THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



fknto bij 3lr. A. li. Fishei 



NUBIAN POLICE, UGANDA. 



the pelele or lip- plug, aiid 

 speak Bantu languages. The 

 Wankonde, though now in- 

 cluded in German East Africa, 

 were originally studied by 

 British travellers, who have 

 given detailed accounts of 

 them. The word nkonde 

 means a banana, and the name 

 was given to the people on 

 account of the great extent 

 of their banana plantations. 



Colonel Lugard, who 

 waged a long war against 

 the Arab slavers at Karonga, 

 largely to protect the 

 Wankoude, has given the 

 following description of the 

 tribe: " The country is densely 

 populated. The men go 

 naked, and the women also, 

 save for a few inches of 

 bark-cloth. The people (who from their word of salutation are often called 'Sokilis') are very 

 friendly; but their familiarity is sometimes rather trying as when a savage, out of pure 

 goodwill, wanted to take my pipe out of my mouth to have his turn at a smoke, or when 

 my visitors insisted on my sharing their snuff. However, I defeated these by giving them 

 white pepper as the white man's equivalent! The villages are very large, and nestled for 

 mile after mile among groves of bananas. The huts are beautifully and very ornamentally 

 built, and are scrupulously clean; even the banana groves are clean swept around the villages. 

 The soil is very rich. Like the Waganda, these Wankonde, though possessing great herds of 

 cattle, are largely agricultural, and live mainly on bananas, roots, and grain. They owned 

 enormous herds of cattle, and for a few inches of the commonest calico milk by the quart or 

 gallon could be bought; eggs and fowls, and even goats and cattle, were excessively cheap." 



The courage of the Wankonde is remarkable, though they are not able to face in the 

 open the firearms of the slavers. But, says Lugard, "on two occasions it transpired that a 

 single individual had gone by night, and, digging under the enemy's stockade, had pulled out 

 one or two poles, under the very noses of their sentries, and, squeezing through, had abstracted 

 a cow from inside and driven it off." 



The Wankonde believe in fetish, and attribute all natural deaths to witchcraft. Accord- 

 ingly everybody, unless killed in battle, is subjected to a post-mortem examination, in order to 

 discover from the arrangement of the blood-vessels in the mesenteries to what form of witchcraft 

 the death was due. 



WANYAMWEZI. 



The Wanyamwezi are the main tribe or group in German East Africa, and owing to their 

 industry and commercial enterprise one of the most useful peoples in Eastern Africa. The 

 name is apparently of Suahili origin, and is now said to be applied to a group of tribes living 

 in the highland country south of the Victoria Nyanza. 



The Wanyamwezi as a race are tall and muscular. The colour of their skin is a dark 

 sepia-brown. The hair is 4 or 5 inches long, and is twisted into ringlets, or may be shaved 

 off except for a fillet in front and a tuft behind; the small beard may be retained, but the 

 moustache, eyelashes, and eyebrows are pulled out by the roots. The two front teeth are 



