TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MAY 31, 1908.
Punishing: Natives by Flogging on the Shores of Victoria Nyanza
i :
(Copyright, IDoS, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
VANZA, (Special Correspondence
of The Bee.) Can the African
be controlled without flogging?
Thla la a live question out
here on the shores of Vlctorlu
Nyanta. The British lawn arf
strict In regard to thla matter, and the
white man who, unauthorized ly the courts.
fl"ps a Mack man, la l'ablo to fine mid Im
prisonment. It la now .,nly a few months
since tlirpe negroes who had lr. suited white
wn:nen were publicly flngired by Captain
Ornran, the head of the Colonists' aso
clatlon. In front of the court houae at Nai
robi. This created an outcry In England,
and Grogan and thoaw who helped him
were punished hy a mild Imprleonment.
In both Br'tlsh East Africa and Uganda
flosrslng la one of the sentences of the
courts. In t'sranda the criminal to ba
whipped Is lnld fare downward upon the
ground. lla clothes are taken off and
orn man alls on' the small of the back
r-d nnnt'icr on the tlilchs, the flogging
h- nir dole on the f! shy rnrt between to
nr-vent permanently Injuring tha man.
In German 1'pst Afrlcn I am told that
any white than has the rtcilit to clve any,
r.o'ro who insults him fifteen lashes, djut
that If more piirlchnvnt than thla la de
manded the esse must be brought before
the police. On the western shores of T.nke.
Victoria and down here at Mwanza I find
that every officer and soldier carries hla
talppopntnmtis-hlde whip with him. Tha
Whip Is called the knhuko. It Is a it rip of
the thick rkin of the hippopotamus about
yard long, trimmed down nt the sides
to the d'snieter of one's frrirer and made
tapering at one end.
Such a whip Is a terrible weapon. It Is
heavy and flexible and will cut like a
knife. It requires only n light blow to
draw blood, and the expert floRgcr brings
down the knbuko on the hare flesh with
a peculiar twl.t, which saws It Into shreds.
The natives will get down on their knees
and beq for mercy 1 one even shakes a
whip at them..
Can of Dr. Karl Peters.
Most of the flTtnnn officials claim that
It la Impossible to keep the natives In sub
jugation except by the whip. This was the
opinion of Dr. Karl Petcra, who was dls
m'r.sed from his position as Imperial com
missioner of the district about Klllman
lo.ro on account of his brutality some time
ago. The case waa brought up by a libel
u It which Dr. Petera Instituted some,
montlia afro nsalnst the Meunchener Post.
That paper had called Peters a hangman,
a murderer and a coward, and had pub
lished the story of his flogging- three fe
male servants and the hanging of others.
In the trial which followed several Ger
man officials who had served In East
Africa testified that the nativea could not
be ruled without flognlng. One of the wit
nesses was General Llebert, a former gov
ernor of German East Africa, and others
were Ilerr Kuhnert, a well known animal
painter, who had recently been here, and
Father Acker of the African mission. Gen
eral Llebert said that It waa absolutely
necessary to be severe with the nativea
and that he regretted the mildness of the
present officials. Herr Kuhnert averred
that It was impossible to treat them with
too much severity. He said he had seen
one of the negresses when she was flogged
by Dr. Peters and the punishment did not
aeom cruel to him. Father Acker aald that
one could not govern the natives without
flogging, and that he himself had often
caused men and women to be whipped.
During this trial Herr Bcbel, tha so
cialistic member of the Reichstag, waa
called in. He aald that ha had evidence
that Peters had caused a negro to be shot
down merely because he had crossed his
path, and that when he was on the Emln
Pasha expedition he had shot numerous
nativea and burned their Tillages. He cited
one of Karl Petera' books showing how
he had punished a native servant. The
servant had stolen a chicken which Peters
had ordered to be served for his dinner.
Dr. Peters first gave the man an emetlo
to get back the chicken and then flogged
htm.
