BA^TU NEGROES 



r)79 



On Lake Albert Edward they eoii.-triiet rafts of aiiibatcdi, wliicli tliey use 

 to assist them in ti^hir|u- or in moving aViout the shores of tlie lake. Thev 

 also make small and elunisy canoes (in the chores of this lake, somewhat 

 lik<' those of the liaganda in tliat they are made of hewn jilanks fa-lent d 

 together with leather thongs or string. Their nvn pons are bows and arrows 

 and spears. They are ncit a warlike people. Of late vears thev ha\-e taken 

 somewhat kindlv to the Belgian (iovernment in the adjoining t'ongo Free 

 Htate, and large numbers of them are settlini;' round the Beltrian stations 

 on both sides of the Upper Sendiki Iviver. Here thev become ivilusfrioiis 

 iij/ricnltwrisls. The range of the ]:!akonj() tribe is somewdiat curioir^, anil 

 has never lieen rightly understooil by travellers in those regions. As a 

 general rule the kSakonjo do not live in the I'orests. but occupy t he grassy 

 or park-like land lying to the east of the great (_'ongo P'orest. But a 

 consideralile section of the trilie ne\'ert heless inhabits the flanks of the 

 southern half of the liuwenzori range fitjm the south-east round tti the 

 south-we>t, and here their settlements are made in the forest up to an 

 altitude of aliciut 7,0(MI feet. But the woods which clothe this j art of 

 the Semliki range ha\'e nothing like tlie density of that real tro}iical 

 " I'on go " forest wdiich is to be met with in the lower or northern half (if 

 the Semliki liasin, and thence 



uninterruptedly to the (.'ongo. -■»? !^ -- i 



The woods of the Konjo part 

 of liuwenzori are thinner, and 

 are interspersed with grass- 

 covered hills and slopes. The 

 ]-!elgians therefore regard the 

 f'akonjo as the peo[)!e of the 

 grass count)-\-,in contradistinction 

 to the Jiaandja and Babira, who 

 are the forest Negroes. I'egin- J 



ning in the country of Toro, on s 



the eastern side of liuwenzori. ^ 



and extending thence o\-er tlie 

 mountain range westward to the 

 edge of the Seniliki Forest, 

 the range of the ]!akonjo 

 continues in a westerly direction 

 across the Fp^ier Sendiki along 

 the western sh(.ire of Fake 

 Albert Edward, and over the 

 hicdi mouirtains wdnch rise to 

 tlie ^vest of that lake. In this 



^gyff*, 



