Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Unyoro

UNYORO, a kingdom of Central Africa, bounded on the N. and E. by the Nile, on the W. by the Albert Nyanza, and on the S.E. by the kingdom of Uganda. Its area is about 1600 square miles. The country is very fertile, well-watered, and thickly wooded; for the most part it is hilly in character, especially on the borders of the Albert Lake and in the neighbourhood of Massindi and Kiroto, where the mountains have an altitude of from 5000 to 6000 feet. The population is about 1,500,000. The Wanyoro are of a dark reddish-brown colour, and are fully clothed, but are not so fine in physique, nor so high in intellectual development as their neighbours the AVaganda, to whom, however, they appear to be very nearly related. The reigning family in Unyoro belongs to the Wahuma tribe, and is probably the oldest reigning Wahuma family in this part of Africa. The country is governed on the feudal system. Numerous tribes to the east and north of the Nile, and also on the western side of the Albert Nyanza, pay a small tribute to the Wanyoro. The latter possess large herds of cattle, and are very good herdsmen. The land, too, is cultivated to a considerable extent, bananas, sweet potatoes, and dhurra being grown in large quantities. Coffee and tobacco are cultivated to a small extent. The people are very superstitious, and the numerous medicine men and women reap a rich harvest from their credulity. The Wanyoro huts are dome-shaped, small, and extremely filthy and full of vermin, although the people themselves are cleanly. Polygamy is universal, even the poorest man possessing two or three wives. Not withstanding this, the people are fairly moral; but Unyoro is remarkable amongst Central African tribes for the exist ence of a definite class of courtesans. The Wanyoro are moderately skilful workmen, and their iron-work, pottery, and wood-work are both neat and tasteful. The only article they export is salt, which is obtained in considerable quantities at Kibiro on the shores of Lake Albert.

See Baker's Albert Nyanza, Felkin and Wilson's Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan, and various papers in Petermann's Mittheilungen by Emin Pasha.