588 



-BANTU XEGUOES 



appjilling depo[)ulation of the country consequent on civil wars and foreign 

 invasions. The animals or plants chosen as totems are much the same 

 as in Uganda, varying, however, with the existence or non-existence of the 

 svmbols in the Hora and fauna of Unyoro. There is probably a greater 

 preponderance of antelopes as totems compared with what occurs in Uganda. 

 It is unlawful by custom for a Munyoro to kill or eat the totem of his clan. 

 Thus, if the hartebeest should be the totem of a clan or family, members 

 of this clan must not kill or eat the hartebeest. I have never been able 

 to ascertain either from Eanyoro or Kagaiida that their forefathers at 

 any time believed the clan to be actually descended from the object 

 chosen as a totem. The matter remains very obscure. It may be remotely 

 connected witli ancestor-worship, which is certainly the foundation of such 

 religious beliefs as are held by the Eanyoro, as by most other Negro races. 

 Each tribe or clan has its own '• muchwezi." This word is translated by 

 the missionaries as "High Priest." •• ^Nluchwezi/' liowever, really seems to 



332- 



A KAM AMI IA\ K 



I^AKi.l'. KAI-IAILKII INYOKO BREED OF SHEEP 



mean two things, or the same thing with two meanings. It indicated 

 originally both the ghost of an ancestor or chief and the individuals of 

 the suj^erior. light-coloured (iaia race of almost Caucasian stock, which 



