198 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



vicinity of the more warlike Waganda, who have affixed 

 to the conquered the opprobrious name of widdu or 

 " serviles ; " and they have lost their southern posses- 

 sions, which formerly extended between Karagwah and 

 Uganda. Their late despot Chawambi, Avhose death 

 occurred about ten years ago, left three sons, one of 

 whom it is reported has fallen into the power of 

 Uganda, whilst the two others still rule independently. 

 The county is rich and fertile, and magnificent tales are 

 told concerning the collections of ivory, which in some 

 parts are planted in the ground to pen cattle. Slaves 

 are cheap ; they find their way to the southern markets 

 via Uganda and Karagwah. Those seen at Kazeh and 

 Kirira, where the Arab traders had a large gang, ap- 

 peared somewhat inferior to the other races of the 

 northern kingdoms, with a dull dead black colou^ 

 flattish heads, brows somewhat retreating, prominent 

 eyes, and projecting lower jaws. They were tattooed 

 in large burnt blotches encircling the forehead, and in 

 some cases the inferior excisors had been extracted. 

 The price of cattle in Unyoro varies from 500 to 

 1000 cowries. In this country ten simbi (Cypraea) 

 represent one khete of beads ; they are the most es- 

 teemed currency, and are also used as ornaments for 

 the neck, arms, and legs, and decorations for stools and 

 drums. 



During my companions' absence much of my spare 

 time was devoted to collecting specimens of the multi- 

 tudinous dialects into which the great South African 

 family here divides itself. After some months of de- 

 sultory work I had learned the Kisawahili or coast 

 language, the lingua Franca of the South African coast : 

 it is the most useful, because the most generally known, 

 and because, once mastered, it renders its cognates as 

 easy of acquirement as Bengali or Maharatti after Hin- 



