contents of these idol horns must be renewed periodically,
as the charm within them is supposed to live
or have power only for a certain period of time.
Some other superstitions were observed on this route :
By the path a pole was stuck into the ground, with
a large land-shell or some relic on the end of i t ; or
the same relic was placed on the tallest branch of a
tree. In the same way that we sometimes place a
horse-shoe behind our front door, they hang a small
charm of rush and feathers, or have a magic wand in
the house. The Waganda had anklets of seeds, wood,
&c., which were supposed to keep away snake-bites ;
but few or no snakes were seen. Their other cbarms
and ornaments consisted of tiaras of the abrus seeds,
tiaras of large snowberries, necklaces of the scarlet
amomum fruit, tusks of the wild boar, horn-tips of
antelope, and a square or kidney-shaped pendant round
the neck, covered with the skin of a serpent.
The industry and wealth of the Wazeewa or Mohia
(a race mentioned in the Karague chapter), amongst
whom our camp was pitched for a few days, was very
marked. Some of them had migrated from the right
to the left bank of the Kitangule, and were now cultivators
under the king of Uganda, bringing all the
grains of the country for barter into our camp. They
seemed a very cleanly race, using little or no grease pomade
on their bodies, and never sitting down unless
some grass or leaves were placed between them and the
ground. Many of their bark-cloths were coloured red
crimson, having zigzag marks of black upon them. They
dressed their cow-skins very beautifully, placing them
stretched on a huge upright square frame to be thinned
by scraping with a hatchet; this was observed in Bogweh
also. One chief amongst them came to see me,
leading his fat brindled dog, partly of bull-dog extraction.
He wore a silvery roan-coloured cow-skin down
his back, and slung from the neck—a most handsome
garb, almost lustrous, and of which he seemed very
proud. Their women were comely; and although
they had an objection to allow me to drink out of their
gurrahs or earthen jars of water, one of them, while
her husband, an officer in the king’s service, was
absent, wished to accompany me on the march; but
even this pleasure had to be declined, and the pretty
Wazeewa had to console herself, as many others did,
without even a lock of my straight hair, which was
the wonder of them all. These people paid great attention
to their plantain orchards. The bunches sometimes
contained 200 large fruit, bending the stems,
which had to be supported by a forked stick or ropes.
On the fruit being ripe the tree is cut down, to permit
the growth of the young shoot, which comes from the
parent root. All the groves are of bare-poled single
trees, which makes the fruit much finer than if the trees
were allowed to grow in clusters; and should the leafstalk
droop too much from the trunk, the natives bandage
it up to prevent rain from beating into the heart
of the tree. They use large circular trays, four feet
across, made of osiers, and covered with cow-dung, for
drying their grain in the sun. An article of diet not
seen before was locusts; a number of them were
brought in by a woman to be roasted as food. They
were one inch long, had two pairs of wings, and antennae
1-| inches long. White ants also, when young
and freshly fledged, were caught in a framework placed
over their mound of earth, to be eaten by the people.