienced
since leaving Soroti. The earth was very black and
heavy, with a good deal of clay in it, and had been soaked
with rain some days before. Oxen passing over it had
churned it into pits and mounds, and the sun had then
come out and baked it hard, making it out of the question
in many parts to attempt to cycle. I had therefore to
walk frequently until the path began to rise at the foot
of Elgon, when it became possible to mount again and
ride to the Government station at Mbale.

My intention had been to take up my abode with an
old friend, a Muganda chief, who had been living in this
district for some years and with whom I had on a former

240 The Soul of Central Africa

occasion spent a few days. However, on reaching his
enclosure I learned that he was moving to a new home
three miles away. I determined, therefore, to go and
see the Government Commissioner and inform him of
my arrival before going on to my native friend. It was
a little after eight o'clock in the morning when I reached
the Government station, and I had travelled, on the
bicycle or on foot, some twenty-two or twenty-three
miles. The Commissioner was most kindly anxious that
I should stay as his guest, and I was divided in my mind
as to the best course to pursue. The thought of staying
in a nice house amid the comforts of comparative civiliza-
tion was certainly tempting, while the alternative was
that of living in my tent in native quarters ; but I felt
that my work would benefit by my living under the less
pleasant conditions, for if I were lodged in native quarters
I should come into closer contact with the people I wished
to examine. However, the question was decided for me,
for at ten o'clock the Commissioner came back from his
office suffering from an attack of fever and brought with
him the very chief I wanted to see. I realized that my
new friend would recover much more rapidly without the
responsibility of a strange guest in his house, so I told
the chief I would settle at his new home and carry on
my work there for the next few weeks. He sent out
men to stop my loads and divert them to his own com-
pound, and when I arrived at noon I found my goods
there and the tent being pitched. The tent formed my
bedroom, and I soon made a shed into a fairly comfort-
able room for work and began investigations on a new
and interesting people.

Years ago I had visited these Bagesu and learned a
little about their habits and customs, but that visit was

Lake Kioga— Teso Country— Mount Elgon 241

only a short one and I was unable to travel about owing
to the very unsettled state of the country. The twelve
years which had elapsed had made a great diflference in
the country and in Mbale itself, which is now quite a
small town where a number of Indian traders have settled.
There are shops, some with European provisions, and
stores from which can be procured almost any commodity
required by natives or even by settlers, and good roads
are in course of construction. The Government station
is well planned, and the houses, built of brick with roofs
of corrugated iron, are said to be mosquito proof. There
was a fairly large staff at the time of my visit, though,
as I soon left for my new quarters, it was several days
before I saw most of the officials.

My new camp was on the slope of that part of Mount
Elgon known among the people as "Koko," or, as the
Baganda element there call it, *'Koko Njero " (*' the
white fowl "). I do not know the reason for this name,
and it is not used by the older inhabitants. My host was
most helpful, and it was not long before I got to work
with some of the older men whom he sent to me.

CHAPTER XIII

MOUNT ELGON — THE BAGESU

Kakungulu — The Bagesu — Marriage — Enmity between Clans — Har-
vest Festival — Possession of Land — Domestic Animals — Gods and
Ghosts — Children — Preparing Girls for Marriage — Initiation Cere-
mony for Youths — Treatment of Rain-makers — Disposal of the
Dead — Ceremonial Cannibalism — The Ghosts.

THE chief in whose enclosure I settled for the
purpose of carrying on my researches among the
wild tribes of the mountain is known as Kakungulu.
He is a member of the royal family of Koki, a district
which, since the formation of the Protectorate, has
become part of Buganda, but which was originally a small
independent state lying south of Ankole and south-west
of Buganda. The people belong to the pastoral tribes;
indeed they are an offshoot of the group which settled
in the district of Ankole.

Many years ago Kakungulu was forced by political
reasons and the jealousy of his king to leave his home
and country. He entered Buganda about the end of
Mutesa's reign and, during the reign of the next king,
Mwanga, he rose to a high position. He was a dauntless
and successful elephant-hunter and was employed in this
capacity by Mwanga. During the early commotions and
civil wars of the reign he was able to make Mwanga
valuable presents at a time when that king was in dire
need of money for arms and ammunition. For these

services he was rewarded with land, and he soon became

242

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 243

an important chief. During this time he came into
touch with EngUsh missionaries and was converted to
Christianity. When the wars were over he rose to a
very high place, being second in importance to the
Katikiro, or Prime Minister, and between the two there
arose a strong feeUng of jealousy which could never be
overcome. Kakungulu, a capable leader and adminis-
trator, was a serious rival to the Katikiro, Apolo, for the
chief position under Mwanga, and there was a constant
striving between them for supremacy.

When the British Protectorate was formed Kakun-
gulu was sent to Kavirondo to assist in settling that
part of the country, and later he was asked to help in
Busoga, which was a feudal state of Buganda. From
there he went to the Teso country, where for years he
did extremely good work in curbing the turbulent spirit
of the tribes who, up to that time, had never known
the meaning of government or of submission to authority.
Unassisted by British officers, he was able to bring about
a peaceful state of affairs in the Teso country without
resorting to forcible measures, and he built good roads
linking up the residences of important chiefs with his own
fort. For a time his dwelling-place had to be a fortified
and stockaded enclosure with a guard constantly on duty,
but he gradually secured the good will of the people, and
even got them to consent to pay taxes to the Government.

For these services he was promised large concessions
of land, and at one time it was even whispered that he
might be made paramount chief of the country with a
title and power equivalent to that of a king. Owing,
however, to frequent changes of governors and their
assistant officers, Kakungulu has had to endure much
annoyance from continual variations in policy. Promises

244 The Soul of Central Africa

have been made and withdrawn, and he has been moved
from one locaUty to another as chief, though he has always
managed to retain one part of his possessions at Mbale,
where he rules many miles of country inhabited by the
Bagesu. It was, indeed, the fact that he had taken up
his private residence and settled his family there that first
made Mbale known as a possible centre for government.

At that time the Bagesu people on Mount Elgon were
among the most unruly and treacherous tribes in this
part of the country, and no European could visit the
mountain unless he went under the protection of an
armed force. My own visit to them fourteen or more
years ago, when I went to see a mission station started
by the Rev. W. A. Crabtree, was hmited to one short
journey from the Government station at Mbale, for
owing to the unsettled and dangerous state of the country
I could not then carry out my intention of going round
the mountain to visit certain caves. Kakungulu has now
built a second house some distance from his former
dwelling and on a higher peak of the mountain, in order
to be farther from the increasing bustle and noise of
Mbale, which, as I mentioned in the previous chapter,
is fast assuming the dimensions of a town and has many
Indian traders and shopkeepers. My friendship with this
chief was one of over twenty years' standing, and now,
when I went to live in his enclosure, I obtained, through
his influence, the best help towards an understanding of
the Bagesu that could be procured.

This tribe appears to have come from the hills in
Kavirondo many years ago and to have driven out the
original inhabitants, who were but few in number. They
are a totemic tribe and are split up into clans which
vary in size, some consisting of only a few families. In

BAGESU WOMEN. SHOWING SCA.RIFIGA.TIONS

BAGESU MEN. SHOWING DRESS

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 245

the government of their communities the men exercise
the authority, but the women assert themselves much
more forcibly and effectively than those of Busoga or
Buganda. It is no uncommon occurrence for a wife to
insist on her rights and resist her husband's wishes to the
extent of coming to blows with him, and even in an
appeal to force the grey mare sometimes proves the better
horse. The clans are exogamous, that is, men seek their
wives from other clans having different totems from
their own. They are a poor, degraded set of people, living
with little comfort. Even such meagre luxury as a skin
spread to serve as a bed is almost unknown, and husband,
wife and children sleep naked on the floor round the fire.

Though in the course of this book I have sometimes
used the past tense in describing the customs and beliefs
of these peoples, it is necessary, I think, to point out that
the great majority of the tribes, especially in the more
out-of-the-way districts, are still uncivilized and untouched
by Christian influences and carry on their old customs at
the present day. It is only when these practices lead to
crime and manifest wrongdoing that the machinery of
government is put in action against them. Such doings
are then discountenanced by the more advanced chiefs
and the local authorities, but it takes a long time to
persuade the mass of the people to give them up.

Among the Bagesu neither men nor women wear
clothing until after the initiation ceremony by which
they are admitted into full membership of their clan.
Until this ceremony has been performed marriage is not
permitted ; indeed it is impossible unless a man can find
some woman who, like himself, has refused to undergo
the ceremony and accept the solemn obligations it entails.
When such a case occurs, the marriage is not recognized

246 The Soul of Central Africa

by the clan, and any children born of the union are
outcasts and suffer .with their parents all manner of
hardships. Both parents and children are objects of
contumely and are subjected to all kinds of indignities
without any means of redress; they may be robbed or
injured with impunity, for no one will sympathize with
or avenge them. Life for such a couple is hard, and the
members of their families and clans, far from making
any attempt to mitigate the severities of their lot, treat
them with the greatest contempt as cowards and unworthy
of clan membership.

When these Bagesu first came to Mount Elgon they
had to make their dw^ellings on the higher peaks of the
mountain, and seldom dared to venture down to the
valleys, for there they were always in danger of attack
by some foe, and defeat meant death or slavery. Ten
or twenty families join together to form a village, build-
ing their homes in a small cluster on a fairly level
spot some way up the mountain, where they dig their
fields* and plant their millet, sweet potatoes and other
crops as near as possible to the village. A husband always
gives his wife a field, and in many instances he also
possesses and cultivates some land for his own use. He
readily assists his wife to dig and sow her crops, and she
in turn helps him with his field. It is the duty of the
wife to keep her husband in food from her field, for his
own grain is set aside for brewing the beer which is kept
for use at the great annual festival after harvest, when
the initiation ceremonies are performed and all the clans,
laying aside for the time being their feuds, feast and drink
together.

Except for this annual period of truce, the different
clans of the Bagesu live in constant and deadly enmity.

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 247

Protection is now afforded by the Government, but in
earlier days a man was never safe if he went beyond the
boundaries of his own district, for the members of each
clan were always ready to attack and kill any intruder
from another locality who dared to enter their territory
alone and unprotected. It was seldom that any necessity
arose for a man to leave his own home, for his work, his
means of livelihood, and, of necessity, his friends and
companions, were all to be found within the compass of
his own clan and village. It was impossible to form
friendships outside, for not only were men of other tribes
his sworn foes, but, as I have said, members of different
clans of the Bagesu themselves were as hostile to each
other as to strangers. A raid committed by some external
tribe in force would be the signal for a temporary union
of all the Bagesu clans to resist the common foe; but,
the danger past, no trace of amity would remain, and
the separate clans would revert to a state of bitter
hostility. Whenever a man went even a short distance
from his home, he had to go armed with his spear and
bow and arrows; even when working in his field his
weapons must be close at hand in case of a sudden attack.
This state of affairs was rendered all the more extra-
ordinary by the fact that, as the clans were exogamous,
men had to obtain their wives from hostile clans. The
fact that a man had married or wanted to marry a girl
from another clan in no degree mitigated this mutual
hatred, and the man had to fetch his wife at the risk of
his life or else wait until the harvest festival, when all
was peace and goodwill.

At the end of harvest a general truce comes into force
for as long as the beer lasts. As much grain as can be
spared is always reserved for brewing the beer, and the

248 The Soul of Central Africa

brew is made as intoxicating as possible, for this festival
is the one great break in the year's routine, and it is
looked forward to by men and women, old and young.
Differences are all forgotten, and under the intoxicating
influences of beer and merrymaking men and women
revel together day and night regardless of marriage
relations. All weapons are carefully laid aside, and in
their place each person carries a long bamboo staff, in
the hollow of which is a tube, sometimes long, sometimes
short, through which the beer is drunk.

Whoever has brewed beer invites the assembled com-
pany to drink. The beer is put in a large pot in the
open, and the men sit round and suck it up through
their tubes. From morning till night they sit and talk
amicably, and the length of their stay depends on the
amount of beer available. Men and women drink apart
from each other and from separate pots. Whenever a
man shows signs of reaching a quarrelsome stage of
intoxication, he is removed by his companions to a hut,
and left to sleep off the effects of the drink before rejoin-
ing the company. Sometimes a husband and wife will
make a compact of mutual aid : so long as the husband
drinks, the wife refrains and watches over him, ready to
remove him when necessary; then, when he has drunk
his fill and recovered, he performs the same service for
his wife.

Drinking, however, does not compose the whole
festival, for singing goes on constantly, and dancing is
vigorously indulged in by everyone, from old people, for
whom a few steps are enough, to children barely able to
toddle. So universal is the love of dancing that at all
times and in all stages of civilization it will draw crowds
together when nothing else has any appeal. In the even-

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 249

ing and during the night the dancing is at its height, and,
under the influence of excitement and beer, men and
women aUke throw off all restraint, marriage ties and
claims are disregarded, and a free rein given to impulse
and desire. This is, moreover, the time when marriages
are arranged. No courtship is necessary; men and
women simply make known their desire to each
other, and all that is left is for the woman's clan-
relatives to settle what fee they will demand for their
daughter, for she is ''daughter" not only to her
parents, but to all members of her father's clan and
generation.

When the beer in one village has all disappeared, the
company, instead of considering the festival at an end,
betake themselves to another village where a further
supply is to be found. The number of villages thus
visited may be considerable and the merry-making may
continue for several weeks before the members return to
their own homes and settle down to their ordinary life
again, whereupon, in former days, they would at once
resume their attitude of hostility towards those with whom
they had been feasting and rejoicing.

A young couple who contract marriage on one of these
occasions will in a few days settle down to the ordinary
routine of life as though they had been married for years.
The husband has to see that his wife is supplied with a
field and to give her a hoe to till it. If he possesses no
land he has to arrange with the head-man of the village
wliat part of the hill he may take possession of, for
though there is plenty of land, it is all claimed as clan
property by one clan or another, and an individual may
not take possession without permission. The chief of
the village, therefore, decides the plot of ground to be

250 The Soul of Central Africa

tilled by the newly-married couple, and it becomes from
that time their property for life. Some few families,
however, occupy sufficient land for a father to be able
to supply his son with a field, in which case there is no
need to ask for clan land.

There is no lack of arable land on Mount Elgon, for
the great cluster of peaks of varying heights which
composes the mountain is separated by fertile valleys and
ridges. On the heights rise numerous streams which
water the slopes; many of these are large and form
.wonderful waterfalls that dash over rocky precipices
hundreds of feet high into great pools below. Though
in places the mountain shows a surface of bare granite
and hard stone, in others this is covered by many feet
of rich soil, which, in the valleys between the peaks, is
sufficient to grow fine belts of forest, with magnificent
trees and a rich tropical undergrow^th of ferns and
flowers. Round the Government station at Mbale the
hillsides are all under cultivation, and yield annually
splendid crops. The only paths are tracks made by the
natives as they pass from one village to another, and, as
these generally run along the sides of the hills at about
the same level, it is possible to walk quite long distances
without having to descend to a valley or surmount a steep
ridge. Frequent streams cross the paths, flowing in clear,
rapid torrents down to the valleys, where they unite to
form considerable rivers.

Before the British appeared and took up their
residence in these parts, frequent raids used to be made
on this district, and people and cattle were carried off
by tribes who were said to come from the north, and were
probably Abyssinians. The Bagesu were not able to
resist these attacks, but fled to the higher parts of the

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 251

mountains and concealed themselves and their belongings
until the raiders had departed. There are many caves in
the higher slopes, and some of these were kept stored
with grain so that the villagers could flee to them and
remain in hiding. The paths leading to these caves were
usually difficult to follow and were guarded by men, who
concealed themselves at suitable points above them and
worked havoc among their enemies with stones and other
missiles. Since British protection has ensured them
safety from these raids, the people have come farther
down the mountain, and now cultivate the more fertile
plains and valleys.

The Bagesu keep cows, but these are of a small,
mountain kind which yield but little milk. The people,
however, do not regard them as sources of food; their
milk is a secondary consideration, and the cows, with the
goats and sheep, are primarily barter goods, their most
important use being to pay the marriage fees, for a man
not only aims at obtaining more than one wife for him-
self, but he has to help his son to make up the fee
demanded for his wife. The animals are not often killed
for their meat, and as seldom as possible for sacrificial
purposes.

A man, however, never knows when he may be called
upon to offer a sacrifice to some ghost or to some god.
Fights and murders are of fairly frequent occurrence,
and any man who has killed another cannot return home
until he has been purified. For this purpose a goat is
killed, and the contents of its stomach smeared over the
face, chest, and legs, not only of the culprit himself but
of his children as well, while any liquid remaining over
is scattered and sprinkled over his house and round the
door to prevent the ghost of the murdered person from

252 The Soul of Central Africa

coming near. The meat of the sacrificed animal is then
eaten by the family.

Every hut has its sacred place, where there may be
found either a shrine or some bamboo stakes, with shells
stuck on their ends, planted firmly in the ground. These
are sacred to some god or ghost, and are erected when
the inhabitants are advised by the medicine-man to make
an offering for the purpose of warding off some threatened
evil or of curing some disease which has broken out in
the family or in the village. Under these bamboo poles,
or before the shrine, food or beer will be placed in the
hope that the ghost will eat and drink, be pacified, and
cease to annoy the inhabitants. On the whole there is
little in the way of religious observance or belief among
these clans, and, unless there is good reason for so doing,
they avoid intruding upon the sanctity of their gods and
ghosts*

The sick are not, so far as I could discover, looked
after with any care or tenderness; even a mother will
give very casual attention to her helpless children, and
once they are able to look after themselves they are as
much under the care of the rest of the clan as under
that of their own parents; in fact, they are everybody's
business, with the usual result. Here we have an example
of the lack of sympathy in families where relationships
are reckoned through the father only. Where, as here,
the relations of the father must see to the sick and provide
the necessary care and medicines, it is quite probable
that the patients will be left very much to themselves to
recover or die as nature may determine ; whereas, where
mother-right prevails, there is generally a more sym-
pathetic and helpful spirit.

