360 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



at a leading man, and sedulously forbids him to 

 allow precedence even to the Mtongi, the commander 

 and proprietor of the caravan. He aids his tribe by 

 magical arts in wars, by catching a bee, reciting over it 

 certain incantations, and loosing it in the direction of the 

 foe, when the insect will instantly summon an army of its 

 fellows and disperse a host, however numerous. This 

 belief well illustrates the easy passage of the natural 

 into the supernatural. The land being full of swarms, 

 and man's body being wholly exposed, many a caravan 

 has been dispersed like chaff before the wind by a bevy 

 of swarming bees. Similarly in South Africa the 

 magician kicks an ant-hill and starts wasps which put 

 the enemy to flight. And in the books of the Hebrews 

 we read that the hornet sent before the children of 

 Israel against the Amorite was more terrible than sword 

 or bow. (Joshua, xxiv.) 



The several tribes in East Africa present two forms 

 of government, the despotic and the semi-monarchical. 



In the despotic races, the Wakilima or mountaineers 

 of Chhaga, for instance, the subjects are reduced to the 

 lowest state of servility. All, except the magicians and 

 the councillors, are " Wasoro" — soldiers and slaves to 

 the sultan, mangi, or sovereign. The reader will bear 

 in mind that the word " sultan" is the Arabic term ap- 

 plied generically by traders to all the reguli and roitelets, 

 the chiefs and headmen, whose titles vary in every region. 

 In Uzaramo the Sultan is called p'hazi ; in Khutu, p'hazi 

 or mundewa ; in Usagara, mundewa ; in Ugogo, mteme ; 

 in Unyamwezi, mwami ; in Ujiji and Karagwah, mkama. 

 " Wazir " is similarly used by the Arabs for the principal 

 councillor or minister, whose African name in the several 

 tribes is mwene goha, mbaha, mzagira, magawe, mhango, 

 and muhinda. The elders are called throughout the 



