Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/114

 magic powder and planted in the ground before a village, suffices to ward off the enemy. However, resort must often be had to charms of greater potency. When a battle is pending the wizard flays a child, placing the bleeding victim on the "war path," to be trampled by the warriors marching to victory. But a great blow was given to the power of the magicians by the arrival of the European missionaries, for they also are regarded as "medicine-men," and their potions are held to be more efficacious than those of the natives. A rain-gauge placed by them near a station on the shore of Lake Victoria had to be removed, in order not to destroy the spells concocted by the wizards to bring down rain.

The Sukuma country enjoys a certain commercial advantage, due to its position

on the route of the slave-dealers between U-Nyamezi and U-Ganda. Since the days of Speke and Stanley it has been visited by several Europeans, The most populous district is U-Rima, near the "Jordans' Nullah" of Speke, and the most frequented port is the village of Kagheyi (Kagei) on the left side of the lake, where was launched Stanley's Lady Alice, followed soon after by the Daisy and the Eleanor. The view towards the lake is interrupted by the hills of U-Kerewe, a large island whose name has often been applied to the great inland sea itself. U-Kerewe, which is almost entirely covered with forests, forms a separate state, whose capital, Bakindo, lies near the east side on a creek well sheltered by islets from the winds. A palisade of the trunks of trees in the centre of the town encloses the royal hut, those of the king's wives, the granaries, and the shed where are deposited the