Notes on the Bahima of Ankole.

I
Author(s): J. A. Meldon
Source: Journal of the Royal African Society , Jan., 1907, Vol. 6, No. 22 (Jan., 1907),
pp. 136-153
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African Society

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 136

NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE. I.

THE following notes were collected at various tim

a period commencing in June 1903, and extendin
present time.
I have endeavoured as far as possible to verify
ments by checking them with the informati
Europeans, and with the statements of different
With regard to the population, the numbers c
given approximately, as it is impossible for any
to obtain the true numbers from native sources owing to
hut tax, the fear of having extra work thrown on them if
they acknowledge that they have more men than their neigh-
bours, and, in some cases, the jealousy of Chiefs. In many
parts of the country also, three or even four families live in
one hut, which adds to the difficulty of finding out the
numbers in a district.

Roughly speaking Ankole lies between 3oo and 31' East

Longitude and between the Equator and Io South Latitude.
The Eastern portion of the Ankole plateau consists of
rolling downs and good pasture-land practically bare of
trees with the exception of Euphorbia; the country has numer-
ous high hills and the grass is fine and short, the valleys
being dotted with ant-hills now bearing shrubs. In this part
of the country there are tracts of land covered with thick
scrub, mimosa and acacia trees, but for the most part it
is pasture-land, the cultivation is limited, and the population
scanty. In one or two places, however, there are good forests
of excellent timber.
The Western portion of the country is however quite
different; it is all mountainous, thickly populated and much
cultivated, the rivers and swamps which flow through the
valleys are choked with papyrus, the grass is long and

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE I37

coarse, and the country generally speaking more rese

parts of Uganda.
There is a fine forest in Bunyaruguru and Egara; a
the shores of Lake Albert Edward the country is fla
mostly covered with impenetrable forest.
The climate is temperate, the nights and early mor
are cool, indeed in many places cold, with the result
the district generally is remarkably healthy.
During the dry season the heat in the middle of th
is considerable, but nearly always it is tempered by
breeze.
In the lake district, Bukanga, along the shores of Lake
Albert Edward and Lake Ruishamba, the heat is great and
the mosquitoes numerous.
The rains commence in October and last till about the
middle of January, and during this period the storms o
almost daily and the rainfall is excessive. From the mid
of January to the end of March is the dry season; in Febru
most of the grass is burnt.
The lesser rains extend through April and May, June
fine, July has generally a slight rainfall, August is dry,
the heavy rains frequently begin about the middle of S
tember.
The Luhima months are as follows:

January = Biruru. July = Kichuransi.

February = Kata. August = Kamena.
March = Katumba. September = Nyakanga.
April = Ikoma. October = Kashua.
May = Chabahezi, November = Musenene.
June = Nyerurue. December = Itumba.

These names of the months are by no means r

though they are the nearest equivalent to our E
months; they are liable to extension and contraction,
depend on the rains, which are irregular.
Biruru is the time of the end of the big rains; the
plenty of food at this season and the people rejoice
a noise while covering and uncovering the mouth w\
hand. This is known as " Nduru "; hence the time is
" Biruru."

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138 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

Kata. The dry season; they say the sun cuts the country
into crevices by drying up the soil. The dhurra is planted
and millet collected.
Katemba. Rains.
Ikoma. Small rains.
Chabahezi. Dry; dhurra is collected.
Nyerurue. Dry; grass is burnt.
Kichuransi. Small rains.
Kamena. New grass sprouts, slight rainfall; millet
Nyakanga. f planted.
Kashua. Heavy rains commence, white ants fly. The
name is derived from ushua=" ants."
Musenene. Heavy rains.
Itumba. Heavy rains, time when grass is long.
Kwezi is the time when the moon is visible.'
Mwirima= the time when there is no moon.
Mwaka= period between the time when the rains commence
and that when the crops are collected.'
Kianda= the dry season.
Akanda=the small dry season.
I tumba=the wet season.

PRODUCE.

