Page:Uganda By Pen and Camera.djvu/80

most African races, that the Lubare acted in the capacity of a private detective, always trying to find out their crimes and punish them for them. To propitiate the Lubare, offerings were made at various shrines, where lived the intermediaries between the spirit and the natural worlds. These intermediaries are called ‘mandwas’; but that the people prayed to the spirit, or probably to the Creator, is a fact. A common expression after any good fortune has befallen a man, and he has been shaken by the hand by his friends and received their congratulations, is to say, ‘Webale kusaba,’ which is, ‘Thank you for praying (for me).’ The origin of the expression had nothing whatever to do with Christianity; it is merely a relic of their own Lubare worship, and was used to thank people for praying to the Lubare. They prayed, and went to the ‘mandwa’ for advice in all their undertakings, such as going to war, starting on a journey, and