The Story of Mpuugu and the Royal Bow
The royal bow of the Abakama(kings) of Bunyoro is said to be the weapon which Isingoma Mpuugu Rukidi brought with him to Bunyoro when he became Omukama(king). Mpuugu was a noted hunter, and in this capacity was known under several names, among them being Lukidi and Nyabongo, and his bow was named Nyapogo.
As king of Bunyoro, however, he found that he was so occupied with his daily duties that he had to deny himself the pleasures of sport, and he decided to decorate his bow and place it with the quiver among his treasures near the throne.
He gave a bull to be killed in order that the bow might be re-strung with the sinews from its back. The bull was handed over to Muhinda bwa Mpona, who killed it and extracted the sinews. When he had done so, he laid them down and left them, going away to do something else before cleaning them.
In his absence a dog came in, seized the sinews, and carried them away. Muhinda returned, found that the sinews had vanished, and, on making enquiries, found that the dog had eaten them. He had to confess the loss to the king, who was so angry that he had him killed and his sinews taken out and used, with those of another bull, in place of those he had lost.
From that time whenever a new king came to the throne, the tribe of this man, the Bahinda, gave a man to supply new sinews for the bow, and they were cut from him while he was still alive. It became an honorable office to supply the sinews and for two days before the operation the man had to wear charms and dress in two white bark-cloths; he had to keep apart from women and eat special food.
After this purification he himself directed the operation of removing the sinews from his right side leg, and these were used along with those of a bull, which had to be a white yearling (an animal that is a year old or that is in its second year). The man invariably died after the operation.