THE WA-IIUMA. 79 



war drums. Beyond the first enclosure is the court of justice, where the king, 

 seated on a throne decorated with teeth, talons, and horns, settles the disputes of his 

 subjects. A second palisade, less substantial than that of the royal palace, encircles 

 the whole village, with its huts, winding lanes, and cultivated fields, where are 

 cultivated tobacco, cereals, and various vegetables introduced by the Arabs. 



The south-east side of Lake Victoria is bordered by the U-Zinza (U-Zinja) country 

 lying west of the Isanga River, which flows to a narrow fiord penetrating over 30 

 miles inland. This little-known region has been visited by Europeans only on its 

 southern slope, which drains to Lake Tanganyka. Like the Wa-Sukuma, the Wa- 

 Zinza are divided into several communities governed by chiefs and their wizards. 

 They live in constant dread of the marauding Wa-Tuta tribe, who are said to be 

 southern Bantus, perhaps Zulus penetrating from Lake Nyassa through the 

 Tanganyka basin northwards, plundering and massacring along the route, like a 

 horde of wild beasts. The Wa-Zinza of the hilly sandstone districts in the north, 

 who have less to fear from hostile inroads, are a finer and more vigorous race than 

 those of the lowlands. They wear a skirt of tanned ox-hide, deck themselves with 

 necklaces and amulets, and lard their bodies with rancid butter. Of all the Wa- 

 Zinza tribes, the Wa-Sui branch is the most powerful. 



The Wa-Huma. 



In these regions the chief power belongs to families of the "Wa-Huma, a race 

 of pastors which is represented by one or more communities on all the upland 

 plateaux round about Lake Victoria. According to Speke and Grant, these "Wa- 

 Huma are conquerors of Galla stock, originally from the Ethiopian highlands. In 

 U-Nj^amezi, and as far as the seventh degree of south latitude, kindred tribes are 

 found, here known as Wa-Tusi, who closely resemble the Wa-Huma in speech and 

 usages They are distinguished from their agricultural neighbours by a loftier 

 figure and more regular features, oval face, straight and well-chiselled nose, and 

 small mouth, without the pouting lips characteristic of the true Negro. The Wa- 

 Huma women best represent this fine Ethiopian type ; hence they are readily pur- 

 chased by the chiefs of other races for their harems. But while all the surrounding 

 peoples become gradually modified by these crossings, the Wa-Huma preserve their 

 original purity, keeping aloof from all contact with the aborigines. They are 

 nearly all stock-breeders, and as they mostly live in the jungle, far from villages, 

 they are seldom met by travellers. Although they have given kings to most of the 

 upland tribes, they are nevertheless regarded as barbarians by the Negro cultivators, 

 just as in the " Middle Kingdom" the Manchu conquerors are despised by their 

 Chinese subjects. But in the midst of all these enslaved communities, who vaunt 

 their industrial arts and agricultural pursuits, the Wa-Huma have at least the 

 superiority acquired from a free and independent life. They tolerate no masters, 

 and those amongst them who have failed to defend their liberties are no longer re- 

 garded as belonging to their nation. Speke even tells us that captured and enslaved 