The children, so long as they are well, seem a merry

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 253

lot, and as they play on the slopes of Elgon they appear
as happy as the day is long. Their little troubles are
soon forgotten in the world-wide game of pretending to
be grown up. They make little harps and drums with
which they produce the monotonous thuds which, though
to a Western ear they lack even the semblance of music,
are to the native a sound of joy. Games of housekeeping,
too, may at times be gloriously realistic, for the hill-
slopes abound in a kind of field rat which lives on growing
plants and which can be caught, cooked, and eaten. Boys
are taught at an early age to care for the goats and sheep,
while the little girls are introduced to the mysteries of
digging and cooking. From very tender years also they
are the water-carriers and gatherers' of firewood for all
uses in the house ; but in spite of these tasks there is
plenty of time for play. No part of the precious day is
wasted over dressing or looking after clothes, for they
wear none, but they are as fond of decorating themselves
as our children are of ''dressing up," and their love for
jewellery is as great as that of any EngUsh girl. The
materials, however, are not such as would please our more
sophisticated maidens, for a sardine tin will supply half
a dozen children with what they consider the most beauti-
ful finger-rings, while a few inches of brass wire not
thicker than a slate pencil is more precious than a hand-
some dress.

These people have no idea of years and keep no
account of age, but few seem ever to attain to old age —
at any rate, they seldom reach a time when they are
too feeble to work or get about. Girls are not more
than ten when they begin to prepare for marriage. This
preparation consists of a lengthy and painful process of
scarifying the chest and forehead. The instrument used

254 The Soul of Central Africa

is a kind of large needle or piece of iron tapering to a
point at one end ; a ring at the other end fits on the little
finger, and the needle is curved to lie closely round the
back of the hand with the point resting against the
thumb. The girl carries this always with her and makes
scarifications by pinching up a piece of skin and running
the pointed needle through, pushing it so far that the
holes made are big enough for a pencil to pass through.
Sometimes she will rub wood ashes into the holes, and
when the wounds heal they leave thick hard lumps on
the flesh, some of those on the forehead standing out as
big as peas and being quite hard and black. At times
terrible festering sores are the result of these scarifica-
tions, and the girl has to wait weeks before she can
proceed with her markings ; but nothing will discourage
her, and when the wound has healed she will persevere
with the treatment, arranging the markings in the special
Unes and shape belonging to her clan. These markings
the girls consider essential, and look upon them, when
completed, with admiration. Men, too, consider them
marks of beauty in a wife, and the girls themselves prize
them as highly as any fair maid of our own land values
her beautiful hair or eyes. No man would think of
marrying a girl who could not show these markings, and
she is not admitted into the society of her elders until
they are completed.

Youths also have to undergo an initiation ceremony
which admits them into the society of the men and
proclaims them ready for marriage. Their preparation
for this initiation goes on for several weeks, during which
time they go from village to village dancing and singing
and gathering gifts, or promises of gifts, for the final
feast. They decorate themselves with whatever they can

BAGESU INITIATION CEREMONY. THE DANCE BEFORE THE CEREMONY

BAGESU INITIATION CEREMONY. THE DANCE AFTER HEALING

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 255

obtain in the way of ornaments, and many wear on their
thighs iron bells shaped like shells. Four of these are
threaded on a string and tied round the thigh, so that
they shake and rattle as the wearer walks about. While
dancing the wearer stamps his foot so that the rattle of
the bells follows a kind of rhythm. During this part of
the proceedings the boys go about in bands of six or
seven, each accompanied by a master of the ceremonies
whose duty it is to instruct the youths as to their
behaviour and future duties, and to keep order. When
the time of preparation is finished and the day for the
initiation ceremony is announced, the youths gather
together in one place, where the chief of the clan and
a priest give them their final instructions, after which
they have to go through a long and exhausting programme
which lasts from daybreak until evening.

I was permitted to attend one of these ceremonies
which took place at a village some two miles from my
camp, and which I found full of interest. The six
youths to be initiated came to my camp one evening
dancing and singing, and two days later the ceremony
took place. At daybreak the priest and the chief went
to the mountain shrine to beseech the god to bless the
ceremony and to remove all evil from the youths and
from the place. Later the boys followed to this place,
where they were purified and partook of a feast in
communion with the god. An animal — in this case a
goat — was killed and the contents of the stomach put in
a large bowl and mixed with water. The mixture was
smeared upon the youths, leaving only their backs
untouched. A feast was then held at the shrine, and the
youths, having thus received the blessing of the god,
were instructed in the duties of their future status and

256 The Soul of Central Africa

admonished to be strong men and faithful members of
their clan. This finished, they ran back to the village,
where hundreds of people had assembled and dancing had
begun. From twelve o'clock till past two the youths,
accompanied by crowds of people, sang songs and danced
backwards and forwards before the village. By the end
of the time everyone was worked up to a high pitch of
excitement. The boys would crouch down, peering into
space as though they saw something, and would suddenly
dash out of their ranks waving large clubs, which they
wielded with such blind violence that any unfortunate
person who chanced to be in their way was certain to
be knocked down. Women were the chief sufferers, for
they often could not move about quickly enough to evade
the blows. Some of the women became completely
hysterical ; indeed, I saw some who were in such a state
that they could not stand still; their bodies moved
involuntarily and their muscles twitched and jerked con-
tinuously, while their lips moved and their eyes had a
vacant stare. The young men who were with me said
that they were under the influence of the spirits, who
would not let them stand still. Some of them rushed
about, shrieking and waving their arms in the wildest
fashion.

.At about three o'clock the youths were hurried away
to the mountain for a final service with the priest at the
shrine. Their return journey was made at a quick run,
so that they were almost breathless on their arrival in
the village. Here they were again surrounded by
admirers, who sang to them songs of encouragement to
enable them to go forward bravely to the final act of
the ceremony. They had then to take the solemn vows
of clan-membership before being admitted, by circum-

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 257

cision, into the closest bond of union with the elders of
the clan. The ceremony is one which must make a
lasting impression upon these youths.

They were first sprinkled with a bunch of herbs dipped
in water, then a plantain leaf curved like a dish was
placed on the ground, and in it was put water and an
egg, covered over with a thin gourd-shell ladle. The
youth stood near this, and when he had taken the oath
he gave three jumps, and with the third came down
upon the gourd, smashing it and the egg. Each youth
took the oath in this manner, and then the parents and
friends stood round and encouraged them to endure the
operation bravely, because any sign of fear or hesitation,
or even the slightest quiver of pain, brands a youth as
a coward. A youth so shamed will commit suicide rather
than live under such a cloud.

After the ceremony the youths are confined in special
huts for three to four weeks, when they come out and
are welcomed ta the clan by a final feast and a dance
which lasts all night. The robe of manhood is then put
upon them. This consists of a goatskin worked and
dressed until it is quite soft. Two corners are tied
together, and the garment put over the head so that it
hangs on the right shoulder and passes under the left
arm. It is thus open down one side of the body, and
the wearer, when he sits down, draws the two lower
corners together and tucks them between his legs. This
is the special dress of a full-grown man who has passed
through the ceremony of initiation. Women who are
married wear a small grass apron which hangs from a
belt at the back, where it is six inches wide, and tapers to
a point which is passed between the legs and slipped
under the belt round the waist, which supports it. Thes^

258 The Soul of Central Africa

are the only garments worn by men and women among
the Bagesu.

Men and women who have been admitted into
membership of the clan may marry as soon thereafter
as they care. For the man there is the question of
raising the marriage fee, but for this he can call upon
the help of his parents or borrow from friends, paying
back the loan of goats and sheep as he is able. Initiation
ceremonies take place in each clan every other year, but
as the years do not coincide, some clans are celebrating
the occasion every year.

The medicine-man and the rain-maker are important
personages in this tribe, and they are continually being
called upon to fulfil some function. On two occasions I
had opportunities of seeing how the public treated their
meteorological authorities when the weather did not
please them and they grew tired of waiting for a change.
Once, on my former visit, rain was needed, and the rain-
maker, in spite of repeated requests and many offerings,
did not respond. At last, finding that the ordinary
means were making no impression on the obdurate
wizard, a deputation waited on him to impress upon him
the fact that their crops were dying and that, unless he
promptly acceded to their request, they would have to
resort to other means of persuasion. Still the rain-maker
did not comply, so the people visited him in a body,
robbed his hut, broke it down, and belaboured him so
severely that they broke his leg, and I found the poor
wretch lying in this miserable condition. This, however,
in no wise diminished their faith in his power, and when
a few more days had passed without rain they again
resorted to the sick man, this time to apologize, fearing
that in their wrath they had gone too far and angered

BAGESU WOMEN CARRYING FOOD

BAGESU INITIATION CEREMONY: TAKING THE OATH

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 259

the gods. They apologized to him, restored all his
property, and made him a substantial gift in recompense
for his personal injuries. As the unfortunate rain-maker
could not go himself, he agreed to send his assistant to
proceed with the rain-making, and I saw this deputy set
out to the shrine on the mountain with the offerings for
the god of rain. By a singular coincidence, the time of
the offering saw the beginning of a copious fall of rain
which lasted two or three days, to the entire satisfaction
of the people and the complete confirmation of their faith
in the rain-maker.

The other occasion was about the time of the
initiation ceremonies which I saw. I was told that there
had been but brief breaks in the continuous rains, and
that the people were growing anxious about their harvest,
which, for lack of sunshine, would not ripen. The rain-
maker had been warned how essential sunshine was, and
offerings had been made in vain. I saw the result one
morning as I stood outside my tent, for a crowd of people
passed driving flocks and carrying goods of all kinds
from one part of the valley to another. Upon inquiry,
I learned that all this was the property of the rain-
maker, who had refused to listen to the prayers for fine
weather. To show him that he was carrying this indiffer-
ence too far, they had determined to relieve him of his
earthly possessions. I never heard how the matter ended
or what effect this action had on the weather, for I had
to leave soon after, and such affairs are kept secret and
not spread abroad, especially where they may reach
European ears, for the Government is making strenuous
attempts to stop rain-making and to destroy the influence
of the powerful class who practise it.

The disposal of the dead among the Bagesu is of

26o The Soul of Central Africa

interest, because by their customs no graves are made,
and yet neither bodies nor bones are left about. When
a person dies the body must never be allowed to decay,
for that would be fatal to the interests of the community
and bring dire results in its train. The ceremonies may
not begin till evening, so that if a man dies during the
night the body will lie in state in the house through the
next day, while if he dies during the day the lying-in-
state will only last a few hours, during which time the
widows and near relatives wail in the house. It must be
remembered that here we are only a httle north of the
equator, so that day and night are of nearly equal length ;
darkness comes soon after six o'clock, and there is no
twilight, the change from day to night taking only a few
minutes. As soon as darkness falls the body of the dead
man is carried out and deposited upon a piece of waste
ground, and sounds as of the howling of jackals rise all
around. This noise is meant as a warning to all people
to keep to their houses lest they may meet the ghost of
the dead man, and the children are frightened into
obedience by being told that wild animals are coming to
eat the body. In reality the sounds are made by men,
who, going to various places a little way off, blow
trumpets which sound like the howls of distant animals.
All the people, therefore, keep within their huts, while
some old women proceed to the waste ground on which
the body lies and cut it up, carrying back the parts to
the house, and leaving but little behind for any real wild
animals or birds, to devour. The portions they carry
back have to be cooked and eaten by the mourners, who
during the next four days meet together to wail for the
dead and eat the flesh. The bones are burned, and
nothing is left to bear witness to the ceremony but the

Mount Elgon— The Bagesu 261

skull, which is cleaned and kept in some prominent place
either in the hut or at the door, for it is thought to be
the relic to which the ghost attaches itself. The belief
among these Bagesu is that, unless the body of the dead
is thus destroyed and eaten, the ghost will be angry and
haunt them, killing their children or otherwise working
havoc in the clan. The relatives therefore partake of the
body as a ceremonial duty and thus pacify the ghost.

It is worthy of notice that among these primitive
people who follow the custom of ceremonial cannibalism
there is no fear of the ghost so long as it is pleased;
indeed, the ghosts of parents and grandparents are
regarded as desirable inmates of a home, and their skulls
are kept and honoured and daily offerings of food and
drink are made to them. So long as the family does
what is right, they need not fear the power of these
ghosts; but when some custom is disregarded or some
wrong done, their presence becomes a danger, for they
will then vent their feelings of wrath and disgust by
causing sickness or some other calamity to fall upon the
family.

CHAPTER XIV

MOUNT ELGON — SABEI

The Bamalaki, a Religious Sect — Journey from Mbale to Sabei — Sipi
Fall — The Basabei— Use of Gourds — Huts — Food and Dress —
Initiation Ceremonies — Marriage — The Batwa Trappers — Caves
on the Higher Slopes and at Sipi — The Bakama Smiths — Division
of Pastoral Peoples — Return to Mbale.

DURING my visit to Kakungulu I had an oppor-
' tunity of studying the behefs of a rehgious sect
which has recently arisen, the holders of which
profess a faith of extraordinarily mixed origin. Kakun-
gulu has adopted the faith of this body, with additions,
and is spreading his views among the young men who,
as many of them are maintained by him, find them easy
of acceptance for worldly as well as for religious reasons.
Kakungulu's original Christian training made him a
zealous adherent of the Church of England, in which he
was baptized, and his first desire to break away from the
restraints of Church discipline ,was due to those marriage
difficulties which have so often been the cause of converts'
defection from their early zeal. The change from the
old life of polygamy to monogamy proved in many cases
more than their faith could stand, and when a marriage
proved unhappy and a man discovered that, according to
the law of the Church, he could not put /away the wife
who had ceased to please him and take another, he began
to feel dissatisfied. Many left the Church in order to

be free from these galling restrictions, but some of the

262

Mount Elgon— Sabei 263

better class felt unwilling to take such a step without some
authority. This they found in the Old Testament, where
they discovered that the early fathers of Israel had more
than one wife and that King David had many. This not
only seemed to justify their rejection of the Christian
ideas preached by their teachers, but roused their resent-
ment against those who insisted on monogamy, and led
them to throw off what they regarded as an irksome yoke.

Further developments soon followed, for they insisted
that they were still true to their baptismal vows and were
still Christians though they married several wives. Then
another point arose : one man, who had no leanings
towards polygamy, developed a strong objection to
medical men and their medicines and treatment. He
was a singularly religious-minded man, but utterly
lacking in mental ability, and absolutely ignorant, and he
was quite unable to distinguish between the magic-
working of the medicine-men under the old regime and
the skill of the European doctors. He therefore withdrew
from the Church, and the new party, because he was a
chief of some importance, sought him for their leader and
added his contribution to the strange medley of beliefs
which made up their creed.

The main body of the sect continues to declare that
they follow the Bible as the standard of faith, but they
know nothing of the chronological order of the books ; for
their purposes the books of the Old Testament might be
of later date than the Gospels. They have a really
wonderful verbal knowledge of the books themselves, but
they only apply those portions which agree with their
preconceived ideas and completely ignore the meaning of
everything else. Their converts, after the scantiest
possible teaching, are baptized in the name of the Trinity ;

264 The Soul of Central Africa

they permit polygamy to the number of four wives, and
make faith-heahng a fundamental doctrine. They call
themselves Bamalaki, or followers of Malaki, the man
whom they look upon as the founder of their sect.
Hundreds of members of the Roman Catholic and Pro-
testant missions have seceded to them, and the sect now
numbers some thousands. They have their own schools
and a large staff of teachers appointed from among their
adherents.

Kakungulu's first reason for joining this sect was that
he desired to divorce his second wife for infidelity, which,
however, he was unable to prove to the satisfaction of
the civil courts. As he had divorced his first wife on the
same plea and without any more satisfactory evidence, the
attempt was condemned by the members of the Church,
whereupon he left it and joined the sect of the Bamalaki.
I now found that he had gone a step farther in his
departure from Church teaching, and had formed a new
branch of the Bamalaki which he calls " the Church of
the Almighty." Adherents to this branch are circum-
cised after the practice of the Jewish religion, but he
retains the form of Christian baptism together with the
doctrines of Christian Science or faith-healing which are
professed by the main body. The ignorance and incon-
sistency displayed in his ideas are only equalled by the
obstinate tenacity with which lie clings to every article
of his new faith.

This off-shoot of the faith of the Bamalaki w^as the
religion I found taught and practised in Kakungulu's
enclosure during the month I spent there. The zeal of
his party is considerable and they show a great desire to
learn to read and write. Kakungulu is a chief of con-
siderable means and much influence, so that he is able to

Mount Elgon— Sabei 365

build schools and employ teachers in his own district,
where the teaching is regular and daily services are held.
Kakungulu himself attends service regularly, taking an
active part and bearing himself very much as the high-
priest of the sect. The teachers wear turbans like the
Jews of old, in fact the head-dress is copied from pictures.
They observe Saturday as a day of rest and keep it much
more strictly than the Christians do their Sunday.

During the month I spent there I was asked each
Sunday to meet the teachers and explain Bible difficulties
to them; but though I pointed out to them their innu-
merable inconsistencies, I doubt whether what I had to
say made any real impression or influenced their views
in any way. I can, however, say for them that they are
strictly faithful to their own behefs and live, according
to their lights, moral lives. They have formulated for
themselves a religion out of this strange medley of ideas,
and their conduct is in complete accordance with their
beliefs.

After making a brief survey of the Bagesu I began
to think of moving on, and, as there was no reply to
my letter asking for permission to go into Karamojo, I
determined to go higher up the mountain to see some of
the caves, which were said to have been at one time
permanent human habitations, and to visit some little-
known tribes on the higher slopes of Elgon. After two
days of marching up a gentle ascent I began the real task
of climbing the mountain. Unfortunately rain fell during
the night and early morning of my second day out,
making walking most difficult. I gave up all thought of
riding, handing my bicycle over to one of the boys to
carry, and soon found that I had done wisely, for much
of the path was under water deep enough to cover my

266 The Soul of Central Africa

sfhoes, while in other places the earth was muddy and
slippery. After the first two or three miles the steepness
of the slope cleared the path of water and left a smooth
clay surface almost like ice. When we reached the real
ascent the steepness of the slopes and the slippery surface
of the clay made climbing most trying and frequent rests
were necessary. The journey had its redeeming features,
however, for the air was delightfully cool and the scenery
magnificent. At one place the ascent took the form of
^ a sharp rise of 500 feet, almost like a wall in its steep-
ness, which had to be negotiated by a path zigzagging
up the face of the cliff.

