Identifier: baganda00john (find matches)
Title: The Baganda
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: John Roscue
Subjects:
Publisher: MacMillian
Contributing Library: Gumberg Library, Duquesne University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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and secreted when possible. The most stringentcare was exercised by the King and the chiefs, but it provedinefficient to keep the sexes apart, while the horriblepunishments meted out to delinquents, when caught, seemedonly to add zest to the danger incurred. As no quarter wasshown to a man caught in the act of adultery, the culpritalways went armed, and was ready to strike the first blow,should he be disturbed. The women made it possible formen to enter the inner enclosures by enlarging the watergutters under the fences, so that a man could crawl underthem ; or they placed a pole against a fence, on which hecould climb down without making a noise. On the out-side the man would get some friend to stand while hemounted his shoulders ; and having thus gained the topof the fence, he would use the pole for his descent, andthe woman would be waiting below to lead him into herhouse. Theft was not common, for the people were deterred fromstealing by fear of the punishment which was certain to
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and mes-senger: 12 THE BAGANDA CHAP. follow. In an important case the medicine-men would be sure to be called in to divine, and in more trivial cases the people would set traps to catch the thief. If thieves forced a house, they might be killed at once; in other cases they were punished, if detected, by the loss of their hands, which were cut off without compunction. Messages Chiefs were very strict in insisting on the proper delivery of their messages ; as there was no writing, this was important. If a messenger made a mistake in delivering his message^ or wilfully changed the wording of it, he was liable to lose an ear. The King was remorseless in his punishment of a tardy or careless messenger. The punishment for delay on the road was to break the messengers leg just above the foot, bytapping it with a heavy stick. If the King felt inclined to pardon the culprit after inflicting this punishment, he sent him to the medicine-man to have the bone set; but in some instances the King se

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