The chief agricultural products of Ankole are bananas,

sweet potatoes, sem-sem, maize, millet, ground-nuts, beans,
tobacco and some chillies.
The Bairo cultivate the land, also the Banyampaka, bu
not the Bahima.
Wheat, European potatoes and peas have been grown i
Bukanga, owing to the energy of Abdul Effendi.
Cattle, sheep and goats are plentiful. The Ankole catt
carry large horns and are very big animals; there are so
50,000 in the country. The price of a cow and calf is ab
55 rupees, of a bull about 30. Sheep and goats vary
price from I1 to 3 or 4 rupees.
I Also the name for the moon. Omwezi is "moonlight" ; cf. (O)mwezi= " moo
in Swahili, Nyanja, Yao, Nyamwezi, &c. It is also worth noting that mwaka i
equivalent for " a year " (at least so used by Europeans) in several Bantu langua
It is possible that the above, or something like it, is in all cases the orig
sense. -ED.

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 139

Iron is the only mineral so far known in Ankole

Exports consist of Hides and Ivory.
A very large number of hides are exported mon
a little ivory.
Also grown:-
A pod with small peas called Mutendegwa (Kiswahili,
Mbazi).
A creeper which has a pod with two beans in it called
Nkuku.
Pumpkins-Omungwo.
M\uhogo-Ekeriwa. Grown in Nabusosi, Mitoma, Isingiro
and Ruampara.
Tomato-Enjagi. Grown in Isingiro, Nsara, Nabusosi,
and Mitoma.
Cotton is grown in some places and is found wild in others
it appears to thrive excellently.

DISTRICTS.

Ankole is divided into 15 Districts; of these 3 are inde-

pendent of Kahaya, leaving 12 Districts under that chief.
Paramount chief, Kahaya. Katikiro, Mbaguta.

Districts. Chief. Nationality Approximate Remarks.

of Chief. population.

Isingiro Nyemera Mukoki 8,ooo

Ruampara Duhara Mwiro 40,000
Ngarama 10o,ooo000 Adminis- Kisoro.
Kasari Mbaguta Mwiro 75,000-
athe Kati- te Kibanda,
t Kavarimi.
Sema kiro by Kavarimi.
Egara Mukotani Muhima Ioo,ooo
Bunyaruguru Kasegano Munyoro 60o,ooo
Bwezu Ndiwaremma Muhima 20,000
Buzimba Diamogulusi ,, 25,000
Mitoma Abdul Aziz Muganda 35,000
Nabusosi Mwiushura ,, 8,ooo
Nsara Kasini Muhima 20,000

Bukanga Abdul Effendi Muganda Io,ooo These districts are

Kazara Dugarama Muhima Unknown independent of
Ruzumburu Makaburu ,, ,, Kahaya.

411,000

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140 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

The two last are unknown, but I hope to make them the
subject of a report later on.
In all probability this estimate of the population is con
siderably under the mark. Phre Gorju of the French Missio
estimated it at about five or six hundred thousand.
Kahaya is the paramount chief in Ankole; he is a Muhima,
aged 22, and weighing 21 stone; religion Church of England
He lives on Kamakusi Hill, has built himself a two-storied
brick house, and owns about 30,000 head of cattle. He is
indolent and by no means intelligent; the Katikiro does the
work. The Katikiro, by name Mbaguta, is a man about 30
years of age, very intelligent and hardworking. His father
was an attendant of the previous King Ntari. Mbaguta was
first given a small tract of country near Nabusosi and made
chief over 200 Waganda settlers. He was subsequently
brought in as Katikiro.

RACES.

