84 A DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO. 



bings over the region of the uterus. If the head presents, it 

 is considered a good sign ; if the feet present, it announces 

 misfortune to the family. Should an arm presentation occur, 

 it is replaced, and an attempt is made to turn ; this opera- 

 tion is performed by men who receive special presents for 

 the service. Should a woman die in child-birth, abdominal 

 section is at once performed, and the child, whether living or 

 dead, removed. The omission of this operation is punished by 

 the chief with heavy fines of cattle, goats, and even women, for 

 it is an exceedingly bad omen for the village. Many women 

 die of flooding, probably arising from attempts to remove the 

 placenta. The umbilical cord is cut with a sharp splinter 

 of reed at a considerable distance from the navel, and is 

 tied to the body of the child until it shrivels and falls off, 

 which is hastened by frequent rubbings with fat. Ligature is 

 quite unknown. The placenta of a male child is buried in the 

 house on the inner, right-hand side of the door ; that of a female 

 child on the inner, left-hand side. Neither mother nor child 

 may leave the hut before the cord has fallen off, nor may the 

 mother shave herself. The new-born child is washed in tepid 

 water, and then rubbed with red clay and fat. 



The mother takes her child on the fifth day after the birth, 

 and sits with it on the threshold, a sheep is killed, and the 

 grandfather on the father's side, or, if he be dead, the grand- 

 mother on the mother's or father's side, gives the names. There 

 are usually two, one of which is chosen at pleasure, while the 

 other is connected with some bodily peculiarity. The skin of 

 the sheep slain at the naming of the child is used to carry it 

 in ; the child is laid on the mother's back, and the skin placed 

 over it in such a manner that its fore-legs are tied together over 

 the mother's shoulders, its hind-legs round her waist. The 

 child is suckled by the mother for eighteen months, and is then 

 weaned by rubbing bitter juices on the breasts. During this 

 time the woman lives apart from her husband. The women here 

 grow old quickly ; many are barren ; most of them have only 

 two or three children. Hermaphroditism is rather common. 



The practices connected with the birth of twins are very 

 singular. Universal festivities are held in the village, and rich 

 gifts are brought to the mother from all sides. The first-born 



