v UGANDA 59 



use as charms to ward off evil spirits. Necklaces and 

 bracelets are worn in a becoming manner and these 

 people do not circumcise, nor disfigure their bodies by 

 keloid scars. They do not file or knock out the incisor 

 irt'th, nor work the hair into grotesque or fantastic 

 shapes. 



It is an extraordinary change to pass from the 

 Province of Kisumu, where the Kavirondo men and 

 women walk about more naked than our apple-loving 

 parents in the Garden of Eden, and enter Uganda, 

 where the natives exhibit the most scrupulous regard 

 for outward decency. This astonished Speke, for he 

 tells us in his account of Uganda (1863) that Mutesa 

 inflicted a heavy fine on courtiers who exposed their 

 legs in his presence, but he was not so particular in 

 regard to women. His valets were young women who 

 used to walk about the palace naked like the Kavirondo 

 girls. When Speke entered Uganda his donkey was 

 regarded as indecent without trousers. 



It is noteworthy that a negro people so punctilious 

 in outward decency especially in regard to clothes, and 

 strictly covering the body from neck to ankle, should 

 be considered among the most immoral of the African 

 races. The word Baganda is almost synonymous with 

 sensuality, debauchery, and drunkenness. In Uganda, 

 syphilis is almost universal. This terrible opinion is 

 supported by reliable medical men and the testimony of 

 bishops. 



Sir Harry Johnston states on the authority of Mon- 

 si^neur Streicher that in Mutesa's reign the population 

 of the Kingdom of Uganda approached 4,000,000. In 

 1901 it was estimated at little more than 1,000,000. 

 This decrease is partly due to the massacres which took 

 place between 1860 and 1898, especially under Mutesa 

 and M \\nnga. 



Human life had little value in Mutesa's court. Speke 

 gave this Kabaka some firearms and at his request shot 



