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diff --git a/old/disnl10.txt b/old/disnl10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c2ece9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/disnl10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20549 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext The of the Source of the Nile, by Speke + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Laura Shaffer and J.C. Byers +(jcbyers@capitalnet.com). + + + + + The Discovery of The Source of the Nile + + by John Hanning Speke + + + + +John Hanning Speke, born 1827. Served in the Punjab but left +in 1854 to explore Somaliland. Discovered Lake Tanganyika with +Burton, and Lake Victoria independently. Was, with Grant, +the first European to cross equatorial africa. Died 1864. + + + + +Editor's Note + + + +John Hanning Speke was a man of thirty-six, when his Nile Journal +appeared. He had entered the army in 1844, and completed ten +years of service in India, serving through the Punjab Campaign. +Already he had conceived the idea of exploring Africa, before his +ten years were up, and on their conclusion he was appointed a +member of the expedition preparing to start under Sir Richard +(then Lieutenant Burton) for the Somali country. He was wounded +by the Somalis, and returned to England on sick leave; the +Crimean War then breaking out, be served through it, and later, +December 1856, joined another expedition under Burton. Then it +was that the possibility of the source of the Nile being traced +to one of the inland lakes seems to have struck him. + +Burton's illness prevented him accompanying Speke on the latter's +visit to the lake now known as Victoria Nyanza. During this +expedition Speke reached the most southerly point of the lake, +and gave it its present name. Speke arrived back in England in +the spring of 1859, Burton being left behind on account of his +illness. The relations between the two had become strained, and +this was accentuated by Speke's hast to publish the account of +his explorations. He was given the command of another expedition +which left England in April 1860, in company with Captain James +Augustus Grant, to ascertain still further if the Victoria Nyanza +were indeed the source of the Nile. He met Sir Samuel Baker, to +whom he gave valuable assistance, and who with his clue +discovered the third lake, Albert Nyanza. + +Speke telegraphed early in 1863, that the Nile source was traced. +Returning to England that year he met with an ovation, and +addressed a special meeting of the Geographical Society, and the +same year, 1863, published his "Journal of the Discovery of the +Nile." Opposed in his statements by Burton and M'Queen (The Nile +Basin, 1864"), it was arranged that he and Burton should meet for +a debate, when on the very day fixed, Speke accidentally shot +himself while out partridge-shooting. + +Sir R. Murchison, addressing the Royal Geographical Society that +year, speaks of Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile as +solving the "problem of all ages." + +Only two books were published by Speke--the "Journal" of 1863, +which follows, and its sequel--"What Led to the Discovery of the +Source of the Nile," which appeared in the year of his death, +1864. + + + + +Introduction. + + + +In the following pages I have endeavoured to describe all that +appeared to me most important and interesting among the events +and the scenes that came under my notice during my sojourn in the +interior of Africa. If my account should not entirely harmonise +with preconceived notions as to primitive races, I cannot help +it. I profess accurately to describe native Africa--Africa in +those places where it has not received the slightest impulse, +whether for good or evil, from European civilisation. If the +picture be a dark one, we should, when contemplating these sons +of Noah, try and carry our mind back to that time when our poor +elder brother Ham was cursed by his father, and condemned to be +the slave of both Shem and Japheth; for as they were then, so +they appear to be now-- a strikingly existing proof of the Holy +Scriptures. But one thing must be remembered: Whilst the people +of Europe and Asia were blessed by communion with God through the +medium of His prophets, and obtained divine laws to regulate +their ways and keep them in mind of Him who made them, the +Africans were excluded from this dispensation, and consequently +have no idea of an overruling Providence or a future state; they +therefore trust to luck and to charms, and think only of self- +preservation in this world. Whatever, then, may be said against +them for being too avaricious or too destitute of fellow-feeling, +should rather reflect on ourselves, who have been so much better +favoured, yet have neglected to teach them, than on those who, +whilst they are sinning, know not what they are doing. To say a +negro is incapable of instruction, is a mere absurdity; for those +few boys who have been educated in our schools have proved +themselves even quicker than our own at learning; whilst, amongst +themselves, the deepness of their cunning and their power of +repartee are quite surprising, and are especially shown in their +proficiency for telling lies most appropriately in preference to +truth, and with an off-handed manner that makes them most +amusing. + +With these remarks, I now give, as an appropriate introduction to +my narrative--(1.) An account of the general geographical +features of the countries we are about to travel in, leaving the +details to be treated under each as we successively pass through +them; (2.) A general view of the atmospheric agents which wear +down and so continually help to reduce the continent, yet at the +same time assist to clothe it with vegetation; (3.) A general +view of the Flora; and, lastly, that which consumes it, (4.) Its +Fauna; ending with a few special remarks on the Wanguana, or men +freed from slavery. + + +Geography + +The continent of Africa is something like a dish turned upside +down, having a high and flat central plateau, with a higher rim +of hills surrounding it; from below which, exterially, it +suddenly slopes down to the flat strip of land bordering on the +sea. A dish, however, is generally uniform in shape--Africa is +not. For instance, we find in its centre a high group of hills +surrounding the head of the Tanganyika Lake, composed chiefly of +argillaceous sandstones which I suppose to be the Lunae Montes of +Ptolemy, or the Soma Giri of the ancient Hindus. Further, +instead of a rim at the northern end, the country shelves down +from the equator to the Mediterranean Sea; and on the general +surface of the interior plateau there are basins full of water +(lakes), from which, when rains overflow them, rivers are formed, +that, cutting through the flanking rim of hills, find their way +to the sea. + + +Atmospheric Agents + +On the east coast, near Zanzibar, we find the rains following the +track of the sun, and lasting not more than forty days on any +part that the sun crosses; whilst the winds blow from south-west +or north-east, towards the regions heated by its vertical +position. But in the centre of the continent, within 5§ of the +equator, we find the rains much more lasting. For instance, at +5§ south latitude, for the whole six months that the sun is in +the south, rain continues to fall, and I have heard that the same +takes place at 5§ north; whilst on the equator, or rather a +trifle to northward of it, it rains more or less the whole year +round, but most at the equinoxes, as shown in the table on the +following page. The winds, though somewhat