586 



BANTU NEGROES 



be considered wholesome for eating. 

 It is said by the same authority that 

 the Banyoro have never been ac- 

 customed to hunt either the lion or 

 the leopard. Antelopes are occasion- 

 ally caught in nets, and also by 

 means of that snare that is met 

 with in so many parts of Africa (see 

 Index). This consists of a stiff, flat 

 circle of pointed segments of wood 

 or reed, on which is placed a running 

 noose of leather. Fish are caught 

 in basketwork traps. 



The domestic animals are cattle, 

 sheep, and goats. Dogs have be- 

 come scarce since the recent wars, 

 numbers of them having been carried 

 off to Bukedi and Uganda. Fowls 

 are not numerous, and are usually 

 kept as pets, being very seldom 

 eaten by the people. The cattle, 

 sheep, and goats are those of Uganda 

 — that is to say, the goats and sheep 

 are of the ordinary Central African 

 type, and the cattle belong to the 

 humped, short-horned breed, here 

 and there, however, showing traces 

 of having mingled in times past 

 with the long-homed Gala ox origin- 

 ally brought in by the Bahima. 



The staple food at the present 

 day is the sweet potato and the 

 eleusine grain. The sesamum oil-seed and red sorghum corn are also 

 grown, besides a little maize. The people make a great deal of beer from 

 eleusine grain, and its consumption not infrequently leads to drinking 

 bouts and quarrels. 



The marriage customs, so far as any now exist, are similar to those in 

 force in Uganda, where the people have not changed owing to the 

 acceptance of Christianity. 



As regards special customs connected with the birth of children, the 

 present writer is informed by the Rev. A. B. Fisher that when a woman 

 gives birth to a child she is placed on the floor of the hut before the fire, 



330. A MVNYORO MAX (OF KABAREGA's FAMILY 



