UNYOKO COOKERY. 75 



is produced by holding a stick vertically in a shallow hollow 

 made in another stick lying horizontally, and twirling it quickly 

 round ; the spark is caught in hay or old bark cloth. This 

 process, however, demands a good deal of skill. The honey of 

 wild bees is much liked ; it is eaten alone or with porridge. 



Durrah and eleusine are mashed into a thick porridge, and 

 cooked with sesame, butter, honey, or meat broth. Roots, 

 too, are used, such as wild yams and a very bitter red root 

 (coccinia f). Manioc is eaten only in the south. Sweet pota- 

 toes (Batatas edulis) are boiled in water. Pepper (Capsicum 

 conicum) is avoided, as productive of sterility ; while a solanum 

 with small orange-coloured, cherry-shaped fruit, of disagree- 

 able taste, is much liked, and is even eaten raw. Gourds are 

 planted in great numbers, and are made use of as food and as 

 vessels. Leguminous plants are much prized, such as Phaseolus 

 lunatics, Ph. mungo, Vigna sinensis, and two or three other 

 kinds. Beef is eaten only by well-to-do people, goat's flesh 

 universally. 



The habit of eating earth is known in Unyoro, and is 

 practised as a remedy for a disease to which both sexes are 

 liable. The kind of earth most liked is that with which the 

 termites are in the habit of arching over their passages on the 

 trunks of trees, but ordinary earth is not despised. This prac- 

 tice, if long continued, is said to cause discoloration of the 

 skin and hair, as well as general emaciation, and finally death. 

 Nightmare is ascribed to overheating the body by food or 

 clothing. 



Throughout Unyoro and Uganda the women are the cooks ; 

 but the chiefs employ men cooks (mfunibiro), with whom they 

 have made blood-brotherhood, and have separate kitchens for 

 the men and women. The great chiefs always eat alone, and no 

 one may touch or look at the dishes prepared for them. Infe- 

 rior chiefs often invite their favourites to their table, and when- 

 ever a crumb happens to fall to the ground from the chief's 

 hand, these men snatch it up at once and swallow it, in homage 

 to their lord ! Women eat in a separate place, and after the 

 men have finished ; it is considered a particular sign of favour 

 when a woman is invited by her husband to eat with him, 

 but the Wawitu women who spring from ruling families are 



