. The Baganda . e, but he was unable to make the three specialrings for the house himself; he had to obtain them from theman whose duty it was to make them for the King. Therings were made from the fronds of palm leaves, beaten witha wooden mallet upon a log, until they became nothing butshreds ; they were then bleached in the sun, and tied intorings of the required size and thickness; the smallest ringwas ten inches in diameter and four inches thick. After the B B 370 THE BAGANDA CHAP. ring had been formed it was decorated with shredded stemsof papyrus, bleached and dyed red and black, with s
. The Baganda . e, but he was unable to make the three specialrings for the house himself; he had to obtain them from theman whose duty it was to make them for the King. Therings were made from the fronds of palm leaves, beaten witha wooden mallet upon a log, until they became nothing butshreds ; they were then bleached in the sun, and tied intorings of the required size and thickness; the smallest ringwas ten inches in diameter and four inches thick. After the B B 370 THE BAGANDA CHAP. ring had been formed it was decorated with shredded stemsof papyrus, bleached and dyed red and black, with someshreds left the natural colour. These shreds were twisted intocords, and bound round the ring so that they formed these rings that which was in the centre was the mostimportant in a house ; it was named Eiikata. The second,which was larger, was called Katuniyo, and the third, whichwas larger still, was called Biigive. The three rings wereattached to the ceiling^of a house between the three tallest. FIG. 59.—CENTRAL RING KOR HOUSE. pillars; it was from the centre ring at the apex of thehouse that the roof was built. These rings were of greatimportance to the builder, and were the test of a good men who made the rings for the royal houses had certainprivileges, such as being exempt from taxation ; they werealso allowed to pass the Kings wives upon the roads, whereasan ordinary workman was beaten if he did not turn and runaway from them ; and they were not allowed to be capturedand taken to the sacrificial places. During the time that theywere making the rings, they had to keep apart from their XI INDUSTRIES 371 wives, and no person might come near them when they were atwork ; at the end of each day they had to put away theirwork so that it should not be touched by anyone else. Thered dye for the cords for the rings was obtained from a reddeposit in the streams where there was iron in the clay ; thisdeposit was mixed with wood ashes and water, and thepap
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidbaganda00joh, bookyear1911
