The village of Ulu lies at about latitude 10° N. between the White Nile and the Blue Nile in the southern part of the Fung area of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The surrounding country is mostly thin savannah on black cotton soil but there are occasional outcrops of laterite as at Ulu itself. Water-holes are found and may be made in the larger watercourses after these have dried up at the termination of the rainy season. The dry season is roughly December to May. The inhabitants of Ulu call themselves Fung and are black Moslems of a possibly aboriginal stock. Wandering Araboid nomads of the Mesallamia and other tribes with camels, cattle, sheep, and goats may be encountered visiting traditional grazing areas. The Fung of Ulu cultivate millet, cow-peas and sesame seed as subsistence crops and in normal times surplus is bartered with the nomads for animals and no doubt clarified butter also. A small amount of cash is obtained by the gathering of acacia gum which is disposed of through the local Arab merchant.

The following article deals with magic medicines as used in Sukumaland, an area in Tanganyika Territory stretching from Lake Victoria approximately 120 miles to the south. The inhabitants, called by the collective name of Basukuma, are by far the biggest tribe in the territory. They are related very closely to the Banyamwezi in language and custom, and together these tribal groups comprise more than one-fifth of the territory's whole population of about 5½ millions. Because of their numerical strength alone, these related tribal groups have greatly influenced the medical and magical pseudo-science in many other areas.

The great mass of Zulu literature is still unwritten. It has been handed down by X word of mouth from generation to generation, and is still preserved by the people —an indestructible possession of story, legend, and song.

There are first of all the great national legends; for instance, the legend of the origin of the race. uMvelingqangi, the first man, came out of the reeds as did Moses, and he had a wife with him. These two were the Father and Mother of the race. It is not unlikely that this tradition originated from the fact that the Bantu came from the north, following the Nile to its source at the great lakes, then down the tributaries of the Zambezi, and finally reached this southern part of Africa. Colour is given to this by the tradition which says, Sehla ngesilulu (‘we came down on rafts’), thus indicating how many crossings they had to make.

Si l'eau et le feu ont particulièrement frappé l'imagination des petits Noirs qui se répètent régulièrement plusieurs devinettes qui s'y rapportent, les autres phénomènes ne les ont pas laissés indifférents comme nous verrons par la suite. Voyons d'abord l'eau:

Bakolamba eloko wana mpo na kotambwisa yango — Mai. On cuit cette chose-là pour la faire marcher — L'eau.

The Luimbi (from the root lui, ‘river’, literally two rivers: mbali) are river-folk who occupy lands along and between the Kukema and Kuanja rivers in the Bié highlands of Angola. Subject since the eighteenth century to the depredations, aggressions, and pressure of their more powerful neighbours, the immigrant Biéan Ovimbundu, the Luimbi nevertheless maintain their tribal customs and unity and have not been without influence on their rivals and oppressors. European civilization, while it has largely liquidated the ancient tribal sanctions of the Ovimbundu, has not had an equal effect on the Luimbi.