a result of this, when a king dies, his body is always buried in the floor of the house in which he has been living. The old serfs and servants who waited on him during his lifetime remain in the house. Fresh grass is spread on the floor, and they keep the place clean, as they used to for the living king, and the serfs and servants bring presents of food, or money, or beer, or firewood to the spirit—firewood because a fire must always be kept burning, night and day, in honour of the spirit. The head wife of Mtesa and the queen-sister are both still living on the same hill on which Mtesa is buried; but, both being Christians, they do not take the same interest in keeping up the old rites as they used to. So much is this the case, that the fence around the enclosure is always more or less in a state of disrepair. The interiors of the tombs are usually decorated, with spears and shields made of beaten brass, copper, or iron, and decorated with coloured