During my trip about Victoria Nyania I
have been accompanied by the famous
missionary Archdeacon Walker, who was
in Uganda at the time Petera passed
IMI
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Commander-in-Chief G. A. R., Department of Nebraska
LI ALLEN BARNES, the newly
elected commander of tha
Grand Army of the Republic,
Department of Nebraska, waa
born In Cayuga, Chemung
county, New York, September
"... '3
14, 1W7, his father having been a farmer.
Ills grandfather. Abram Barnes, waa a
oldler In the war of 1812 and his great
grandfather a revolutionary soldier from
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ELI BARNES,
through here. He tella me that the learned
German doctor boasted to him that he had
killed twenty-eoven blacka while he wa
In the country and that he evidently
thought nothing of shooting a native down
In cold blood.
Germans Failed to Acqalra Uganda.
It waa from Archdeacon Walker that I
learned huw near the Germans came to
getting possession of the rich province of
Uganda and thereby the control of the
whole of Lake Victoria. Whether this waa
attempted by Prince Bismarck and the Ger
man government I do not know, but the
movement was engineered by this same Dr.
Karl Peters. The Incident occurred about
190. when the relations between King
Mwanga and the British government were
exceedingly strained. Mwanga, who Waa
then king of Uganda, had said that If the ,
English would furnish troops to support
htm In his troubles with his subjects ha
waa ready to make a treaty with them
and thereby bring his country unJer their
protection. Archdeacon Walker wrote a
letter to this effect for the king an 1 sent
It to Mr. Jack.on, the commisf-loner of
British East Africa. The man who to k
the letter waa captured on the way and
It fell Into the hands of Dr. Karl Peters,
who waa then traveling through the coun
try aa a soldier of fortune and diplomat
combined. As the story goes, Dr. Peters
tore the letter up and then by forced
marches reached Uganda before lis loss
became known. In consequence of the de
lay he was able to make treaties with
King Mwanga whereby Uganda should
come under the protection of the Germans.
In the meantime, however, the officials
of Germany and England hnd come to
gether and had held a conference, over
African matters, during which th y mails
an agreement aa to the boundary b 'tween,
the German and the English possession
By this agreement all of the country lying
aouth of a lino which goes about midway
through Lake Victoria was given to tha
kaiser and all north of that to Queen Vic
toria, then reigning; the British ceding to
the Germans the little Island of Heligo
land as a consideration therefor. The
Germans, as I understand It, had as yet
received no news of what Petera had iono
In Uganda, and when It did become known
this treaty made his work of no avail.
Blamarrk'a Dad Bargain,
Heligoland, the country which they thus
got In exchange for one of tho best regions
of the African continent, comprising d
territory larger than the whole German
empire and far richer and Including a pop
ulation of 4,000.000 of the best of the
Choice Gleanings from the Story Teller's Collection
A Case at Identity.
T'S A great help to be able to size
up the maa you came in contact
with," said a business man to
his son; "but it's more import
ant atill that you should first
know yourself.
"For Instance. A noisy bunch tacked out
of their club late one night, and up tha
street. They stopped In front of an. im
posing residence. After considerable dis
cussion one of them advanced and pounded
on the door. A woman stuck her head out
of a seoond-story window and demanded,
none too sweetly, 'What do you want?
" 'Iah thla the residence of Mr. Smith?'
inquired tha man on the steps, with an
elaborate bow.
" 'It la. What do you wantr
" 'Iah it possible I have tha honor
shpeakln' to Mlsshus BhmlthT
" 'Tee. What do you wantr
" 'Dear Mlsshua Shmlth! Good Mlsshus
Bhmlth! Will you hlo come down an' pick
out Mr. BhmlthT The resh of us want to
go home.' "Everybody's Magazine.
Everything; Has Its Cans.
"Everything haa its cause. If we can but
find It," say J. McKee Borden, secretary
of the department of charities, at a ban
quet In New York. "Once, in a miserable
slum, I heard two little girl beggars talk
ing. 'Why la It,' said the first, 'that tha
poor ia allua more wlllln' to help us than
Connecticut Mr. Barnes' mother was a
daughter of General Peter Smartwood. an
1S13 soldier. On both sides of the genealog
ical tree the anceators were pioneers of thj
"Nutmeg State." Ell A. Barnea obtained
a good knowledge of the "world of books"
in the common schools near his home, and
in Ithaca academy, Ithaca, N. Y., and after
completing his education was enganed for
Some tlm In yielding the ferule, although
Mi
GRAND 1 3 LAN IX
IMkl WO
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A WITCH DOCTOR.
