36 MRULI TO RUBAGA IN UGANDA. 



my life seen anything equal to it. To-day I obtained as booty 

 a huge antelope. The animal, which outwardly resembles the 

 hump-bached bullock (Antilope oreas), is found everywhere in 

 small herds. A magnificent black mane, with a rich bushy 

 growth of hair on the forehead and under the neck, a well- 

 marked hump, and majestic horns, which, in the case of my 

 specimen rise straight up after one and a half turns, distin- 

 guish this animal. Its fur is short, crisp, and buff coloured ; 

 its back is marked by a black longitudinal stripe, from which 

 twelve white stripes pass round towards the belly, running 

 parallel to each other and of about a finger 's-breadth. My 

 specimen, a full grown male, provided meat for the whole of our 

 caravan. 



The marches from here to Mtesa's residence have one feature 

 in common, they are all quite short ; and it is impossible, even 

 by prayers or threats, to urge the people to make longer 

 marches. If a village lies in the way a halt is certain to be 

 made in order to drink and to rest, and, if a day's march lasts 

 longer than two hours one may think oneself fortunate. The 

 stores of beer at last appeared to be exhausted in Mreko's 

 hut, and so he decided to make a start. A short march 

 led to Khor Ergugu, an enormous morass, the waters of 

 which form the chief supply of Khor Kafu. Neither water- 

 channel nor current was to be seen ; grasses, mud, and water, 

 reaching breast-high, filled a gully running between two rows of 

 hills from the south-east to the north-west, which took us fifty 

 minutes of laborious wading to pass through. Then came 

 plantations, sometimes close together, sometimes lying like 

 islands in the middle of high grass. Kangani's territory, 

 Beramese, here abuts on Mreko's district. After we had 

 passed through another bog we stopped for the night at a 

 small village called Kap^ki. 



In the house which was assigned me there hung huge 

 baskets used for storing corn and in the preparation of 

 mwenge, and gourds and small baskets were lying all about. 

 Before the door were hung an immense number of curiously 

 shaped stones, small gourds, eggs, and half-charred pieces of 

 human skulls as amulets. The skulls, when thrown in pieces on 

 to the fields, are believed to increase the fertility of the soil. 