On the plateau at the top I rested and had some
refreshment, and for the next few miles we ascended
gently, though occasionally there would be a sharp rise,
and here and there a ridge with a steep dip on the other
side. There was no way of getting round these difficult
places and we had to get over them as best we could.
The scenery was beautiful and we crossed frequent streams
rushing clear and sparkling over their stony beds. Many
of these were spanned by bridges made of bamboo, which
grows in abundance on the mountain. A few^ strong
branches of trees form the ribs of such a bridge, and
bamboos cut to equal lengths are laid across the frame-
work of trees. These bridges have been made by the
Baganda agents who are looking after these districts for
the Government.

The camp to which I now went was near one of the
finest falls I had seen in Uganda. It is called the Sipi
Fall and has a drop of fully 500 feet. The noise of the
water is deafening to anyone near it, but at a short
distance it sounds musical and has a soothing effect. The
vegetation round the fall is wonderful, for the tree-trunks

THE SIPI FALL, MOUNT ELGON

A GOVERNMENT CAMP ON MOUNT ELGON

Mount Elgon— Sabei 267

are covered with ferns and flowers grow everywhere, even
where they seem to be chnging to the surface of the bare
rock. An indescribable effect of grace and beauty is
added by the maidenhair fern which hangs from the rocky
walls wherever it can find a space. The ravine into which
the water falls is so overhung with trees and flowers that,
from the heights above, the rocky bed of the river is
completely concealed, while the tropical growth gives
cover to all manner of wild beasts and birds.

To my dismay I found the next march still more
trying, and I began to feel that my climbing days must
be over and my strength deserting me. Some of the
rocks we had to climb were slippery and the foot-holds
by no means secure, so that I had to resort to the plan
of keeping one boy always with me in case I should need
a helping hand.

After a good deal of climbing we reached the next
camp, where I meant to make my headquarters during
my stay, and from there work up and down the mountain,
visiting both the people and the places of interest. This
camp was on a fairly level plateau in Sabei where the
height registered by my aneroid was 8,550 feet above
sea level. A little before sunset on the first evening we
experienced a terrific rainstorm. I was writing at the
time in a hut with open sides, and I kept moving from
one part to another as the wind drove the rain and hail
through the room. The wind, however, shifted from one
direction to another and blew in turn from every point
of the compass so that it was not long before there was
no dry spot in the hut. As soon as it was possible I fled
to my tent, only to find two or three inches of water there.
The tent had been pitched over a shght hollow which
was now a pool. The bed seemed the only dry place,

268 The Soul of Central Africa

and I got into it as quickly as I could. When the rain
was over it felt intensely cold, and I required all the
blankets I had to keep me even moderately warm. The
cold was not really extreme, for I do not think the
thermometer ever registered a temperature even so low
as 45°, but the rapid change from the heat of the sun
at noon and from the plains, where there was never any
suggestion of cold, made me feel even this as un-
pleasantly chilly.

In this part of the country I found greater difficulty
in getting men who were willing and able to tell me
about their customs. I questioned and talked to quite
a number before I got hold of the right kind for my
purpose. Fortunately, I soon found one man who was
able to speak a language I knew and who was willing
to be retained as an interpreter. Then, after two or
three days' general talk with the natives, I found three
old men who by degrees became communicative and told
me a good deal about their customs. By drawing com-
parisons between their stories and what I knew of other
places I roused their interest, and they became quite
anxious to prove how much more careful they were to
adhere closely in all things to their tribal customs than
were, for instance, the Bagesu.

These Basabei, as they call themselves, are an off-
shoot of the Nandi and Turkana tribes, who do not
follow milk customs entirely, though their ancestors were
pastoral people. Like the Masai, they use gourds for
milk vessels, and I think it is clear that these are an
earlier form of vessel than those used by the pastoral folk
in the lake districts, and that both the earthen pot and
the wooden pot only became known to these pastoral
people when they had conquered some aboriginal tribe

Mount Elgon— Sabei 269

to whom methods of working in wood and clay were
already familiar. Gourds, being found in their natural
state, may early have been brought into use for
receptacles just as they grew, and now the Masai and
tribes to the east and north use them almost exclusively.
They have cultivated the art of stitching them together
when they crack, and they attach strips of leather for
handles by which to carry them. By the constant appli-
cation of butter to keep them from drying and cracking,
the gourds attain a fine dark polish and really make very
pretty vessels. These people differ also in their use of
milk from the pastoral tribes' to the south of the Nile,
for they allow it to go sour and make it into a kind of
cheese, whereas the pastoral people of the lake region
drink it while it is fresh and have strict rules against
allowing it to curdle in their pots.

Another difference between these Basabei and the
pastoral people in the lake region is to be seen in their
manner of building. Among the former the huts are
some six feet high and flat roofed. The walls are made
of branches fixed firmly in the ground, the spaces being
filled up with mud. From wall to wall are laid poles,
which are covered first with a layer of grass to keep the
earth from coming through. On the top of this, earth
is laid to a depth of some eight inches, and is pressed
until it presents a hard, smooth surface, which is some-
times glazed to render it rain-proof. This mode of
building is common throughout Ugogo and in the
Usagara hills, even in districts within a hundred miles
of the east coast opposite Zanzibar. It is a sign of the
presence of a warlike people who have to live ever on
the defensive against surrounding enemies who may raid
their villages by night and would burn down grass huts

270 The Soul of Central Africa

if such were to be found; hence the people have taken
to these almost fire-proof buildings. On Elgon I found
no kraals formed, in the manner of the pastorals of
Ankole and Bunyoro, by building the huts so that they
enclose a space or compound. The kraals are stockaded
enclosures adjoining the huts, and the cows are driven
into them at night and lie in the open. At the time of
my visit almost all the cows had been taken away to
pasture on the plains bordering on Lake Salisbury, where
the land is well watered by abundant streams which run
into the lake, and only a few cows for immediate use
remained on the mountain.

The people reminded me forcibly of the Nandi,
Kikuyu, Wamegi and Wahumba tribes to the south-
east, who have added to their milk diet the use of
vegetable foods, so that they are no longer solely
dependent upon milk. In dress, too, the Basabei
resemble the Masai, for the men wear little clothing,
while the w^omen are draped in long cowskin robes which
reach from the shoulders to the feet. The women do
not cover their heads or faces, and are fond of ear
ornaments, piercing the lobes of the ears to insert brass
and iron rings. Like the Masai, the women carry heavy
loads of food or firewood on their backs, the weight
being supported by straps of leather passed round their
heads or foreheads. This forms another striking differ-
ence between them and the pastoral women of the lake
region, who are not permitted to carry any weights at all.

I found that here there was a strong feeling among
the men and women in favour of holding initiation
ceremonies before any young people were admitted as
members of their adult society. These ceremonies take
place after harvest, when the field-work is at an end for

Mount Elgon— Sabel 271

the time and there is no anxiety about the crops. Both
men and women have to undergo the rites and spend
some weeks in preparation, during which time the men
are instructed in tribal laws and customs and must swear
to follow them before they can undergo the rite of
circumcision. After the rite is performed, the young
men remain from five to six weeks in seclusion. When
they come out their bodies are painted with red and
white clay, and they are brought before a council of
elders, who bestow upon them new names which are
tribal and are considered most sacred. Each youth, when
coming to receive his new name, has to be entirely
covered with a cowskin so that nothing but a hand is
visible. They crawl upon their elbows and knees, and
in the exposed hand each holds a staff five feet long.
An attendant watches them as they crawl along, and
should one inadvertently expose more than this hand
the attendant draws his attention to the fault by a blow
with a stick. When they come before the elders they
kneel in a row, arranging their staffs so that they over-
lap and form a continuous row, each boy holding one end
of his own staff and an end of his neighbour's in each
hand. Then they are lectured and given general instruc-
tions as to their behaviour and certain questions are put
to them. When they wish to reply in the negative, or
when, as is sometimes the case, no reply is expected,
they remain still, with their heads bowed and their staffs
lying on the ground. When, however, they wish to
answer in the affirmative, they raise their staffs in the
air and with one voice shout a prolonged " Yes." They
are then given their new names, and their friends and
relatives crowd round to decorate them with ornaments
for the dance which invariably follows.

272 The Soul of Central Africa

Young women undergo an initiation ceremony corres-
ponding to that of the men and also receive new names.
They are instructed by old women, as the youths are by
old men, and crawl before the women to be catechized
and receive their names.

When both parties are ready the dance is given in
the village of some clan elder, who collects beer and a
supply of food from the members of the tribe. It is a
general tribal festival and of special importance in that
it is the marriage festival for the year. The marriage
custom differs from that of other tribes, for the young
couples arrange their matches and end the ceremony on
the same day. The dancing takes place in the open, and
crowds assemble to witness or take part in it. A number
of drums are placed at one end of the compound, a ring
is formed, and when the drums begin two young people
step out and dance to and fro and up and down this
ring, bowing to each other and skipping round without,
to the unaccustomed eye, either rhyme or reason. Others
soon join in the dance, and the pace grows faster and
faster until it becomes a regular rush. This lasts for
about half an hour, when the drums stop and the dancers
rest till the music starts again. Young initiated -couples
meet here, and during the evening arrange a match for
themselves; at the end of the dance the young man
carries off his bride to his home and claims her as his
wife. Before this union becomes permanent the parents'
consent has to be obtained. In the morning the bride-
groom sends a hoe to the bride's mother, and her accept-
ance of this is a sign that she agrees to the match. She
has then to call together the clan-members, and, in con-
ference with them, she and her husband settle the amount
to be asked from the bridegroom as a wedding fee. If

Mount Elgon— Sabei 273

the mother rejects the bridegroom she returns the hoe,
and her daughter has to be sent home the same day;
another dance is given until the girl is claimed by a
man whom her parents regard as a suitable son-in-law.
There is no further marriage ceremony, and the young
people begin married life at once and are recognized as
full members of the tribe with right of admission to the
councils, the husband sitting in the councils of the men,
while the wife takes part in the deliberations and secrets
of the women.

While in Mbale, before starting for Sabei, I had
heard of a tribe called Batwa, who were described to me
as dwarfs, and one or two short people among the Bagesu
were pointed out to me as members of this tribe. It
was, therefore, with some interest that I sought for these
people and wandered about among the mountain peaks
trying in vain to get a glimpse of their homes. At
length I found a man who said that he knew where some
of them were living, and as their home was some miles
away, in one of the almost inaccessible parts of the
bamboo forest, he agreed to go and ask them to come
to me. One day three of them came, but, to my
surprise, they were not pygmies at all, but fairly tall
young fellows of almost the same type as the Basabei.
On inquiry I found that they were members of the same
tribe as the latter, but that they had no settled homes
and lived a nomadic life in the forest, being what we
should term trappers. On the mountain there are
numbers of animals very much like our English mole
which these trappers capture. They eat the flesh, both
fresh and as dried meat, with the young shoots of bamboo
as vegetables, but they also barter the dried flesh for

grain with the Basabei and other tribes on the lower

274 The Soul of Central Africa

slopes of the mountain. There was nothing of special
interest in the men beyond the fact that they were
trappers and lived this wandering life on the topmost
peaks of the mountain, where it is always cool and even
at times quite cold.

One of my objects in climbing this part of the
mountain was to investigate the caves which abound in
the upper slopes, in order to see if any traces could be
found of their having been at any time in use as per-
manent habitations. For this purpose I went to see a
number of them. They are natural caves in the face of
the rock, which here forms precipitous walls hundreds of
feet high, and, so far as I could discover, no attempts
have ever been made to enlarge them or alter the natural
construction. In some places there are tiers of caves in
the face of the rock, the lower set, which we could reach,
being, I was told, typical of them all. In this part of
Elgon — in fact, on the whole of the north and north-east
sides — geologists find no trace of volcanic action, and
these caves were probably formed by earthquake motions,
during which the masses of rock were tilted or subsided,
either leaving open spaces or, by their movement, break-
ing off and pushing out large portions of the face of the
rock, and thus leaving holes which formed the caves.
Right in the doorway of one cave lies a huge wedge-
shaped pile of rock which looks uncommonly like a mass
which had been thrust out by the movement of the
surrounding layers. The entrance is completely hidden,
and can only be reached by climbing round this rock.
The caves are, in places, fully 15 feet high, and few are
less than 20 feet long, while some of the larger ones
extend 40 to 50 feet before the sloping roof meets the
floor. The layers of rock form clearly marked shelves,

SABEI: MEN AND WOMEN CARRYING FOOD

%.. %„.«-,-», *.

SABEI: PORTER CARRYING COWSKINS

Mount Elgon— Sabei 275

the floor of the lower caves being one shelf, while, about
a hundred feet higher, another layer forms the floor of the
next set of caves, and there is yet another set of caves
above that. Still higher is a fertile plateau, with trees
and vegetation growing to the very edge of the rock-
face, down which streams dash from the springs above
to the ravine below. It would be well, perhaps, to
remind the reader that Mount Elgon is not one great
peak rising above the already high land, but a series
of peaks of varying heights separated by valleys and
plateaux. The mountain covers an area of many miles,
and on it rise several fine streams which flow from its
heights to the Nile or to Lake Victoria.

I found no deposit of any kind in the caves I visited,
for the floor of each was solid rock and quite bare. Here
and there were traces of fires, but there was nothing to
prove that the caves had been in use for any length of
time. In some of the caves cattle are now housed, and
one is .watered by a small stream trickling through it.
A herd of fifty cows could be, and, I was told, is at times
kept in this cave, so that there was a certain amount of
slushy mud in the stream where the cows had trampled
about. The people themselves could tell me nothing
about the possibility of the caves having been in con-
tinuous use; they had not lived there and they did not
know whether their fathers had ever done so. Some
could remember having fled into them when raiders had
attacked them, and could tell how they had had to hide
their cattle during the daytime and pasture them by night
on the upper slopes of the mountain.

On three nights during my stay in the upper part of
the mountain I woke with a feeling of suffocation and
had to sit up in bed and gasp for breath for half an hour

276 The Soul of Central Africa

or more. The sensation then passed away, but I felt as
though I must be becoming subject to asthma, which
rather surprised me. Having completed my survey of
the people and the investigation of the caves, I descended
to the lower plateau at Sipi, when, to my surprise, I
began to feel as though a load of care had been removed
from my mind; in fact, I felt as though I had just
recovered from an attack of fever. Walking was once
more pleasant, and I could get about without the weary
feeling which had so oppressed me during the past few
days. On the second day I felt so much more ready for
work that I came to the conclusion that the altitude had
been the cause of all my troubles and that the less rarefied
air of the lower slopes would soon put an end to them.
It was rather peculiar that in Kigezi, at the same or even
greater heights, I had felt no ill effects. I was now,
however, able to do the necessary marches without any
weariness, and I did not experience any undue fatigue
when I climbed down towards the ravine to examine
some of the caves at Sipi Falls. The descent to the lower
part of the fall is steep ; indeed, in one place the natives
have made a rough ladder for about a hundred feet down
the face of the rock where it is a sheer wall. It is possible
to walk behind the fall and see it dashing into the pool
below. From where we were we could not get down to
the pool, and I did not think there was any object in
crossing the ravine to get down on the other side. I
learned that in one of the caves there is a kind of salt
deposit which the people scrape up, but it is only used
locally and not for trading purposes.

When we were climbing to examine the caves I
noticed a bad smell, which I could not understand until
the guide informed me that a leopard had caught a calf

o<i:

Mount Elgon— Sabei 277

on the slope above the caves and had begun to tear it
up. When the owner rushed to try to save it, the beast
jumped over the cliff, a fall of fully 100 feet, alighting
with its burden in the branches of the trees, from which
it fell to the ground alive and, so far as they could see,
uninjured. Before anyone could climb down to the place,
it had dragged the calf, which it still held, into the rocky
bed of the stream and escaped.

Before leaving the heights of the Sipi plateau and
descending the escarpment to the Mbale plain, I came
upon a set of people who call themselves Bahama. As
the name attracted me, I sent for some of the old
men and made a short examination of their clan. The
first thing was to find out their reason for claiming the
name Bahama, which I could only interpret as mean-
ing " men of the king," the king being the Mukama of
Bunyoro. After some talk with them I learned that a
few smiths from Bunyoro had, some years before, made
their way to this part of Mount Elgon and settled upon
the slopes doing smith's work. The men I saw claimed
to be sons of those smiths. They have adopted the
customs of the Sabei people and have been accepted as
a clan of that tribe. While in Bunyoro they, as artisans,
belonged to the lower, or agricultural, classes, but they
now form a clan of this semi-pastoral tribe.

This part of Elgon is the dividing line between two
sets of pastoral tribes. To the east and north are the
Masai, Nandi, Turkana and Somali, all of whom practise
initiation ceremonies involving mutilation, while the
Galla, the Karamojo, and the pastoral tribes of the
lake region, with the exception of the Banyoro, who at
puberty extract six lower teeth, avoid all mutilation or
marking of the body. This may be said to be the dis-

278 The Soul of Central Africa

tinguishing feature between two sets of people who are
,in all other respects allied and who show clear evidence
of descent from one parent stock, though the problems
of whence they came and which of them first reached
Africa have still to be solved. The various branches all
possess traditions of having come from the north, and,
so far as I could gather from the tribes I examined, the
Galla seem to have a good claim to be the parent stock.
Their migrations belong to the far past, and none of
them possess anything which can give a clue to their
history, so that, we are left with the meagre and vague
accounts which have been handed down orally and in
which we cannot now distinguish tradition from history.
Under these circumstances it was most trying to be
prevented from going on into the Galla country when
I was so near, and my annoyance was intensified when
some of the Karamojo people came to me and were quite
friendly, assuring me that there was no danger in pass-
ing through their country. Still, as I had not received
any answer to my letter to the officer commanding the
troops in Karamojo, and could not proceed without per-
mission, I decided to return to Mbale to see if anything
awaited me there.

