The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-10-04
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Gus tattoo until such time as Colonel
Roosevelt had actually taken his
seat under the shady banda; then
, the drums ceased, and the ceremony
had concluded. Inside of the mess
room, these natives had spread a
white cloth under the grass thatch,
and this made it very cool. AS in
all other camps, We found every
thing spotlessly clean.
The next night in camp we cee
brated the dawn of "a new year. We
had marched at dawn, as usual, and
had halted at midday at Aaile-97
miles from kampala.
Only one more camp now inter-
vencd between us and Hoima, and
there | hoped to obtain relief from
the great pain after Mearns had OPP
Grated upon me.
The Banyoro people are among
the most curious races in the whole
OF equatorial Africa. They are gen
orally spoken of as the COW peop.
for they are powerful clansmcn
whose wealth and religion and
health is all intimately connected
with the peaceful domestic COW.
They have many strange customs
and beliefs. 1t is considered de-
graduation for Banyoro men to dig
or till the soil, so milk and meat
are their most staple forms of diet.
A few days after we had entered
the Unyoro country, we noticed
number of shrines in every direc-
ton. Our inquiries elected the in
formation they were ghost shrines.
When sickness comes to the Ban
yoro people, they say that it is one
of their enemies-the ghosts of
their ancestors-who is attacking
them, SO they proceed to capture
the evil spirit.
Ghosts, they believe, like hot
cooked meat. Therefore, meat is
cooked in large cooking pot near
the dwelling hut of the sick man
or woman. As soon as the pleasant
aroma of the meal reaches the
dwelling, the Banyoro believe that
the evil spirit enters the cooking
pot to enjoy the feast. As soon as
the food is cooked and ready, they
seal it up. The potted ghost is
then taken away from the village
and buried in the ground, the place
Of interment being marked by the
erection of i ghost shrine.
Another quaint belief of the Ban
10. I,,% hos hnn
enthroned as king of that country,
his person becomes sacred. His
food is restricted to milk and beef,
which is obtained from a special and
sacred herd Of cows which are al
ways kept apart from the other
herds.
The king of Unyoro never permits
himself to grow old or his faculties
to become impaired. When he
thinks himself likely to become SER
iously i'll, he calls together coun-
Gil of state, arranges the affairs of
the kingdom with the principal
chiefs without giving them any
reason for thinking that he is about
to die-and dismisses them to carry !
out his instructions.
This important business safely &C
the king returns to his
royal palace and summons his !
chief queen-they have many
queens in their harem-and orders
her to bring him a cup Of powerful
native poison with the same grand
manner as he might use in asking
for bottle of milk. Then he
drinks the contents of the poison
cup at gulp, and in a few minutes
he is dead.
When the reigning monarch is
comfortably dead by his own act
the chief queen calls to the palace
one or two of the cabinet ministers.
1t is their duty to prepare the royal
corpse for burial. For as long Il
period of time as possible the death
of the king is kept secret. Each day
the royal milk and royal beef are
brought to the palace as custom or
dams, and official callers are in
formed that the king has slight
cold in the head and can receive no
one. In the meantime, the cabinet
ministers and the council of state
are making private arrangements to
guard the kings corpse and to pro-
tect the sacred cattle during the
wars that are inevitable when the
kings death is known.
continued in Our Next Issue)