78 A DESCRIPTION OF THE WANYORO.

united to him in blood-brotherhood. To perform this ceremony a slight incision is .made with a razor above the fifth rib on the right side. Coffee-berries are soaked in the blood, and are exchanged and eaten by those participating in the rite. The covenant thus made lasts for life. The parties to it never desert one another in danger, and frequent the houses and converse with each other’s wives without constraint or suspicion. A case of breach of faith has never been known. I met with the same custom under the name “ pobratimstvo” among all the southern Slavs.

Among the narcotics used, tobacco, which is much smoked by both sexes, takes the first place. It is called in Unyoro as well as in Uganda “taba,’ and is obtained from two different plants, one of which—WMicotiana virginiana, the most common—has white flowers, tinted at the edge with pink, and reaches a height of about three to four feet, but bears only medium-sized leaves, which have a strong aroma, and suffer ereatly from the attacks of insects. The other kind, much stronger in flavour, has fawn-coloured flowers, and is rather a smaller plant than the former, but it is dying out. It is also called “taba.” Where the word “irkabwe,’ used in the market here for tobacco, comes from, I cannot tell; perhaps it is borrowed from another language (Galla?). I am inclined to believe that the species with yellow blossoms is indigenous. ‘The leaves, without much sorting, are simply dried on the roofs of sheds; they shrink a great deal, and produce a very good tobacco, though of rather unattractive appearance, which is made up in bundles to be sold. It is generally known that tobacco grown on low-lying land is mild, and that from high ground strong. The tobaccos from Nkoéle and the highlands of Uganda are considered the best. The pipe-bowls are spherical, large, and strong, and are attached to long stems, which in Londt are formed of two pieces tied together with varan-skin, and are as much as five feet long. I have only seen narghilés (argilis) in Usdga. Every one has his own pipe; but when he happens not to have it with him, he takes a few whiffs from his neighbour’s. The larger the bowl of the pipe, the greater the gentleman who uses it; I have seen bowls which would easily hold a