376 KABAYENDI AND THE MAKRAKA.

and the Iddio, on the other hand, maintained their separate existence as distinct tribes, as also their tribal peculiarities, and form to-day, the former under their own name, and the latter under the name Makraka, a most valuable portion of our population, owing to their industry and trustworthiness.

The Iddio (Makraka) living in the province of Makraka, include ten divisions, each ruled over by an hereditary chief, namely, the Akbaya, Ndabiri, Rembeté, Wamberi, Bondua, Agbatu, Mbédimo, Abate, Akudeli, and Avungodi. ‘These divisions have many subdivisions (the Agbatu, for instance, counting ten), each of which is ruled by an hereditary sub-chief, in addition to whom each village has its superintendent, who is appointed by the chief of the district, and can be deposed by him at pleasure. The Iddio do not recognise any universal chief; disputes are settled by the superintendents of the villages, and questions of great importance by the superior chiefs. I cannot say whether any other relation exists besides their common origin between our Iddio and those who live far to the southwest. The Iddio-Makraka are still a hardy hunting people; they have, however, in the course of time, improved their methods of agriculture in a way hardly seen in any other tribe. The plants which they brought from their own country form even now their staple crops; two of them, the Colocasia and manioc, give to the Nyam-Nyam villages a very characteristic appearance. ‘l'hroughout this region these two plants are only extensively cultivated in Uganda and by the Zande tribes, and if specimens are met with in other places, it is, as a rule, easy to say where they come from.

My endeavour to introduce cattle-breeding amongst the Makraka only led to one result—they immediately ate all the cows I gave them. The true Makraka will eat everything, it matters not what it be, from the elephant to the wild cat, from the enormous python down to the fat grubs in the rotten wood of a dead tree; everything that moves is eaten. Our porters carried with them on the march (hanging to their arms) mousetraps made of twisted split reeds, and when we reached our night quarters they had no sooner laid down their loads than each man was busily engaged setting his trap. Although the Makraka often marry women from the neighbouring tribes,