Some little boys came bere wbo bad all tbeir bair
shaved off excepting two round tufts on
To MbtilS, 8A . . , . , „ f , Y 1 mi ,1 either side of tbe bead. Tbey were the
king’s pages; and, producing tbree sticks, said tbey bad
brought them to. me from tbeir king, who wanted three
charms or medicines. Then placing one stick on tbe
ground before me, tbey said, “ This one is a bead which,
being affected by dreams of a deceased relative, requires
relief;” tbe second symbolised tbe king’s desire for tbe
accomphshment of a phenomenon to which tbe old pbalic
worship was devoted; “ and this third one,” tbey said,
If is a sign that tbe king wants a charm to keep all bis
subjects in awe of him.” I then promised I would do
what I could when I reached tbe palace, but feared to do
anything in tbe distance. I wished to go on with tbe
march, but was dissuaded by N’yamgundu, wbo said be
bad received orders to find me some cows here, as bis
king was most anxious I should be well fed.. Next day,
however, we descended into tbe Katonga valley, where,
instead of finding a magnificent broad O O sheet of water,7 as
I had been led to expect by the Arabs’ account of it, I
found I had to wade through a succession of rush-drains
divided one from the other by islands. It took me two
hours, with my clothes tucked up under my arms, to get
through them all; and many of them were so matted with
weeds, that my feet sank down as though I trod in a bog.
The Waganda all said that at certain times in the
year no one could ford these drains, as they all flooded ;
but, strangely enough, they were always lowest when
most rain fell in Uganda. No one, however, could account
for this singular fact. No one knew of a lake to
supply the waters, nor where they came from. That
they flowed into the lake there was no doubt—as I could
see by the trickling waters in some few places—and they
lay exactly on the equator. Eising out of the valley, I
found all the country just as hilly as before, but many