less steady, are +still very determinable. With an easterly tending, they deflect +north and south, following the sun. In the drier season they blow +so cold that the sun's heat is not distressing; and in +consequence of this, and the average altitude of the plateau, +which is 3000 feet, the general temperature of the atmosphere is +very pleasant, as I found from experience; for I walked every +inch of the journey dressed in thick woollen clothes, and slept +every night between blankets. + +The Number of Days on which Rain fell (more or less) during the +March of the East African Expedition from Zanzibar to Gondokoro. + +1860 Days on 1861 Days on 1862 Days on + which which which + rain fell rain fell rain fell + + *** *** January 19 January 14 + *** *** February 21 February[FN#1]12 + *** *** March 17 March 21 + *** *** April 17 April 27 + *** *** May 3 May 26 + *** *** June 0 June 20 + *** *** July 1 July 22 + *** *** August 1 August 20 + *** *** September 9 September 18 + October 2 October 11 October 27 + November 0 November 17 November 20 + December 20 December 16 December 6 + + + +Flora + +From what has been said regarding the condition of the +atmosphere, it may readily be imagined that Africa, in those +parts, after all, is not so bad as people supposed it was; for, +when so much moisture falls under a vertical sun, all vegetable +life must grow up almost spontaneously. It does so on the +equator in the most profuse manner; but down at 5§ south, where +there are six months' drought, the case is somewhat different; +and the people would be subject to famines if they did not take +advantage of their rainy season to lay in sufficient stores for +the fine: and here we touch on the misfortune of the country; for +the negro is too lazy to do so effectively, owing chiefly, as we +shall see presently, to want of a strong protecting government. +One substantial fact has been established, owing to our having +crossed over ten degrees of latitude in the centre of the +continent, or from 5§ south to 5§ north latitude, which is this: +There exists a regular gradation of fertility, surprisingly rich +on the equator, but decreasing systematically from it; and the +reason why this great fertile zone is confined to the equatorial +regions, is the same as that which has constituted it the great +focus of water or lake supply, whence issue the principal rivers +of Africa. On the equator lie the rainbearing influences of the +Mountains of the Moon. The equatorial line is, in fact, the +centre of atmospheric motion. + + +Fauna + +In treating of this branch of natural history, we will first take +man--the true curly-head, flab-nosed, pouch-mouthed negro--not +the Wahuma.[FN#2] They are well distributed all over these +latitudes, but are not found anywhere in dense communities. +Their system of government is mostly of the patriarchal +character. Some are pastorals, but most are agriculturalists; +and this difference, I believe, originates solely from want of a +stable government, to enable them to reap what they produce; for +where the negro can save his cattle, which is his wealth, by +eating grain, he will do it. In the same way as all animals, +whether wild or tame, require a guide to lead their flocks, so do +the negroes find it necessary to have chiefs over their villages +and little communities, who are their referees on all domestic or +political questions. They have both their district and their +village chiefs, but, in the countries we are about to travel +over, no kings such as we shall find that the Wahuma have. The +district chief is absolute, though guided in great measure by his +"grey-beards," who constantly attend his residence, and talk over +their affairs of state. These commonly concern petty internal +matters; for they are too selfish and too narrow-minded to care +for anything but their own private concerns. The grey-beards +circulate the orders of the chief amongst the village chiefs, who +are fined when they do not comply with them; and hence all orders +are pretty well obeyed. + +One thing only tends to disorganise the country, and that is war, +caused, in the first instance, by polygamy, producing a family of +half-brothers, who, all aspiring to succeed their father, fight +continually with one another, and make their chief aim slaves and +cattle; whilst, in the second instance, slavery keeps them ever +fighting and reducing their numbers. The government revenues are +levied, on a very small scale, exclusively for the benefit of the +chief and his grey-beards. For instance, as a sort of land-tax, +the chief has a right to drink free from the village brews of +pombe (a kind of beer made by fermentation), which are made in +turn by all the villagers successively. In case of an elephant +being killed, he also takes a share of the meat, and claims one +of its tusks as his right; further, all leopard, lion, or zebra +skins are his by right. On merchandise brought into the country +by traders, he has a general right to make any exactions he +thinks he has the power of enforcing, without any regard to +justice or a regulated tariff. This right is called Hongo, in the +plural Mahongo. Another source of revenue is in the effects of +all people condemned for sorcery, who are either burnt, or +speared and cast into the jungles, and their property seized by +the grey-beards for their chief. + +As to punishments, all irreclaimable thieves or murderers are +killed and disposed of in the same manner as these sorcerers; +whilst on minor thieves a penalty equivalent to the extent of the +depredation is levied. Illicit intercourse being treated as +petty larceny, a value is fixed according to the value of the +woman--for it must be remembered all women are property. Indeed, +marriages are considered a very profitable speculation, the +girl's hand being in the father's gift, who marries her to any +one who will pay her price. This arrangement, however, is not +considered a simple matter of buying and selling, but delights in +the high-sounding title of "dowry." Slaves, cows, goats, fowls, +brass wire, or beads, are the usual things given for this species +of dowry. The marriage-knot, however, is never irretrievably +tied; for if the wife finds a defect in her husband, she can +return to her father by refunding the dowry; whilst the husband, +if he objects to his wife, can claim half-price on sending her +home again, which is considered fair, because as a second-hand +article her future value would be diminished by half. By this +system, it must be observed, polygamy is a source of wealth, +since a man's means are measured by the number of his progeny; +but it has other advantages besides the dowry, for the women work +more than the men do, both in and out of doors; and, in addition +to the females, the sons work for the household until they marry, +and in after life take care of their parents in the same way as +in the first instance the parents took care of them. + +Twins are usually hailed with delight, because they swell the +power of the family, though in some instances they are put to +death. Albinos are valued, though their colour is not admired. +If death occurs in a natural manner, the body is usually either +buried in the village or outside. A large portion of the negro +races affect nudity, despising clothing as effeminate; but these +are chiefly the more boisterous roving pastorals, who are too +lazy either to grow cotton or strip the trees of their bark. +Their young women go naked; but the mothers suspend a little tail +both before and behind. As the hair of the negro will not grow +long, a barber might be dispensed with, were it not that they +delight in odd fashions, and are therefore continually either +shaving it off altogether, or else fashioning it after the most +whimsical designs. No people in the world are so proud and +headstrong as the negroes, whether they be pastoral or +agriculturalists. With them, as with the rest of the world, +"familiarity breeds contempt"; hospitality lives only one day; +for though proud of a rich or white visitor--and they implore him +to stop, that they may keep feeding their eyes on his +curiosities--they seldom give more than a cow or a goat, though +professing to supply a whole camp with provisions. + +Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or +much difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it +is true. For instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in +a different manner from the others; but by the constant +intermarriage with slaves, much of this effect is lost, and it is +further lost sight of owing to the prevalence of migrations +caused by wars and the division of governments. As with the +tribal marks so with their weapons; those most commonly in use +are the spear, assage, shield, bow and arrow. It is true some +affect one, some the other; but in no way do we see that the +courage of tribes can be determined by the use of any particular +weapon: for the bravest use the arrow, which is the more dreaded; +while the weakest confine themselves to the spear. Lines of +traffic are the worst tracks (there are no roads in the districts +here referred to) for a traveller to go upon, not only because +the hospitality of the people has been damped by frequent +communication with travellers, but, by intercourse with the semi- +civilised merchant, their natural honour and honesty are +corrupted, their cupidity is increased, and the show of firearms +ceases to frighten them. + +Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician +(Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes +of Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveller; for if it +suits their inclinations to keep him out of the country, they +have merely to prognosticate all sorts of calamities--as +droughts, famines, or wars--in the event of his setting eyes on +the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all, would believe them; +for, as may be imagined, with men unenlightened, supernatural and +imaginary predictions work with more force than substantial +reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may appear, +is a cow's or antelope's horn (Uganga), which they stuff with +magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front +of the village, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward +off the attacks of an enemy. + +By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can +discover anything that has been stolen or lost; and instances +have been told of its dragging four men after it with +irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it be-laboured the +culprit and drove him out of his senses. So imbued are the +natives' minds with belief in the power of charms, that they pay +the magician for sticks, stones, or mud, which he has doctored +for them. They believe certain flowers held in the hand will +conduct them to anything lost; as also that the voice of certain +wild animals, birds, or beasts, will insure them good-luck, or +warn them of danger. With the utmost complacency our sable +brother builds a dwarf hut in his fields, and places some grain +on it to propitiate the evil spirit, and suffer him to reap the +fruits of his labour, and this too they call Uganga or church. + +These are a few of the more innocent alternatives the poor +negroes resort to in place of a "Saviour." They have also many +other and more horrible devices. For instance, in times of +tribulation, the magician, if he ascertains a war is projected by +inspecting the blood and bones of a fowl which he has flayed for +that purpose, flays a young child, and having laid it lengthwise +on a path, directs all the warriors, on proceeding to battle, to +step over his sacrifice and insure themselves victory. Another +of these extra barbarous devices takes place when a chief wishes +to make war on his neighbour by his calling in a magician to +discover a propitious time for commencing. The doctor places a +large earthen vessel, half full of water, over a fire, and over +its mouth a grating of sticks, whereon he lays a small child and +a fowl side by side, and covers them over with a second large +earthen vessel, just like the first, only inverted, to keep the +steam in, when he sets fire below, cooks for a certain period of +time, and then looks to see if his victims are still living or +dead--when, should they be dead, the war must be deferred, but, +otherwise commenced at once. + +These extremes, however, are not often resorted to, for the +natives are usually content with simpler means, such as flaying a +goat, instead of a child, to be walked over; while, to prevent +any evil approaching their dwellings a squashed frog, or any +other such absurdity, when place on the track, is considered a +specific. + +How the negro has lived so many ages without advancing, seems +marvellous, when all the countries surrounding Africa are so +forward in comparison; and judging from the progressive state of +the world, one is led to suppose that the African must soon +either step out from his darkness, or be superseded by a being +superior to himself. Could a government be formed for them like +ours in India, they would be saved; but without it, I fear there +is very little chance; for at present the African neither can +help himself nor will he be helped about by others, because his +country is in such a constant state of turmoil he has too much +anxiety on hand looking out for his food to think of anything +else. As his fathers ever did, so does he. He works his wife, +sells his children, enslaves all he can lay hands upon, and, +unless when fighting for the property of others, contents himself +with drinking, singing, and dancing like a baboon to drive dull +care away. A few only make cotton cloth, or work in wood, iron, +copper, or salt; their rule being to do as little as possible, +and to store up nothing beyond the necessities of the next +season, lest their chiefs or neighbours should covet and take it +from them. + +Slavery, I may add, is one great cause of laziness, for the +masters become too proud to work, lest they should be thought +slaves themselves. In consequence of this, the women look after +the household work--such as brewing, cooking, grinding corn, +making pottery and baskets, and taking care of the house and the +children, besides helping the slaves whilst cultivating, or even +tending the cattle sometimes. + +Now, descending to the inferior order of creation, I shall +commence with the domestic animals first, to show what the +traveller may expect to find for his usual support. Cows, after +leaving the low lands near the coast, are found to be plentiful +everywhere, and to produce milk in small quantities, from which +butter is made. Goats are common all over Africa; but sheep are +not so plentiful, nor do they show such good breeding--being +generally lanky, with long fat tails. Fowls, much like those in +India, are abundant everywhere. A few Muscovy ducks are +imported, also pigeons and cats. Dogs, like the Indian pariah, +are very plentiful, only much smaller; and a few donkeys are +found in certain localities. Now, considering this good supply +of meat, whilst all tropical plants will grow just as well in +central equatorial Africa as they do in India, it surprises the +traveller there