Soldiering and Sport in Uganda 



And all this waste of human life was mainly- 

 due to rank Pagan superstitions, such as when 

 an army went out to fight it was customary to 

 bury a living child in the path to appease the 

 spirits. It was therefore doubly essential for the 

 missionaries to combat this fearful heathenism in 

 order to put an end to the terrible bloodshed. Even 

 to this day an utter disregard of life is one of the 

 chief characteristics of the Baganda; they cannot 

 feel pain in the same sense as Europeans, for they 

 think nothing of having their teeth extracted, and 

 will joke even under an operation, and they laugh 

 merrily at stories and pictures of tortures and 

 cruelties. A deformed or mutilated person causes 

 them much amusement; and, to quote the Rev. 

 H. T. C. Weatherhead, "one has to learn that the 

 grotesque, however terrible, is humorous in Africa." 

 It is well, indeed, for the oppressed to have that 

 saving sense of humour to support them in their 

 heavy trials. 



Such a personality as our friend the dwarf, 

 shown in the illustration, provokes never-ending 

 amusement; also the King's jester is a personage 

 of note, and quite a necessary functionary at the 

 King's "Court." He performs quaint acrobatic 

 feats, and precedes at the head of the King's safari, 

 making the natives laugh till their sides are sore by 

 his weird contortions and grimaces. The witch- 

 doctor, too, is, or was, a man of some importance. 

 He used to exercise great power in the olden days; 

 but the advance of civilization and Christianity is 



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