Wiru, also mbtigti (bark-cloaks), from an inexhaustible
fig-tree; in short, the lands of the Wiru were fajnous for
their rich productions.
Now Wirii in the northern dialect changes to Waddii
in the southern ; hence Uddti, the land of the slaves,
which remained in one connected line from the Nile to
the Kitangiile Kagera until eight generations back, when,
according to tradition, a sportsman from Unyoro, by name
Uganda, came with a pack of dogs, a woman, a spear, and
a shield, hunting on the left bank of Katonga valley, not
far from the lake. He was but a poor man, though so
successful in hunting that vast numbers of the Wirii
flocked to him for flesh, and became so fond of him as to
invite him to be their king, saying, “ Of what avail to us
is our present king, living so far away that when we sent
him a cow as a tributary offering, that cow on the journey
gave a calf, and the calf became a cow and gave another
calf, and so on, and yet the present has not reached its
destination ? ”
At first Uganda hesitated, on the plea that they had
a king already, but on being farther pressed consented;
when the people hearing his name said, “ Well, let it be
so ; and for the future let this country between the Nile
and Katonga be called Uganda, and let your name be
Kimera, the first king of Uganda.”
. The same night. Kimera stood upon a stone with a
spear in his hand, and a woman and dog sitting by his
side; and to this day people assert that his footprints and
the mark left by his spear-end, as well as the seats of
the woman and dog, are visible. The report of these
circumstances soon reached the great king of Unyoro,
who, in his magnificence, merely said, “ The poor creature
must be starving; allow him to feed there if he likes.”
The kings who have succeeded Kimera are : 1. Mahanda;
2, Katereza; 3. Chabago ; 4. Simakokiro ; 5. Kamanya ;
6. Siinna; 7. Mtesa, not yet crowned.