African natives, was a little island In tha
North sea covering less than 110 acres and
populated only by fishermen to the num
ber of something like 2,000. Moreover,
that Island la faat being eaten up by tha
sea. A few centuries ago It waa five
times Its present size, and It grows less
every year. On the other hand, Uganda
la now setting out cotton plantations.
There are road all through It, and tha
people claim that you can go over them
for a distance of 600 miles In an auto
the rich?' The second answered promptly
and bitterly: "Them wot don't mind glvhV
is the ones wot stays poor.' "
Reconcile Helta-Ions Too Lata.
"The late Bishop Fowler," said a Buffalo
Methodist, "was a broad minded man. Big
otry he abhorred. Creed, ha claimed,
should never hedge one good Christian
from another. Sincere creeds, no matter
how diverge, should on the contrary bind
Christians UiRether.
"Bishop Fowler used to tell about a
ymmg Detroit c'cuple, John Bmlth and
Han nali Jones.
"John Smith was a Presbyterian. Han
nah Jones was a Baptist. They hesitated
about marrying because they feared that
in later life, when the little onea came,
religious disputes mlghti arise. Thus the
year passed. Neither would renounce his
church. John Buiith grew bald and Han
nah Jones developed lines about her mouth
and eyes. It waa a complete deadlock, the
world said.
"Then John waa sent abroad for a year
by his firm to buy fancy goods. He and
Hannah corresponded regularly. Toward
the year's end, by a remarkable coin
cidence, each received from the other a
letter, the two letter crossing In the mails.
They said:
" 'Friend John: The obstacles that stood
in tho way of our marriage have at last
been removed. This day I waa received In
his early occupation had been that of farm
ing. October 1, ls60, found him located on
a farm in Illinois, De Kalb county, and
there he rumained until the breaking out
of the civil war.
Mr. Barnes' older brother had preceded
him In enlistment. Mr. Barnes remained
at home and In the eurly summer of 1862
attended to the harvesting upon the farm.
On the evening of the day that the last
grain waa In the shock and laid by,. Mr.
Barnea, at the supper table, told his mother
that he, too, would enlist. The country
was needing more nicn. The mother left
It to him. "If you think jou ought to go,
if you think the country needs you, then
go."
The Barnes farm was two and a half
miles from De Kalb. Thither Mr. Barnes
went the next day to enlist. But 'he en
listing officer asked him to go home for
two weeks, he Juxt at that time not being
prepared to send more men. "But I am
ready and "want to go now," replied Mr.
Barnes. "I cannot Bend you at once," was
the response. That was enough. But Mr.
Barnes even then insisted on "Keulng there,
Ell," and went to the new recruiting sta
tion and Immediately Joined Company G,
Ninth Iowa cavalry, and enlisted at Cedar
Falls. He made out his own enlistment
papers and was made orderly sergeant.
He served until the latter part of fX, whtn
he was honorably dischaiged. During his
service he' waa thrown from his horse in
the gumbo mud of Arkansas and dislo
cated his hipi the effect of which Injury
has been a permanent one.
He was married In l8t to Miss Nancy E.
Crego, a native of Chenango county, New
York. In 1S72 Mr. Barnes located In Hall
county, Nebraska, on a soldier's home
stead, the place being now marked by one
of the largest ranches In Nebraska that
Of Robert Taylor Abbott. He was elected
a member of the State Board of Agricul
ture In 1S76, held membership on the same
for many years and was president In f0i
and ltf6 and a member till W He la one
of the oldest members of all the Masonic
bodies of Grand Island and In this part
of the state. Ha haa served two years as
councilman In this city.
He has been a member of the Lyon post.
