The shins of small antelope, made white and soft as
kid, are put together so well that the sewing with
banana or aloe fibre is scarcely observed. They have
not attained the art of the brazier. The habits of the
people are so simple, that the fresh green leaf of the
banana serves them as a plate. Wine they drink out
of a corner of their cow-skin coverings; shoes, hats,
and gloves they have not yet obtained; and a strip
from a reed is their knife, as we have often seen when
the palace guards were at their excellent meal of good
boiled beef, mashed plantain, and wine. Their dinner
was a strange good-humoured scramble, the strongest
keeping meat from the weakest by snatching it away
or tossing it about. They are excellent cooks, cutting
butcher-meat up into very neat joints, wrapping them
with fresh plantain leaves, and boiling all in a large
earthen pot full of plantain, to which, by this process,
a rich flavour is added. Our Seedees missed many
a good dinner by not partaking of this fare, on
account of their profession as Mussulmans. They
could not eat plantain that had been boiled with
unlawful meat.
Lightning was said to be very much dreaded at
Uganda, but no cases of death occurred from it during
our stay. One of the king’s houses was burnt down,
the accident causing a great commotion, because on
the occurrence of such a calamity it is every one’s
duty to render aid. We did not call that day (the
30th June), because an interview would have been
impossible. The storm had commenced by rain at
1 p.m.; during a lull we had thunder, lightning, and
hail; by 5 p.m. all had cleared away, and .82 inch
of rain had fallen. During June, misty showers fell
almost every day, but not enough to measure in a
rain-gauge. The valleys were veiled every morning
by a dense fog, and very often we had no sun the
whole day. The heaviest shower noted was in the
following month of July (4th), when 1.04 inches were
measured.