98 



UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



England my wife saw, admired, and annexed them • and now 

 they are enthroned amongst her sacred knick-knacks ! 



Personally 1 do not care for " muenge." I dislike its sour 

 taste and smell, though some Europeans rather like it. 



" Mbisi " is the fresh unfermented banana juice. My Wahima 

 boy frequently prepared this beverage for me. It resembles 

 w'ater with a flavour of bananas and sweetened, and yet no 

 water has been added. He prepared it very easily. Soft ripe 

 bananas were peeled and placed in an earthen bowl together 

 with a handful of the long, lance-shaped, and sharp-edged leaves 



WAGANDA SO.\r-SELLERS. 



of a very common kind of grass. The mass was crushed and 

 kneaded with the fingers, till the banana pulp was reduced to a 

 sort of water. The grass was then removed, the juice strained 

 off, and the " mbisi " was ready for use. It is a pleasant, refresh- 

 ing drink. If allowed to stand for a couple of days, it ferments 

 and becomes the intoxicating " muenge." I met some mission- 

 aries in Nyassa-land, who made a drink like champagne from 

 the juice of the banana. The trouble was to keep this banana 

 champagne from bursting the bottles. The Waganda often 

 add a handful of "matama" (Kaffre-corn) to their "mbisi" to 

 accelerate the process of fermentation. 



Native soap can be bought at Kampala on every market-day. 

 It is very coarse, and in size resembles somewhat a cricket-ball, 



