JZ UGANDA JOURNAL.

to effect a cure, always he recommends this or that particular offering for the
sacrifice. If there is no Abila it is built without further ado, so as to have a con-
venient place to make the sacrifice. If there is one already, the sacrifice is at once
offered. The fact of the ancestors wanting food is quite obvious.
 These reasons confirm me in the conviction that the Abila is not the
dwelling place of the souls of the ancestors, notwithstanding all that has been
written to the contrary.
 Abila is not the only name that is applied to the small temple. One often
hears this other name: Kac pa wora or Kac pa kwaro. Strictly speaking, Kac
does not mean the small temple. It signifies the small tree under which the temple
is built. Etymologically, Kac is a derivation of the verb kayo and means "to
gather" or "to harvest".
 Precisely what the word kac means in the sentence Kac pa kwaro is very
hard to say.
 The natives say that all such names are used for the sacred place as it is;
that is to say for the Abila as well as for the sacred tree. Nevertheless, the opinion
prevails that by the word Kac one is to understand "the sacred tree" even though
there may be several Abila.
 Then why is the sacred tree called Kac? The following explanation might
be given. Because upon it are collected and displayed the skulls of the victims
sacrificed. The skulls and horns of the animals killed in the hunting season are
also hung from its limbs and not infrequently they hang up bunches of crops.
Considering the derivation of the word Kac, this theory seems quite plausible.
 This may also help to elucidate its use. The verb kayo from which Kac is de-
rived, preceded by the word Latin (latin kayo) which means "son," is used to
express the first-born. Therefore the way of saying Kac pa Kwaro evidently signi-
fies the one who prepares the Abila, since he is the one who receives the father's
inheritance. In other words, he is the first-born.
 Ordinarily the first-born builds the Abila, although it is well to note that
this is not always so. Quite often others erect it. This also is in confirmation of
the above statement. These reasons may well explain the second interpretation of
the name Kac, according to our own mind; because those natives whom I
questioned were unable to give an explanation other than that it has been called
Kac for the past generations.
 The first-born has the duty of building the Abila and when he is dead the
duty falls to the lot of his brothers; no account is taken of his sisters, if he is
married. And if he is not married the duty falls upon the first married brother.
If they were married about the same time, the elder one must do it. If none is
married, no one is bound to build it. The reason assigned for this is that for the
inauguration of the Abila beer is necessary and flour for making the bread to
be offered to the ancestors, and to those who participate in the ceremonies. If
the one who is to build the Abila is not married, he will find himself in an im-