656 



BANTU NEGROES 



less neatly built huts which sei-\-e as cooking places, and sometimes as 

 separate chvellings for supernumerary women or children, and attached to 

 every establishment is a pri\'y. In the courtyard which contains the 



M-*-fiw^"^^^ 



365. FKAMEWORK Of AN UGAXilA HOUSE 



principal-dwelling there may still be seen a small fetish hut near the 

 house and close to the gateway leading into the courtyard. Every 

 Uganda house of importance has attached to it a series of neatly kept 

 courtyards surrounded by tall fences of plaited reeds. In visiting a 

 chief one may pass through four or five of these empty courtyards, in 

 which followers of the chief stand or squat under shady trees. Any 

 really big chief or the king of Uganda would have in one of these 

 courtyards a band of music, a number of men with drums, fifes, and 

 horn trumpets, who would greet the arrival of distinguished strangers by 

 striking up some melody. Or a couple of these may be seated on the 

 ground playing tunes on the '• amadinda," a xylophone which will be 

 described later among the musical instruments of Uganda. These court- 

 yards are called in the native language '• kisikati " (in the plural " bisikati "')• 

 The reed fencing that surrounds them is usually of the pattern given 

 in the accompanying illustration, and this style of fence will follow 

 roadways in towns or settlements for miles, enclosing the plantations and 

 settlements of well-to-do individuals. These fences, behind which rise 

 handsome shade-trees or bright green bananas, give a singularly civilised 

 aspect to the broad roads which traverse townships. 



The Uganda town is a series of villa residences surrounded by luxuriant 

 gardens. Occasionally there is an open square formed by the meeting 

 of two broad roadways, and this may be the site of a market or a place 

 of reunion for the people. Narrow paths may circulate between the huts 



