438 
THE KILIMA-NJAR0 EXPEDITION. 
ceremonies among the Wa-caga, such as are so con¬ 
stantly met with in other tribes of Bantu negroes 
in connection with the entrance into a state of puberty 
of young people of either sex. Circumcision, if per¬ 
formed on the male, which it is not universally, is 
generally done after the age of puberty. 
The Wa-caga share with the Masai, whom they may 
have copied, a curious habit of spitting on things or 
people as a compliment or sign of gratitude. I re¬ 
member one man, after I returned to my settlement 
in Caga from a short trip to Taveita, was so pleased 
at my safe return that he took my hand in his and 
spat repeatedly at the sky, saying constantly “ Eruwa 
ica ! ” (“ God is good ! ”). They have but a vague idea 
of the deity. Indeed, one never knows whether or not 
he is identical with the sun, for that luminary bears 
just the same name, “ Eruwa. 5 ’ It is interesting to 
notice, in contradistinction to the derivation of the 
name of God I recently gave as coming from ancestor 
worship, that among other African nations the deity is 
identified with the sky or the sun. Thus there is the 
term “ Eruwa ” already referred to, which indicates 
“God” in Ki-cao’a. Among: the Wa-taveita it is 
“Zuwa,” also “Sun,” although the Swahili have 
lately introduced their word, Muungu. The form 
“ Eruwa,” “ Zuwa,” is identical in origin with the 
V 
Swahili “ Jua,” the Luganda “ Njuba,” the Congo 
“ Ntuva,” all meaning sun, and all remounting to an 
archaic form “ JSTduba.” On the Upper Congo the 
Ba-yanzi have but one word for God and sky— 
“ Ikuru,” or “ Likulu.” Even among the Gallas 
“ Waka ” means indifferently God and sky, and in the 
Masai language “ Engai ” (a feminine word) means 
both God, sky, and rain. 
