718 BANTU NEGROES 



with that which follows the actual deposit of a corpse in its grave under 

 the house. In parts of Busoga there is the following custom, said to he 

 derived from the north : The head of a person after death is washed, and 

 the lips are daubed with oil. 



In religion the Basoga are still mainly pagan. Especially is this 

 the case with the large island of Buvuma, situated near the birth of the 

 Nile between Uganda and Busoga. The natives of Buvuma are fetish- 

 ridden and extremely superstitious. The tall, peaked fetish huts and 

 temples which are placed outside their settlements have already been 

 described in Chapter II., and are illustrated here. The following are the 

 names of the "ba-lubare," or devils, worshipped in Buvuma: — 



Irukoma. 

 Isodzi. 



Buvuma. 



Kasota. 



Wesege (dwells in a big tree). 



Nambaga (influences the " medicine " kept in little horns). 



Kitiko. 



Meru. 



Buyegu. 



Nabirie (presides over the birth of twins). 



The principal spirits worshipped among the Basoga are : — 



Nasamba. Nalango. 



Walumbe. Kitako. 



Waitambtigwe. Kalesa. 



Kintu. Duungu. 



Maganda. Nabisana. 



Maero. Kigulu. 



Bugingo. Kaliro. 



Takwe. Naigombwa. 



Kisalumkaba. Lumbui. 



Kirongo. Kamiantumbe. 



Luka-nraembe. Kakua Kambuzi. 



There are, of course, priests in Busoga who attend to the special 

 worship of each of these spirits. When a Musoga is anxious to obtain 

 anything from the supernatural agencies, he makes an offering at the 

 shrine of one or more of the above-mentioned spirits. According to his 

 means he may give a bull, a goat, or a fowl, the amount of the gift also- 

 varying according to the importance of the spirit whose help is claimed 

 and the extent of the request. Certain rivers in Busoga are connected 

 with the worship of spirits, and are thought to be the homes of special 

 4 * lubare." Formerly the Basoga punished severely the seduction of 

 a virgin. If a man was convicted of such a crime, and the woman's- 