Two principal races inhabit Ankole: the Bahima and

the Banyankole. These latter are the original inhabit-
ants, who were conquered by the Bahima and have since been
treated as slaves. The Bahima originally came from the
direction of Abyssinia; they have regular features, are as a
rule very thin, and resemble much in appearance the Somalis;
their chief characteristic is pride. The Bahima do no work
of any sort, they own large herds of cattle which they tend,
but all manual labour is done by the Mwiros or slaves, i.e.,
the Banyankole.
In Bukanga there are some Bakoki, and in Banyaruguru
there are the people known as Banyampaka; they are
Baganda. Some Banyoro, who invaded Toro in the time
of Kabarega and came on to Ankole, are also settled in Bu-
nyaruguru, on some land given to them by Ntari. There are
a few Bahima in Banyaruguru, and some 200 Baganda have
recently settled in Egara.
It appears to be some hundreds of years since the Bahima
settled in Ankole. Though the Banyankole are still the
subject race, they have acquired many of the customs of

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 141

their conquerors, and therefore the following remarks

to both races, except when any difference is mention
Most of the Chiefs and Headmen are Bahima-for the
rest, they are scattered all over the country in isolated se
ments with large herds of cattle. One finds them in the m
out-of-the-way places, where they have perhaps two or th
mud-holes, often nearly dry. These with the heavy d
which falls suffice for the cattle, the men themselves req
nothing but the milk.
I have dealt with some of their customs in a former rep
(August 1904); further particulars are attached as an appen
to this report.
The Muhima has a prominent nasal bone, thin reg
features, thin lips, and is slight and wiry. A number of t
suffer from tape-worm.
In character the Muhima is as distinct and marked in
contrast to other Bantu-speaking natives as he is in app
ance; most of the native races are excitable, and easi
roused to rapid speech and furious gesticulation. Not so
Muhima; he is born in apathy and listlessness, goes thr
life calm and unruffled, and nothing so far as I am aware
shake off his indolence or rouse him from his self-sufficient
complacency. The Muhima is never in a hurry. Pride is
the keynote of his character; his ancestors conquered this
part of the country some generations ago and he inherits
the tradition of the dominant race. Work is out of the ques-
tion, the only form of occupation he will undertake is looking
after cattle; the love of cattle is inherent, and he is never
happy without them. The huge horned cattle of Ankole,
some of them most vicious, are gentle and docile under his
care.

He can, however, lie with magnificent eff

two years ago I had two Bahima looking af
of cattle; the cattle zariba was close to my house. One
morning the two herdsmen came with a skin which was
dried and partly cured, they informed me that some nights
before three men had broken into the zariba (where they
themselves slept), had killed one of my cows and eaten it.
They produced the skin and declared they had been unable
to cope with three men, they being only two.

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 142 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

The Muhima is very intelligent, he is quiet and reserved,

and will seldom or never say what he thinks. In some things
he is very superstitious-even to-day he says that if a
European puts his milk into tea it will kill the cow which
gave the milk. Also the Bairo, who eat sweet potatoes and
ground-nuts, are not allowed to drink milk, as it would then
injure the cattle-so in the old days before rupees and kauri-
shells were introduced, butter was a common currency, but
they could not sell the milk itself for fear that it might be
drunk by someone who was forbidden to drink it. Calves
also were used as currency.
The Bahima women are swathed in clothes and invariably
have their faces covered up. It may be noted that should a
Muhima woman's face be uncovered and a Muganda man
pass by she will not take the trouble to cover up, considering
the Waganda as an inferior race; but immediately on the
appearance of a Muhima she will cover her face at once.
The Bahima are divided into:-
Abahinda, or Princes.
Abagahe, the section who killed the son of Wemarra.
(This will be explained later on.)
The remainder are called " Abasambo."

RELIGION.

This consists of invocations to a spirit known as the

Mbandua. This Mbandua has seven different personalities:
the Wemarra, Kagoro, Diangombi, Nyakururu, Mugasha,
Simbua, Ndahura.
A small hut of grass about two feet high is built just
beside the dwelling house and this is for the Mbandua. At
each new moon, three nights after the moon rises, fire is
put into a " chattie," made of the earth of ant-heaps, and
this is placed inside the small hut of the Mbandua and left
for four days. If a relation is sick, goats, sheep, or cattle
are killed, and some of the cooked meat, with milk, bananas,
and flour, is placed on a native dish known as entemere and
put inside the hut of the spirit, left for a minute, and then
eaten.