Grand Army of the Republic, thla city, fo
twenty-eltht years, being mustered In by
Commander Paul Vandervoort and Captain
Wood, asBistant adjutant general. He has
been post commander, was Judge advocate
of the Department of Nebraska for two
years, senior vice commander for one year
and a member of the council of adminis
tration for one year. Gilbert L. Barnes
post, at Kingston, De Kalb county, Illinois,
is named after a brother of the subject of
this brief sketch. He was second lieuten
ant of Company M, Forty-second regiment,
Illinois volunteer infantry. Lieutenant
Glbert L. Barnes died In the campaign In
southern M!i sou rl. Hla body was brousAit
home and he waa buried December 2s, UU,
c
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mobile. The land is rich In rubber and
other reaources, and it also controls the
ouroe of the Nllo. Verily the British
had tha best of that bargain.
Bastnees in Gerraaa East Africa.
Tha German officials' seem to be well
satisfied with their colony. They say It
la richer than British East Africa, and
In support of their statement point to' the
fact that it already has a larger native
population. British Eaat Africa has some
full membership in the. Presbyterian
church. "HANNAH.'
" 'Dearest Hannah: We have no longer
any ground for delaying our union fur
ther. I united myself thla day with the
Baptist church. . 'JOHN.' "
Buffalo Enquirer.
Fair LlterarV Gems.
Clyde Fitch, at a dinner, produced one of
his famous acrapbooks.
"In this scrapbook," said Mr. Fitch, "I
have gathered passages from the year's
'best sellers.' The passages will give you
soma idea of the style that goes."
Then he read:
" 'The worthy pastor appeared at the
manao door, his hands thrust deep In the
pockets of hla loose Jacket, while he turned
the leaver of his prayer book thoughtfully
vnd wiped hla glasses with distraught air.'
" 'After tha door was closed, a stealthy
foot slipped into the room, and with cau
tious hand extinguished the light.'
" 'Fltzglbbon lingered over his final lem-
nade, when a gentle voice tapped him on
the shoulder, and, turning, he beheld his
old friend once again.'
" 'The chariot of revolution Is rolling on
ward, gnashing- Its teeth as it rolls.' "
Philadelphia Record.
Conkllnsr aa a Spectacle.
Roscoe Conkllng- was very fond of spec
tacular effects, relates a writer in Mun
sey'a. On the night before the nominating
speeches were to be made In the republican
convention In Chicago In 1880 he let a
rumor circulate to the effect that he had
changed from Grant to some other candi
date. This he did to heighten the effuct ot
hiu performance on the following day.
When the roll was called and when Conk
ling's chance arrived, every one was tense
with suppressed excltinent to see Just what
the New York leader waa about to do.
What he did was very characterise of
the man. Instead of going quletlji to tho
platform, he swaggered down the aisle,
and then suddenly leaped upon the table
assigned to newspaper correspondents, up
setting their Ink bottles and scattering
their "copy" over the floor. They cursed
him loudly, but their voices were drowned
in the shouting. Then Conkling wheeled
about and, facing the convention, declaimed
dramatically a hit of doggerel by Charles
Graham Iiulplne better known as "Miles
O'Rollly" which he had picked up from
some one on the evening before:
When asked what state he halls from,
Our sole reply shall be:
"He comes from Appomotox
And Its famous apple tree!"
Some have said that ho did not quote
this verse; but the present writer makes
the statement on the uuthor.ty of Senator
Hoar, who presided over Hint convention,
and of Mr. Conkllng's own nephew and
biographer.
The Other Side.
Mrs. Tom L. Johnsua of Cleveland, In a
discussion of the Cleveland school of house
hold science a school to fit young g rls f or
any position In domestic science tiial she
Is helping Jo found, said:
"This school, alien It is established, will
du away with that sickening ulupp liiitaicnt
Grand Secretary Knights Zion
I 1 K
Chicago.
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MR. CARPENTER AND ONBJ OF THE) SOLDIERS.
thing like 4,000,000, and thla country has
7,000,000 or 8,000,000. Tha most of the
colony if high and healthy. It haa ex
tensive grass lands, and many of tha na
tives are more than ordinarily thrifty.