should be any famines; yet such is too often the +case, and the negro, with these bounties within his reach, is +sometimes found eating dogs, cats, rats, porcupines, snakes, +lizards, tortoises, locusts, and white ants, or is forced to seek +the seeds of wild grasses, or to pluck wild herbs, fruits, and +roots; whilst at the proper seasons they hunt the wild elephant, +buffalo, giraffe, zebra, pigs, and antelopes; or, going out with +their arrows, have battues against the guinea-fowls and small +birds. + +The frequency with which collections of villages are found all +over the countries we are alluding to, leaves but very little +scope for the runs of wild animals, which are found only in dense +jungles, open forests, or praires generally speaking, where hills +can protect them, and near rivers whose marshes produce a thick +growth of vegetation to conceal them from their most dreaded +enemy--man. The prowling, restless elephant, for instance, though +rarely seen, leaves indications of his nocturnal excursions in +every wilderness, by wantonly knocking down the forest-trees. +The morose rhinoceros, though less numerous, are found in every +thick jungle. So is the savage buffalo, especially delighting in +dark places, where he can wallow in the mud and slake his thirst +without much trouble; and here also we find the wild pig. + +The gruff hippopotamus is as widespread as any, being found +wherever there is water to float him; whilst the shy giraffe and +zebra affect all open forests and plains where the grass is not +too long; and antelopes, of great variety in species and habits, +are found wherever man will let them alone and they can find +water. The lion is, however, rarely heard--much more seldom +seen. Hyenas are numerous, and thievishly inclined. Leopards, +less common, are the terror of the villagers. Foxes are not +numerous, but frighten the black traveller by their ill-omened +bark. Hares, about half the size of English ones--there are no +rabbits--are widely spread, but not numerous; porcupines the +same. Wild cats, and animals of the ferret kind, destroy game. +Monkeys of various kinds and squirrels harbour in the trees, but +are rarely seen. Tortoises and snakes, in great variety, crawl +over the ground, mostly after the rains. Rats and lizards--there +are but few mice--are very abundant, and feed both in the fields +and on the stores of the men. + +The wily ostrich, bustard, and florikan affect all open places. +The guinea-fowl is the most numerous of all game-birds. +Partridges come next, but do not afford good sport; and quails +are rare. Ducks and snipe appear to love Africa less than any +other country; and geese and storks are only found where water +most abounds. Vultures are uncommon; hawks and crows much +abound, as in all other countries; but little birds, of every +colour and note, are discoverable in great quantities near water +and by the villages. Huge snails and small ones, as well as +fresh-water shells, are very abundant, though the conchologist +would find but little variety to repay his labours; and insects, +though innumerable, are best sought for after the rains have set +in.[FN#3] + + +The Wanguana or Freed Men + +The Wa-n-guana, as their name implies, are men freed from +slavery; and as it is to these singular negroes acting as hired +servants that I have been chiefly indebted for opening this large +section of Africa, a few general remarks on their character +cannot be out of place here. + +Of course, having been born in Africa, and associated in +childhood with the untainted negroes, they retain all the +superstitious notions of the true aborigines, though somewhat +modified, and even corrupted, by that acquaintance with the outer +world which sharpens their wits. + +Most of these men were doubtless caught in wars, as may be seen +every day in Africa, made slaves of, and sold to the Arabs for a +few yards of common cloth, brass wire, or beads. They would then +be taken to the Zanzibar market, resold like horses to the +highest bidder, and then kept in bondage by their new masters, +more like children of his family than anything else. In this new +position they were circumcised to make Mussulmans of them, that +their hands might be "clean" to slaughter their master's cattle, +and extend his creed; for the Arabs believe the day must come +when the tenets of Mohammed will be accepted by all men. + +The slave in this new position finds himself much better off than +he ever was in his life before, with this exception, that as a +slave he feels himself much degraded in the social scale of +society, and his family ties are all cut off from him--probably +his relations have all been killed in the war in which he was +captured. Still, after the first qualms have worn off, we find +him much attached to his master, who feeds him and finds him in +clothes in return for the menial services which he performs. In +a few years after capture, or when confidence has been gained by +the attachment shown by the slave, if the master is a trader in +ivory, he will intrust him with the charge of his stores, and +send him all over the interior of the continent to purchase for +him both slaves and ivory; but should the master die, according +to the Mohammedan creed the slaves ought to be freed. In Arabia +this would be the case; but at Zanzibar it more generally happens +that the slave is willed to his successor. + +The whole system of slaveholding by the Arabs in Africa, or +rather on the coast or at Zanzibar, is exceedingly strange; for +the slaves, both in individual physical strength and in numbers, +are so superior to the Arab foreigners, that if they chose to +rebel, they might send the Arabs flying out of the land. It +happens, however, that they are spell-bound, not knowing their +strength any more than domestic animals, and they even seem to +consider that they would be dishonest if they ran away after +being purchased, and so brought pecuniary loss on their owners. + +There are many positions into which the slave may get by the +course of events, and I shall give here, as a specimen, the +ordinary case of one who has been freed by the death of his +master, that master having been a trader in ivory and slaves in +the interior. In such a case, the slave so freed in all +probability would commence life afresh by taking service as a +porter with other merchants, and in the end would raise +sufficient capital to commence trading himself-- first in slaves, +because they are the most easily got, and then in ivory. All his +accumulations would then go to the Zanzibar market, or else to +slavers looking out off the coast. Slavery begets slavery. To +catch slaves is the first thought of every chief in the interior; +hence fights and slavery impoverish the land, and that is the +reason both why Africa does not improve, and why we find men of +all tribes and tongues on the coast. The ethnologist need only +go to Zanzibar to become acquainted with all the different tribes +to the centre of the continent on that side, or to Congo to find +the other half south of the equator there. + +Some few freed slaves take service in vessels, of which they are +especially fond; but most return to Africa to trade in slaves and +ivory. All slaves learn the coast language, called at Zanzibar +Kisuahili; and therefore the traveller, if judicious in his +selections, could find there interpreters to carry him throughout +the eastern half of South Africa. To the north of the equator +the system of language entirely changes. + +Laziness is inherent in these men, for which reason, although +extremely powerful, they will not work unless compelled to do so. +Having