When the people invoke the Mbandua, the men put

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 143

bound on skin (ekisingo) round their foreheads, and the

women fasten them in their hair and let them hang down the
forehead; they then dance all night and invoke each spirit b
name beginning with the Wemarra.

EKISINGO (WIGS WORN BY BAHIMA WOMEN).

The Nyabingi, a she-devil who makes her presence known

by earthquakes, is worshipped by the Bairo in parts of
Ankole. At Mpororo, in German territory, she is wor-
shipped both by Bahima and Bairo, and is known as th
Goddess of Rain.
A second hut, similar to that of the Mbandua, is built for
the spirits of deceased relatives, and food and drink are
periodically placed inside it at the same time as for the
Mbandua.
When a man is sick, his people dance round him, and beat
drums in the house; they also send for the medicine-man
known as Mfumo (plural A bafumo), who goes to the nearest
forest or wood with some of the relations; the Mfumo catches
a beetle called Mtondo and standing close to a tree called
Mtovotovo spits on the beetle which he holds on the palm
of his hand. If the beetle jumps on the tree the man will
live, but if on to the ground the man will die. This is
repeated daily till the sick man recovers or dies. The
Mfumo makes medicine which he mixes with butter and
rubs over a sick man; if the man recovers he receives a
present.
Besides the Wemarra and other Gods mentioned above,
there is the Lugaba or Spirit who created mankind. The
Lugaba has huts built for his worship and is also peculiarly
the God of Hunters.

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144 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

In Insingiro, near the Ruwezi river, and close to a h

called Kagarama, there are three caves, two of which c
municate with each other. The centre of these caves is known
as the cave of Lugaba; it is about 25 feet by 35 feet, the
entrance is about 6 feet high, and on the top of the opening
grows a tree known as Kikoni namatu. Inside, the cave is

only about
of cattle 4-made
are feet to
high, dark the
Lugaba, and animals
odoriferous.
beingOfferings
killed just
outside the entrance.
The priest of Lugaba is called Omusaza; he wears bark-
cloth, and skins of cows, and over his head the skin of a
Colobus monkey. A section of the Bahima known as
" Abagahe" or "Abasingo" cannot enter the cave of
Lugaba, as they do not eat the flesh of a black cow with
white stripes, nor of a spotted cow; this section were supposed
to have killed Mulindwa, a son of Wemarra, and were ex-
cluded from the feasts held in honour of the deceased kings at
Isanji.
The present priest of Lugaba is a very old man named
Babisibiremu. He wears a white imperial on his chin and
has been a priest since the days of Gasonga; he had sore
legs and eyes, and was told by Biriabaremma, the then priest
of Lugaba, that he would be cured if he became priest, so
he agreed. A hut was built and whitewashed, a bull killed,
and many people came to the feast. He was dressed in
the skins of a priest, and after the feast, he was shut in
the hut where he slept. Next morning he was brought out
and shown to the people as a priest; afterwards, he
appeared before Gasonga. He lives in the hut alone.
Priests are not allowed to have wives or women, and are
not allowed to drink the milk of cattle without calves.
The priest's duty is to dress up and tell the people when
Lugaba descends on him; they then pray to him and he
repeats their prayers to Lugaba. They pray for rain, for
children, &c.
The huts dedicated to Lugaba are divided into two rooms,
one for Luhanga, father of Lugaba, the other for Lugaba.
The people are made aware which spirit has descended
in the following way :-When Lugaba comes, the door of the

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 145

hut is shut and the priest answers from inside; if W

comes, the door is open and the priest answers while
about outside.
He dresses differently according to the spirit present.
Wemarra is known by the priest holding a cow's tail
decorated with beads.
Kagoro by the priest holding a wooden arrow-holder.
Diangombi by the priest wearing a Leopard-skin and
serval-cat skin.
Nyakururu by the priest wearing a head-dress with red
beads.
Mugasha by the priest wearing a necklace of dried wild
plantains.
Simbua by the priest holding a stick with kauri-shells on
it.

