WICHWEZI WITCHES. 285 with Kabréga’s men at Khor Kafu were also illustrated in the dances. The orgy lasted till three o’clock in the morning, and every one was stirring again at five o’clock.

The most striking figures among the crowds of people loitering about here were the Wichwézi sorceresses, a large number of whom are found at the court of every Wawitu prince. Clothed in bark cloths, yellowish brown or dyed black—one wore even the handsome mone, a fine bark cloth with black patterns—so that the whole body is covered, they also not infrequently wear skins of goats or sheep, and occasionally cheetah or otter (Lutra sp., Nyonge) skins, and adorn or disfigure their heads with objects of every conceivable description. These ladies are certainly not beautiful, and they would hardly . be eligible for vestal virgins, but they are feared, and therefore venture to take many liberties. As is always the case where professional interests are concerned, they vie with one another in eccentricities. One at Ridnga’s court grunted every minute ; at Anfina’s, one of them spoke in the highest falsetto, while another sat down beside one of the company, and wanted her shoulders rubbed and her head bent. But there was a man who surpassed them all; he was apparently quite deaf, and chattered about all sorts of stupid things, giving no answers to questions, but leaving off as soon as any one whistled.

Panyatoli (Anfina’s village) les in a well-wooded country, but the forest trees have been removed to make room for figtrees used in the manufacture of cloths. The cloths I saw, however, were all coarse, and by no means equal to the fine pieces of Uganda and Karagwa, where they are imported from Ruhanda. As regards cultivated plants, I only saw tobacco and bananas, for the eleusine was gathered in, and the time for sowing red durrah here had hardly come (November). Sesame, which ripens all the year through, is found here and there.

Tobacco (Nicotiana virginiana) might yield a good return under proper treatment, but by careless drying, the leaves shrink up so much, that the tobacco has an uninviting appearance. The bananas are fairly good, and belong to the golden-skinned variety called Nyamunya. Here, as in all parts of Unyoro, the men only eat the bananas boiled before they are ripe, while ' the women and children also eat them uncooked when ripe.