no God, in the Christian sense of the term, to fear or +worship, they have no love for truth, honour, or honesty. +Controlled by no government, nor yet by home ties, they have no +reason to think of or look to the future. Any venture attracts +them when hard-up for food; and the more roving it is, the better +they like it. The life of the sailor is most particularly +attractive to the freed slave; for he thinks, in his conceit, +that he is on an equality with all men when once on the muster- +rolls, and then he calls all his fellow-Africans "savages." +Still the African's peculiarity sticks to him: he has gained no +permanent good. The association of white men and the glitter of +money merely dazzle him. He apes like a monkey the jolly Jack +Tar, and spends his wages accordingly. If chance brings him back +again to Zanzibar, he calls his old Arab master his father, and +goes into slavery with as much zest as ever. + +I have spoken of these freed men as if they had no religion. This +is practically true, though theoretically not so; for the Arabs, +on circumcising them, teach them to repeat the words Allah and +Mohammed, and perhaps a few others; but not one in ten knows what +a soul means, nor do they expect to meet with either reward or +punishment in the next world, though they are taught to regard +animals as clean and unclean, and some go through the form of a +pilgrimage to Mecca. Indeed the whole of their spiritual +education goes into oaths and ejaculations--Allah and Mohammed +being as common in their mouths as damn and blast are with our +soldiers and sailors. The long and short of this story is, that +the freed men generally turn out a loose, roving, reckless set of +beings, quick-witted as the Yankee, from the simple fact that +they imagine all political matters affect them, and therefore +they must have a word in every debate. Nevertheless they are +seldom wise; and lying being more familiar to their constitution +than truth-saying, they are for ever concocting dodges with the +view, which they glory in of successfully cheating people. +Sometimes they will show great kindness, even bravery amounting +to heroism, and proportionate affection; at another time, without +any cause, they will desert and be treacherous to their sworn +friends in the most dastardly manner. Whatever the freak of the +moment is, that they adopt in the most thoughtless manner, even +though they may have calculated on advantages beforehand in the +opposite direction. In fact, no one can rely upon them even for +a moment. Dog wit, or any silly remarks, will set them giggling. +Any toy will amuse them. Highly conceited of their personal +appearance, they are for ever cutting their hair in different +fashions, to surprise a friend; or if a rag be thrown away, they +will all in turn fight for it to bind on their heads, then on +their loins or spears, peacocking about with it before their +admiring comrades. Even strange feathers or skins are treated by +them in the same way. + +Should one happen to have anything specially to communicate to +his master in camp, he will enter giggling, sidle up to the pole +of a hut, commence scratching his back with it, then stretch and +yawn, and gradually, in bursts of loud laughter, slip down to the +ground on his stern, when he drums with his hands on the top of a +box until summoned to know what he has at heart, when he delivers +himself in a peculiar manner, laughs and yawns again, and, saying +it is time to go, walks off in the same way as he came. At other +times when he is called, he will come sucking away at the spout +of a tea-pot, or, scratching his naked arm-pits with a table- +knife, or, perhaps, polishing the plates for dinner with his +dirty loin-cloth. If sent to market to purchase a fowl, he comes +back with a cock tied by the legs to the end of a stick, swinging +and squalling in the most piteous manner. Then, arrived at the +cook-shop, he throws the bird down on the ground, holds its head +between his toes, plucks the feathers to bare its throat, and +then, raising a prayer, cuts its head off. + +But enough of the freed man in camp; on the march he is no +better. If you give him a gun and some ammunition to protect him +in case of emergencies, he will promise to save it, but forthwith +expends it by firing it off in the air, and demands more, else he +will fear to venture amongst the "savages." Suppose you give him +a box of bottles to carry, or a desk, or anything else that +requires great care, and you caution him of its contents, the +first thing he does is to commence swinging it round and round, +or putting it topsy-turvy on the top of his head, when he will +run off at a jog-trot, singing and laughing in the most provoking +manner, and thinking no more about it than if it were an old +stone; even if rain were falling, he would put it in the best +place to get wet through. Economy, care, or forethought never +enters his head; the first thing to hand is the right thing for +him; and rather then take the trouble even to look for his own +rope to tie up his bundle, he would cut off his master's tent- +ropes or steal his comrade's. His greatest delight is in the fair +sex, and when he can't get them, next comes beer, song, and a +dance. + +Now, this is a mild specimen of the "rowdy" negro, who has +contributed more to open Africa to enterprise and civilisation +than any one else. Possessed of a wonderful amount of loquacity, +great risibility, but no stability--a creature of impulse--a +grown child, in short--at first sight it seems wonderful how he +can be trained to work; for there is now law, no home to bind +him--he could run away at any moment; and presuming on this, he +sins, expecting to be forgiven. Great forbearance, occasionally +tinctured with a little fatherly severity, is I believe, the best +dose for him; for he says to his master, in the most childish +manner, after sinning, "You ought to forgive and to forget; for +are you not a big man who should be above harbouring spite, +though for a moment you may be angry? Flog me if you like, but +don't keep count against me, else I shall run away; and what will +you do then?" + +The language of this people is just as strange as they are +themselves. It is based on euphony, from which cause it is very +complex, the more especially so as it requires one to be +possessed of a negro's turn of mind to appreciate the system, and +unravel the secret of its euphonic concord. A Kisuahili grammar, +written by Dr. Krapf, will exemplify what I mean. There is one +peculiarity, however, to which I would direct the attention of +the reader most particularly, which is, that Wa prefixed to the +essential word of a country, means men or people; M prefixed, +means man or individual; U, in the same way, means place or +locality; and Ki prefixed indicates the language. Example:-- +Wagogo, is the people of Gogo; Mgogo, is a Gogo man; Ugogo, is +the country of Gogo; and Kigogo, the language of Gogo. + +The only direction here necessary as regards pronunciation of +native words refers to the u, which represents a sound +corresponding to that of the oo in woo. + + + + + + Journal of the Discovery + of + The Source of the Nile + + + + + Chapter 1 + + + + London to Zanzibar, 1859 + +The design--The Preparations--Departure--The Cape--The Zulu +Kafirs-- Turtle-Turning--Capture of a Slaver--Arrive at Zanzibar- +-Local Politics and News Since Last Visit--Organisation of the +Expedition. + +My third expedition in Africa, which was avowedly for the purpose +of establishing the truth of my assertion that the Victoria +N'yanza, which I discovered on the 30th July 1858, would +eventually prove to be the source of the Nile, may be said to +have commenced on the 9th May 1859, the first day after my return +to England from my second expedition, when, at the invitation of +Sir. R. I. Murchison, I called at his house to show him my map +for the information of the Royal Geographical Society. Sir +Roderick, I need only say, at once accepted my views; and, +knowing my ardent desire to prove to the world, by actual +inspection of the exit, that the Victoria N'yanza was the source +of the Nile, seized the enlightened view, that such a discovery +should not be lost to the glory of England and the Society of +which he was President; and said to me, "Speke, we must send you +there again." I was then officially directed, much against my +own inclination, to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society on +the geography of Africa, which I had, as the sole surveyor of the +second expedition, laid down on our maps.