Ndahura is known by the priest holding two spears, one

in each hand, the handles cut into grooves.

On the right side of Lugaba's cave, a hole in the wall,

large enough to admit a man, leads to a larger cave known
as " Enaku," or the cave of sorrow. When a man is in
trouble he goes there; the cave has a front entrance with
a tree growing over it.
On the left of Lugaba's cave is a smaller cave known as
" Babamberi," or cave of boys.
The Rain-maker-Abiege Benjura, literally Rain-hunter.
-It is said that owing to the influence of the Missionaries
and the spread of Christianity, there are now no rain-makers
in Ankole. The last one was a servant of the Chief Kase-
gano and is buried in the forest in Banyaruguru.
When a chief sent for a rain-maker he placed an empty
hut and four cows at his disposal. The cows were killed
by striking them on the back of the head and the right horn
of each taken by the rain-maker, who put medicine into
them and stuck them in the ground behind the curtain in
the hut, where he remained all day in prayer. If the rain
did not come before nightfall he retired to sleep in another
hut and resumed his devotions next day, and so on till the
rain came; his reward was fixed at one cow.

10 Vol. 6

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146 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

The rain-maker wore a cap of kauri-shells and two charms,

one on each side, hanging from his shoulders. These
charms were pieces of wood some two inches long cut from
a shrub called " Ntembe " and slung on a string made at
Kisiba near Bukoba.

FOOD.

The Bahima eat bananas, mtama, and beef; they drink

milk in large quantities. The Bahima of Bwedu and Egara
also eat goats.
The Banyankole eat, besides the above, sweet potatoes
which are known as the food for slaves.
The following are the names of various articles of diet :-
Bananas ... ... ... Ebitoke.
Sweet potatoes ... ... Ebitakuri.
Mtama ... ... ... Omugusha.
Beans ... ... ... Ebihimba (small red).
,, ... ... ... Enkuku (larger).
Peas ... ... ... Amasaza.
Millet ... ... ... Oburro.
Pumpkin ... ... ... Emiyongo.
Vegetable with red leaves,
which grows wild ... Omurire.
A green vegetable which
is sown ... ... ... Enyabutonga.
These vegetables are boiled in water, and when coo
eaten with salt and butter. Mtama flour is boiled in water
and eaten as porridge.
Fowls are not eaten by Bahima. Fish is not eaten except
by some of the Banyankole who live on the Lake.
Milk (Amata) 1 is the staple diet of the Bahima, and in
the case of young chiefs, a certain quantity has to be drunk
daily. The milk chatties are smoked with ignited grass
which is placed inside, before the chattie is filled with milk.
Milk Chatties (Ekianzi: plural ebianzi) are made of a very
hard wood; the tree is known locally as " Emissa " and is
1 One pot of milk = obutta ; new milk = amaskumu ; skim milk = amachunda;
curds = amakamo; butter = amagita.

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 147

a species of boxwood. The chatties are small, and taper a

the neck, somewhat like a gourd, but not quite so narro
at the top. The outside of the chattie is carved with desig

C,

0
z

H4

and two chatties are carried by one man, each suspended in

a net at the end of a long pole.
There are three kinds of drink.

Ist called Amarua made of bananas.

2nd ,, Omuramba made of mtama.
3rd ,, Obusetura made of millet.

