ANIMISTIC PLANTING MAN 39 



but one bird, so far as I know, the Nketeidenge. This 

 is strange, as we might have expected the birds, etc., 

 acting as omens to have been present. 



Category of Travail and Construction. 



/WorU 

 Class 7 < Bu 



( Bu, pi. Ma or Mi. 



This is the season of storing, and so of comparative 

 happiness Wete, also of idleness Wolo, and there is 

 wealth Umvwama. On the other hand, the pregnant 

 woman in giving birth prematurely very often dies ; it 

 is therefore a time of fear Wonga. Should she die, 

 man has to live without his wife Umpumpa, and this 

 state of bereavement Unsona is hell to him ( Ubilungi), 

 he is in a shattered and broken state Udika, and in 

 his recklessness Umpumbulu, and blindness Umpofo y 

 he does foolish things. 



In this class many words commencing with Bu, such 

 as Buzabu, capacity, and many others which in English 

 end in " ity," remain unchanged in the plural. It is 

 also interesting as a class, as many words included in it 

 imply construction and organisation ; such as a town 

 Buala, plural Mala, which suggests to the mind the 

 organisation of a human society ; or Buta, plural Mata 

 a gun ; Buatu or Lungu a canoe, plural Miatu or 

 Malungu. 



There are apparently no animals in this class, but 

 we have Unkundia, the edible weevil, who now becomes 

 visible in the stored corn. 



