724 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
entered the country, this has changed. Those who undergo the 
rite of circumcision are put to death at the stake, and many con- 
verts to Christianity have suffered the same fate. (This last since 
Mtesa’s death.) 
There is no distinct criminal class. 
Agriculture . — There being two periods of maximum rainfall in 
the year, there are two harvests. The cultivation of the ground 
is almost entirely carried on by women. The gardens of the 
Waganda are, as a rule, wonderfully well kept, the various plants 
being cultivated on separate beds, which are carefully weeded 
and divided from each other by broad straight walks. The hoe is 
universally used both for turning up the earth and for removing 
weeds. In making fresh beds for any plant the soil is generally 
turned up to a depth of about 9 inches. I have already enumerated 
the articles grown in these gardens, with the exception of tobacco 
and the bottle gourd [see Food). The tobacco is usually sown 
pretty thickly in small beds, but when the plants are a few inches 
high they are carefully transplanted and placed in straight rows. 
The bottle gourds are also widely cultivated, the plants being trained 
over trelliswork frames or over the huts, the object of this being 
to allow the fruit to grow suspended in the air, that it may preserve 
its shape. These gardens are separated from one another and from 
the road by high fences of tiger grass or by hedges of euphorbia 
•and other bushes. The bananas are banished from the gardens 
because their thick foliage would interfere with the growth of other 
plants. They are grown in plantations ; but here, too, great care is 
taken to keep the ground clear by gathering up the fallen leaves, 
which, together with the weeds from the gardens and the produce 
of the kitchen middens, are heaped up round the banana stems, this 
being the only attempt made by the Waganda to manure the ground. 
The only tradition connected with the introduction of plants into 
Uganda is the legend which refers to the banana (see Mythology). 
Each household cultivates its own land as a rule, but persons 
who possess more produce than they require sell it to others. It 
can hardly be said that there are crops, as so little grain is grown. 
The banana is of great importance, as it forms the staple food for the 
people ; its leaves are used for cooking purposes, as paper for 
packing up parcels, as dinner napkins, plates, and cups. The pulp 