The climb down the escarpment was not so difficult
as the upward journey, but when I tried to ride my
bicycle on the lower slopes I found that the clay clung
to it and persistently clogged the fork and mudguard,
so that I could not go far without dismounting to clean
it, and at times I had to carry the machine through
marshy places. At ten o'clock I reached the place at
which I had arranged with my porters to camp, but,
after waiting some hours, I had to send out men to look
for them. They were discovered two miles away, where

SABEI: MARRIAGE DANCE

SABEl: HOUSES WITH A GRANARY IN CENTRE

Mount Elgon— Sabei 279

they had pitched my tent and settled down for the day.
They quite expected that when I found this I would come
to them, and they were inclined to resent having to strike
camp and come on to me. They were so long in coming
that I secured another set of porters, and when the first
lot arrived they were paid off at once; the fresh men
then took over my loads, and I made a forced march to
Mbale, arriving there about three o'clock. There I spent
a few days, this time at the Government station, while
I made fresh plans before starting out again.

CHAPTER XV

A JOURNEY ROUND ELGON — BUSOGA

New Plans — A Holiday Tour round Elgon — The Medicine-man and
the Aeroplane — Administration of the Country — Crossing the
Mpologoma River — Iganga — Busoga Past and Present — Jinja —
The Ripon and Owen Falls — Flints.

ON my return from the higher slopes of Elgon
to Mbale I found that Mr. Cox, the District
Commissioner, had left the station to meet the
Provincial Commissioner who, with his wife, was ex-
pected to arrive in the district within the next three or
four days. However, I used a room in his house for the
work of arranging my goods, while I myself was most
hospitably entertained by the Assistant District Com-
missioner. There was no answer to my letter asking for
permission to go through Karamojo, so that, as the
period of my leave of absence from my parish at home
was fast drawing to a close, allowing only a few months
for further work here, I determined to give up all my
original plans for a tour through Karamojo to the Galla
people, and sat down to think how best to make use of
the remaining time. I decided that the wisest plan
would be to return to Bunyoro by way of Busoga and
then journey homeward down the Nile, making studies
wherever possible of the so-called Nilotic tribes on the
way to Khartoum.

Having decided on this I saw that a great deal of my
camping and marching outfit would be useless, for the

280

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 281

greater part of the journey could be done by boat or
rail, and at most I would not have more than ten days'
marching to do. I was therefore occupied for the next
two or three days in sorting out, with the help of my
cook, the articles I might require from my cases of
provisions, and in making a list of those of which I
wished to dispose in order that they might be offered
for sale. I thought at first of sending my surplus stock
to Kampala, but one of the Assistant Commissioners
advised me to let the goods be sold at Mbale where he
thought they might fetch better prices.

Hearing that I should be able to get a place in the
motor van for Jinja and thus save a march which would
take two or three days, I allowed my tent and surplus
goods to be sold at once and, as accommodation in the
van was limited, I sent on my rather useless head-boy,
along with the small boy who had been my cook's
assistant, with several cases, to Jinja by road, so that all
might be in readiness there on my arrival.

When, however, I had made all these arrangements,
Mr. Guy Eden, the Provincial Commissioner, arrived
with his wife, and I found that he was an old friend,
for I had met him years ago when he first came out to
Kampala to join the Service. They urged me to alter
my plans and join them in a journey which would take
us over the Koko ridge of Elgon, then south towards
Lake Victoria, and so round through Busoga to Jinja.
I was at first a little disinclined to fall in with this pro-
posal, as I had sold my tent and goods and would have
to borrow others, and also because I doubted whether,
under the conditions of such a tour, I should be able to
do much work, for the natives stand in awe of the Pro-
vincial Commissioner, and the fact tl^it he is always

282 The Soul of Central Africa

accompanied by a body of native police adds to their
timidity in approaching him; under such circumstances
my special method of investigation would be impossible.
However, I determined to take a holiday and accepted
their kind invitation to accompany them as their guest.
Accordingly two days later I was again moving north-
ward by slow stages, and we took ten days to reach
Jinja. This journey, with its easy stages, its pleasant
company and its general comfort made a splendid holiday
and was a delightful experience after my usual method of
getting about the country. Mr. Cox accompanied Mr.
Eden through his own district so that society was not
lacking, and the novelty of a lady's presence on the march
added much to the pleasure of the journey. Mrs. Eden
is one of those women whose part in the making of our
Empire is an invaluable one. Not only do they brighten
the existence of their husbands, but their encouraging
influence reaches farther and does more good than they
themselves can possibly realize, cheering and sustaining
many xothers whose life work calls them to dwell in the
wild and lonely places.

Before I left Mbale, however, I made a short journey
to Nabumale where there are two missions, one, the older,
which I had visited twelve or thirteen years before,
belonging to the Church Missionary Society, while the
other is Roman Catholic. These missions are working
among the Bagesu, and the Church Missionary Society has
opened a higher grade school for the training of youths,
more especially the sons of superior chiefs. Here the
teaching is not confined to the rudiments of education,
but the pupils are taught something of agriculture and
of various handicrafts. Such industrial training is of the
utmost value for promoting the welfare of the natives and

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 283

is the only means of elevating such socially degraded
tribes.

While I was visiting this station I had pointed out
to me a medicine-man, who lived in a hut on the slope
of the mountain and who had been terribly startled by
the appearance of the aeroplane in which Dr. Chalmers
Mitchell was being taken across Africa. The hum of
the engines was noticed first by the wives of the great
man, and when the machine came in sight they called to
their husband who, taking a hurried look at the strange
being that was approaching, gathered his wives together
and told them that this was the great spirit of whose
appearance he had warned them before, that he had come
to carry them all away, and that they had better keep
together and answer the summons in a body. Thereupon
they all rushed into the hut, securing the door, and
nothing would induce them to open it and come out,
even though their companions outside told them the
danger was over. At length the missionary came up and
explained the phenomenon to them, telling them that the
winged spirit was the work of man and that there were
in it people such as they saw before them. The door
was then cautiously opened, and when the terrified
medicine-man saw that no damage had been done to the
mountain, and that, so far as he could see, the world
in general was unchanged, he came out to hear the
wonderful tale of the men who could fly through the air
at such a speed and in so precarious a manner. '' The
white man is indeed wonderful," was his comment.
"The magic he works is dreadful and he is greatly to
be feared."

Though on this journey to Jinja I found it impossible
to do any regular work, it gave me an opportunity of

284 The Soul of Central Africa

seeing a part of Busoga and parts of Elgon on the
eastern side, where there were two or three small tribes
that I might not otherwise have seen. I saw some of
the Bagesu in their more isolated homes and less civilized
state and was thereby helped to form correct opinions
about them. I was interested in seeing how thickly the
Bagesu peopled the slopes of the spur Koko. Here they
have large parts of the mountain under cultivation and
grow their millet in fields which reach to the tops of the
mountain peaks very much as the Bakyiga do on the
slopes of the mountains in Kigezi. Mr. Eden and Mr.
Cox meanwhile were kept busy, for at each stage the
local chiefs gathered together for a conference.

The country is divided into districts of about ten or
twelve miles, each of .which has its hall or meeting-house,
where the chiefs gather at intervals to meet the District
Commissioner, who tries cases, hears complaints, and
gives advice on administrative matters and also on
problems connected with the cultivation and disposal of
the different crops grown in the district. The chiefs
have the powers of magistrates, but records have to be
kept of all cases, and these are inspected by the District
Commissioner, who either confirms the decisions or, if
dissatisfied, orders another trial. He, in his turn, may
refer difficult cases to a yet higher court. In each
district there are also government agents in whose hands
is the duty of collecting the poll-tax by which the old
hut-tax has wisely been replaced. These agents are also
expected to be law clerks and have to attend the gather-
ings of the chiefs, while all cases are tried in their presence
that they may see the law properly administered.

When the Provincial Commissioner visits a district he
is accompanied by the District Commissioner, who con-

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 285

venes the meetings and keeps his superior officer informed
of all that has been going on. I found it interesting to
observe the crowds of chiefs who gathered at each place
to meet these officers, but they were too much occupied
for me to attempt any detailed investigations, for not
only had they to attend the conferences, but afterwards
they had to accompany the Commissioners on a round of
inspection to see the crops and examine any improvements
and changes. These visits serve a double purpose, for
not only is supervision thus exercised over the local chiefs,
but the natives are persuaded and encouraged to further
endeavours in the cultivation of cotton, rubber, or any
other crop which the Government advises them to grow.
The officers have to be ready to give advice on the methods
of growing such crops and on the best means of disposing
of them.

Under the supervision of the Government agents the
natives have opened up the country, cutting roads
throughout the province and making it comparatively easy
to cycle for many miles. Many of the chiefs have pur-
chased bicycles, and at times as many as twenty or
thirty machines would be seen outside the hall in which
a conference was going on. Here and there a more
enterprising young chief has even learned the art of
managing a motor-cycle, on which he can ride quite long
distances over many parts of the country, though even
the better roads are but tracks about five yards wide,
where the trees and scrub have been cleared and streams
bridged to allow bicycles or other light traffic to pass
with comfort. During the dry season these roads are
quite usable, but after prolonged rain they are so soft as
to be impassable for wheeled traffic. A motor road has
been built from Mbale which, to avoid the swamps of

a86 The Soul of Central Africa

the Mpologoma River, runs to Mjanji on Berkeley Bay,
an arm of Lake Victoria, where a small steamer calls for
export goods and brings supplies for the Indian shop-
keepers and the people at Mbale. This road is properly
built and metalled over its whole length so that motors
can use it at any time of the year.

During our tour round Elgon I found at various
places old Baganda friends who invariably wished to com-
memorate our meeting by making me presents and were
greatly distressed at their inabiUty to find anything they
considered suitable at such short notice. In two cases
their attempts to show their pleasure were really
touching, though, it must be confessed, somewhat
embarrassing. One man, quite a poor peasant, intro-
duced himself to me by telling me that I had taught him
many years before in preparation for his baptism.
Wishing, as he said, to make me a small present, he
pressed into my hand three rupees, .which he hoped I
would accept instead of a sheep. He was quite grieved
when I refused, explaining that I could not take money
which he had such difficulty in earning. I told him, how-
ever, that, if he could find and bring to me some native
ornament, I would gladly accept it and keep it in
remembrance of him. He went off cheered, but, as we
moved on directly, I did not see him again. Two days
later another man, this time one of the Government
agents in charge of a district, came, and, after greeting
me and expressing his joy at the meeting, watched for
an opportunity of speaking to me unobserved by the
District Commissioner. At length, under the pretext
of wishing me good-bye, he pushed a paper into my hand,
saying it was his gift to me as an old friend. It con-
tained fifteen rupees, so that again I .was forced to dis-

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 287

appoint a friend by refusing to take money. I was im-
pressed, however, by the gratitude of these men, whom
I had not seen for years, but who were thus anxious to
make some return for the part I had taken in their early
training. These sums were to them considerable amounts
and in both cases must have represented the savings of
many weeks.

When we reached the river Mpologoma, which is a
tributary of the Nile and joins it at Lake Kioga, we had
to part with Mr. Cox, the Commissioner of the Elgon
District, and another District Commissioner from Jinja
met us on the opposite bank of the river. This part of
the river is more like a stretch of swamp than what our
English minds picture as a river, for it is a mile wide
and is full of papyrus, which grows fully twelve feet high.
At various points there are ferry-men who make their
living by carrying people over and who keep clear paths
through the growth for the passage of their canoes. These
canoes are of the dug-out type and are cut from tree-
trunks twenty to thirty feet long. These are hollowed
out, leaving substantial ends and strong sides. Some are
four feet wide and will carry at a time as many as three
cows together with the men to guard them and the
paddlers.

On the night before crossing .we camped within reach
of the ferry, and next morning one set of boys, with
materials for breakfast, went on ahead at about four
o'clock, leaving us to follow at daybreak. This is the
usual method adopted by these officers on their tours :
after early morning tea in camp they leave at daybreak,
while the boys who have gone on before prepare breakfast
by the roadside some four or five miles farther on. When
travelling alone I never attempted this but had breakfast

288 The Soul of Central Africa

in camp and then went on ahead for the whole stage,,
refreshing myself with hot coffee from my thermos-flask
and biscuits or sandwiches, and leaving all my porters,
boys and goods to come on as quickly as possible after
me. When we reached the ferry several canoes were in
readiness awaiting us, and we soon embarked with our
bicycles and our canoe was pushed off. The passage
through the tall papyrus was some four to eight yards
wide and at first, the day being still young, it was
pleasant. After a short time, however, mosquitoes ap-
peared and we were kept busy brushing them from our
faces, necks, and hands, for they attacked us mercilessly
and all our endeavours to protect ourselves could not
prevent them from settling and getting frequent bites.
It took fully an hour to punt the canoe to the opposite
shore, which was about a mile distant, and we were glad
when at length we reached it.

In no place in the river is there any clear running
water, the tall papyrus holds the water up and it has to
find its way under the roots of the growing vegetation.
In some places I noted by the punting-pole one man
used that there was some ten feet of water, and I suspect
that under the placid surface there would be found a
swift current. The stream is the home of the hippo-
potamus, which, though it seems slow and ungainly on
land, will show, in defence of its young, a rapidity of
movement and a fierceness which are astonishing. I
have known men on shore attacked and killed by one
before they could escape.

The place where we breakfasted that morning was
about a mile from the river, and it was the worst place
for a meal I ever visited. We were pestered by
mosquitoes to such an extent that it was with difficulty

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 289

,we got food into our mouths. They were of all sorts
and sizes, from the huge, noisy pests to almost invisible
specks, but all seemed alike in the rapidity with which
they took advantage of the moments when our hands
were occupied with food. I was never at any time more
annoyed by these pests, though I passed in the course
of the expedition through some districts which were
noted for them.

The remainder of the journey to Iganga was much
like the former part to the Mpologoma River. Here I
saw some tribes closely connected with the Basoga,
among whom I now intended to do a little work. When
we reached Iganga I found it had become an Indian
village, with shops and houses on each side of the road.
It is a centre for the cotton trade, and here the natives
for miles around bring their cotton for sale, and it is
ginned, packed, and pressed into bales for dispatch to
the coast. The shops contain chiefly cotton materials,
lamps, kerosene oil, and so forth, which are sold to the
natives, who are thus encouraged to desire and buy
all manner of things which they could very well do
without.

From Iganga we finished our journey to Jinja, a
distance of thirty-nine miles, by motor. I got the loads
off in the early morning by a shorter cross-country route,
and we followed later, reaching Jinja about ten o'clock.
Here I spent several days gathering information
from some of the old men of Luba's district. I was
entertained during the time by Mrs. Eden, whose
kindness made me feel quite at home, and who even
permitted me to interview my native informants in her
house.

This part of Busoga is no longer merely a native

290 The Soul of Central Africa

settlement, but has grown into an important town with
European and Indian settlers, for here is the terminus
of the Busoga railway which unites Lake Kioga and
Lake Victoria, and here steamers call weekly, bringing
passengers and goods from the coast. When I first came
here the only point of interest was the Ripon Falls and
the only habitations were a few scattered huts where
lived the men who kept the ferry. It was near this place
that Bishop Hannington was murdered at the instigation
of King Mwanga of Buganda, the son and successor of
the famous Mutesa. Luba, the actual perpetrator of the
deed, was only an instrument in the hands of Mwanga, for
the part of Busoga of which he was the ruler was a tribu-
tary state of Buganda. At that time this part of the
country was prosperous and wealthy ; its plantain groves
were noted, the population was large, and the people
possessed fine herds of cows and flocks of goats and sheep.
In those days they bred a special kind of goat, noted for its
long hair, which was used chiefly for making head-dresses
and for binding round the shields of warriors. They also
had a kind of sheep with a long, fat tail, which trailed
on the ground as it walked. The poorer people used to
cut off pieces of the fat tail whenever they had a craving
for meat but did not wish to kill a sheep. They also
possessed some of the finest canoes on Lake Victoria,
surpassing even the Baganda in the art of canoe-building.
They built them in portions, the keel being one long
tree, while the sides were built up from it with boards
stitched together with strong creepers, which, when
dry, became like wire. These canoes were often fifty
to sixty feet long and had twenty-four paddlers,
who sat facing the bows and used short leaf-blade
paddles.

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 291

The history of Busoga has been a chequered one, for
it .was for many years tributary to one or other of the
neighbouring states. The king of Bunyoro was for a
long time its overlord; in fact, it was so much a part
of his kingdom that new chiefs had to be approved of
by him and had to come to him to be confirmed in their
oflSces just as the chiefs of his own country did. Each
year the chiefs would send to the king some gift of
cattle, slaves and sheep, but no definite or compulsory
taxes were levied. During these years the Basoga
adopted certain of the customs of the superior tribe, and
one of these, the custom of extracting the front teeth
in the lower jaw at puberty, still survives. Later the
Baganda wrested part of the country from the Banyoro,
and three districts, one of which was that ruled by Luba,
became subject to the king of Buganda and remained
under him until the British occupation. The Baganda
insisted on a yearly tribute of slaves, ivory and cattle,
and sent collectors to gather it. These tax-gatherers
seized the opportunity to feather their own nests, and
the Basoga endured a good deal of hardship at their
hands. The Basoga chiefs sent their sons to the Buganda
court to be brought up as pages to the king, and from
among these lads the king chose those who he believed
would be his loyal subjects and made them chiefs over
their country.

In Buganda there were lands assigned to the ruling
chiefs of Busoga, where they could take up their abode
whenever they wished to visit the king, but such visits
were costly affairs. The chief who went always wanted
to travel and live in state, and he had to give handsome
presents not only to the king but to the chief Sekibobo,
through whose district he had to pass on his way to the

292 The Soul of Central Africa

capital of Buganda. The peasants were expected to
provide their chiefs with these presents, and, though they
naturally grumbled at the time, it did not take them
more than a few months to make good their loss, for
the country was then most prosperous. When I first
knew it, which was under these conditions, food was so
abundant that I was not allowed to buy plantains, but
was told to take what I wanted wherever I happened
to be, and not to trouble people by getting them to carry
food for my men. When I first visited Luba he
wanted to give me a large present of ivory and was
unhappy because t refused it, for to his mind the only
possible explanation of my refusal was that my
motives were unfriendly. It took a long time to make
him understand what my being there as a missionary
meant.

