The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

i fasten them to their bare backs ins. de l their bark cloth gowns while working ill ] the fields ard the fttle ones bob up and 1 down as mamma Tie'ds the hos. Sore 1 times they are tied inside goat ss IS and thus carried. Tie men often go along with their babies astride their nips, and 1 l occasionally see one with a pickAninny riding on his shoricers. They seem ,ond 1 Of their children and proud of then. Uganda Houses.
 1 These Uganda people live happily. They
 are always laughing and smiling and the 1 men and women go along hand in hand They have comfortable homes from an African standpoint. They live in villages 1 scattered over the country, but each vil- l lage covers a great territory, and every l hut has it's garden about it, in which | grow bananas, sweet potatoes and other | vegetables. AS a rule the banana trees
 shade the huts, and one often walks quite l a distance through a banana plantation l before he gets to the house.
 l The houses are of different sizes. Some, 1 such as those of the chiefs, are of great | extent and are most elaborately made I Out in the country they are more like l nuts and they look much like little hay | stacks about twelve feet in diameter and twelve feet in height, except that each has l sort of brim which extends out and 1 shades the door. The huts are made of 1 reeds with matched roofs, the latter be- l ing upheld by poles. Every hut has sev-
 eral rooms, which are divided by walls of
 mating and bark cloth. Even the poor ] est house has two apartments, one at the i front and the other in the rear. In the ] rear apartment are hunks around the wall 1 upon which the people sleep. Such huts 7, have but little furniture; two or three 1 stools, half dozen earthenware pots and 1 some wicker or grass basins constitute an i outfit for beginning married life, and if in l addition woman can have hoe or so
 and scythe she is full ready to assume her part of the contract.
 What They Eat.
 As to food, the chief staple is the bana- na. There are many varieties of these in i Uganda, and they are more important to
 that country than wheat and corn are tc l ours. The banana, which serves as the chief food is much longer than any tha, comes into our markets. It Is sort oi plaintain. It is eaten green, the fruit being first peeled and then cooked with 1 a little water in an earthenware pot AS i it steams away the flesh softens ana soon becomes a solid mass of mush. Whei done it is taken off the fire and turned out upon some fresh banana leaves These
 serve as a tablecloth. The family now gathers around aud gets ready for the | meal. Each first washes his hands and l gives them shake to get off the super ! Huous water. The father then takes a i knife and divides the pile of banana pulI i into as many divisions as there are mem ! bers at the board. In the meantime q l bowl oi soup or fish gravy has beea i placed inside the ring. This is used in 1 common. Each person takes up a hand l ful of banana mush and kneads it into a ball just big enough for. one bite. He l then dips the ball into the soup, and with 1 a wonderful sleight Of hand conveys it to ] his mouth without dropping a bit of the
 grease By the time the banana mush is ] all eaten tie soup bowl is empty.
 These people also have Indian com ] peas, beans and sweet potatoes. They l raise chickens, sheep and goats. and oe- casonally have meat They do not seen l fond of eggs, and the women are not al 1 lowed to eat them after they are married l They are not permitted to eat chicken 1 or mutton, such viands being reserved for 1 the men of the family. They may. how ever, eat beef or veal.
 l The Baganda have fish from Lake Vic i; torla and from their numerous streams. 1 They eat locusts and are especially fond !. of white ants. The ants are caught oy l smoking their hills about nightfall and i trapping them as they come out. They | are eaten both raw and cooked l see them for sale in the markets One can buy q handful or so for cents, and a great lot for d rupee. The ants are wrapped up in banana leaves when taken away
 These people are now making sugar