60 EASTERN ETHIOPIA v 



four cows with a revolving pistol. Mutesa then handed 

 a carbine full-cock to a page and told him to shoot a 

 man in the outer court. On the return of the page he 

 asked, " Did you do it well ? " " Oh yes, capitally," 

 said the boy. 



Infant mortality is very great among the natives 

 it is rare to find a woman with more than one 

 child : they have little love for their children. The 

 Baganda learn arithmetic with great facility ; a lady 

 missionary was very proud that one woman in her class 

 had shown exceptional ability and could work out vulgar 

 fractions. The missionary then stated that this 

 woman had a sick child, and as it showed no signs of 

 improving, and as nursing interfered with her arithmetic, 

 she left the little child in the forest at night for the 

 hyaenas. 



Uganda is not much troubled with lions, but leopards 

 are often a nuisance. Shortly before our visit, some of 

 the villages had been worried by a man-eating leopard. 

 A native party was organised to kill this animal. Nine 

 of the party were badly mauled by the leopard and 

 four of them subsequently died from their wounds. 



Leopards are sometimes very bold, and have been 

 known to seize and make off with patients in the 

 sleeping-sickness camps. A Government official was 

 having a shauri with a party of natives in Naudi : they 

 were sitting round an ant-hill when suddenly a hare 

 chased by a leopard appeared and dodged about among 

 the men. A timely and well-placed bullet cut short 

 his career. 



All who have visited Uganda are unanimous in regard 

 to the fertility of the soil. The valleys are moist with 

 frequent showers which render them extremely favour- 

 able for the cultivation of bananas. The mists and 

 rains which are so beneficial are probably due to the 

 regular south wind which blows across the lake and 

 carries the watery vapour with it, to fall on the verdant 

 hills along its northern shores. The amount of watery 



