768 Proceedings of the Boyal Society 
for numbers are employed, but wood is at times notched to represent 
them. Short notches stand for units, longer ones for tens and still 
longer for hundreds. In driving a bargain it is not possible to 
cheat them, and this the Arab traders know full well. I have often 
tested their knowledge in reckoning, and rarely detected them in a 
mistake. When trying to make me understand numbers they used 
their fingers, sticks, or lines drawn on the ground to make it clear 
what they meant. So fond of counting are they that they always 
count each string of cowries used as money, also the number of 
beads used in making necklaces, &c., and should a book be given 
them the first thing they do with it is to count its pages. 
Language . — The language spoken in Uganda is very pure, having 
but a small admixture of Suaheli and Arabic terms, which are 
chiefly names of articles of trade. The language, which is called 
Luganda is one of the great Bantu family, and is very rich in words. 
It has ten classes of nouns, the noun being the most important 
part of speech. Grammatical inflexions are formed by prefixes. 
For instance, “lungi,” is good; “muntu mulungi,” a good man; 
“ Waganda walungi,” good Waganda; “ miti mulungi,” good trees; 
“ nyumba nungi,” a good house; “ toki dungi,” a good banana; 
“ matoki malungi,” good bananas. Prefixes added to the verbs, 
also indicate their person and tense. The inflections of the pro- 
nouns, adjectives, and verbs vary according to the class of the govern- 
ing noun. Adjectives agree w?fch the substantive in number and 
case, and always follow the noun. As regards numerals, there are 
words to express all numbers up to thousands. There are personal, 
possessive, relative, demonstrative and interrogative pronouns. There 
are several forms of verbs. 
The following short vocabulary will give an idea of the character 
of the language 
Antelope 
Mtengo. 
Boy . 
. Mlenzi. 
Arm . 
Mkono. 
Brother . 
. Mganda. 
Arrow . 
Kasali. 
Brook 
. Kaga. 
Axe 
Mbadzi. 
Buffalo. 
. Mbogo. 
Banana 
Toki. 
Cat 
. Kapa. 
Bedstead 
Kitanda. 
Canoe . 
. Lyato. 
Beer . 
Mlamba. 
Camel . 
. Ngamira. 
Beads . 
Nkwanzi. 
Calf of leg . 
. Lutumbwe 
Beard . 
Kilevu. 
Child . 
. Mwana. 
Bow . 
Mtegu. 
Chin . , . 
. Kilevu. 
