Revieivs. 133
the other hand, there are certain matters on which the information he gives, full as it is, requires to be supplemented by Sir Harry- Johnston's statements.
The present volume is compiled, as the author tells us, at first hand from the lips of the natives themselves, and without refer- ence to any other book. This gives it its value, at the same time that it provides its limitations. It must not be assumed to be exhaustive. Indeed, we are expressly warned in the chapter on Religion that details are given only of the principal objects in the various classes, — gods, ghosts, fetishes, and so forth, — venerated. We need not, therefore, be surprised if we find others mentioned by Sir Harry Johnston or by Mr. Cunningham in his valuable book on Uganda a?id its Peoples.
At any rate, Mr. Roscoe has laid before the reader a wealth of information on "the social and religious life of the Baganda in the old days," — that is to say, prior to European influence, — not surpassed by any similar monograph on any people. It is impos- sible here to do more than refer to one or two subjects in a book every part of which demands careful study by those who are interested in the evolution of civilization.
The Baganda attained the highest degree of native Bantu culture. Except in the description by the early Portuguese adventurers and missionaries of the realm of Monomotapa, and in the still enigmatical remains of Rhodesia, nothing has been found in the vast territories occupied by Bantu peoples at all rivalling the civilization of Uganda. In both cases probably influences of the same kind were at work. At a period estimated by the author as about a thousand years ago, the original inhabi- tants of Uganda had been overcome by a tribe from the north- east of Hamitic origin. Having conquered the country, the invaders settled down as the dominant race and intermarried with their subjects, until in course of time they became fused into one tolerably homogeneous community. The country is of exceptional fertility. Although situated right under the equator, its elevation above the sea (about 4000 feet), an undulating hilly plain with belts of forest, and the proximity of the great lake of Victoria Nyanza, secure to it a temperate climate and an ample rainfall. To these advantages, to the strong government of
