of Edinburgh, Session 1885-86. 
719 
Among all classes the meals are served in identically the same way. 
Before eating the hands are washed, either with water or with 
circular napkins cut out of the succulent stem of the banana, which 
contain so much sap that no water is required. The meals are 
served either in the hut or in the courtyard ; this depends upon the 
weather. Part of the floor or ground is covered with a layer of 
banana leaves, on which the food is placed in wooden howls or 
wickerwork baskets. It is the custom at the palace and in the 
large establishments of the head chiefs for all the food for the mid- 
day meal to be carried before the king or chief, previous to its being 
placed before their retainers. The food is covered on its way from 
the kitchen to the table by either banana leaves or neatly plaited 
grass mats or wickerwork covers. Mtesa, the late king of Uganda, 
used to insist on examining various dishes as they passed him, and 
if they did not satisfy him the cooks were severely punished. The 
Waganda all eat with their fingers; they never drink during a meal. 
After the meal is over they wash their hands, then drink. Coffee 
berries are then handed round and are chewed, but never made into 
a beverage. They are gathered before they are ripe, boiled, and then 
dried in the sun. When chewed they have a pleasant aromatic 
taste and tinge the saliva green. After a few berries have been 
eaten, pipes are produced, and large quantities of banana wine are 
consumed. There is no sequence in the order of dishes; all the 
food is placed at one time on the ground, and after the head of the 
household has commenced to eat all fall to. The meat is cut by 
one of the slaves, either with a knife or a tiger-grass splinter. The 
only person who dines alone is the king. 
The following account of a dinner, at which I was present, will 
afford a glimpse of the mode of procedure at a chiefs house : — One 
day I was visiting the katikiro (prime minister), and he asked me 
to remain to dinner. Several boys entered the hut to lay the 
cloth ; this consisted in covering two portions of the floor with 
fresh banana leaves ; around these improvised tables the guests 
seated themselves on mats placed on the floor — the katikiro, about ten 
other chiefs, and myself at the one, some twenty of our host’s wives 
at the other. I may mention that as each woman entered the hut 
she threw off all her clothes ; the first one rather hesitated when 
observing me, but after a laughing remark from her husband she 