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148 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

To make the first, a large slanting hole is dug in the

ground and stuffed with dry banana leaves; these are ignited
and, later, more added. When the fire is out fresh banana
leaves are laid over the hot ashes, and ten or twenty bunches
of bananas laid inside. The mouth of the hole is then stopped
up with stems of banana-trees, and the whole covered over
with leaves and earth. This is left for five days, and on
the sixth the bananas are taken out ripe. A piece of tree,
hollowed out like a small dugout, is brought near the hole,
the bananas are skinned, thrown in, covered with grass, and
two men stand on top and stamp with their feet. In a few
minutes two pots of water are emptied on the bananas, and
the stamping resumed, then the mass is well mixed and two
pots are filled with the juice. More water is now added,
about one pot to every bunch of bananas, and the stamping
process resumed; when sufficiently mixed the liquid is drawn
off and the tree washed. Ground mtama is then placed in
the tree, and the liquid poured back again and mixed up
with the hand. The whole is covered up with grass and
allowed to ferment for 24 hours, when it is ready for use.
To make Omuramba, mtama is mixed with wood ashes,
then tied in bundles with grass and placed in the bed of
a stream or in water for two days, it is then taken out and
dried in the sun for three days; when dry it is ground into
flour, placed in boiling water and mixed with a long wooden
spoon, then poured off into large earthen pots and left for
two days, when an equal quantity of boiling water is taken,
more flour added, and the two mixed half and half; it is
then ready for use.
Obusetura is made in the same way, but with different
grain.
Fire is made in the usual manner with two pieces of wood;
the hot cinders are dropped on to the blade of a spear.
Three kinds of wood are used; the trees are called, re-
spectively, omutete, omutomo, and omulinzi.

HOUSES.

The huts are circular, made of wood and grass, and cow-
dung is plastered over the walls inside to prevent fire. The

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLr 149

hut is generally divided into two sleeping rooms an

small room in which the milk is placed. The people s
logs of wood covered with grass. Bahima who have
make a zariba of euphorbia and thorn bush, and plac
beasts inside. The sazas now build themselves large sq
houses like the chiefs in Uganda. There are no villages
close together with defences round each hut or two huts; each
is in its own plantation or cattle-zariba.

WAR.

The weapons in use are :-Spears, bows and arrows, shields

and a few old-fashioned guns.
The spear (echumu) is made in two sizes, one 5 to 6 feet
long, and one about 3 feet long; the blade is leaf-shaped.
The shafts are made from the wood of three trees called
mukoma, musinga, and muchua.
Bows (obutta) are large and strong, made of the wood
a tree called muronko; the string is made of ox-hide dr
in the sun and then twisted into a strong cord.
Arrows (emiambi) are about 24 feet long, made from a tre
called orukureiza. The shafts are plain, leaf-shaped, and

OMUTANO (ARROW-HOLDER).

also three-cornered and concave; they are well made and

tipped with feathers.
Shields (engabo) are made of wood about one foot square
with rounded edges, the wood being taken from a tree called
omuko. The wood is covered with wicker-work and there
is a handle inside with a blackened boss outside. A second
size is also made about 24 feet square but otherwise th
same. Some of the shields have cows' tails covering t
handles inside.

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150 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

When the Bahima went to fight, the procedure was as

follows :
The king ordered his drummer to beat the war-d
messengers were sent to all the big chiefs, who c
their men and brought them to the rendezvous. At the

ENGABU (SHIELD).

new moon, before going to fight, cattle and sheep were always
sent to Isanji, the burial-place of the kings and big chiefs,
and there killed. The meat of the cows was eaten, and that
of the sheep scattered on the ground; one cow was left with
the man who looked after the graves. (This man is known
as the omuhisi.)
The men who go to this place, Isanji, cut a small shrub
known as mavona; it has white berries, and these are bored,
and strung on creepers known as ehoda and ngoshora,
forming a kind of wreath, which is worn by the king and
principal chiefs while away fighting.
The warriors cover themselves with whitewash on the
right side and red mud on the left side from head to foot,
with the exception of the middle part of the body which is
clothed. The king alone does not do this.
The meat killed in the forest is to propitiate the spirits
of the deceased kings and chiefs.
In the fight the king is in the rear; he pitches his camp
about two marches behind the main body. The chiefs send
men in front in batches of Ioo, to fight under smaller chiefs;
they generally cover a large area of ground, each batch
being in sight of the batch next on either side. If the first

