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THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



who have exchanged the hide-tent for the hut, and the 

 skin for the cotton-cloth. They stain their garments 

 with cichreish earth, and their women are distinguished 

 by wearing Kitindi of full and half-size above and below 

 the elbows. The ear lobes are pierced and distended 

 by both sexes, as amongst the Wagogo. In their own 

 land they are purely pastoral ; they grow no grain, 

 despise vegetable food, and subsist entirely upon meat 

 or milk according to the season. Their habitations 

 are hemispheres of boughs lashed together and roofed 

 with a cow's hide ; it is the primitive dwelling-place, 

 and the legs of the occupant protrude beyond the 

 shelter. Their arms, which are ever hung up close at 

 hand, are broad-headed spears of soft iron, long "Sine," 

 or double-edged daggers, with ribbed wooden handles 

 fastened to the blade by a strip of cow's tail shrunk on, 

 and " Rungu," or wooden knob-kerries, with double 

 bulges that weight the weapon as it whirls through the 

 air. They ignore and apparently despise the bow and 

 arrows, but in battle they carry the Pavoise, or large 

 hide-shield, affected by the Kafirs of the Cape. The 

 Arabs, when in force, do not fear their attacks. 



The Wahumba, like their congeners the Wakwafi, 

 bandage the infant's leg from ankle to knee, and the 

 ligature is not removed till the child can stand upright. 

 Its object is to prevent the development of the calf, 

 which, according to their physiology, diminishes the 

 speed and endurance of the runner. The specimens of 

 Wahumba seen in different parts of Ugogo showed the 

 soleus and gastrocnemeius muscles remarkably shrunken, 

 and the projection of the leg rising close below the knee. 



