6o 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
V 
four cows with a revolving pistol. Mutesa then handed 
a carbine full-cock to a page and told him to shoot a 
man in the outer court. On the return of the page he 
asked, “ Did you do it well ? ” “ Oh yes, capitally/' 
said the boy. 
Infant mortality is very great among the natives— 
it is rare to find a woman with more than one 
child : they have little love for their children. The 
Baganda learn arithmetic with great facility ; a lady 
missionary was very proud that one woman in her class 
had shown exceptional ability and could work out vulgar 
fractions. The missionary then stated that this 
woman had a sick child, and as it showed no signs of 
improving, and as nursing interfered with her arithmetic, 
she left the little child in the forest at night for the 
hyaenas. 
Uganda is not much troubled with lions, but leopards 
are often a nuisance. Shortly before our visit, some of 
the villages had been worried by a man-eating leopard. 
A native party was organised to kill this animal. Nine 
of the party were badly mauled by the leopard and 
four of them subsequently died from their wounds. 
Leopards are sometimes very bold, and have been 
known to seize and make off with patients in the 
sleeping-sickness camps. A Giovernment official was 
having a shauri with a party of natives in Nandi : they 
were sitting round an ant-hill when suddenly a hare 
chased by a leopard appeared and dodged about among 
the men. A timely and well-placed bullet cut short 
his career. 
All who have visited Uganda are unanimous in regard 
to the fertility of the soil. The valleys are moist with 
frequent showers which render them extremely favour¬ 
able for the cultivation of bananas. The mists and 
rains which are so beneficial are probably due to the 
regular south wind which blows across the lake and 
carries the watery vapour with it, to fall on the verdant 
hills along its northern shores. The amount of watery 