Things are very different now. The old man Luba
has been dead many years, the country is in a state of
poverty, and the people are in a miserable condition, for
famine has attacked them more than once. The country
has been severed from Buganda and is ruled by its own
chiefs, though of course under British supervision, but
British government has so far been unable to improve
matters. The difficulty is that the people are as yet
hardly fitted for self-government and do not understand
in the least what it implies. For generations they have
been in subjection to some powerful overlord who ruled
them autocratically. Such a ruler never had any difficulty
in enforcing his will, for the small tribes of Busoga have
always been so unfriendly and so jealous of each other
that, should one tribe prove refractory, all the outside
ruler had to do was to induce some neighbouring tribe
to attack and subjugate it, a task that any tribe was

THE CAVES ON MOUNT ELGON

THE RIPON FALLS. VICTORIA NILE

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 293

always willing and anxious to undertake. It was thus
that Mwanga always managed to keep Busoga in order ;
when trouble arose, he would send a few soldiers to a
neighbouring friendly state and invite them to assist in
invading and plundering the rebellious district. Such an
expedition added to his wealth, for not only were there
captured slaves and cattle, but the attacking chief also
sent him a present in gratitude for being allo>ved to
fight.

Round about Jinja we find a different state of affairs,
for it is a progressive Government station connected
by road with various parts of the Northern Province,
and there are a number of settlers who grow cotton
and other produce for export. I was anxious to
visit the Ripon Falls to see what progress had been
made and to find whether any steps had been taken to
make use of this great flow of water for the production
of power for any purpose. I only noticed two changes
in all the years since I had been there last. One was
that a telegraph line had been carried over the Victoria
Nile below the falls, and the other that the path leading
down to the falls was very worn and had become a favourite
evening walk, especially among the Indians, who played
their card games as they sat on the rocks. In other
respects everything seemed the same, and no attempt
appeared to have been made to utilize the water-power.
While I was in Uganda a request was issued for estimates
for the erection of a power-station to supply Jinja and
Kampala with electricity, but I have not heard how the
matter progressed. Below the Ripon Falls there is a series
of smaller rapids, now known as the Owen Falls, which
surpass in the beauty of their scenery even the better
known Ripon Falls.

294 The Soul of Central Africa

Fish abound in the river, and it is an interesting
sight to see shoals of them trying to jump the falls. At
one time there used to be at the Ripon Falls a set of
fishermen who gained their living by diving into the
turbulent waters to capture the large fish that had been
carried down the falls from the lake and had been
stunned by the force of the water. These men worked
in pairs, and their method was a dangerous one. The
fish was speared with a long pole, whereupon one of the
men, with a line and a hook attached to his waist, slid
or climbed down the pole till he reached the fish, when
he stuck the hook into it and climbed back. The whole
process took only a few seconds, but it required skill
and practice, to say nothing of strength of nerve, to
venture down into those seething waters. These men
are no longer to be seen, and the only fishers which
remain are the diver-birds or cormorants, which plunge
into the boiling mass and seize their prey. Sometimes
one of these birds can be seen diving into the compara-
tively placid water above the falls, where he sees a fish
struggling against the increasing rush of water; he
vanishes, only to reappear from the frothing waves well
below the fall, where, still holding his prey, he rides as
calmly as though being dashed with that vast volume of
water over the fall and tossed to and fro in the whirlpool
beneath were no more to him than a dip in a quiet pool.
The shoals of fish which gather in some of the pools
beneath the falls on their way to the upper reaches are
an amazing sight; they fill the pool until it looks as if
one might walk across on them.

One thing which repaid my visit to the falls was the
discovery of fiint-chips. I sent the specimens to the
Government geologist, who confirmed my impression that

THE OWEN FALLS. VICTORIA NILE

ELGON SCENERY

A Journey Round Elgon— Busoga 295

they .were actually relics of a stone age, though no other
traces of inhabitants belonging to such an era have been
found in this district. The place was evidently an old
quarry, and the fragments were stones that had been
discarded and chippings from various stone implements
in the making.

CHAPTER XVI

BUSOGA — FAREWELL TO UGANDA

A Visit to Entebbe— Kamuli— Roman Catholic Missions— Education
— Surgery — Departure from Uganda — General Remarks on
Uganda— Transport— Benefits of British Rule— The Officers-
Cultivation of the Land— The Missions— The White Man in
Africa.

WHILE I was at Jinja Mr. Eden had to go to
Kampala on business, and I gladly availed myself
of the opportunity of accompanying him in order
to visit Entebbe again. I had not yet had an opportunity
of an interview with the Governor, Sir Robert Coryn-
don, who on my first arrival at Kampala, at the beginning
of the expedition, was on the point of leaving Entebbe
on tour, prior to his departure for England. I also
wanted to see another friend of my earlier days there —
Sir James Carter, the Chief Justice, who was about to
leave Uganda to take up new duties in the Nyassa Colony,
formerly German East Africa.

I hoped to be able to get through from Jinja to
Entebbe in one day, but a chapter of accidents on our
journey made this impossible. We crossed the arm of
Lake Victoria by the steam ferry which now runs above
the Ripon Falls, and reached Buganda to find that the
motor which should have met us was not there. After
waiting for quite an hour, Mr. Eden sent a messenger
back to his office to find out by telegraph what had
happened and let the authorities at Kampala know that

296

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 297

no car had appeared. In the meantime, however, the
car turned up, having been delayed for over an hour by
a burst tyre. It was thus nearly noon before we left
the ferry, and for some time all went well. Then
engine trouble developed, and we crawled along, with
frequent stops, until we were about twenty miles from
Kampala, where the car stopped for a long time and
was most unwilling to start again. However, at last it
was persuaded to move and we got on, very slowly, for
another mile or two, when we saw another car approach-
ing. This, to our rehef, turned out to be one sent from
Kampala to find out what had become of the first, so
we joyfully transferred our bags and ourselves to it, and
reached Kampala without more delay than that occa-
sioned by the state of the road. There had been a heavy
shower of rain, and, though the road is metalled, the
comers are very sharp and had to be negotiated with
care. The drivers of both the cars were natives who had
learned their business during the war. We reached
Kampala too late for me to go on to Entebbe, and I
put up at the hotel there for the night.

Next day I spent long hours trying to find a dis-
engaged car to take me on, and had just succeeded when
I learned that the Governor's car had been sent for me.
I arranged for the one I had already engaged to come
to Entebbe a day or two later and bring me back, and
then set out about four o'clock, reaching Entebbe about
five.

I had a most useful talk with Sir Robert Coryndon,
the Governor, who had shown his interest throughout
the expedition by requesting his ofiicers, wherever I
went, to help me by any means in their power. I found
that he thoroughly recognized the value of anthropo-

298 The Soul of Central Africa

logical research to those in authority over primitive
peoples, and realized how necessary it is to investigate
the intricacies of their social and religious customs, in
order that they may be governed and civilized w^ith the
minimum of friction, and that their usefulness to man-
kind in general may be increased to the utmost possible
extent. Sir James Carter, the Chief Justice, has always
been an interested student of anthropology, and his
knowledge has undoubtedly been of the greatest value
to him in his legal duties, not only in enabling him to
understand the real nature of crimes which to a European
look like wilful murder or deeds of personal vengeance,
but also in cases of disputed inheritance and land tenure
and innumerable other matters, where the power of
appreciating the native point of view is essential before
a fair and unbiased judgment can be formed.

On my return to Jinja I was rejoined by Mr. Eden
at Kampala. We drove back to the Ripon Falls and
crossed to Busoga, taking a little over five hours to
accomplish a journey which in the old days meant a
week's marching along rough tracks with the baggage
on the heads of porters.

Though on my departure from Jinja I realized that
I had now no more difficult and arduous journeys to
make, yet it was with feelings of regret that I parted
from Mr. and Mrs. Eden, whose hospitality had been
so pleasant, and entered the train which was to take me
to Kamuli, in the heart of Busoga, where I intended to
spend a week with an old friend, the Rev. H. Brewer,
in order to inquire into various Busoga matters. At
Kamuli there is, in addition to the Church Missionary
Society station, a Roman Cathohc mission, with EngUsh
nuns, who kindly allowed me to see over their station

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 299

and observe their methods of work. The nunnery is
connected with Mill Hill, and has among its workers some
enthusiastic young women, who assured me that they
had made up their minds to devote their lives to this
work and did not expect ever to return to England. In
addition to the ordinary school routine, they teach the
Basoga girls and women to do various kinds of needle-
work, and they also undertake as much medical work
as they are able to deal with. I saw several branches of
the Roman Catholic mission during the expedition, some
of them controlled by fathers of the Algerian Mission,
and others by these workers from Mill Hill, and in each
place there was evident the same marked devotion to
the cause and the same desire to raise the natives from
their state of barbarism. It is, I think, a matter for
regret that the Church Missionary Society and the
Roman Catholic missions should thus have their stations
in the same place, when separation would enable them
to spread the work of evangelization over much wider
areas of the country.

At Kamuli there is a splendid school for boys, con-
ducted on the same lines as other higher grade schools
in Uganda, which follow the model of English public
schools. It is impossible to speak too highly of the work
which has already been accomplished in these schools.
The strides with which education has advanced among
these primitive tribes seem almost incredible when one
considers the wall of old customs and ideas, built up by
generations of heathenism, which had to be destroyed
before even a foundation could be laid for sound instruc-
tion. Already youths from these schools are engaged
in Government offices, as clerks to chiefs, as salesmen in
shops, and in many other capacities.. As an encourage-

300 The Soul of Central Africa

ment to further progress Sir Peter Mackie has sent two
beautiful silver challenge cups to be competed for
annually by all the schools in Uganda. One is to be
awarded for the best collection of botanical specimens,
dried and mounted, and the other for the best entomo-
logical collection. The prize collections are to be sent
each year to Sir Peter Mackie. The young men from
our Universities who are giving their lives to this work
deserve our most grateful thanks and our utmost support,
for, though the teacher's life may seem a monotonous
routine of drudgery, it is not only knowledge and
technical skill that he imparts to the rising generation,
but also the principles and ideals which will in time
leaven the whole lump and raise the African nation to
a higher place in the world.

Another matter in which I was much interested was
the skill to which the native surgeons have attained in
dealing with broken heads and fractured skulls. In this
region the favourite .weapon is a sling loaded with stones.
As soon as a quarrel becomes serious, men resort to
stone-throwing, and the accuracy with which they aim
these missiles is proved by the dented skulls of many
victims. The surgeons, therefore, get much practice in
this kind of work, and they have learned how to remove
splinters of bone from the brain and thus restore men,
who would otherjvise die or live insane, to life and
reason.

From Busoga I again took train to join the boat on
Lake Kioga, and travelled all night, reaching Masindi
Port by noon next day. Here I was met by Mr. E.
Haddon, the Provincial Commissioner in Bunyoro, with
his motor bicycle and side-car, and went straight to
Masindi. The king of Bunyoro had now recovered, and

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 301

I was able to complete the work which, owing to his
illness, I had been compelled to leave. I had also much
packing to do in order to send goods home by the
Mombasa route. In addition to my private goods I had
collected many articles for the museums at home, among
them being samples of pottery, which, being very easily
broken, had to be carefully packed. There was, there-
fore, much to do and but little time in which to do it,
for the boat which carried passengers over Lake Albert
to Nimule, in the Sudan, was due three days after my
arrival in Masindi. If I missed this it meant a delay of
two weeks, and also that I should miss the company of
Mr. Marshall Hall and Mr. Frame, the geologists, who
were travelling down the Nile, and whom I hoped to
meet on the lake. I therefore hurried matters as much
as possible, and was ready to start on my homeward
journey at the end of three days.

Before I finally leave the Uganda Protectorate it may
be worth while to give some general account of the state
of the country as it appeared to me on revisiting it after
my long absence of some ten years. My tour took me
into every district of the Protectorate, and I was enabled
at the different stations to see the methods of adminis-
tration actually at work. Then I visited the wildest and
most remote parts, and watched the effects of those
methods thus far from their centres of operation. Hence
I can, from my own knowledge and experience, con-
trast the general state of the country to-day with its
condition when the British Government first formed the
Protectorate.

To the returning traveller the first difference which
calls for remark is one which I have mentioned several
times in the course of this book, namely, the improved

302 The Soul of Central Africa

means of transport. When we first reached Uganda,
some thirty-odd years ago, it meant a journey of over
three months from Zanzibar, after which we crossed the
lake in canoes, taking nearly three weeks to reach the
other side. Now the traveller goes to the lake by train
in fewer days than it then took months, and he crosses
the lake by steamer, reaching the heart of Africa in a
few days. The railway has been one of the most power-
ful instruments for the abolition of slavery, for it has
opened up the country and to a great extent done away
with the necessity for human burden-bearers.

Next, the traveller, following the main routes, looks
with surprise and admiration on the countryside, with
its roads and small towns, where so few years ago there
were but cattle tracks and grass or mud huts. Here,
indeed, British enterprise has performed wonders, even
though the work has hardly as yet progressed beyond the
experimental stage ; and as he moves from place to place
the traveller cannot but feel his patriotic pride awakened
to fresh vigour within him.

It is not, however, here that we must look for a real
test of the progress made. After all, may not these
towns and roads and railways be simply the result of so
much forced labour for the benefit of the European
alone? Wherein does the native benefit? Would he
not gladly get rid of this intrusive white man, with his
civilization, his law and order? It is extraordinary how,
even in the mind of a native separated only by a few
years from barbarism, we find the fallacy of " Good
Queen Bess's golden days." Here, as elsewhere, we
find grumblers, elderly men who shake despairing heads
over the rising generation; but let them be questioned
by one who knows by experience what the ' ' good old

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 303

days " really were, and they are forced to admit a degree
of improvement almost incredible. All over the Pro-
tectorate, even in its loneliest and wildest districts,
safety of life and security of property bear witness to
the beneficent effect of British rule and the spread of
Christianity. No longer do the secret police of the
king prowl about the country seizing scores of peaceful,
innocent people to sacrifice to the insatiable gods. No
longer may an offended husband murder his wives with-
out fear of retribution, nor may an autocratic master in
fits of brutal rage kill and maim his slaves. The peasant
is no longer a serf subject to every caprice of his master ;
now he can work for himself and improve his lot, free
from the constant dread of losing all to some more
powerful enemy. The growth of law and order, aided
by the spread of Christianity, has made such things
impossible. The mental capacity of the native is being
developed, and his power of application turned into the
channels of trade and industry.

These facts bear testimony to the splendid work of the
young officers who are entrusted with the oversight of
these districts. They are, I believe, drawn from the
flower of our universities and public schools and in many
cases are sons of our rectories and vicarages. They are
men of great ability and a keen sense of responsibility
and, above all, they are strictly moral in their lives, a
fact which increases their influence over the native mind
to aji extent of which they themselves have little idea.
The native is shrewd, seeing and understanding more of
what his superiors do and think than is generally imagined,
and he draws his own conclusions. The harm which has
at times been done by the immoral lives of men whose
nationality places them in the public eye is incalculable.

304 The Soul of Central Africa

What progress could be achieved under a man of whom
a chief could say, as one actually did, "How can we
respect this man? He makes us bow and kneel before
him, while at the same time he is followed by bearers
carrying in a hammock a woman from among our slaves? "
Such a man may perhaps not appreciate the moral effect
of his actions, but surely, if it were placed before him,
he could not help realizing their natural result. By thus
seizing and appropriating a woman he is, in all proba-
bility, infringing an old-established and stringent law of
her tribe, by which both parties in such a union are con-
demned to death. Report has it that the death of one
British subject who lost his life in the country was due
to the perpetration, by another Englishman, of this very
offence. The oracle which was consulted ordered the
death of the first white man to pass along a certain path,
and the innocent man suffered the penalty.

It is not an easy path that these young men who are
set in high places in this country have to tread. They
are far from all congenial society, seeing few other w^hite
men and for months at a time no white woman, and they
are exposed to many temptations ; yet there is hardly a
case where even rumour can find sufficient ground on
which to base imputations against their moral purity.
If Britain means to raise these her subjects from bar-
barism it is men such as these who will help her to
do it, and this is the high standard which must be kept
before the eyes of every dweller in distant fields.

Under these superior officers are native agents of the
Government who are directly responsible for the main-
tenance of order in their own districts. It was to me a
very pleasant experience to meet again and again pupils
of the early mission-schools filling these posts. Many of

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 305

them indeed were men whom I had taught to read and
write, and I met them now occupying important positions,
in fact representing the British Government, in districts
far from their own homes, and seizing the opportunity
thus afforded them of propagating Christianity and
spreading the influences of civilization. Many of them in
the outlying districts carry on small schools in their own
compounds, where, with the help of their house-boys,
they teach the children and train them in the Christian
faith.

These agents are the men of whom I spoke previously
as being responsible to the Commissioners for the records
of the courts and also for the collection of the poll-tax,
and as pioneers they are doing splendid work. Their task
is never an easy one, and it is often accompanied by
actual danger to life, for I have known of some who lost
their lives in the attempt to open up new districts. It
takes time before the native can be brought to understand
the reason for such interference, and the invariable
demand for labour on some Government road or building
always raises a storm of abuse and opposition. These
agents have played a great part in the opening up of
many distant parts of the Protectorate, and have suc-
ceeded in making the natives in them amenable to
government, so that travel in most parts is now safe and
comparatively easy. Many of the roads have been
engineered by them without assistance from Europeans,
and their manipulation of the difficult gradients in
mountainous parts of the country is really wonderful.
I attribute the whole of my success in travelling to the
influence of the District Commissioners over their agents,
who, in their turn, saw that the native chiefs gave me
any assistance in their power. The position of these

3o6 The Soul of Central Africa

agents and the responsibility which is laid upon them
show that these Negro-Hamitic races are capable of
great advances under proper training, and I am convinced
that the Uganda Protectorate can be developed into one
of the most important and valuable parts of our Empire.
Much as our Government is doing to raise the moral
tone of native social life, the economic conditions, which
are naturally an important factor in the civilization and
development of a country, require some further considera-
tion. I have already pointed out that little or nothing
has as yet been done to develop or utilize the natural
tendencies of the people in a country where pastoral
people predominate and greatly outnumber the agri-
cultural people. In agricultural pursuits much has cer-
tainly been done and the results are most promising, but
the workers are far too few to do much more than test
the possibilities of the country. Then, too, there is the
labour question, which is proving a perplexing and difficult
problem. During my wanderings I heard much from the
point of view both of the settler and of the native, and
it struck me that a good deal of the difficulty is due to
the settlers, who are far too much inclined to try to
overreach the native and to force him to render them
assistance at utterly inadequate rates of pay, taking
advantage of the Government custom of calling out
labour, paying nominal wages indicated by local authori-
ties and conditions, and commuting taxes for part pay-
ment. iWe must not lose sight of the fact that many
tribes have as yet no use for European articles or money
and set no value on such things. A hut, a wife, a child
to care for his ghost after death, and food, which he can
produce for himself, fulfil all the requirements of hundreds
of men, and it is not until they are educated that a desire

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 307

for other things arises. The few rupees he has to furnish
every year as poll-tax are still to him an intolerable and
unreasonable imposition, even though they can be pro-
cured in some easier way than by giving months of hard
and underpaid labour to some settler. The industrious
native soon discovers that he can obtain more money
with less difficulty by devoting himself to the cultivation
of his own fields. Here again, however, all incentive is
often destroyed by unfair and unreasonable methods of
applying the law, necessary and justifiable in itself, which
compels them to give a certain amount of time to Govern-
ment work or to work for settlers who have obtained
Government permission to requisition native labour. The
result of all this has been a gradual moving away of
labourers of the better class into districts where they are
free to work their own land without having to neglect it
to perform unremunerative tasks.

