of Edinburgh , Session 1885 — 86 . 
721 
there are people who roam about the foresiat night, and kill and eat 
wanderers who are not provided with a light. They are supposed 
to possess the power of making themselves, invisible at will and of 
being invulnerable. This propensity is considered hereditary, and is 
often attributed to people as witchcraft might be. They are avoided 
by their neighbours, who will not employ them in any way, and no 
one will marry a woman who comes of such a stock. 
Narcotics .- — Both men and women in Uganda are inveterate 
smokers, and commence the practice at an early age (10 or 12). 
The king (Mtesa) was the only person I knew who never smoked, 
and who objected to the smell of tobacco. Before going into his 
presence it was the custom to chew coffee berries to take away 
the smell of the smoke. Tobacco is the only substance smoked; 
it is never used as snuff, nor do they chew it; it is of a very 
pure quality, and never mixed with other substances. It is 
indigenous, and varies very much in strength, some being com- 
paratively mild, but most of it very strong. A good deal of care 
is exercised in the cultivation of tobacco; the plants are not 
allowed to seed, the flower buds being picked off before they open 
( see Agriculture). The leaves are dried in the sun, made into 
neat packets of 10 to 20 lbs. weight, tied up in banana leaves, 
and suspended in the huts till required for use. Neat tobacco pouches 
are in use ; some are made of skin, others of plaited grass, others 
again in the shape of grass boxes. The patterns made are — bands, 
chevrons, chequer, concentric rings, spiral, and guilloche. Cigars 
are unknown, pipes, the bowls of which are made of clay, and vary 
in size, being used. The bowls are very thin, and beautifully 
finished and smooth, but as no flux or glaze is applied they are 
very brittle. Two shapes of pipes are used — one with a round bowl 
and very small, the other conical, and holding half an ounce or 
more. The stems are composed of wood, and are 4 or 5 feet in 
length, and no mouthpieces are employed. Water-pipes are not used, 
and the pipes are rarely passed from one individual to another. 
With the exception of coffee and sugar-cane, no substances are 
chewed. The old women when at work in the field sometimes 
smoke a pipe with a short stem, which they hold between their 
teeth; otherwise they smoke the ordinary long-stemmed pipes. 
Tobacco smoking does not appear to injuriously affect the people. 
3 b 
VOL. XIII. 
