But Though In These Southern Regions The Name Of The Clan Has
Been Changed, The Princes Still Retain The Title
Of Wahinda as in
Karague, instead of Wawitu as in Unyoro, and are considered of
such noble breed that many
Of the pure negro chiefs delight in
saying, I am a Mhinda, or prince, to the confusion of travellers,
which confusion is increased by the Wahuma habits of conforming
to the regulations of the different countries they adopt. For
instance, the Wahuma of Uganda and Karague, though so close to
Unyoro, do not extract their lower incisors; and though the
Wanyoro only use the spear in war, the Wahuma in Karague are the
most expert archers in Africa. We are thus left only the one
very distinguishing mark, the physical appearance of this
remarkable race, partaking even more of the phlegmatic nature of
the Shemitic father than the nervous boisterous temperament of
the Hamitic mother, as a certain clue to their Shem-Hamitic
origin.
It remains to speak of the separation of Uddu from Unyoro, the
present kingdom of Uganda - which, to say the least of it, is
extremely interesting, inasmuch as the government there is as
different from the other surrounding countries as those of Europe
are compared to Asia.
In the earliest times the Wahuma of Unyoro regarded all their
lands bordering on the Victoria Lake as their garden, owing to
its exceeding fertility, and imposed the epithet of Wiru, or
slaves, upon its people, because they had to supply the imperial
government with food and clothing. Coffee was conveyed to the
capital by the Wiru, also mbugu (bark-cloaks), from an
inexhaustible fig-tree; in short, the lands of the Wiru were
famous for their rich productions.
Now Wiru in the northern dialect changes to Waddu in the
southern; hence Uddu, the land of the slaves, which remained in
one connected line from the Nile to the Kitangule Kagera until
eight generations back, when, according to tradition, a sportsman
from Unyoro, by name Uganda, came with a pack of dogs, a woman, a
spear, and a shield, hunting on the left bank of Katonga valley,
not far from the lake. He was but a poor man, though so
successful in hunting that vast numbers of the Wiru flocked to
him for flesh, and became so fond of him as to invite him to be
their king, saying, "Of what avail to us is our present king,
living so far away that when we sent him a cow as a tributary
offering, that cow on the journey gave a calf, and the calf
became a cow and gave another calf, and so on, and yet the
present has not reached its destination?"
At first Uganda hesitated, on the plea that they had a king
already, but on being farther pressed consented; when the people
hearing his name said, "Well, let it be so; and for the future
let this country between the Nile and Katonga be called Uganda,
and let your name be Kimera, the first king of Uganda."
The same night Kimera stood upon a stone with a spear in his
hand, and a woman and dog sitting by his side; and to this day
people assert that his footprints and the mark left by his spear-
end, as well as the seats of the woman and dog, are visible.
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