ABSTRACT
T h e area known as Bwamba lies in the extreme west of Uganda on the border of the Belgian Congo. It is a very small area comprising only 164 square miles and of this
some 80 odd miles lie in the Bwamba forest, an eastern extension of the great Ituri Forest. Thus only about 84 square miles are available to the Amba. It is on the floor of the western Rift Valley and lies at altitudes varying from about 2400 feet to a little over 3000 feet. To the east Bwamba is bounded by the steep escarpment of the Rift which in this section is formed by the Ruwenzori Mountains, a high range some of whose peaks are perpetually snow covered. To the north the boundary coin cides with the sharply demarcated point at which the rain forest is suddenly supplanted by the open grasslands known as the Semliki Flats which stretch down to the shores of Lake Albert. To the west the boundary of the inhabited area is formed by the closed sleeping-sickness area, the Bwamba Forest, beyond which runs the Semliki River, the international boundary, between Uganda and the Belgian Congo. To the south the international boundary, although clear-cut, is of little significance on other than political grounds. The boundary consists of a small stream, the Lamia, which is easily fordable at almost all points.
