IDNO

N.19396.ROS

Description

Three ‘bee-hive huts’ with a granary in the centre, in Sabei, on Mount Elgon. "Only a few poles were required for building a beehive hut. The building was begun from the top, the apex being a few reeds bound to a small circle of grass some twelve inches in diameter” (Roscoe, 1924, pp. 64 - 65). There are five young Basabei? boys? playing in the foreground.

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Elgon; Mount Elgon; Sabei

Cultural Affliation

?Basabei

Named Person

Photographer

?Roscoe, John R.

Collector / Expedition

Roscoe, John R. [Mackie Ethnological Expedition, Uganda, 1919 - 1920]

Date

1919 - 1920

Collection Name

Roscoe Collection

Source

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in an envelope marked C31/27/ by the cataloguer. The envelope was kept in box marked C31/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Publication: Image published in Roscoe, J., 1922. The Soul of Central Africa: An Account of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition. (London: Cassell and Co.), p. 278 with the caption: "Sabei: Houses with a Granary in the Centre”. [ED 22/10/2007]
Similar image published in Roscoe, J., 1924. The Bagesu and other tribes of the Uganda Protectorate: The Third Part of the Report of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.), p. 62, Plate XII, with the caption: "Sabei Granaries”. [ED 23/10/2007]

Context: "Agriculture: When new land was being brought under cultivation, the men did the clearing; but they never used the hoe, and the preparation of the ground for sowing was left to the women. When her husband had cut down the trees, scrub and grass, the woman burned them on the ground, which was the only fertilising the soil ever got. When land was worn out and yielded poor crops it was left to lie fallow for two or three years, and the owner either broke up new ground or returned to a field which had been out of use for some time. There was no method known of fertilising such land, nature being left to restore it when it ceased to yield good crops.
They followed a certain rotation of crops, for millet was seldom grown on the same ground for two successive seasons. Other grains or potatoes were planted in the place where millet had been grown in the previous year.
While the millet is ripening, children were set to keep off the birds; and when it was ripe, husband and wife worked together at the harvest, gathering in the grain and bringing it back to the village for threshing. From the outset of harvest until it was all garnered, the women might not wash any part of her body except her hands. When the threshing was finished and the grain was ready to ground, the husband had to eat the first cooked meal of the new crop; then his family might eat and then anyone might partake.
As much grain as they thought to be necessary to keep the family in food until the next harvest season was stored away in granaries adjoining the house, and all that could be spared was set apart for making into beer” (Roscoe, J., 1924. The Bagesu and other tribes of the Uganda Protectorate: The Third Part of the Report of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.), p. 62 - 63.). [ED 23/10/2007]

Building: "When a man was going to build he had only one taboo which had to be observed -if the fire in the house where he lodged died out during the night he would not go to work that day. The type of hut formerly used by the tribe, which was built so that it could not easily be destroyed by enemies, fell, of recent years, into disuse, and the bee-hive shape was adopted. The beehive hut with the grass roof was more quickly built, requiring less labour and less timber than the old style; and therefore, when there was no longer the same danger of sudden raids, the people adopted it.
The old style hut was oblong and flat-roofed, the walls being formed of poles some five feet long and not less than four inches in diameter, planted closely side by side in the ground and bound together. Posts were sometimes also planted inside the walls to carry stouter beams and to help support the roof. For the roof, poles some eight feet long and about the same thickness as those forming the walls were laid across from wall to wall projecting fully a foot beyond the walls to protect them from rain; then another layer of lighter timber was laid at right angles and bound to the first layer. The interstices were filled up with coarse grass, and a layer of damp earth about four inches deep was spread on the top and beaten hard. This earth was a little thicker in the centre than at the sides so that rain ran down and off the sides of the hut. A layer of mud was also plastered on the walls both inside and out and smoothed with the palm of the hand.
Only a few poles were required for building a beehive hut. The building was begun from the top, the apex being a few reeds bound to a small circle of grass some twelve inches in diameter. The workers built downwards from this, increasing their circle and raising the apex until the height and diameter required was attained. This basket-work roof was then raised on to its poles and thatched with grass. The only opening was the door-way, through which light entered and the smoke of the fire escaped.
No beds or stools were necessary, for the family slept on the floor with their feet towards the fire. A space was divided off for the goats and sheep, which were tied by the foot to pegs driven into the earthen floor. Calves were tied by the neck to the walls in the same part of the hut, while the cows went through it to another division, where they were left loose and not tied” (Roscoe, J., 1924. The Bagesu and other tribes of the Uganda Protectorate: The Third Part of the Report of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.), pp. 64 - 65). [ED 22/10/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 22/10/2007]