746 BANTU NEGROES 



of the Nzoia River. Then there are the Awa-wanga* who dwell between 

 the Yala River on the south and the Upper Sio on the north, inhabiting 

 mainly the central valley of the Nzoia. The eastern branches of this 

 last-named tribe call themselves Kakumega, Aba-kumega. North-east of 

 the Awa-wanga is the large tribe of the Aba-kabarasi (known to the 

 Masai and to many Europeans as the Ketosh). The Kabarasi people 

 extend their range to the southern flanks of Mount Elgon. South of the 

 Yala River there is a break in the distribution of the Kavirondo, caused 

 by the intrusion of the Nilotic tribe of the Ja-luo. Bantu-speaking 

 Kavirondo begin to reappear in the Nyando Valley, near the head of 

 Kavirondo Bay, and stretch southwards for a considerable distance towards 

 the forest-clad heights west of the Lumbwa country and north of the 

 Mori River. In this southern extension they are known amongst 

 themselves as the Aba-kisii, and near the Victoria Nyanza as the Aiva- 

 kisingirL The Masai, however, call them Kosova. Finally, the eastern 

 coast-lands of the Victoria Nyanza, from the south side of the entrance 

 into Kavirondo Bay up to the German frontier, are occupied by the 

 Awa-tvare, who include the Awa-singa of Rusinga Island. 



It would seem to me as though the clans among the Kavirondo 

 Bantu possess totems or sacred animals or plants, but I have not been 

 able to ascertain that such is actually the case. Observers like Mr. Foaker 

 and Mr. Hobley (to both of whom I am much indebted for information) 

 consider that the clans among these people are probably the descendants 

 of notable chiefs. In the previous chapter it was related how a wealthy 

 and virile chief like Luba amongst the Basoga could in some forty years 

 present his country with 1,000 stalwart descendants, who already, no 

 doubt, class themselves apart as a separate clan. It is easy to see, 

 therefore, how similar clans could arise in Kavirondo. 



Among the Kavirondo women are in excess of men, and the people 

 are naturally inclined towards polygamy. It is highly improbable that 

 any woman goes to her death unmarried ; for if no suitor asks for her in 

 the ordinary way, she will single out a man and offer herself to him 

 at a ''reduced price." The man would be hardly likely to refuse, 

 since a woman in that country is a first-class agricultural labourer;. The 

 Kavirondo practise exogamy — that is to say, they endeavour not to 

 marry within their clan, but outside it. By those who know them, the 

 Kavirondo are stated to be much more moral than the other Negro 

 tribes of the Protectorate, or were so in the past before they became 

 corrupted by Swahili porters from the coast, Indians, and white men. 

 Until quite recently adultery on the part of a wife was punished with 



* Hobley includes under the tribal name " Awa-rimi " the Awa-wanga and 

 Kabarasi people. 



