BANTU NEGROES 



577 



safe. Why, So-and-»So (mentioning a Bakonjo head-man) is now able to 

 keep cows ! " 



Cattle, in fact, are gradually reappearing amongst the domestic animals of 

 the Bakonjo. Sometimes they are of the zebu (humped) breed, obtained from 

 the direction of Lake Albert or of Uganda; here and there, however, the 

 long-horned cattle of Ankole have been obtained by commercial transactions. 

 They keep goats, sheep, and fowls, and the usual kind of pariah clogs, 

 which they use for purposes of hunting. 



The Bakonjo, as will be related in Chapter XX., speak a most interesting 

 language, one which, together with the dialects of the western slope of 

 Mount Elgon, may claim to be the most archaic example of Bantu speech 

 existing at the present day. It is an open question which of the two 

 tongues — Lukonjo or the Masaba speech of Elgon — comes nearest to the 

 original Bantu mother-tongue, as it existed some 2,000 or 3,000 years ago 

 in the very heart of Africa. In many respects the Bakonjo appear to 

 have been the first Bantu-speaking invaders from the north, the precursors 

 of the nearly allied Baganda and Banyoro ; or, as it is always dangerous 



ISIA ARUMS, THE ROOT OK WHICH IS EATEN BY NATIVES OF WEST 

 AND WEST CENTRAL AFRICA 



