ndages for cleanliness; no person, however poor, could
expose his person; and to disobey these laws was death.

After the death of Kimera, the prosperity of Uganda never decreased,
but rather improved. The clan of officers formed by him were as proud of
their emancipation from slavery, as the king they had created was of his
dominion over them. They buried Kimera with state honours, giving charge
of the body to the late king's most favourite consort, whose duty it was
to dry the corpse by placing it on a board resting on the mouth of an
earthen open pot heated by fire from below. When this drying process was
completed, at the expiration of three months, the lower jaw was cut out
and neatly worked over with beads; the umbilical cord, which had been
preserved from birth, was also worked with beads. These were kept apart,
but the body was consigned to a tomb, and guarded ever after by this
officer and a certain number of the king's next most favourite women,
all of whom planted gardens for their maintenance, and were restricted
from seeing the succeeding king.

By his large establishment of wives, Kimera left a number of princes or
Warangira, and as many princesses. From the Warangira the Wakunga
now chose as their king the one whom they thought best suited for the
government of the country--not of too high rank by the mother's side,
lest their selection in his pride should kill them all, but one of low
birth. The rest were placed with wives in a suite of huts, under charge
of a keeper, to prevent any chance of intrigues and dissensions. They
were to enjoy life until the prince-elect should arrive at the age of
discretion and be crowned, when all but two of the princes would be
burnt to death, the two being reserved in case of accident as long
as the king wanted brother companions, when one would be banished to
Unyoro, and the other pensioned with suitable possessions in Uganda. The
mother of the king by this measure became queen-dowager, or N'yamasore.
She halved with her son all the wives of the deceased king not stationed
at his grave, taking second choice; kept up a palace only little
inferior to her son's with large estates, guided the prince-elect in the
government of the country, and remained until the end of his minority
the virtual ruler of the land; at any rate, no radical political changes
could take place without her sanction. The princesses became the wives
of the king; no one else could marry them.

Both mo