USOGA 83 



size. The planks are stitched together with some vegetable 

 fibre and caulked with water-weeds. The result is that all 

 the boats leak more or less freely ; and one man, placed in 

 the middle of the boat, is employed the whole time in baling 

 out the water with a gourd-bowl. From the lower anterior 

 part of the boat protrudes a long pointed nose like a ram, 

 and the stern terminates somewhat similarly. From the anterior 

 part there curves upwards a pole which becomes vertical, is 

 about five or six feet high, and is surmounted by an ornament. 

 The ornament usually consists of a pair of antelope horns, 

 between which a huge bunch of gay feathers is tied. A fluttering 

 festoon of shredded palm-leaves stretches from the base of the 

 antelope horns to the boat. Similar festoons deck both sides of 

 the boat near the stern. In spite of its size the boat can take 

 but five to seven porters with their loads. A large caravan 

 therefore requires quite a fleet of boats to cross Napoleon's 

 Gulf, as this strip of the lake is sometimes called. The bright- 

 coloured bunches of feathers, the picturesque boats, the noisy 

 crowd, make a pleasing and animated scene. The boatmen 

 use paddles made of a remarkably light but tough wood. 



The paddles are usually flat and spear-shaped ; some have a 

 slightly broader blade than others, but all terminate in a sharp 

 point. The men paddle almost incessantly for the hour and 

 a half it takes to cross the Nile. They sing merrily and keep 

 time with the splashing paddles, and the boat seems literally 

 to shoot through the water. Almost invariably a good-natured 

 but vigorous race takes place, which lightens labour and turns 

 toil into pleasure. The victorious crew then give a shout of 

 triumph and wave their paddles aloft. The men usually strip 

 to the waist whilst rowing, but at once don their bark-cloth on 

 landing. 



I had a rather curious experience on my first journey. I 

 was asked to accompany a fleet of about twenty of these boats 

 from Sio Bay (in Kavirondo) to Luba's (in Usoga); my com- 

 panion was to join me later on. We rowed almost without 

 a break from early dawn to 4 p.m. ; then the Wasoga boatmen 

 gave me to understand by signs, for there was not a soul 

 present who could speak to them, that they had done enouc^h 

 work for the day and would like to land; they pointed to a 

 spot where smoke indicated the presence of huts. Believin" 

 that they must know their own business best, I nodded assent. 