Take, for instance, tha lands along the
Kagera river, which flows Into the lake
on the edge of Uganda. I met two offi
cers here who have been stationed In that
country. They tell me that the aoll is fer
tile and that it is covered with a thick
od of flne.rich gTass. Much of tha coun-
that so often seizes us when, having en
gaged a person reputed to be a good cook,
we sit down to her first souffle or her
mayonnaise.
"It la a dreadful disappointment that
seizes us with that first mouthful. It Is a
disappointment like that of a British soldier
who, out walking with his son, saw an old
blind beggar with the inscription on his
chest:
1
I FOUGHT AT WATERLOO.
"The soldiers said, with deep feeling:
"'Give, me something. He helped to save
your country.'
"The child dropped some silver Into the
beggar's oap, and the old man gratefull re
plied: " 'Merci bien, monsieur!' "
Tho Silent Witness.
A good story has recently been told in
the fle.et of an Incident which happened
when Admiral Evans waa In command of
the Indiana. An old time blue Jacket waa
at the maat before Captain Evans, charged
with getting food out of a mess chest,
outside of meal hours. Thla getting of
food for night watches la a common and
strong desire on the part of most men
aboard ship.
Captain Evans asked the man what he
had to say, and the man, sizing up tho
delicate situation, said:
"Captain, I didn't take no food outer that
chest. Why, captain, there weren't no
food in that chest! I looked in that chest,
and, captain, I met a cockroach coming out
of that chest with tears In hla eyes."
Philadelphia Record.
Dangerous Gronnd.
"Bless me, Marihy!" exclaimed Uncle
Cyrus, looking up from his magazine.
"We're getting a navy that- don't need to
tako a back seat for any o' them European
nations." Aunt Martha continued placidly
measuring out the ingredients of "moun
tain" cake, and manifestly was not unduly
excited over naval affairs.
"Just listen to this: Some fellow has been
making estimates. Any half-dozen of our
big cruisers have engine strength equal to
the pulling power of all the horses in tha
Russian cuvalry!
"The engines of our big battleship Lou
Islany are strong enough if they could be
fastened somwhere to pull the hull United
States cavalry Into the sea, an
"Mercy sakos!" cried Aunt Martha, with
arrested spoon for the first time impressed
with thtse Interesting statlBtics, "I hope to
goodness our cavalry'U keep away from the
shore!" Youth's Companion.
Hardly a Compliment.
In Dr. Edward Everett Hole's younger
days he was about to leave a parish, and a
good old woman was bewailing the fact
and Insisting that the church would be
ruined thereby. Dr. Hule. flattered by her
words and manner, and wishing to connoli
her, said:
"But, sister, the man who will succeed
me Is a fine preacher anJ a aplendid fel
low. You'll soon nee thai ever thing Is all
rlBl t and get used to It."
"No, no; I won't!" she answered tear
fully. "I don't get used to this changing.
I've seen tlx changes In preachers now, and
It's hot worse and worse all the time."
Judge.
Tho Girl "for HI in.
A Scotchman, wishing to know his fate
at once, telegraphed, a proposal of marriage
to the woman of his choice. After spend
ing the entire day at the telegraph office
he waa finally rewards J late In the evening
by an affirmative answer.
"If I were you." suggested the operator
when he delivered, the message, "I'd think
twice before I'd marry a girl that kept me
waiting all day for my answer."
"N'a, no," retorted be Scot. "The lass
who waits for the night rates is the laes
for me." Everybody's Magazine.
. Guessed 1! Got It.
This story Is told on Oscar Hammersteln:
Recently he was going downtown on
a Broadway cr, the strert car conductor,
on of the kind who act like stockholders,
stood over the opera manager and bawled:
"Did I get your .'are?'"
Hammersteln was in deep thought, and,
without raising his head, qulerly replied:
"I guess you did: I didn't see you ring It
up for the company."
The conductor foui-d buslneaa on the rear
platform and the pa?engers enjoyed
hearty laugh. New York Times.
try l a mil above tha sea and la well
suited to be the rexldence of white Turn.