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 151

line is beaten, the bigger chiefs advance with more m

They shout " Okuhema! Okuhema! " which is a swear-w
and, when in pursuit, " Mubateri! Mubateri! " which
" kill." The king and his chiefs have drums beaten; t
are twenty horns with the king, but no others. (Hor
amakonderi.) These horns are made of dried pumpkins
covered with cow-skin; a hole is drilled in the side of the
neck and the end stopped up with a finger.
The guns are old muzzle-loaders, and, as they have little
or no powder, are practically useless.
It is hard to say what numbers the Bahima and Banyan-
kole could put into the field, but probably 15,ooo would be
a fair estimate of all that could be collected in any one army.

POISON.

Poison is bought from the men of chief Ruechika,

of the tribe Bavumbiro, in German territory. The
poison is extracted from a tree called Arniseju; the wood
is boiled and the residue manipulated into a pulp, which is
then smeared over the arrow-tips, not over the spears.
Ngarama, a small part of Bukanga, belongs to the Kati-
kiro Mbaguta; the local chief is Kisoro and his people now
make poison, having learnt to do so from the Bavumbiro.

BURIAL.

When the king dies, he is supposed to turn into a

lion, while a chief turns into a snake, but the spirits of other
people who die assume no visible form.
Ntari, the last king, is buried near the Toro road, in
Ruhunga's country; this place is called Itara and is in the
district of Kasari. All the other kings are buried in Abdul
Effendi's country, at a place named Isanji. At the time
Ntari died, about 1894, there was a plague in the country,
and Ankole was at war with the Waruanda, whose chief
was Kigeri (now dead). The Waruanda inhabit the
country between the Kagera river and Ruzumburu.
Chiefs, as well as other Bahima and Banyankole, are
buried outside their houses.

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152 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY

On the death of a king, the skin of a cow is cure

the body placed in it, after being washed in milk and exp
for several days. Each morning and evening it is w
in milk, and on the ninth day taken to Isanji, which
island or peninsula with trees on it in Lake Kachiro. The
body is carried by men on a framework of wood with cow-
skins stretched underneath and above. It is tied in the skin
with a rope, and when lowered to the grave, the rope is
removed. Charms and ornaments are removed before burial.
The king's mother is buried in the same forest at a place
called Kawagarre.
When a chief dies, his women strangle themselves the
same day with a rope, and their relations bury them in the
place where they came from. No cultivation is allowed for
fifteen days, and no drums beaten or festivities allowed,
though cattle are killed and eaten.

ISANJI.

There is a neck of land jutting out into Lake

Kachiro; the end of this promontory is covered with dense
jungle and a small forest. The place is called Isanji, and i
the burial-place of the kings of Ankole already referred to.
A caretaker lives about a mile away at a small shamba
on the mainland; the office has been handed down from
father to son for generations. The grass is kept short near
the edge of the forest and this apparently is the beginning
and end of the caretaker's duty; the object is to keep the
forest intact when the long grass is burnt all over the country.
I could find no traces of graves, and could only penetrate
the jungle by following the numerous hippo tracks.
The caretaker assured us that after a king had been buried
there, the people never entered the forest again till the next
king was to be buried.
In former times the ruling chief of Ankole used to pay
periodical visits to the shrines of his ancestors erected at
a spot near the caretaker's house and in sight of the forest;
here cattle were slaughtered and offerings made to the spirits
of the departed rulers, and great feasts were held. This

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 NOTES ON THE BAHIMA OF ANKOLE 153

practice has been discontinued, much to the regret

caretaker.
It must be over 25 years since the last king was buried
at Isanji, yet the grass outside the forest was kept quite
short though one had to pass through jungle and long grass
to get there.
Though the Bahima believe that their rulers turn into lions
after death, I could not hear of any lion having been known
to come near Isanji.
J. A. MELDON,
Major, C. C. Troops, Ankole.

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