In addition to this depopulation a serious matter is
the existence of a large and ever-increasing surplus of
women j^ due partly to this migration, partly to the change
from polygamy to the present enforced monogamy, and
partly to the preponderance of female births. These
women, left husbandless and without occupation, have
nothing to restrain them from a rapid descent into the
lowest depths of vice. If we take into consideration the
existence in many places of a low class of Indian trader
and settler, the natural result is obvious and very terrible.
Venereal disease is rapidly becoming as much of a scourge
as sleeping-sickness was a few years ago, and this dreadful
curse is being carried far and wide. Already the effects
have been so great that medical authorities report certain
tribes to be almost extinct, and declare that in a few
more years some of the finest and most promising of

3o8 The Soul of Central Africa

these peoples will have vanished from the face of the
earth.

To turn from the civil to the religious side, I was
unable to find the same satisfactory development, nor
.were the mission stations in anything like so flourishing
a condition as I had hoped. The fault does not lie so.
much with the devoted men and women engaged in the
work as it does with the Church at home. We have
failed to support these hard-working missionaries as we
should, and the result has been to limit their capacities
just when almost unlimited possibilities were opening out
before them. There has been little expansion, for when
a new opening appeared the opportunity was lost for want
of a man to go into the new district. The missions ought
to have led the way into the more remote and troubled
districts, and by teaching and training to have impressed
upon the native the meaning and value of the white man's
presence, before the civil power appeared on the scene to
confuse and mystify him by the innumerable changes
which must of necessity accompany it.

It may be urged that the Church in Uganda is self-
supporting and should therefore have no need to trouble
the Church at home, but should have its own agents
ready to proceed to the evangelization of these districts.
That is true, but only with respect to the native element,
for the Uganda Church has never attempted and indeed
is quite unable to support European workers. An
inadequate supply of men is sent out by the Church
Missionary Society, which is the only Protestant mission-
ary society in Uganda. Had a greater number of men
been sent out, and had those sent been specially trained
for particular branches of the work, much more could
have been accomplished. For example, no translation of

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 309

any importance has been undertaken since the death of
Mr. G. L. Pilkington, who translated the Bible into
Luganda.

The Church in Uganda has been handicapped also by
the ever-increasing demand for educated natives to take
up posts under the Government. The pay offered by
Government has been so much greater than anything the
religious bodies could afford that naturally the best
products of the Church's training have been diverted to
civil work. Another cause of this lack of workers is one
with which I have already dealt, namely the difference
between the training supplied in the secular schools and
that of the religious schools. The better class of youth
is attracted to the schools which supply men for the civil
offices, for the religious schools give a training which is
noticeably inferior. The men who go to the latter, and
,who probably cannot afford the better training, struggle
practically unaided to pay their way, only to find, when
they qualify as catechists, that they may be sent to work
in some place where it is impossible to live on their pay.
Should they desire to proceed to the pastorate they are
faced by further years of hard work, after which they
are expected to live on pay which is inadequate even for
a single man. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if
catechists often betake themselves to other work where
their earnings will enable them to marry and live in
comfort. There is thus a constant weeding out of the
best men, leaving the poorest intellects and most in-
efficient workers to carry on the work of the Church.
Even the day-school masters in the primary schools, who,
by the way, are paid by the same native Church, are
better educated and command higher pay than men who
enter the pastorate. The natural outcome is not only a

310 The Soul of Central Africa

lowering of efficiency but a lowering of the esteem in
which pastors in general are held. These pastors are a
body of men drawn from the lower classes and set to
perform duties for which they are mentally and socially
unfitted, with the natural result that they are held in
contempt by the better educated secular workers.

It is also very evident in Buganda, the original home
of so much devotion, where the early Church suffered
such terrible hardships, that the youths of the rising
generation are not following in the footsteps of their
^worthy fathers. The eagerness of those early days for
truth and knowledge is gone, save in a very few cases,
and the young people seem to be quite satisfied if they
can ape European dress, cultivate rude and unpleasant
manners, and speak a horrible conglomerate which they
imagine to be English. It was in Kampala and amongst
the women that the general lowering of tone was most
evident, and to me most painful, for in the old days the
manners of the Baganda women were truly courteous and
modest, and the unpleasant vulgarity which is now pre-
valent was indeed an unwelcome change.

These are some of the difficulties with which the few
missionaries who are labouring in that great field have
to contend, and it is not a matter for surprise if they
make but little headway. I hope, however, that no one
will take these remarks to imply that I consider that
the secular work should be neglected for the sake of
pushing on the religious work. The workers on the civil
side must push on farther and still farther, for, though
much has been accomplished, it is but a beginning of
all that has yet to be done. But we must see to it that
an end is put to a condition of affairs under which
Christian workers are held in contempt by conceited

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 311

youths .whose knowledge, though but a smattering, is yet
superior to that of their pastors. The status of the
church- worker must be raised until he can take his proper
place and go forth armed at all points to maintain the
cause which he has at heart.

There are certainly native teachers who are doing
wonderful things in the far parts of the Protectorate.
I have already spoken of the pioneers in Teso country ;
and all along the shores of Lake Salisbury are to be
found catechists who make up in zeal and devotion for
the limitations of their training, and who have proved
themselves beyond any possible doubt the right men for
work in such places. It is when the general progress
of mission work is set beside what the civil .workers
have accomplished that we see the necessity for drastic
changes. The men and women who are there are doing
noble work, but they are far too few to cope with the
needs of the stations and are quite unable to visit the
distant parts of the large districts which they are expected
to supervise. It is manifestly impossible for a man to
do industrial work, teach in school, undertake the train-
ing of teachers, and spread the Gospel at one and the
same time; yet this is what is expected of numbers of
them, with the inevitable result that, work as they may
and do, nothing can be done well.

Another pressing and urgent need is the supply of
clergy for the white populations in the larger centres,
who are at present left to the casual ministrations of some
already overworked missionary. The men whose life's
work brings them out here are left without any spiritual
oversight and with no one to whom they may turn when
alone in illness — the most trying time for a young man
far from home. Where the Government stations are

312 The Soul of Central Africa

situated, Sunday is a day of rest, but the workers^ seldom
have any opportunity of worship, and there is nothing
to raise their minds from the occupations of the week to
spiritual matters. If such help were provided it would
confer, too, a secondary benefit, for it would impress
upon the native mind that to the white man religion
means something, and that the Government official, the
settler and the resident, as well as the missionary, believe
in and worship God. I can leave it to the reader to
imagine how such provision could be made invaluable
to the State by raising the standard of life and by
keeping before each worker his individual duty and
responsibility.

With the formation of the Uganda Protectorate there
have been opened up hundreds of miles of country suit-
able for the production of commodities which the world
requires and which, at present, must be produced by
Europeans. The country, however, is not and, so far as
I can see, never will be a permanent home for the white
man. He may go there and do great things, but he
cannot raise a family and settle there for good. He
himself must be prepared to return home for rest, and he
must never think that his wife can live there for ever.
His children, too, must be brought up in a more con-
genial climate and among purer surroundings, for, apart
from climatic conditions, the country is no place for
children, especially at the impressionable age when they
are approaching years of discretion; in spite of every
precaution, constant association with the natives, who
are, in regard to the sexual instincts, as yet but Httle
higher than the animals, is bound insidiously to sow
seeds of moral corruption. Thus the man who goes out
to such a country to improve his own lot, to live a happy

Busoga— Farewell to Uganda 313

and prosperous life in a new and unspoilt land, will find
himself disappointed; but he who goes fully realizing
the difficulties, but facing them for the good of the
Empire, the people and the country, may hope to do a
great and useful work for the good of man and to the
glory of God.

CHAPTER XVII

THE JOURNEY HOME

The Road from Nimule to Rejaf — The Half-caste Problem — Rejaf —
Scenery — Fashoda — Missions — Agriculture — Khartoum and Om-
durman — Gordon College — Strength of Islam — Irrigation — Cairo
and France.

AS my work of investigation among the tribes of the
Uganda Protectorate, or rather as much of it
^ as circumstances permitted, was now finished, I
started at once on my homeward way, leaving Masindi
on September 28, 1920, for Butiaba, the port on Lake
Albert. Mr. Haddon was kind enough to offer to take
me in his side-car, a very much easier and quicker means
of travel than the motor lorry. We set out early in order
that he might have time to do some business in Butiaba
before returning to Masindi. The motor lorry was to
follow with my boys and goods, an arrangement which,
as it turned out, was fortunate, for when we had run
some twelve miles the coupling-link of the driving-belt
broke. We had no spare link, and were without any
sort of material, even strong string, with which to repair
the damage. However, after we had waited an hour by
the road-side, the motor van came up, and we arranged
for it to take the bicycle and side-car in tow to the lake.
To relieve to some extent the strain on the towing-rope,
I got into the lorry. We reached Butiaba at noon, only
to find a loose rope with no Mr. Haddon and no bicycle.

314

The Journey Home 315

He had let go his end of the rope at some side road near
a settler's house, and I saw no more of him. I went to
the officer in charge of the station, told him of Mr.
Haddon's plight, and remained with him until evening,
when I went on board the Sir Samuel Baker, which was
due to start early on the next morning. It was getting
dark before any other passengers joined the ship.

The voyage from Butiaba to Nimule, where we
started on our journey on foot to Rejaf, took two days.
On our way from the boat to the camp at Nimule we
saw a puff-adder which was busy swallowing a large frog.
It was curious to see the frog struggling to make its way
down the reptile's throat, evidently taking that for the
way of escape. We watched until the frog had disap-
peared, and then one of the sailors struck the snake on
the head and killed it. I cut it open with my knife, and
out came the frog and sat blinking as though astonished
to see the light again. I photographed the snake in the
process of swallowing the frog and the frog as it came
out, but unfortunately the films were bad, and I lost
the record of this strange and interesting sight.

On landing at Nimule we entered the Sudan, and
had to obtain Egyptian money for paying our porters
and for any other purposes. We later found, however,
that we had little need for money until we reached
Rejaf, for along this route people are few and far
between. I had only my cook and the tent boy with
me, and, owing to the unsatisfactory and indirect means
of communication between Nimule and Uganda, the
request which I had sent for porters had evidently not
arrived — at any rate, it had certainly received no atten-
tion. We had no time to spare if we were to catch the
Nile boat at Rejaf and avoid having to wait two weeks

3i6 The Soul of Central Africa

at that uninteresting place, so we determined to do our
best with the men who were provided for Mr. Marshall
Hall and his companion, Mr. Frame, whose application
had been made some days earlier than mine. We
marched in the early morning to avoid the heat and the
flies, which are a serious pest all over this district. It
is largely owing to them that no animals, not even goats,
are kept, and the natives live in a miserable condition.
As we were short of carriers, we took five marches to
reach Rejaf, though with good porters we could easily
have done it in three. The road is little used except by
the few people travelling, as we were, between Rejaf
and Nimule ; yet with very little trouble it could be made
a good motor road, and the whole journey could easily
be made in two stages. It is, however, doubtful whether
the traffic would be sufficient to repay the expenditure.
It is impossible to make this journey by water, for there
are many cataracts on this part of the Nile which follows
a very circuitous course full of serpentine twists and
bends. The further journey down the Nile from Rejaf
to Khartoum is a long and very expensive one, and I
do not think there is much possibility of this becoming
a popular trade route.

On one march I met a few Baganda returning to
Nimule from Rejaf, where they had been to see their
master off on his way out of the country. I saw that
one of the boys was carrying a white baby asleep, and,
naturally expecting that Europeans would be near, asked
him whether a white woman was following. He told
me there was no white woman, but that the baby's
mother was not far behind. Shortly afterwards two
women, evidently Baganda, both dressed in a kind of
nondescript European garb and wearing shoes, came up.

SUD ON THE NILE

OLD NILE BOATS

The Journey Home 317

I soon realized that they had been Uving .with white men,
and that this poor child was the unhappy result of the
union, and was doomed to a life fraught with uncertainty
and difficulty. The father had evidently no intention of
doing anything to help his child, who was left to be
brought up among natives. Here is another evil which
might well make a man refrain from consorting with
native women to gratify his lust. Consider the con-
ditions under which the child of such a union lives.
What is his position? He has no place among his
mother's people, who would not accept him even if he
could become one of them. His father casts him off and
thinks no more about him, while his father's people hold
him in utter contempt, ''that nigger" being the scorn-
ful term applied not nearly so often to the pure native
as to the half-caste. Has he not, as he grows to years
of discretion, a right to resent bitterly the wrong done
to him? Is it surprising if he hates and distrusts the
white man? To add fuel to the flame of his hate, it is
usually the man who most despises the natives and never
addresses them without abusive terms who will cohabit
with their women, regardless of consequences and of the
responsibilities incurred. When we consider the misery
thus caused, to say nothing of the danger to the future
prosperity of the Empire, it is clear that British law
with regard to such temporary mixed unions needs to
be made much more stringent.

On this journey I shared my bicycle with Mr. Frame.
I rode on ahead for some way, and then left the machine
by the road-side ; when he reached it, he mounted, passed
me, and in his turn left the bicycle some way farther on
and proceeded on foot towards the camp. In the Sudan,
as we had no tents with us, we had to stop always at

3i8 The Soul of Central Africa

the recognized camping places, where there are rest-
houses. Caretakers guard these camps and keep them
tidy, but they are hardly adapted for the use of ladies,
as they are nothing more than open sheds with little
chance of privacy. Only a little care and attention are
needed to make them much more comfortable for
tourists ; but our party were all accustomed to roughing
it and knew what to expect, so that they satisfied our
requirements.

My last march was marked by an amusing incident.

I was well in advance of the rest of the party with the

tent boy, who trotted before me to tell me the state

of the path, a necessary precaution as I was riding the

bicycle in the dim light of the moon. We came upon

a river in which the water was about three feet deep,

and I was preparing to wade through it when my boy

offered to go first with the bicycle in order to see what

it was like. He reached the opposite bank, some twenty

yards away, and called to me to wait and he would carry

me over, so that I need not get wet. He came back

declaring he could easily do it, and we started off. We

crossed quite safely, but when we reached the opposite

side I found that the bank was high and slippery. The

boy put his head against this bank, evidently expecting

me to crawl over his head on to it. This, however, was

impossible, so I suggested that he should turn round and

set me down on the bank. In turning he slipped and

sat down, plunging us both up to our necks in water.

He was very perturbed and full of apologies and regrets,

but our plight was so ridiculous that I could do nothing

but laugh. It was only four o'clock in the morning,

and I knew the porters must be some distance behind,

so I decided to minimize the risk of a chill by going on.

A TEMPLE ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE

REJAF: GORDON'S HILL

The Journey Home 319

Fortunately, none of the articles in my pockets had
suffered and my .watch had not stopped. I waited for
the others when I reached the Nile crossing, and got
a change, about eleven o'clock, before going over to
Rejaf.

At various points we had been able to see a little of
the native tribes of this district, who are commonly
called Nilotics. Of those we saw, I found the Bari the
most interesting, and I believe they will prove to be the
most intelligent of the tribes who inhabit the valley of
the Nile between Lake Albert and Rejaf. At Rejaf
there is a small station with a few native habitations
scattered around. This was the southern limit of
Gordon's sway when he governed the Sudan, and the
boundary is marked by the hill known as Gordon's Hill.
There is now a service of motor vans between Rejaf
and the Belgian State. It is managed by an English-
man, and his employees are Baganda boys, of whom he
spoke very highly, saying he had found them far more
satisfactory than the men from Khartoum whom he had
previously employed. I saw some of these youths, and
found that they were Christians, trained in the mission
schools, who had obtained their knowledge of motors
during the war. Though they were in a strange land
and had to sign an agreement for a number of years,
they were eager to get such posts, for they were well
paid and could thus save with a view to marriage on their
return home.

The steamer from Khartoum reached Rejaf the
morning after we did, and we went on board at once.
I had to dispose of the few remnants of my travelling-
kit, which I had kept for this journey and which I now
sold. The bicycle which had done such yeoman service

320 The Soul of Central Africa

I gave to my cook, who took it back to Uganda with
him, and, having paid off both the boys, I bade them
good-bye and took my place on board, hoping to learn
something of the peoples in the Sudan, who were till
that time little more than names to me.

The appearance of the settlement at Rejaf and the
view from Gordon's Hill, which commands many miles
of flat country, did not give me the impression that the
part of Africa we were about to enter would afford much
beauty of scenery, and as we passed day after day along
the swampy river, surrounded on all sides by reeds and
papyrus, and with nothing but a low-lying, monotonous
country stretching into the distance, it became plain to
me that the interior is not only far more attractive as
regards scenery to a European eye, but also holds more
promise both for man and beast. I was disappointed,
moreover, to see so few natives. Wherever we stopped
to take in fuel a few poverty-stricken looking men,
employed as wood-cutters, would gather round the boat,
but otherwise there was but little life visible. The land
is rapidly being rendered more desolate and barren by
the cutting down of trees for fuel for the boats.