[FN#4] A council of the +Geographical Society was now convened to ascertain what projects +I had in view for making good my discovery by connecting the lake +with the Nile, as also what assistance I should want for that +purpose. + +Some thought my best plan would be to go up the Nile, which +seemed to them the natural course to pursue, especially as the +Nile was said, though nobody believed it, to have been navigated +by expeditions sent out by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, up to +3§ 22ï north latitude. To this I objected, as so many had tried +it and failed, from reasons which had not transpired; and, at the +same time, I said that if they would give me œ5000 down at once, +I would return to Zanzibar at the end of the year, March to Kaze +again, and make the necessary investigations of the Victoria +lake. Although, in addition to the journey to the source of the +river, I also proposed spending three years in the country, +looking up tributaries, inspecting watersheds, navigating the +lake, and making collections on all branches of natural history, +yet œ5000 was thought by the Geographical Society too large a sum +to expect from the Government; so I accepted the half, saying +that, whatever the expedition might cost, I would make good the +rest, as, under any circumstances, I would complete what I had +begun, or die in the attempt. + +My motive for deferring the journey a year was the hope that I +might, in the meanwhile, send on fifty men, carrying beads and +brass wire, under charge of Arab ivory-traders, to Karague, and +fifty men more, in the same way, to Kaze; whilst I, arriving in +the best season for travelling (May, June, or July), would be +able to push on expeditiously to my depots so formed, and thus +escape the great disadvantages of travelling with a large caravan +in a country where no laws prevail to protect one against +desertions and theft. Moreover, I knew that the negroes who would +have to go with me, as long as they believed I had property in +advance, would work up to it willingly, as they would be the +gainers by doing so; whilst, with nothing before them, they would +be always endeavouring to thwart my advance, to save them from a +trouble which their natural laziness would prompt them to escape +from. + +This beautiful project, I am sorry to say, was doomed from the +first; for I did not get the œ2500 grant of money or appointment +to the command until fully nine months had elapsed, when I wrote +to Colonel Rigby, our Consul at Zanzibar, to send on the first +instalment of property towards the interior. + +As time then advanced, the Indian branch of the Government very +graciously gave me fifty artillery carbines, with belts and +sword-bayonets attached, and 20,000 rounds of ball ammunition. +They lent me as many surveying instruments as I wanted; and, +through Sir George Clerk, put at my disposal some rich presents, +in gold watches, for the chief Arabs who had so generously +assisted us in the last expedition. Captain Grant, hearing that +I was bound on this journey, being an old friend and brother +sportsman in India, asked me to take him with me, and his +appointment was settled by Colonel Sykes, then chairman of a +committee of the Royal Geographical Society, who said it would +only be "a matter of charity" to allow me a companion. + +Much at the same time, Mr Petherick, an ivory merchant, who had +spent many years on the Nile, arrived in England, and +gratuitously offered, as it would not interfere with his trade, +to place boats at Gondokoro, and send a party of men up the White +River to collect ivory in the meanwhile, and eventually to assist +me in coming down. Mr Petherick, I may add, showed great zeal for +geographical exploits, so, as I could not get money enough to do +all that I wished to accomplish myself, I drew out a project for +him to ascend the stream now known as the Usua river (reported to +be the larger branch of the Nile), and, if possible, ascertain +what connection it had with my lake. This being agreed to, I did +my best, through the medium of Earl de Grey (then President of +the Royal Geographical Society), to advance him money to carry +out this desirable object. + +The last difficulty I had now before me was to obtain a passage +to Zanzibar. The Indian Government had promised me a vessel of +war to convey me from Aden to Zanzibar, provided it did not +interfere with the public interests. This doubtful proviso +induced me to apply to Captain Playfair, Assistant-Political at +Aden, to know what Government vessel would be available; and +should there be none, to get for me a passage by some American +trader. The China war, he assured me, had taken up all the +Government vessels, and there appeared no hope left for me that +season, as the last American trader was just then leaving for +Zanzibar. In this dilemma it appeared that I must inevitably +lose the travelling season, and come in for the droughts and +famines. The tide, however, turned in my favour a little; for I +obtained, by permission of the Admiralty, a passage in the +British screw steam-frigate Forte, under orders to convey Admiral +Sir H. Keppel to his command at the Cape; and Sir Charles Wood +most obligingly made a request that I should be forwarded thence +to Zanzibar in one of our slaver-hunting cruisers by the earliest +opportunity. + +On the 27th April, Captain Grant and I embarked on board the new +steam-frigate Forte, commanded by Captain E. W. Turnour, at +Portsmouth; and after a long voyage, touching at Madeira and Rio +de Janeiro, we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th July. +Here Sir George Grey, the Governor of the colony, who took a warm +and enlightened interest in the cause of the expedition, invited +both Grant and myself to reside at his house. Sir George had +been an old explorer himself--was once wounded by savages in +Australia, much in the same manner as I had been in the Somali +country--and, with a spirit of sympathy, he called me his son, +and said he hoped I would succeed. Then, thinking how best he +could serve me, he induced the Cape Parliament to advance to the +expedition a sum of œ300, for the purpose of buying baggage- +mules; and induced Lieut.