44 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
IV 
tried to secure places in boats already overfull, and 
hundreds of them were drowned. 
On the island of Bubembe, in the Sesse group, 
Mukasa, the great god^^^ of the Victoria Nyanza, 
had temple, and some of the islands in this 
archipelago had less important gods. The priests 
of Mukasa had great power. It was believed that 
this could prevent storms on the lake ; make 
rain; draw a tooth ; or kill kings. Cunningham 
found, in a French record, that in the year 187.9 
Mukasa “ tied up ” the lake for three months and 
would not allow anyone to touch its waters. At 
length King Mutesa was obliged to send an offering of a 
hundred slaves, a hundred women, a hundred cows, and 
a hundred goats to the temple, and Mukasa untied 
the lake. 
Sacrifices of goats and cows were made to the 
at her temple on Bubembe. This island is about four 
miles long and two wide; it is fertile, well-wooded, and 
picturesque. The temple has practically disappeared. 
This is not a matter for surprise, for such temples were 
merely built of mud and wood and thatched with grass. 
Mukasa may be regarded as the Neptune of the lake, 
and the priests carried a paddle as an emblem of their 
office. This paddle they used as a walking-stick. 
Kome is eleven miles long and eight broad. The chief 
informed Cunningham of a curious custom which 
prevails on this island. If within the first year of 
married life a child is not born, the husband is under¬ 
stood to be at fault and the wife may make overtures 
to the husband’s brother. When the intrigue is 
successful the husband is informed, and life assumes its 
normal features. The natives of this island cultivate 
bananas, beans, potatoes, coffee, Indian corn, and 
tobacco. The Sesse Archipelago forms a county of 
Uganda, and is represented in the Native Parliament. 
The Buvuma Group consists of seven islands near 
the north-east corner of the lake, adjacent to the coast 