It was interesting to visit Fashoda and see the place
that Major Macdonald had struggled so hard and so
bravely to reach, only to be foiled by mutiny among
his troops in Uganda, which had to be crushed before he
could go on. The expedition on which he was engaged
was really a race against the French, who were also
aiming at this point, but the English party met with
difficulty after difficulty, and were delayed for so many
months that the French arrived there first. There are
not many signs of the former importance of Fashoda
left; it was at one time fortified, but now there is

I ♦ ^

A NATIVE FORT IN THE SUDAN

MARCH AN D'S HOUSE AT FASHODA

The Journey Home 321

nothing to be seen but the httle bungalow of the EngUsh
Resident and a few ruins, among them being the house
of Major Marchand, the French commander.

At one place, named Juba, we stopped for a few
moments to see Mr. and Mrs. Lea Wilson, who are
forming here a branch station of the Church Missionary
Society's Sudan Mission. Both of them looked as though
hard work and the heat were telling upon their health,
but they were full of interest and devoted to the work of
establishing a school for the training of the youths from
the scattered villages around, the inhabitants of which
belong chiefly to the Dinka tribe. Mr. Shaw, the head
of the Sudan Mission, was on board with us, and from
him I was able to glean a certain amount of information
about the Dinka and Shilluk tribes. He is the great
authority on these people, and has wandered many miles
among them ; one tour lasted six months, and even that
only covered a part of his district on one side of the Nile
and did not extend to the other side of the river at all.
We called at Mongola, Mr. Shaw's station, in order that
he might land at his house. This was the third place in
the Sudan where I found Baganda teachers. These men
are not of the class who go through the higher schools,
and their training is very incomplete, but they are doing
good work. At one point, too, we saw an Austrian
mission, and we touched at another place where there
was a mission station in the distance, but I did not go
ashore at either, and can say nothing of their work.

Most of the people here belong to the Dinka tribe,
and, like the Bari and Shilluk, are akin to the pastoral
people round Teso, showing that they are all branches of
one great family of pastoral or semi-pastoral people. I
was disappointed not to find more people in these regions

322 The Soul of Central Africa

and not to be able to work among them. The only value
of the trip was that it gave me some idea of what the
man who goes out to study these tribes will have to face.
In the first place he must be master of some language
or languages which will carry him through these vast
regions, and then he must be prepared to wander about
with nomadic pastoral tribes and go where they go until
he has gathered all the information he can get from
them.

What struck me most forcibly was the uninteresting
character of the country, and I failed utterly to find
any sign of the great possibilities about v/hich so much
has been said. I can say nothing about the mineral
resources, which may be valuable, but there is only a
meagre population, and agriculture seems excessively
poor and not capable of much development except at
enormous and unjustifiable expense. It seems inexplic-
able that anything like the same value can be placed on
this part of the Sudan as on the interior of the country.
The farther north we came the more uninteresting and
unproductive the country looked. The river itself is a
huge swamp, and the steamer, guided by Sudanese
pilots, ploughed her way through the reed and papyrus,
commonly designated '' sud," which is often all that is
visible. So tortuous is the course the steamer has to
take that she often has to reverse her engines after a
fruitless attempt to negotiate a sharp bend.
•» One thing that caused me great trouble on this
voyage was that we were carrying a cargo of oxen from
Rejaf to Khartoum. These poor beasts were left to
starve during the whole time of the voyage. It seemed
to be no man's duty to look after them, and evidently
the owners did not care so long as they were alive when

THE NILE BOAT

A WOOD STATION ON THE NILE

The Journey Home 323

they reached Khartoum, where they were, I believe,
destined for the meat market. I asked one man after
another about them and tried to find someone who could
do anything to get some food for the starving animals.
It was pitiful to see them fight for a few poor handfuls
of grass from the river-side. I understand that livestock
is frequently carried on these boats, and surely there
should be someone whose business it is to see that such
cruelty is not allowed.

At Khartoum I was entertained by Mr. Crowfoot,
the Minister of Education. He most kindly enabled
me to see much of the working of the Gordon College,
and also told me a good deal about the place. The
buildings are well planned and built of stone, and are
very substantial and commodious. There are various
branches of training, and boys from all classes of life are
provided for. There is an elementary department, where
the education is general and suitable for the ordinary
worker. Then there is a technical department, in which
smithing and general ironwork, carpentry, and cabinet-
making are excellently taught. In the upper school
clerks, accountants, schoolmasters, and civil engineers are
trained. There is a good staff of Englishmen, many of
them graduates of our Universities. The work of the
College is really very advanced; but, to my mind, the
tendency of the whole training is rather to strengthen
than to remove the barrier which Islam raises against
the spread of Christianity and true civilization. It is
an extraordinary state of affairs in a place which bears
the name of a hero who gave his life for the cause of
liberty, justice, and the Christian virtues, against which
the whole forces of Islam are arrayed.

I paid a hurried visit to the Christian schools in

• ■ • \
324 The Soul of Central Africa

' Khartoum. They are, I found, doing but little that can
compare with the training offered to the men in the
'Gordon College, where the influences are all Moslem.
<> . •' ^ Christian lads have to be sent to the College because
there is no other place where they can receive the
education they want, but at present there are not many
there.

One day I was taken over to Omdurman, and saw
the remains of the Mahdi's house and the fort where the
forces under him gathered against Gordon. It was here
that they concentrated their strength for the final attack
in which Gordon lost his life. Here, too, it was that
Kitchener made his great name and set on a firm founda-
tion the tottering fame of Britain. Yet this is the land
where the seed of the Moslem faith is being sown far
and wide, and is, it seems, not only being allowed to
grow but even w^atered and nourished by the British,
under whose protection a crop of poisonous weeds, as
noisome as those which Kitchener destroyed, is fast
springing up. I saw here one of the schools which the
Government is establishing as branches of the Gordon
College. It is a well-equipped, fine building, doing,
as far as education goes, a splendid work ; but it is plainly
another of the agencies by which we, as a nation, are
raising the propagators of Islam in Africa from a state
of ignorance to the intellectual level of the advanced
religions of the world. Under the old teachers of Islam
in Africa that faith was doomed to give way before the
advance of the higher and more progressive forms of
religion, but an enormous impetus is now being given
to it by the work of some of the best men of our British
Universities in these schools. These men may indig-
nantly deny the accusation, but there is not the slightest

OMDURMAN SCHOOL

ON THE NILE: CARRYING A BABY IN A GOURD SHELL

The Journey Home 325

doubl that Islam is the religion which is encouraged.
All forms and ceremonies of Christian worship are care-
fully excluded, but the College has its mosque, and the
regular attendance of the pupils is enforced and super-
vised by the teachers, who not only thus indirectly but
also by direct teaching encourage the false and exclude
the true.

I had been asked to send a report to Buganda of the
Gordon College and of its suitability as a place to which
Baganda boys might be sent for education. I need
hardly say I wrote very strongly against any such
scheme, and my opinion was supported by the Minister
of Education. In addition to the Moslemic tendency
of the whole of the training, the teaching is carried on
in Arabic, a language which is entirely unknown to the
Baganda.

In Omdurman there is a Christian hospital which is
doing a good work in the face of many difficulties, for
it receives but little recognition from the Government.
I had not time to visit it, for my stay in Omdurman was
limited to two or three hours, but as I passed I heard
something about it and its work.

In Khartoum is the Wellcome Research Laboratory,
.which is carrying on such valuable and necessary work
in research on the causes and cure of tropical diseases.
I visited the laboratory and saw something of the
wonderful diligence and care with which these investiga-
tions are being carried on.

The journey from Khartoum to Cairo by train and
river-boat is so well known that it requires little descrip-
tion from me. Though the heat was trying, I found
much of interest in this part of the river. Here are to
be seen the wonderful and elaborate dams, those feats

326 The Soul of Central Africa

of engineering by which water is retained to irrigate a
dry and unfertile country where crops can only be grown
within a few yards of the river; and a little farther
south there is abundance of land which might be brought
under cultivation without all this labour and expense,
where, indeed, all that is required is improved means of
transport, a problem very easy of solution. Here are
still to be seen the ancient pumps such as the Israelites
used in Egypt, and here there still exists a system of
agriculture which can only be profitable where slave
labour is available and is doomed to failure with paid
labourers. The primitive conditions which prevail here
under Moslem influence give, to my mind, the clearest
proof of its non-progressive nature. What efficiency
is shown in the surviving buildings belongs to a very
early date, before the country was crushed under the
heel of Islam.

The wonderful temples of those earlier days which
still stand beside the banks of the river are well worthy
of careful preservation. It would be interesting to know
something more of the purpose of these buildings and
of the reason for their presence in such out-of-the-way
places. At Assouan we were fortunate enough to see
the temple on the little island. Usually only the roof is
visible above the water, which is rapidly ruining the
walls of the building, but when we passed the water
was low and we could see this work of art in its full
beauty.

In Cairo I found I should have to wait some time
for a passage home, and I took the opportunity of pay-
ing a flying visit to Jerusalem. On my return to Cairo
I found it best to go to Alexandria, cross to Taranto,
and go home overland through France.

VIEW ON THE NILE

A NATIVE SCHOOL ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE

The Journey Home 327

I reached London once more at the end of sixteen
months, and my feelings of joy at being home again
were mingled with regrets for what had had to be left
undone. Something has been accomplished, but there,
yet remains much of which the investigation would be
of the utmost value to anthropology.

INDEX

Aeroplane, an, and the medicine-
man, 283
Africa, ancient and modern, 1

the white man in, 311 el seq.
Africans, how they measure time, 62

their love of the drum, 94
Agents, native, work of, 304-6
Agricultural peoples, 66

aborigines, 53

marriage customs of, 183

of Bunyoro, 142
Alexandria, 326

Algerian Mission, fathers of, 299
Almsgiving extraordinary, 42
Amulets, 79
Ankole, 40

artisans, 73 et seq.

Baganda in, 76

beliefs and ceremonies of the Ba-
huma, 78 et seq.

chief minister of, 54

death and funeral of the king of, 81

divisions of time in, 62

dwellings of, 58

gods of, 78

interview with king of, 55, 94

long-horned cows of, 58 et seq.

marriage of princesses in, 95

polyandry in, 63

polygamy in, 64

suzerainty of, 52

the Bahera of, 53 et seq., 66 et seq.

the Bahuma of, 53

the peoples, 52 et seq.

the sacred drums of, 94, 95

western part of, 96, 107
Antelope, herds of, 109, 129
Antelope-hunting, 131
Apolo, Mwanga's prime minister, 243
Artisans of Ankole, 73 et seq.

of Bunyoro, 163 et seq.
Assouan, 326
Athi plain, fauna of, 34
Auguries, 189, 214, 215

Bagamoyo, 123

author a prisoner in, 27
" Baganda, The," 170
Baganda, the, and the Banyoro, 141

in Ankole, 76

superstition re water-spirits, 100

Bagesu tribe, the, 240, 244, 284

children, 252

disposal of the dead, 259 et seq.

domestic animals of, 251

dress of, 245, 257

enmity between clans, 246

hostility to strangers, 247

initiation ceremonies, 245, 246, 254
et seq.

marriage, 245

religion, 252

treatment of rain-makers, 258

women, 245
Bahera, the, 53, 66 et seq., 73

descent of, 67

dress of, 65

law courts of, 69

totemic clans of, 69
Bahuma, the, 53, 56 et seq.

avoid marriage with Bahera, 66

behefs and ceremonies of, 78 et seq,

cows and their herdsmen, 58 et seq.

death and burial of, 81 et seq., 87

dress of, 65

duties of women, 64

high code of morality among, 62

how illness is treated among, 85

law courts of, 69

milk diet of, 57

wealth of, 60

women, attire of, 65 ]
Bakama tribe, the, 277
Bakatara, the, 141
Bakene lake-dwellers, 233, 234, 237
Baker, Lady, 137
Baker, Miss, 51, 54

Baker, Sir Samuel, and King Kabarega,
137

explorations of, 1, 141

meets Speke and Grant, 218
Bakunta, the, 110
Bakyiga people, the, 102

in Kigezi, 284

marriage customs among, 103 et seq.
Bamalaki, the, a religious sect, and

their beliefs, 47, 262 et seq.
Bamboo, as a vegetable, 273

bridges, 266
Bamuroga, chief minister of Bunyoro,
174, 175, 176, 200, 202
men of, 194

329

330

Index

Bantu peoples, their idea of sickness

and death, 188
Banyoro, the, care of children, 186

Christianity among, 222

definition of, 141, 142

marriage customs among, 172 el seq.

the king's children, 178
Bark-cloth, fumigating, 171

how painted, 169
Bark-cloths, and how made, 170
Barry, departure from, 5
Basabei, the, customs of, 268

food and dress, 270

huts of, 269

initiation ceremonies of, 270 et seq.

marriage, 272
Baskerville, Archdeacon, 41
Basket-work, Ankole, 75

Bunyoro, 169
Batwa trappers, the, 273
Beer-drinking among the Bagesu, 248
Betrothal during infancy, 179
Bible, the, translation of, into Luganda,

309
Births of twins and triplets, 187
Bisset, Miss, xi
Blood-brothership, 72, 138
Bond, Dr., his work at Kabarole, 126
Borup, Mr., activities of, 42
Brewer, Rev. H., 298
Bridal customs, 82
Brides, African, 180 et seq.
Bridges, bamboo, 266
British East Africa becomes a Protec-
torate, 31
British East Africa Company, the, 29,

31,45
British rule, benefits of, 303
Browning, Mr., 122
Budu, bark -cloth in, 170
Buffalo in the path, 128
Buganda, and Bunyoro, 141

decline of religious enthusiasm in,
310

Kakungulu in, 242
Bunyoro (Katara), 141

a middle-class in, 142, 153

appointment of the queen, 172

artisans, 163 et seq.

cattle-rearing in, 220

death, burial and succession, 188 et
seq.

definition of, 141

king of, 136, 140 et seq., 204 et
seq., 300

milking the sacred cows, 144 et seq.,
206

of to-day, 218

princesses of, 177

religion of, 213

the king's harem, 150, 177

work in, 135

Burial customs, African, 59, 81 et seq.,
87, 188, 192, 199 et seq., 230, 259
et seq.
Burton, explorations of, 1
Busoga, 284

history of, 291

Kakungulu in, 243

past and present, 289, 293

ruled by Buganda, 291

ruled by Bunyoro, 141
Busoga — Jinja railway, 221
Busted, Mr., 234
Butiaba, a night at, 231

arrival at, 314

en route for, 132, 230
Buxton School, Mombasa, 31

Cabinet-work, 221

Cairo, journey from Khartoum to,

325
Camp routine, 120
Cannibal tribes, 118, 124
Cannibalism, ceremonial, 260-1
Canoes and how constructed, 287

of Busoga, 290
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 41
Cape Verde Islands, the, 8 et seq.
Cape Vincent, 9 et seq.
Cappalonia, 12

Cargo, how discharged, 17 et seq., 21
Cargo ship, life on a, 4 et seq.
Carpenters of Ankole, 73 et seq.
of Bunyoro, 168-9
taboos observed by, 73
Carriers, trouble amongst, 239, 278
Carrying loads, method of, 270
Carter, Sir James, 296, 298
Casati, Captain, blood-brothership with

a chief, 138
Caves of Mount Elgon and Sipi, 265,

274 et seq.
Central Africa, railway travel, past and

present, in, 33 et seq.
Cerebro-spinal meningitis, 102
Charms against sickness, 79
Chastity before and after marriage, 62,

63
Chief, judgment of a, 211-2
Childbirth, 91, 186, 212
Children, birth and after-treatment of,

91, 178, 253
European, 312
Church Missionary Society, stations of,

30, 126, 221, 282, 308, 321
" Church of the Almighty," the, 264
Circumcision, the rite of, 271
Clan brothership, 63
Clan communism among the Banyoro,

186 et seq., 193
Clan MacArthur, 4 et seq.
Clan MacQuarrie, 21

Index

331

Clan membership initiation ceremonies,

254 et seq.
Clan regulations regarding burial, 192
Clans, exogamous, 69, 245, 247 et seq.
Cleansing, the ceremony of, 83
Clergy, supply of, 311
Clothing of Ankole peoples, 68
Coaling and how carried out, 9
Coaling-station at Delagoa Bay, 20
Coffee-growing, 218
Communism among Banyoro, 193
Contagious diseases and how treated,

192
Cook, the king's, 149
Coryndon, Sir Robert, 296, 297
Cotton-growing, 219, 235
Court of Ankole, royal, 69 et seq.
Cowdung fires, 59
Cowmen and their herd, 59 et seq.
Cows, a sacred herd of, 144 et seq., 206
as currency, 61
as marriage fees, 179, 251
belong to the king, 61
curing sickness of, 86, 159
how they are watered, 60 et seq.
long-horned, of Ankole, 58 et seq.
Cox, Mr., 280, 282, 284
Cox, Rev. W. A., xi
Crabtree, Rev. W. A., 244
Crocodiles, disappointed, 130, 131
Crowfoot, Mr., Minister of Education,
323

Dancing, native lore of, 248, 256, 272

of women, 65
Daudi Chwa, 45

Death, how the king is told of a, 194-5
Deities of the Bahuma, 78
Delagoa Bay, 19

Dillistone, Rev. H. and Mrs., 134-5
Dinka tribe, 321
Dress of Bahuma, 65

of Basabei, 270
Drinking, Bagesu custom of, 248
Drums as fetishes, 95

native love of, 94

sacred, 94 et seq.
" Dug-out canoes," definition of, 112
Dung-heap as grave, 59, 87
Durban, arrival at, 17

the town, 18, 19

Earthquake shocks on the Luenzori

range, 124
East London, a flag-code message at,

15 (cf. Rangkok)
Eden, Mr. Guy, 281, 282, 284, 296, 298
Eden, Mrs., 282, 289, 298
Education in Uganda, 299-300, 309
of pastors. 222

Educational difficulties, 222, 299-300,

309
Egypt, irrigation of, 325
Elgon, cf. Mount Elgon
Emin Pasha, and King Kabarega, 138

death of, 123
Entebbe, a visit to, 296

station at, 39, 40
European settlers, influence of, 219
Exogamous clans, 69, 245, 247 et seq.
Exogamy, enforcement of, 69
Exorcising the ghost, 189 et seq.

