720 BANTU NEGROES 



huitlfd, they took off all clothing;, and \vra|i[)((l roiiiul their aviii> and 

 necks ropes made of giceii oreej ers and heaves. Arrived at tlie base of 

 the tree they coinnient-ed to dance with figures not unlike tliose of a 

 <|uadrine. the dancing being accompanied by songs only. No (h-unis or 

 other instruments were played. After dancing for a certain time they 

 stoppt^cL and a httle girl was brought forward, about ten years old. This 

 child was laid out at the base of the ti(^(^ as though she was to be 

 i^acrificed. and every detail of the sacritict^ was gone through in inock 

 fashion. A slight incision was made in the child's neck, Imt not such as 

 to seriously hurt her. She was then caught up and thrown into the water 

 •of the lake close at hand. Here a man was standing ready to save hei- 

 from being drowned. The girl on whom this ceremony was performed 

 was, my informant learnt, dedicated hy native custom to a life of 

 perpetual virginity. 



The Basoga regard with a certain degree of superstitious reverence 

 white bulls with black spots. These are regarded as sacred cattle, and 

 are allowed to wander at will about the plantations. 



Christianity is now making some progress in the western part ol' 

 Busoga. Muhammadanism has but few adherents. Nevertheless, Islam, 

 coming from the Nile and from Zanzibar, has made several attempts at 

 proselytism in Busoga. The great idea of the Sudanese mutineers was to 

 ■create a ]Muhammadan kingdom in Busoga in case I'ganda should prove 

 too liard a nut to crack. They would hereafter have established a 

 •connection between the ]Muhammadans on the U[)per Nile and those 

 who (would then have) commanded the northern shores of tlie A^ictoria 

 Nyanza. 



The Basoga liave suffered terribly of late years from occasional 

 famines and epidemics of disease. The famines have been due to 

 unusual droughts which have afflicted a country ordinarily blessed with 

 fifty to seventy inches of annual rain. The heavy rainfall however, is, 

 much confined to the vicinity of the lake shores, and at distances of forty 

 or fifty miles from the coast of tlie A'ictoria Nyanza the dense forest 

 yields to a prairie country where the sun's rays are very scorching. The 

 least decrease in the rainfall below fifty inches is prejudicial to the 

 bearing of the banana, and as the Basoga. like the Baganda, rely too 

 much on this easily produced food, when the banana fails they have not 

 sufficient staple in other produce to fall back on. But the race is being 

 saved, and the ravages of disease and famine made good in some districts, 

 by a few notable chiefs who are marvellous getters of children. The 

 great chief Luba. who resides near Fort Thruston, and who was the 

 unwilling in>tnnnen< in the nuu-der of Bisho}) Hannington. is still a 

 vigorous man of jjerhaps sixty, and has had more than a hundred 



