Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Uganda

UGANDA, a country of eastern Central Africa, to the north-west of the Victoria Nyanza. It has an area of about 34,000 square miles, extending from 1 N. lat. to the Kitangule river, and from 31 E. long, to the Nile. The country bordering the lake and to the north-west is mountainous, the mountains being arranged in low parallel chains. The hills, covered with splendid timber and abundant underwood, rise to a height of 400 feet above their valleys, through which sluggish streams flow to the lake. Farther north the country becomes a plain, and the eastern portion of Uganda, between Rubaga and the Nile, consists of undulating country, varied by deep narrow valleys. The geological formation of the country is volcanic or metamorphic; two or three feet of rich black alluvial soil form the upper strata, covering a bed of red sandy clay, often 30 feet thick. In some places porcelain earth is found, as well as large masses of mica. Ironstone is present in considerable quantities, but as yet no other metals have been discovered. The climate is mild, and the temperature remarkably uniform throughout the year; the thermometric range is from 50° to 90° F.; but the mean annual variation is only 20. The annual rainfall is 50 inches, the greatest amount of rain occurring in March, April, May, and Sep tember, October, and November, when rain falls nearly every day, thunderstorms being frequent.

The population of Uganda is about five millions. The men are tall and well-built, and have good features and dark chocolate-coloured skin, with woolly hair. The women in their youth are good-looking. The country is divided into three provinces Uddu in the south, Singo in the west, and Changwe in the east, to which must be added about 400 islands in the lake. The government of the country is feudal, the king being nominally supreme. Succession to the throne is hereditary, but the successor is usually a minor chosen by three hereditary chiefs, who with the young king's mother carry on the government until he is of age. The reigning family in Uganda is descended from the Wahuma tribe; the late king Mtesa professed to trace back his descent to Kintu (or Ham), the founder of the dynasty. The country is ruled by the king, three hereditary chiefs, and a council of minor chiefs, two hereditary chiefs and a certain proportion of the others being continually in residence at Rubaga, the capital of the country. The laws are strict, and the administration of justice is conducted in an orderly manner. There is no real taxation, but the people are compelled to render feudal service to all their superiors. The Waganda may be divided into four classes, the lowest class being the slave population, consisting of prisoners taken in war and their descendants; next come the "bachopi" or peasants, who form the mass of the population; the third class are the "batongoli," or chiefs, who are recruited from the bachopi, but whose honours are not hereditary; they receive their rank for distinguished bravery in the field or for services rendered to the state, and they are the governros of the villages. The highest class is that of the "bakungu," a superior grade of chiefs, all belonging to the "luchiko" or state council, and being governors of large districts of land. The three great hereditary chiefs belong to this class, and they are supreme governors of the three great districts into which Uganda is divided. The Waganda are very warlike; all adult males are compelled to serve in the army when required, and the military organization, having its head quarters at the capital, ramifies throughout the whole land. Game is very plentiful: elephants, buffaloes, zebras, rhinoceroses, wild boars, twelve species of antelopes, lions, leopards, jackals, foxes, hyaenas, hares, chimpanzees, and several species of monkeys inhabit the forest. Snakes are numerous; hippopotami, crocodiles, and otters abound in the lake and in the Nile, as also many water-rats. The principal birds are parrots, guinea-fowl, owls, vultures, adjutants, goatsuckers, kites, eagles, ducks, geese, storks, cranes, herons, gulls, scarlet flamingos, darters, the sacred and glossy ibis, and brilliantly coloured honey-birds. The principal insects are mosquitos, fleas, locusts, white and driver ants, and butterflies of many species. The domestic animals are cows, goats, and a few sheep and dogs. The Waganda live chiefly upon a vegetable diet, the banana forming the staple food; it grows everywhere, and requires little or no cultivation. The sweet potato is the chief vegetable cultivated, but coffee, sugar-cane, cassava, maize, sesame, millet, tullabone, several species of beans, and two or three kinds of pump kins are grown to a small extent. The principal fruits are the nipal u and a species of amomum. Strangers have introduced wheat, rice, guavas, papaws, pomegranates, tomatoes, onions, and radishes. Wine is made from the banana tree, and is a staple drink. Butter and cheese are also made. A good deal of manufacture is carried on, for the people are ingenious and clever workmen, and their work is tasteful, neat, and exact. Two kinds of pottery, a coarse and a fine variety, are manufactured in considerable quantities. The basket work is extremely good, and the metal work far superior to any seen among the neighbouring tribes. The manufacture of bark-cloths, in which most of the people are clothed, is very extensively carried on, and their wood-work and boat-building are of very superior quality. Tanning, dyeing, and bead-work employ numbers of the people. There is not very much home trade in Uganda; it is limited to the barter of native manufactures. Several times a year caravans arrive from Zanzibar, bringing calico, guns, powder, files, knives, &c. The standard value of any article is reckoned by 100 cowries or an arm's length of calico and beads; hoes, salt, and fish are also employed as mediums of exchange. The language spoken in Uganda belongs to the great Bantu family, and is very rich in words. It has ten classes of nouns, the noun being the most important part of speech. Grammatical inflexions are formed by prefixes; the inflexions of verbs, adjectives, and pronouns vary according to the class of the governing noun. Adjectives agree with the substantive in number and case, and always follow the noun. There are personal, possessive, relative, demonstrative, and interrogative pronouns, and several forms of verbs. The Waganda are very good arithmeticians. The root of all multiples is ten; tallies are used as aids to the memory. The people are very musical; their voices are clear and melodious, and of considerable range. They have a great variety of tunes, orchestral, dance, and vocal music having distinct characteristics. Their musical instruments consist of harmonicons, rattles, drums, horns, whistles, flutes, and harps. The Waganda have no images or outward symbols of their gods; and they think that the world is ruled by spirits or demons, to whom Katonga, the great creator, has deputed his power. They worship Mukasa, the god of the lake; Naduala, the god of small-pox; Chiwuka and Nenda, the gods of war; and several of the former monarchs of Uganda, who are believed to be demi-gods. A thunder spirit is also invoked. The gods of war are supposed to inhabit certain trees, and offerings are made to them before entering the war-path; like offerings are also made to the god of the lake before commencing a voyage upon its waters.

The Waganda are courteous, cleanly, given to hospitality, but drunken, and to a certain extent indolent. Their standard of morality, even judged by that of the surrounding tribes, is not high. Human life is little respected; they are untruthful and indecent. Unless moved by passion, they are not cruel; passionate, they are not revengeful. Children are well treated, as are the aged men. On account of the extensive prevalence of polygamy, women occupy a somewhat low social grade.

Uganda was first visited by Speke and Grant in 1860, and the country has since been visited by numerous Europeans, chiefly missionaries. The Church Missionary Society and the Roman Catholics have mission stations in the country. In 1886 some forty of their converts were burnt at the stake, and in the same year Bishop Hannington was murdered on the borders of the country by the orders of King Mwanga.

See Speke's Journal, Grant's Walk across Africa, Stanley's Through the Dark Continent, and Wilson and Felkin's Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan. Also a monograph "On the Waganda Tribe," by H. W. Felkin, in Proc. Roy. Soc. Ed., vol. xiii., and an Outline Grammar of the Luganda Language, by C. T. Wilson.