Famine, 65

Fashoda, a visit to, 320

Fatness considered beauty, 57, 64, 179

Fetishes, and their significance, 79

drums as, 95
Filleul, Mr., xi, 96
Fire, sacred, 59
Fishing, old-time, 294
Flies, the pest of, 10, 316
Flint-chips, discovery of, 294
Fort Portal, 122
Frame, Mr., 232, 301, 316, 317
Frazer, Sir James G., viii, x?
Frere Town, 29, 30
Fryatt, Captain, trial of, 23

Galla tribe, the, 26, 277, 278
Geologists, work for, 98
Germans and Delagoa Bay, 19
Ghosts, Bahuma ideas concerning, 85,
88

cattle of, 198

exorcising, 189 et seq.

milk offered to, 78, 88, 92

shrines for, 59, 85, 86, 89, 214, 252

the Bagesu, 251

worship of, 198
Girls, preparation of, for marriage, 253
Girls' school, Kabarole, 126
Goats as marriage fee, 68
Gods, the, mountains of, 214

of Bagesu, 251

of Bahuma, 78

of Bunyoro, and their priests, 213,
214
Gordon College, Khartoum, 323
Gordon, General, death of, 123, 324
Gordon's Hill, 319
Gourds as milk vessels, 268, 269
Government Commissioner at Mbale,

240
Government of the Protectorate, 284
Grace, Mr., 51, 53, 54
Grant, James A., explorations of, 1,

141, 218
Graphite mine, visit to a, 228
Grass fires, discomforts of, 114
Great War, yie, reminiscences of, 15, 22

332

Index

Haddon, E., 232, 300, 314, 315

Half-caste problem, the, 316

Hall, Marshall, geologist, 232, 301, 316

Hannington, Bishop, his fatal journey,
' 30
murder of, 290

Hannington-Parker Memorial Cathe-
dral, Mombasa, 30

Harem, a royal, and how replenished,
150 et seq,, 111

Harvest festival of the Bagesu, 247

Healing by suggestion, 191

Heir, the, and the period of mourning,
193
duties towards his predecessor, 198

Herald of the cows, and his office, 144,
145, 208

Herd, a, sickness in, and how treated,
86

Herding the sacred cows, 206

Herdsmen, and the cows, 60 et seq.
their fearlessness of wild animals, 84

Hippopotamus, the, defence of its
young, 288

Hoima, a month at, 224 et seq.

Hot springs, 113, 124, 160

Hut, decorated, 95

of the drums, the, 94, 95

Huts, mud, 269
sacred, 207

Iganga, 289

Immorality, influence of, 304, 317

Indian traders, settlements of, 237,

241, 244, 289, 307
Influenza, an epidemic of, 227
Inheritance, 87 et seq.
Initiation ceremonies, tribal, 178, 237,

245,246, 254 ef seq., 210 et seq.,211
Inoculation camps, 99
Intermarriage forbidden, 66
Iron from Bunyoro, 142
Iron-working industry, 163 et seq.
Irrigation of Egypt, 325
Isimbwe, Bahuma deity, 78
Islamism in Africa, 324

Jerusalem, a flying visit to, 326
Jinja, 281, 282, 290, 293

arrival at, 289
Juba, mission station at, 321

KabakOy definition of, 45
Kabarega, King, and Sir Samuel Baker,
137

and the cattle, 218

becomes a Christian, 140

capture of, 139

hostility to Europeans, 138
Kabarole, 118. 122

Kabarole, mission work in, 126
Kakungulu, 242, 262, 264

conversion of, 243

religion of, 264
Kampala, a night at, 297

agricultural changes in, 48

European settlers in, 44

manners of the people of, 46

recollections of, 41

survival of heathen customs in, 43

the cathedral, 42

the first churches of, 41-2

women of, 310
Kamuli, 298

missions at, 298, 299

school for boys at, 299
Karamojo tribe, the, 277
Kasagama, King of Toro, 123
Kashoba, Bahuma deity, 78
Kasuju, a chief of Muganda tribe, 98
Katara (Bunyoro, q.v.), 141
Katikiro, and Kakungulu, 243

definition of, 243
Katwe, salt from, 111

salt-works at, 112 et seq., 124
Kavirondo, 38

Kakungulu sent to, 243
Khartoum, author at, 323

Gordon College at, 323

route to, from Mombasa, 221

Wellcome Research Laboratory at,
325
Kibero, funeral ceremonies at, 230

salt-works of, 159, 228
Kigezi, Bakyiga in, 284

en route for, 97

people, the, 101

pygmies in, 101

trials of Government stafi in, 104
Kikuyu tribe, the, 270
Kilindini port, 23, 25, 32
King's mother, the, and her office, 172,

176,212
King's representative, 200
Kings, death and funeral of, 81 et seq.,

199 et seq.
Kirikiti tree, 72
Kitchener, Lord, 324
Kiziba country, 141
Koki, 242
Koko (Koko Njero), 241

Bagesu tribe on, 284
Kraals, 58, 97. 270
Krapf, 30
Kyagamba, 98, 99

Labour question, difficulties of, in

Kampala, 48, 306
Lake Albert, 132, 134, 220

journey to, 127

road to Rejaf, 221

Index

333

Lake Edward, 105, 109

crossing the ferry, 111
Lake Kioga, 220, 232, 233

scenery of, 233
Lake Salisbury, a journey to, 234

catechists of, 311
Lake Victoria, 38
Lake-dwellers, 233, 234, 237
Leopard, jump of a, 277
Leopards, sacred, 80
Lewali, native Governor of Mombasa,

27 et seq.
Lion, the, method of hunting, 84

why considered sacred, 80, 83
Lions at Hoima, 225-7

when they attack man, 109, 227
Livingstone, explorations of, 1
Lloyd, Rev. A. B., 122
Louren^o Marques {see Delagoa Bay)
Luba, 292

and Bishop Hannington, 290
Luenzori, mountain range of, 113, 114

cannibal tribes of, 124
Luganda, 52
Lugard, Captain, 123
Lunyoro language, 52

Macdon-\ld, Major (General Sir

Ronald), 233, 320
Mackie Ethnological Expedition, the,

vii, ix, 3
Mackie, Sir Peter, challenge cups for
Uganda schools from, 300
munificence of, viii, 3
Magic, native belief in power of, 188,

217
Magic-working, innocuous, 229
Marchand, Major, house of, at

Fashoda, 321
Marriage by capture, 90

ceremonies and customs, 89, 90, 95,
103 et seq.. 172 et seq., 182, 183,
185, 186, 245, 249, 272
fees, 68, 179, 183
milk, and what it signified, 181
Masai tribe, 277

resemblance to the Basabei, 270
Masaka, a night at, 49
Masindi, 125, 131, 132
author at, 133, 231
mission station at, 221
work in, 136, 224
Mats, sacred, 207
Mau Escarpment, the, 36
Mb ale, Government station at, 239, 241,
250
Kakungulu's possessions at, 244
return to, 279

starting work among the Bagesu,
239
Mbarara, arrival at, 51

Mbarara, condition of, 77

plantain cultivators in, 76
Meat-eating, ceremonial, 149
Medicine-man, a, and an aeroplane,
283

the chief, 158, 212
Medicine-men, exorcising the ghost, 85,
189 et seq.

skill of, 159
Mengo, 45
Middle class, the, origin! and influence

of, 142, 153
Milk diet, effect of, 57

of the king, 144

taboos, 92, 159
Milking the sacred cows, 144 et seq.,

206
Milkmaids of the king, 144 et seq.
Milkmen of the king, 144 et seq.
Milkpot, royal, 148
Mill Hill, mission workers from, 298
Missionaries, difficulties encountered

by, 308 et seq.
Missions, 126, 298, 299, 308, 321
Mitchell, Dr. Chalmers, 283
Mock kings, and their courts, 200

strangling of, 200, 203
Mombasa, arrival at, 23

climate of, 29, 31, 32

decline of, 32

first days in, 26 et seq.

first sight of, 24

route to Khartoum and Cairo, 221

sights of, 29

the cathedral at, 30
Mongola, 321
Moon, the, and childbirth, 62, 212

and marriage, 213
Moslem influence, effects of, 326
Mosquitoes, a plague of, 231, 288
Mosquito-proof houses, 241
Mother of the king, 176
Motor service, connexions by land and

sea, 221
Motors, a regular service of, 220
Mount Elgon, a holiday tour round
281 et seq.

arable land on, 250

Bagesu tribe on, 244, 24b

journey to, 237 et seq.

kraals on, 270

scenery of, 266

special initiation ceremonies on, 237
Mountains, sacred, 214
Mourning ceremonies, 193
Mpologoma River, crossing the, 287
Muchwa, 173
Mugabe, definition of, 52
" Mugoli wa Muchwa," meaning of the

title, 173
Mukama, definition of, 224
Munyawa, head of the royal clan, 174

334

Index

Murder, trial lor : the king as judge,

70 et seq.
Mutesa entertains Stanley, 45
Mutilation among pastoral tribes, 277
Mwanga, King of Buganda, and
Kabnrega, 138
and the murder of Bishop Hanning-

ton, 30, 290
death of, 140
flight and capture of, 139
Kakungulu and, 242
treachery of, 30
Mwoka, Lake, 100

Nabumale, a visit to, 282
Nairobi, 30, 31

arrival at, 35

environs of, 37

railway repair workshops at, 36

railway to, 33
Nakasero, 44, 45

Namirembe Kampala, a visit to, 41
Nandi tribe, the, 268, 270, 277
Natal, arrival at, 16
Ndohola, deity of the Bahuma, 78
Negro-Hamitic races, possibilities of,

306
New-moon ceremonies, the, 62, 209 et

seq., 225
Nile, cataracts of the, 316

dams, the, 325

scenerv, 320, 322
Nilotic races, 234, 319

and Bunyoro, 141

in Teso, 234-5
Nimule, 301, 315

" Nyina Mukama," meaning of the
title, 172

Oath, taking the, 257

Obesity of women as a mark of beauty,

57, 64, 179
Oflicers of Uganda Protectorate, a

tribute to, 303
Oliver, Captain, of Clan MacQuarric, 22
Omdurman, a visit to, 324
Christian hospital at, 325
school at, 324
the Mahdi's house at, 324
Ore-digging, an ofEering to the spirit

of the hill, 164
Ornaments, love of Teso women for,

235
Owen Falls, the, 293

Pageant at Hoima, 225

Papyrus, luxuriant growth of, 287,

288
Pastors, training of native, 222, 309
Pastoral tribes, the, 57 et seq., 66 et seq.,

95, 186, 269, 277

Pastoral tribes, dividing line between,

277
Peas, multi-coloured edible, 101, 108
Phillips, Mr., garden of, 108
Pilkington, Mr. G. L., 309
Plantain cultivation, 76

fibre, 162, 171
Plantains, disease among, 48
Polyandry, existence of, in Ankole, 63
Polygamy in Ankole, 64

in Kigezi, 104

in Bunyoro, 186
Porridge in marriage ceremony, 184
Portal, Sir Gerald, 45
Porterage, system of, 105, 238
Potters, Ankole, 74, 75

Bunyoro, 167
Pottery, hand-made, 74
Priest of the Sacred Forest, the, ofTice

of, 81
Priest, the king as, 153 et seq., 204 et

seq.
Princes, early marriage of, 178
Princesses, marriage of, 95, 177

their part in basket-work and bark-
cloth painting, 169
Property, clan-communism regarding,
193

women's rights regarding, 88
Provincial Commissioner, natives and,

281
Puff-adder, a, swallows a frog, 315
Pumps, ancient, 326
Purification ceremonies, 81 et seq.,
88 et seq., 182, 202

of milkmen, 145
Pygmies in Belgian territory, 101
Pythons, sacredness of, 80, 84

Queen, the, how appointed in Bun-
yoro, 172 et seq.
reception-room of, 173-4
sceptre of, 174

Raids for cattle, 216-217
Rain-makers, 154 et seq., 258 et seq.

their sacred place, 209
Rains, and the division of the year, 62,

209
R-unstorm, an unusual, 267
Rangkok arrives at Durban, 18
Reception feast after marriage, the, 184
Redman, 30

Reincarnation, behef in, 82, 200
Rejaf, 315 et seq.

road to, 221, 316
Requirements of the native, 306
Rinderpest, 65, 99, 159, 227
Ripon Falls, the, 293, 294
Rivers, crossing, 119 et seq.
Road-building, 220, 305

Index

335

Roman Catholic missions, 298, 299
Roscoe, Rev. John, a pageant arranged
for, 225

a prisoner in Bagamoyo, 27

a stay in Kampala, 41

and consecration of Uganda cathe-
dral, 42

and Kakungulu, 239, 242 el seq.

and the Bamalaki, 262 et seq.

as supernumerary on cargo ship,
5 et seq.

attends Bagesu initiation ceremonies,
255

ethnological investigations of, vii,
26 et seq.

explores a graphite mine, 228

farewell to Uganda, 300 et seq.

investigates caves of Mount Elgon,
274

journey from Mbale to Sabei, 265
et seq.

meets an old pupil, 237

reaches London, 327

repori:s on Gordon College, 325

sees the rain-makers' temple, 225

the journey home, 314 et seq.

visits salt-works, 112 et seq.^ 228

visits the king of Ankole, 55, 94

witnesses an extraordinary astro-
nomical sight, 13

work in Bunyoro, 135
Royal Society, the, viii, 3
Royal standards, curious, 210
Ruble, Mr., 49, 50
Rufuki River, 100

Sabei, journey to, 265 et seq.
Sacred cows, 144 et seq.

milking the, 144 et seq., 206
Sacred drums, 94 et seq.
Sacred Guild, the, 176, 177, 207

introduction into, 196

trial of a member of, 210
Sacred pools, 160 et seq.
Sacrifices, human, 161
Salt, the king's tax on, 162

why given to cows, 159
Salt-works at Kibero, 159 el seq., 228

of Bunyoro, 159, 228

of Toro, 112 el seq.

sacred pools at, 160
Scarifications among Bagesu, 253
School for children, at Kamuli, 299

at Kibero, 230

in Kaberole, 126
Sekibobo, 291

Semliki Valley, hot springs of, 113, 124,
160

salt in the, 124
Settlers, duties of, 219, 312
Shark's fight with a whale, 16

Shaw, Mr., head of Sudan Mission, 321

Sheep as marriage fee, 68

Shilluk tribe, 321

Shimba Hills, 24, 32

Shrines for ^osts, 59, 85, 86, 89, 214,

252
Sickness, charms against, 79

how regarded and treated, 85, 188
et seq.

in the herd, 85
Sipi Fall, the, and its vegetation, 266

the caves, 276
Sir Samuel Baker, 132, 230, 315
Sleeping sickness area, a, 109, 110,

127
Smelting, the process of, 163 et seq.
Smelting-furnace, a, 165
Smiths, the, of Bunyoro, 166-167

of Bakama, 277
Somali tribe, the, 277
Soroti, 233

a cotton company at, 235

arrival at, 234
Souls, transmigration of, 80 et seq.
Spear-holder, the royal, 207
Speke, explorations of, 1, 141, 218
Spirit of the hill, propitiating the, 164,
166

of the tree, 163
Spirits, alcoholic, care necessary in

discharging, 21
Stanley, Sir H., a famous letter from,
and its results, 45

entertained by Mutesa, 45

explorations of, 1
State-trial, a, 210

Sterling, captain of Clan MacArthur,
6 et seq.

farewell to, 21
Storm at sea, a, 14
Succession, and how settled, 200
Sudan Mission, the, 321
Sudan, the, agriculture in, 322

entry into, 315
Sudanese troops in Toro, 123

mutiny of, 45
SuUivan,^Mr., 96
Surgery, advance of, in Uganda, 300

Taboos and their observance, 73, 92,

93, 164
Tar, difficulties of discharging, 21
Taranto, 326
Teachers, native, 311
Teeth extraction, the tribal custom of,

178, 277
Temples, Egyptian, 326
Teso country, 233, 234

cattle in, 218

Kakungulu's work in, 243

people of, 234, 235

336

Index

Thunderstorms, heavy, 107, 128
Time, divisions of, 62, 208
Toro, 112, 123

coffee-growing in, 124
crossing the rivers, 119 ct seq.
difficulties on the march, 115 e/ seq.
salt-works of, 112 et seq., 124
the people of, 125
Totemic clans and their customs, 69

(see also Clans)
Transmigration of souls, the, belief in,

80
Transport, improved methods of, 220,

302
Tree-spirits, propitiating the, 163
Tribes becoming extinct, 307
Triplets, birth of, and the attendant

penalties, 187
Tucker, Rt. Rev. A. R., first Bishop of

Uganda, 42
Turkana tribe, the, 234, 268, 277
Twins, birth of, and a dance in honour
of event, 186

Uganda, Bishop Hannington at, 30

consecration of cathedral of, 42

cultivation of the land in, 306

depopulation of, 307

education in, 299-300

farewell to, 300

native agents of, 304

progressive changes in, 40

skill of native surgeons in, 300

state of the country, 301 et seq.

the missions in, 308 et seq. (see also
Missions)

the native pastors, 222, 309

tribute to officers of, 303
Uganda Protectorate, government of,
284 et seq.

Western Province of, 52

Uganda Railway, survey of, 233

terminus of, 29, 31
Ugogo, buildings of, 269
Usagara hills, the, buildings in, 269

Vegetable diet, effects of, 66
Veiled women, 99
Venereal disease, 237, 307
Ventriloquism as aid to medicine-men,

191
Victoria Nile, 293-4

Wahumba tribe, the, 270
Walker, Archdeacon, 42
Wamala, Bahuma deity, 78
Wamegi tribe, the, 270
War, country in time of, 201
Warfare, native, 216
Wart-hog, a scared, 130
Waterfalls, African, 108
Water-power on the Victoria Nile, 293
Water-spirits, African belief in, 100,

121
Wellcome, Mr., munificent gift from, x
Wellcome Research Laboratory, Khar-
toum, 325
Whale's fight with a shark, 16
Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Lea, 321
Wireless installation on cargo ships, 8
Wives of the king, 152, 177
Women, agriculturist, 227

death and burial of, 89

potters, 74

work of, 92, 126, 183, 227

Year, the, how reckoned
Ankole peoples, 62

Zanzibar, 23
Sultan of, 28

among

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