Waganda War In s trum e n ts .
i. The Salute of the Waganda. 2. Ivory ornaments for legs. 3. King’s leg ornaments. 4. Men’s wreaths.
5. Head ornaments. 6. Shield and spears. 7,8 . Necklaces. 9. King’s amulet of beads. 10. Necklaces.
11. Woman’s dirk. 12,13,14. Charms. 15. Spears. 16. Anklet of serpent skin and bolt of wood.
These kings have all carried on the same system of
government as that commenced by Kimera, and proved
themselves a perfect terror to Unyoro, as we shall see in
the sequel. Kimera, suddenly risen to eminence, grew
proud and headstrong—formed a strong clan around him,
whom he appointed to be his Wakungu, or officers—
rewarded well, punished severely, and soon became magnificent.
Nothing short of the grandest palace, a throne
to sit upon, the largest harem, the smartest officers, the
best dressed people, even a menagerie for pleasure—in
fact, only the best of everything—would content him.
Fleets of boats, not canoes, were built for war, and armies
formed, that the glory of the king might never decrease.
In short, the system of government, according to barbarous
ideas, was perfect. Highways were cut from one
extremity of the country to the other, and all rivers
bridged. No house could be built without its necessary
appendages for cleanliness; 110 person, however poor,
could expose his person : and to disobey these laws was
death.
After the death of Kimera, the'prosperity of Uganda
never decreased, but rather improved. The clan of officers
formed by him were as proud of their iemaneipation
from slavery, as the king they had created was of his
dominion over them. They buried Kimera with state
honours, giving charge of the body to the late king’s most
favourite consort, whose duty it was to dry the corpse
by placing it on a board resting 011 the mouth of an
earthen open pot heated by fire from below. When this
drying process was completed, at the expiration of three
months, the lower jaw was cut out and neatly worked
over with beads; the umbilical cord, which had been
preserved from birth, was also worked with beads. These
were kept apart, but the body was consigned to a tomb,
and guarded ever after by this officer and a certain number
of the king’s next most favourite women, all of whom