of Edinburgh , Session 1885 - 86 . 
729 
they made, and how proficient they soon became in the use of 
English tools. They seemed almost instinctively to understand 
what the implements were made for, and expressed surprise that 
they had not made such themselves. 
Manufacture of Bark Cloths . — A species of fig ( Ficus ludia), which 
grows abundantly throughout Uganda, is the tree from which mbugu 
or hark cloth is procured. The hark is taken from young trees; 
two incisions are made round the trunk, a third, which is vertical, 
joining the other two. The hark is then stripped off and the 
outer surface carefully removed, and it is then laid on a smooth 
square block of wood and rapidly beaten in time to a low chant 
with heavy wooden mallets. These mallets have circular grooved 
heads, which give to the bark a ribbed appearance like corduroy, 
and under their blows it quickly thins out like gold under 
the goldbeater’s hammer. When the bark has been beaten out to 
the requisite thinness it is hung up to dry, and afterwards any holes 
which may have been produced in the beating are neatly patched 
with the trimmings from the edges. The thread used for this 
purpose is made from the bark, or from the fibres of the plantain, 
and a long thorn is used for a needle ; the sewing is remarkably 
neat. The mbugu when new is of a yellow-brown tint, resembling 
freshly tanned leather; some of the finer sorts, however, are of a 
dull brick-red colour. They vary much in quality, some of the 
better kinds being beautifully soft, and these are procured chiefly 
from the Sesse group of islands. The principal fault of this cloth 
is that it soon decays if it gets wet. Sometimes the mbugu is dyed, 
generally black, or various patterns in black, red, and blue are 
printed on it. The tree from which the bark is removed is not 
killed by the operation ; the wound is covered with banana leaves, 
which are bound closely round it, and in process of time new bark 
grows. A considerable number of people are employed in this 
manufacture; the women strip the bark from the trees and do any 
repairing to the cloth that is necessary, but men beat out the bark 
and make the cloth. 
Wood Work . — A large number of joiners are employed, and 
although they work slowly, whatever they make is well done and 
neatly carried out. Milk bowls, pear-shaped, containing about a 
quart, are cut out of a solid block of wood; they are often highly 
