LAND OF THE NAKED.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 115, 13 May 1909, Page 2

LAND OF THE NAKED.

CANNIBAL RACE IN UGANDA

WITH A FINE AGRICULTURAL

SYSTEM

In a Colonial Office report issued on Thursday (says Lloyd's Weekly News), and written by the well-known writer and Governor of Uganda, Mr H. Hesketh Bell, is a vivid description of a cannibal race who go about absolutely naked, and yet are among the most skilled agriculturists on the face of the earth. Most of the Skstern Province of Uganda is densely populated by primitive and warlike tribes, who possess no political organisation. Bukedi is the name of the country, meaning the land of the naked. "Though I had heard already of the enormous density of the population," says Mr Hesketh Bell, "and of the remarkable pitch to which they had carried their cultivation of the land, my trip through the Bagishu country in August filled me with amazement. We travelled for four days through enchanting scenery, and traversed a country the like of which is probably not to be seen m any other part of Africa. "The great green massif of Mount Elgen, 14,000 feet high, towers up into the clouds, and its mighty buttresses stretch far out into the surrounding plain. Between these spurs lie broad and gently sloping valleys, each with its swiftly-flowing stream of limpid water. . " But instead of the tangled luxuriance of wild tropical vegetation which would usually characterise such a scene in mid-Africa, the eye was almost equally charmed by the sight of almost unparalleled cultivation. Right through the smiling valleys and up to the very summits of the hills nothing but continuous fields of bananas, millet, and wimbi could be seen.

FINE SYSTEM OF CULTI-

VATION

"It is no exaggeration to state that over 80 per cent, of the land is under cultivation.. The few green patches of grass that on© could see here and there had evidently only been spared so as to" provide pasture for the herds of cattle and goats. The whole of this 'garden' is cut up into small rectangular plots, each carefully defined by hedges of giant thistles.

"Dotted all about, in wondrous profusion, are the neat dome-shaped huts of the Bagishu, looking like immense hives, each one flanked by one or two smaller huts serving as granaries. " So clearly and neatly marked are the boundaries of all the plots that the countryside reminded me of the vineyards of Switzerland or. of Southern France, and the whole scene gave me an impression of calm security and peace. "In this dense crowd of over 400,000 negroes, living in an area about the size of Yorkshire, there is barely a trace of organisation of any kind. It is every man for himself, and, in most cases, every man's hand against his neighbour. " Not only do they eschew clothing of any sort, but they are addicted to cannibalism of a particularly revolting kind. They do not hurt and kill people for the sake of their flesh, but they consider that burial is a wanton waste of food.

"The northern people take amusing precautions with regard to bachelors. All the lads and unmarried young men are made to sleep in small, specially constructed huts raised high up on posts. The doors of these huts are so small that the occupants have to wriggle in on their stomachs.

" Access is only gained by a ladder, which is carefully removed as soon as the young men have been, safely disposed of for the night.

"I was told that, among some of the tribes, fine ashes are strewn under these human pigeon-cotes so that telltale footprints would indicate any attempt at a nocturnal excursion. The people are polygamous, and each man secures as many wives as he can purchase or capture."