44 EASTERN ETHIOPIA iv 



tried to secure places in boats already overfull, and 

 hundreds of them were drowned. 



On the island of Bubernbe, in the Sesse group, 

 Mukasa, the great goddess of the Victoria Nyanza, 

 had her temple, and some of the islands in this 

 archipelago had less important gods. The priests 

 of Mukasa had great power. It was believed that 

 this goddess could prevent storms on the lake ; make 

 rain ; draw a tooth ; or kill kings. Cunningham 

 found, in a French record, that in the year 187.9 

 Mukasa " tied up " the lake for three months and 

 would not allow anyone to touch its waters. At 

 length King Mutesa was obliged to send an offering of a 

 hundred slaves, a hundred women, a hundred cows, and 

 a hundred goats to the temple, and Mukasa untied 

 the lake. 



Sacrifices of goats and cows were made to the goddess 

 at her temple on Bubembe. This island is about four 

 miles long and two wide ; it is fertile, well-wooded, and 

 picturesque. The temple has practically disappeared. 

 This is not a matter for surprise, for such temples were 

 merely built of mud and wood and thatched withgra.-s. 

 Mukasa may be regarded as the Neptune of the lake, 

 and the priests carried a paddle as an emblem of their 

 office. This paddle they used as a walking-stick. 



Kome is eleven miles long and eight broad. The chief 

 informed Cunningham of a curious custom which 

 prevails on this island. If within the first year of 

 married life a child is not born, the husband is under- 

 stood to be at fault and the wife may make overtures 

 to the husband's brother. When the intrigue is 

 successful the husband is informed, and life assumes its 

 normal features. The natives of this island cultivate 

 bananas, beans, potatoes, coffee, Indian corn, and 

 tobacco. The Sesse Archipelago forms a county of 

 Uganda, and is represented in the Native Parliament. 



The Buvuma Group consists of seven islands near 

 the north-east corner of the lake, adjacent to the coast 