These officers tell me that when railway
communication ran be made German col
onists will come In, and tho country will
be developed as an agricultural and stock
raising region. At present It Is thickly
populated by natives, who rear many cat
tle, sheep and goats.
Kaarera River.
The Kagera river rises not far from
Lake Tanganyika, and the lower portion
of It can be made navigable for steamers.
It flowa not far from tho line of the Cupe
to Cairo road, and it may form an Im
portant link in the chain of rail nnd
water which l.i to go north and south
through thla continent. It will connect
that road with Victoria Nyanza. I am
told that If the bar at Its mouth la dredged
out boats of considerable draft can steam
so near to Lake Tanganyika that the
building of fifty miles or so of railroad
will practically connect the two lakes.
As It Is now. It Is the: Intention of tho
railroad builders to use Lake Tangan
yika, which is 400 miles long, and Lake
Albert Edward and Albert Nyanzn. both
quite extensive, as a part of the Care to
Cairo ayotem. They are all deep and
easily navigable. Indeed, the richest part
of that route will be through the Nile and
Its waterways. The road la now within
about 4 00 miles from tho southern end
of Lake Tanganyika, and it will need oniy
a short strip to Join this chain of lake,
and another short strip from the end of
Albert Nyanza to Gondokoro, where there
is steam navigation for 1,000 miles down
the Nile to Khartum, the end of the
Egypt and Soudan railway aystcm.
Bismarck In Africa.
The Germans have erected a monument
to Prince Bismarck out here on the south
ern shores of Victoria Nyanza. It stands
with its back to the lake and Its face
towards the town of Mwanza. It conslbts
of a bronze medallion aa big around as
the head of a flour barrel, bearing the
bust of tho great chancellor. This medal
lion la cemented to a pyramid or obelisk,
which stands In a beautiful grove. Just
back of it there is a great rock 100 foet
high, and all about are trees and banana
plants. I understand there are other mon
uments to Bismarck in some of the Uer
man towns along the coast of the Indian
ocean and that a fine statue of him haa
been erected at Dar e Balaam.
The Germans are organizing a native
army out here, which shows the effect of
their system of military training. They
already have 2,500 native soldiers, offi
cered by about 800 Germans. The men
are put through the same exercises aa the
soldiers at home. They are big fellows,
well set up and very muscular, many be
ing over six feet in helgth and large in
proportion. The most of them have bru
tal faces and they look as though they
might be butchers In battle. I have gone
about through the villages with some of
these troops during my stay. Each man
carries a hippopotamus whip with him
and so uses It that he has no trouble
In making himself respected by the or
dinary native. ,
In tha Baaultnma, Towns.
The people here are not aa wealthy aa
those of Uganda. They wear less clothing
and their houses are poorer. The average
Uganda hut looks picturesque. It is made
of cane, bent and woven together and
thatched with straw, the roof often ex
tending down to the ground. The huts
of the Baaukumaa have walls of sticks
set upright In the earth and laced with
vines running in and out through them.
After this the walla are chinked with mud
and a cone-ahaped roof la put on. Tha
doora are so low that one has to stoop to
enter them, and it requires some en
gineering to go In and out, aa the door
may swing either way. Sometimes it Is
hung at the top and sometimes at the bot
tom, or It may be lifted in and out at
will. The huts are seldom more than ton
or fifteen feet In diamter, and each la
divided Into room for sleeping and cook
ing. The cooking is done in the center
of tha hut on a fire built over stones,
which rest on the ground. The cooking
utensils are usually clay pots and the
chief food is a porridge made of stewed
millet
The people, also have corn and peanuts
In addition to millet, and they grind all
three by pounding them in a mortar and
rubbing them between stones. In one ln
closure I saw a girl of IS pounding pea
nuts in a mo. tar with a wooden pefrtlo,
and In another a woman knelt down and
ground millet by rubbing the grains be
tween stones. Tha stones looked as
though they might have been picked up
President State Medical Association
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from the wayside. The lower one rested)
cn the edge of a basket, and as tl.e flour
was ground It fell dow n into' tho basket.
