712 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
with, temporary wives in Uganda. Unfortunate Europeans who 
refuse the proffered favour are despised, by the men and scorned by 
the women. Mtesa used to be very sarcastic on this subject, and 
referred with great delight to Solomon’s wives. On one occasion I 
gave great offence by refusing the munificent gift of eighteen dusky 
beauties. I suffered for it, however, by having my supplies of food 
cut short. This may perhaps be as well explained, as it will illus- 
trate another custom. The king’s women are allowed to pillage 
right and left, and Mtesa, who had got tired of supplying my 
voracious appetite, thought he saw a way out of the difficulty by 
providing me with a foraging party. The ladies were highly in- 
dignant at my supposed depreciation of their charms. 
The only occasion for a set speech in Uganda is when a chief or 
a person of high rank receives a present. If it is small, he takes it 
in his right hand; if too heavy, he lays his hands upon it and makes 
a speech of thanks to the giver, extolling the value of the present in 
exaggerated terms. 
For other customs, see under various headings, such as Meals, 
Treatment of Women, &c. 
Habitations . — The first look at a Waganda village informs the 
traveller that he is in a region inhabited by a tribe very different 
from any he has hitherto seen. If the place is of a considerable 
size, broad, clean streets are found between the various compounds. 
The groups of huts are surrounded by gardens enclosed in well- 
built wickerwork walls, made from the tall tiger-grass or sugar-cane, 
supported at intervals by a species of fig tree, which throws out a 
large crown of branches affording pleasant shade. Above these 
hedges may be seen the conical thatched roofs of I suppose the 
largest huts in Africa. Even in small villages the streets though 
narrower are well kept, and it is rare indeed to find a hut without 
a courtyard in front of it. It is remarkable also that the streets 
are straight, and that the fences are straight also instead of the 
usual circular structures seen almost everywhere else. The com- 
pounds inhabited by the principal chiefs are very large ; there is 
only one door, just inside of which a small hut is erected for the 
porter. The whole of the enclosure is divided by fences into 
gardens and courtyards, and in each yard are one or more huts. 
In about the centre of the compound stands the largest hut, which 
