A LAND OF GIANTS AND PYGMIES 
371 
Their heads are eminently characteristic. 
Unmistakable evidences of a foreign 
strain are betrayed in their high fore- 
heads, the curve of their nostrils, and the 
fine oval shape of their faces. 
The affairs of the country are adminis- 
tered by a number of subordinate chiefs 
{zvatnales), also ivatiissi or ivahima, who 
are superintendents of districts, yet are 
always subject to the supreme control 
of the ruler, who springs from the old 
Watussi race, the Bega. Frequent inter- 
views with the Sultan necessitate many 
journeys to his residence, and it seems 
that at such times great quantities of 
nsoga have to be consumed, to facilitate 
the unraveling of awkward problems and 
to determine the measures to be taken. 
This is a brew concocted from bananas 
with malted red sorghum (Chinese sugar- 
cane), and manufactured at Kinjaru- 
anda. The Sultan's court is at such 
times often the scene of wild orgies, 
tumult, and beating of drums, which on 
occasion continue all night. 
Similarly to their sovereign ruler, the 
chiefs are descended from various dis- 
tinguished families or clans. These clans 
hold land, pay taxes to the Sultan, are 
keen to avenge the bloodshed of kins- 
men, and possess a totem — some object 
of adoration, which usually takes the 
shape of an animal or a plant. 
THE PECULIAR TOTEMS 
Every clan reveres a totem, which in 
Kinjoro is called wnusimu. Should the 
totem take the form of an animal, it is 
forbidden to kill or to eat such animals. 
This interdiction is closely connected 
with the widespread belief of transmi- 
gration of souls, for their creed teaches 
that the spirits of departed relatives enter 
the body of their object of adoration. 
The uncertainty obtaining as to which 
special totem the spirit of the deceased 
has entered makes it appear more pru- 
dent to the natives to abstain from slay- 
ing or eating any animals revered as 
totems ; and doubtless this consideration 
gave rise to the prohibition. 
In Ruanda the souls of the deceased 
rulers are believed to dwell in the leop- 
ard and to continue to torment their 
people in that shape. 
The following are a few clans of the 
Wanjaruanda, with their totems : 
The most widely distributed and most 
feared of the clans is that of the Bega ; 
they have taken the toad as their totem. 
Another, the Wanjiginga, reveres the 
crested crane. The Bagessera worship 
the wagtail, or dish-washer. Farther 
away there is the clan of the Wankono, 
whose totems, I understand, are sheep 
and goats. The totem of the Bakora is 
the chameleon ; the Wasinga's sacred ob- 
ject is a particular species of ox, with a, 
dirty brown-patterned hide ; that -of the- 
Batwa, in the Bugoie forests, is the man- 
ape, and so on. 
AN IDEAL CLIMATE EOR THE WHITE MAN 
The high degree of civilization exist- 
ing among the Watussi is assisted by 
climatic conditions. These are nearly 
ideal for an equatorial country. Intense 
heat is excluded by virtue of an average 
altitude of some i,6oo meters. The tem- 
perature prevailing generally is some- 
thing like that of a warm summer day 
in Germany. It is refreshingly cool in 
the mornings and evenings, which is con- 
ducive to healthy sleep. 
As the malaria - carrying mosquito 
(Anopheles) does not exist in this dis- 
trict, such a thing as an outbreak of fever 
is of rare occurrence. It is true that iso- 
lated malaria parasites are found in the 
blood of Ruanda natives, but these have 
doubtless been imported from less healthy 
regions, where the Anopheles is an ac- 
knowledged pest. According to Raven's 
researches, cases of malaria in Ruanda 
are insignificantly few in proportion to 
the density of the population. 
The tsetse-fly, so destructive to man 
and beast, is non-existent, and this fact 
has, so far, protected the territory from 
the ravaging sleeping sickness which, as 
is well known, is disseminated by the 
tsetse-fly (Glossina palpalis). 
The Watussi make the best use of 
their very favorable climatic conditions. 
The country possesses a fabulous amount 
of wealth in its herds, to the breeding of 
which this pastoral people are particu- 
larly devoted. Day after day immense 
herds of broad-horned oxen and small 
stock of all kinds may be seen grazing 
