HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE WA-GANDA. 85 



said to have had. no less than seven thousand, obtained in exchange for trifles such 

 as some domestic animal, a few needles, or a box of pills. The chiefs follow their 

 sovereign's example in surrounding themselves with a host of wives, and the smallest 

 vassal has his harem. The grandees thus absorb such a large portion of the female 

 population that, in spite of the preponderance of girls, there are not enough left for 

 all the Wa-Ganda. Peasants are often seen whose scanty crops have never sufficed 

 to purchase a single wife. No law forbids the marrying of near relations. On the 

 death of a father the eldest son even inherits all his wives, with the exception of his 

 own mother, occasionally sharing them with the other members of the family. 

 During the period of lactation, lasting two years, the women live apart from their 

 husbands, the king and the chiefs having for these nurses separate houses scattered 

 throughout the kingdom. 



Nearly all domestic work falls on the women and slaves, the free man being 

 above any toil except that of building his own house. He is born a soldier, and 

 must keep his strength for the wielding of arms. The Wa-Ganda naturally have 

 all the vices produced by such a state of things. They are liars, idlers, and thieves, 

 those who have wives and slaves to do their work passing their time in gambling 

 and drinking. The traveller is most struck by the disregard the Wa-Ganda have 

 for human life. Killing a man is a mere trifle that no one troubles himself about. 

 A court-page wanting to try a rifle shoots the first passer-by, and returns delighted 

 with his weapon and his skill. Another complains to the king of always serving, say- 

 ing that he should like to be a chief. " Well then, kill your, father ; " and the son 

 hastens to put this idea into execution, so as to inherit the women and slaves, which 

 will enable him to fold his arms and do nothing in his turn. And yet the Wa-Ganda 

 cannot be called a cruel people. They are rather inclined to benevolence, generally 

 treating their slaves with great gentleness, and welcoming the traveller with 

 kindness. U-Ganda is said to be the only African country where the life of the 

 guest has always been scrupulously respected. When a war breaks out all the 

 strangers are enclosed in a village and placed under the charge of a chief respon- 

 sible for their safety and bound to furnish them with food and shelter. But if they 

 withdraw from the place assigned to them, the chief is no longer answerable for 

 the consequences. 



Endowed with great intelligence, and speaking an extremely sonorous, pliant, 

 and logical language, the Wa-Ganda are probably the only African people who 

 have made any real progress since 1862 when Speke, the first European visitor, 

 penetrated into their country. Wa-Ganda envoys were already despatched to 

 England in 1880. New plants have been introduced, together with new methods 

 of culture, and agricultural labour is increasing. Very skilful in forging iron, the 

 Wa-Ganda imitate perfectly European objects, and can even change flint-lock 

 guns into modern rifles. They readily acquire foreign languages, and Swaheli, 

 the idiom of the coast, and the most useful in Eastern Africa, is already spoken 

 fluently in the capital and the market-towns. A certain number of chiefs also 

 speak and write Arabic. In a few days school-children master the difiiculties of 

 the Latin alphabet, made much easier by the English missionaries than that of the 



