The Former Report Of The Approach Of My Men, With As Many Waganda
And Cows For Me, Turned Out Partly
False, inasmuch as only one of
my men was with 102 Waganda, whilst the whole of the deserters
were left
Behind in Uganda with cows; and Kamrasi hearing this,
ordered all to go back again until the whole of my men should
arrive.
21st. - I was told how a Myoro woman, who bore twins that died,
now keeps two small pots in her house, as effigies of the
children, into which she milks herself every evening, and will
continue to do so five months, fulfilling the time appointed by
nature for suckling children, lest the spirits of the dead should
persecute her. The twins were not buried, as ordinary people are
buried, under ground, but placed in an earthenware pot, such as
the Wanyoro use for holding pombe. They were taken to the jungle
and placed by a tree, with the pot turned mouth downwards.
Manua, one of my men, who is a twin, said, in Nguru, one of the
sister provinces to Unyanyembe, twins are ordered to be killed
and thrown into water the moment they are born, lest droughts and
famines or floods should oppress the land. Should any one
attempt to conceal twins, the whole family would be murdered by
the chief; but, though a great traveller, this is the only
instance of such brutality Manua had ever witnessed in any
country.
In the province of Unyanyembe, if a twin or twins die, they are
thrown into water for the same reason as in Nguru; but as their
numbers increase the size of the family, their birth is hailed
with delight.
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