I find but little furniture In any of tha
houses. The people sleep on the ground
and they squat about on the floor at 1 1ft lr
nirais. Tiny have no tables and no chalra.
a few houses contain stools rlj-.ht or ten
Inches high, and In on or two I saw low
frameworks of poles covered with sklna
which were evidently tised as beds. The
Hasukurnas are akllled In making basket
and they manufacture all kinds and all
size, Including enormous grain b.tskcta
of fine straw. The latter are, used In
nearly every hut for storing millet and
corn and other such things. I saw one
which nicaaured five feet in height and at
least eight feet In diameter. It would, I
venture, hold a good-sized cow and leava
room to aparo.
With the Witch Doctors.
In one of the yards I entered this morn
ing I found a group of men on their
knees about a woman, seated on a low
tool. The Woman waa of an ebony black
ness, but her eyes were rlnftcd with white
paint, nnd across her cheeks were streaks
of the same material. She hud white
feathers In her hair and other adornments,
which made her look hideous. She was a
witch doctor, nnd had been brought In to
cure a man who had tho colic.
Going onward, I saw many evidences of
other superstitions. In one yard were a
lot of straw pons, which I thought might
be made to hold little chickens, until my
guide, Sassafras, told me they were put
up to ward off tho devil. Sassafras firmly
believes In witches. He suys all trouble
conies from them, and that If one kills a
chicken and examines Its entrails, the way
they lie In the chicken will tell him whether
the man or woman he suspects of be
witching him is guilty or not. I under
stand that such oracles are often the test
of witchcraft, and that if a man unex
pectedly dies his friends suppose he haa
been hoodooed. Nearly all deaths are sup
posed to be caused by witches; the witch
doctors are always called tn at such times
to find who haa made the special charm
which haa caused tha calamity. Sickness
Is thought to be the Vork of an enemy or
perhaps of an ancestral spirit. If alt Is an
enemy the medicine man or woman gives
the victim a charm or tells him to wear a
leopard skin or something of that kind. If
this falls, an attempt la mads to smell out
the witch, and in thla case th person
pointed out la liable to ba beaten to death.
Professional Rainmakers. '
Prof. Willis Moore of our weather bureau
ought to come out to Lake Victoria and
learn something of the real science ot the
weather. The lands south of the lake are
frequently troubled with drouth, and it la
on this account that the witches and rain
makers flourish. I am told that some of
the chiefs and sultans are supposed to ba
able to make rain, and that they are liable,
to lose their Jobs at the first long dry spell.
Ancestors are sacrificed, too, in order to
bring rain, and there are certain unfailing
signs which Indicate that the drouth Is
coming. On of these is the advent of
twins. This la tha greatest ill luck any
community can have, and the woman who
brings it upon a village is sometimes ban
ished. There are certain kinds of babies who are
Just the reverse of mascots. They are
called bad-luck children, and when on la
born trouble Is sure to follow. One of
these is a baby born with sore eyes, and
another one that gets its upper teeth first.
If th teeth sprout out in th upper Jaw
before they do In the lower jaw, that Is a
sure Blgn of dry weather, and th child Is
supposed to bring It. Indeed, this belief I
so strong that such children have been
killed on account of th suffering which th
drouth, brought by them, has entailed.
This belief In evil spirits Is common in
all the countries lying south of Lake Vic
toria, and It was largely so in Uganda,
north of the lake, until that country waa
converted to Christianity. Indeed, many
of the Baganda people still believe more
or less In a legion of spirits. They have
thirty-five different devils, one of whom
presides over war, another over earth
quakes and another over the plague. There
is supposed to be a devil In every leopard,
anr It waa to appeac them that when tho
old kings built their palaces hundred of
men were slaughtered. Sacrifice were
made to Kltlnda, tha man-eating demon,
and also to the snake-demon and other.
The Baganda had their god of plenty,
their gods of the rain and the rainbow,
and their demons of thunder and the fall
ing star. In short, the whole world of
Africa Is supposed to be Infested by spirit,
and devils of all kinds are everywhere
present, FRANK O. CARPENTER.
D, OflCBOILA, JCJ3L
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