-General Wynyard, the Commander-in- +Chief, to detach ten volunteers from the Cape Mounted Rifle Corps +to accompany me. When this addition was made to my force, of +twelve mules and ten Hottentots, the Admiral of the station +placed the screw steam-corvette Brisk at my disposal, and we all +sailed for Zanzibar on the 16th July, under the command of +Captain A. F. de Horsey-- the Admiral himself accompanying us, on +one of his annual inspections to visit the east coast of Africa +and the Mauritius. In five days more we touched at East London, +and, thence proceeding north, made a short stay at Delagoa Bay, +where I first became acquainted with the Zulu Kafirs, a naked set +of negroes, whose national costume principally consists in having +their hair trussed up like a hoop on the top of the head, and an +appendage like a thimble, to which they attach a mysterious +importance. They wear additional ornaments, charms, &c., of +birds' claws, hoofs and horns of wild animals tied on with +strings, and sometimes an article like a kilt, made of loose +strips of skin, or the entire skins of vermin strung close +together. These things I have merely noticed in passing, because +I shall hereafter have occasion to allude to a migratory people, +the Watuta, who dressing much in the same manner, extend from +Lake N'yassa to Uzinza, and may originally have been a part of +this same Kafir race, who are themselves supposed to have +migrated from the regions at present occupied by the Gallas. Next +day (the 28th) we went on to Europa, a small island of coralline, +covered with salsolacious shrubs, and tenanted only by sea-birds, +owls, finches, rats, and turtles. Of the last we succeeded in +turning three, the average weight of each being 360 lb., and we +took large numbers of their eggs. + +We then went to Mozambique, and visited the Portuguese Governor, +John Travers de Almeida, who showed considerable interest in the +prospects of the expedition, and regretted that, as it cost so +much money to visit the interior from that place, his officers +were unable to go there. One experimental trip only had been +accomplished by Mr Soares, who was forced to pay the Makua chiefs +120 dollars footing, to reach a small hill in view of the sea, +about twenty-five miles off. + +Leaving Mozambique on the 9th August, bound for Johanna, we came +the next day, at 11.30 A.M., in sight of a slaver, ship-rigged, +bearing on us full sail, but so distant from us that her mast- +tops were only just visible. As quick as ourselves, she saw who +we were and tried to escape by retreating. This manoeuvre left +no doubt what she was, and the Brisk, all full of excitement, +gave chase at full speed, and in four hours more drew abreast of +her. A great commotion ensued on board the slaver. The sea- +pirates threw overboard their colours, bags, and numerous boxes, +but would not heave-to, although repeatedly challenged, until a +gun was fired across her bows. Our boats were then lowered, and +in a few minutes more the "prize" was taken, by her crew being +exchanged for some of our men, and we learnt all about her from +accurate reports furnished by Mr Frere, the Cape Slave +Commissioner. Cleared from Havannah as "the Sunny South," +professing to be destined for Hong-Kong, she changed her name to +the Manuela, and came slave-hunting in these regions. The +slaver's crew consisted of a captain, doctor, and several +sailors, mostly Spaniards. The vessel was well stored with +provisions and medicines; but there was scarcely enough room in +her, though she was said to be only half freighted, for the 544 +creatures they were transporting. The next morning, as we +entered Pamoni harbour by an intricate approach to the rich +little island hill Johanna, the slaver, as she followed us, +stranded, and for a while caused considerable alarm to everybody +but her late captain. He thought his luck very bad, after +escaping so often, to be taken thus; for his vessel's power of +sailing were so good, that, had she had the wind in her favour, +the Brisk, even with the assistance of steam, could not have come +up with her. On going on board her, I found the slaves to be +mostly Wahiyow. A few of them were old women, but all the rest +children. They had been captured during wars in their own +country, and sold to Arabs, who brought them to the coast, and +kept them half-starved until the slaver arrived, when they were +shipped in dhows and brought off to the slaver, where, for nearly +a week, whilst the bargains were in progress, they were kept +entirely without food. It was no wonder then, every man of the +Brisk who first looked upon them did so with a feeling of +loathing and abhorrence of such a trade. All over the vessel, +but more especially below, old women, stark naked, were dying in +the most disgusting "ferret-box" atmosphere; while all those who +had sufficient strength were pulling up the hatches, and tearing +at the salt fish they found below, like dogs in a kennel. + +On the 15th the Manuela was sent to the Mauritius, and we, after +passing the Comoro Islands, arrived at our destination, Zanzibar- +- called Lunguja by the aborigines, the Wakhadim--and Unguja by +the present Wasuahili. + +On the 17th, after the anchor was cast, without a moment's delay +I went off to the British Consulate to see my old friend Colonel +Rigby. He was delighted to see us; and, in anticipation of our +arrival, had prepared rooms for our reception, that both Captain +Grant and myself might enjoy his hospitality until arrangements +could be made for our final start into the interior. The town, +which I had left in so different a condition sixteen months +before, was in a state of great tranquillity, brought about by +the energy of the Bombay Government on the Muscat side, and +Colonel Rigby's exertions on this side, in preventing an +insurrection Sultan Majid's brothers had created with a view of +usurping his government. + +The news of the place was as follows:--In addition to the +formerly constituted consulates--English, French, and American--a +fourth one, representing Hamburg, had been created. Dr Roscher, +who during my absence had made a successful journey to the +N'yinyezi N'yassa, or Star Lake, was afterwards murdered by some +natives in Uhiyow; and Lieutentant-Colonel Baron van der Decken, +another enterprising German, was organising an expedition with a +view to search for the relics of his countryman, and, if +possible, complete the project poor Roscher had commenced. + +Slavery had received a severe blow by the sharp measures Colonel +Rigby had taken in giving tickets of emancipation to all those +slaves whom our Indian subjects the Banyans had been secretly +keeping, and by fining the masters and giving the money to the +men to set them up in life. The interior of the continent had +been greatly disturbed, owing to constant war between the natives +and Arab ivory merchants. Mguru Mfupi (or Short-legs), the chief +of Khoko in Ugogo, for instance, had been shot, and Manua Sera +(the Tippler), who succeeded the old Sultan Fundi Kira, of +Unyanyembe, on his death, shortly after the late expedition left +Kaze, was out in the field fighting the Arabs. Recent letters +from the Arabs in the interior, however, gave hopes of peace +being shortly restored. Finally, in compliance with my request-- +and this was the most important item of news to myself--Colonel +Rigby had sent on, thirteen days previously, fifty-six loads of +cloth and beads, in charge of two of Ramji's men, consigned to +Musa at Kaze. + +To call on the Sultan, of course, was our first duty. He +received us in his usually affable manner; made many trite +remarks concerning our plans; was surprised, if my only object in +view was to see the great river running out of the lake, that I +did not go by the more direct route across the Masai country and +Usoga; and then, finding I wished to see Karague, as well as to +settle many other great points of interest, he offered to assist +me with all the means in his power. + +The Hottentots, the mules, and the baggage having been landed, +our preparatory work began in earnest. It consisted in proving +the sextants; rating the watches; examining the compasses and +boiling thermometers; making tents and packsaddles; ordering +supplies of beads, cloth, and brass wire; and collecting servants +and porters. + +Sheikh Said bin Salem, our late Cafila Bashi, or caravan captain, +was appointed to that post again, as he wished to prove his +character for honour and honesty; and it now transpired that he +had been ordered not to go with me when I discovered the Victoria +N'yanza. Bombay and his brother Mabruki were bound to me of old, +and the first to greet me on my arrival here; while my old +friends the Beluchs begged me to take them again. The +Hottentots, however, had usurped their place. I was afterwards +sorry for this, though, if I ever travel again, I shall trust to +none but natives, as the climate of Africa is too trying to +foreigners. Colonel Rigby, who had at heart as much as anybody +the success of the expedition, materially assisted me in +accomplishing my object--that men accustomed to discipline and a +knowledge of English honour and honesty should be enlisted, to +give confidence to the rest of the men; and he allowed me to +select from his boat's crew any men I could find who had served +as men-of-war, and had seen active service in India. + +For this purpose my factotum, Bombay, prevailed on Baraka, Frij, +and Rahan--all of them old sailors, who, like himself, knew +Hindustani--to go with me. With this nucleus to start with, I +gave orders that they should look out for as many Wanguana (freed +men-- i.e., men emancipated from slavery) as they could enlist, +to carry loads, or do any other work required of them, and to +follow men in Africa wherever I wished, until our arrival in +Egypt, when I would send them back to Zanzibar. Each was to +receive one year's pay in advance, and the remainder when their +work was completed. + +While this enlistment was going on here, Ladha Damji, the +customs' master, was appointed to collect a hundred pagazis +(Wanyamuezi porters) to carry each a load of cloth, beads, or +brass wire to Kaze, as they do for the ivory merchants. +Meanwhile, at the invitation of the Admiral, and to show him some +sport in hippopotamus-shooting, I went with him in a dhow over to +Kusiki, near which there is a tidal lagoon, which at high tide is +filled with water, but at low water exposes sand islets covered +with mangrove shrub. In these islets we sought for the animals, +knowing they were keen to lie wallowing in the mire, and we +bagged two. On my return to Zanzibar, the Brisk sailed for the +Mauritius, but fortune sent Grant and myself on a different +cruise. Sultan Majid, having heard that a slaver was lying at +Pangani, and being anxious to show his good faith with the +English, begged me to take command of one his vessels of war and +run it down. Accordingly, embarking at noon, as soon as the +vessel could be got ready, we lay-to that night at Tombat, with a +view of surprising the slaver next morning; but next day, on our +arrival at Pangani, we heard that she had merely put in to +provision there three days before, and had let immediately +afterwards. As I had come so far, I thought we might go ashore +and look at the town, which was found greatly improved since I +last saw it, by the addition of several coralline houses and a +dockyard. The natives were building a dhow with Lindi and +Madagascar timber. On going ashore, I might add, we were +stranded on the sands, and, coming off again, nearly swamped by +the increasing surf on the bar of the river; but this was a +trifle; all we thought of was to return to Zanzibar, and hurry on +our preparations there. This, however, was not so easy: the sea +current was running north, and the wind was too light to propel +our vessel against it; so, after trying in vain to make way in +her, Grant and I, leaving her to follow, took to a boat, after +giving the captain, who said we would get drowned, a letter, to +say we left the vessel against his advice. + +We had a brave crew of young negroes to pull us; but, pull as +they would, the current was so strong that we feared, if we +persisted, we should be drawn into the broad Indian Ocean; so, +changing our line, we bore into the little coralline island, +Maziwa, where, after riding over some ugly coral surfs, we put in +for the night. There we found, to our relief, some fisherman, who +gave us fish for our dinner, and directions how to proceed. + +Next morning, before daylight, we trusted to the boat and our +good luck. After passing, without landmarks to guide us, by an +intricate channel, through foaming surfs, we arrived at Zanzibar +in the night, and found that the vessel had got in before us. + +Colonel Rigby now gave me a most interesting paper, with a map +attached to it, about the Nile and the Mountains of the Moon. It +was written by Lieutenant Wilford, from the "Purans" of the +Ancient Hindus. As it exemplifies, to a certain extent, the +supposition I formerly arrived at concerning the Mountains of the +Moon being associated with the country of the Moon, I would fain +draw the attention of the reader of my travels to the volume of +the "Asiatic Researches" in which it was published.[FN#5] It is +remarkable that the Hindus have christened the source of the Nile +Amara, which is the name of a country at the north-east corner of +the Victoria N'yanza. This, I think, shows clearly, that the +ancient Hindus must have had some kind of communication with both +the northern and southern ends of the Victoria N'yanza. + +Having gone to work again, I found that Sheikh Said had brought +ten men, four of whom were purchased for one hundred dollars, +which I had to pay; Bombay, Baraka, Frij, and Rahan had brought +twenty-six more, all freed men; while the Sultan Majid, at the +suggestion of Colonel Rigby, gave me thirty-four men more, who +were all raw labourers taken from his gardens. It was my +intention to have taken one hundred of this description of men +throughout the whole journey; but as so many could not be found +in Zanzibar, I still hoped to fill up the complement in +Unyamuezi, the land of the Moon, from the large establishments of +the Arab merchants residing there. The payment of these men's +wages for the first year, as well as the terms of the agreement +made with them, by the kind consent of Colonel Rigby were now +entered in the Consular Office books, as a security to both +parties, and a precaution against disputes on the way. Any one +who saw the grateful avidity with which they took the money, and +the warmth with which they pledged themselves to serve me +faithfully through all dangers and difficulties, would, had he +had no dealings with such men before, have thought that I had a +first-rate set of followers. I lastly gave Sheikh Said a double- +barrelled rifle by Blissett, and distributed fifty carbines among +the seniors of the expedition, with the condition that they would +forfeit them to others more worthy if they did not behave well, +but would retain possession of them for ever if they carried them +through the journey to my satisfaction. + +On the 21st, as everything was ready on the island, I sent Sheikh +Said and all the men, along with the Hottentots, mules, and +baggage, off in dhows to Bagamoyo, on the opposite mainland. +Colonel Rigby, with Captain Grant and myself, then called on the +Sultan, to bid him adieu, when he graciously offered me, as a +guard of honour to escort me through Uzaramo, one jemadar and +twenty-five Beluch soldiers. These I accepted, more as a +government security in that country against the tricks of the +natives, than for any accession they made to our strength. His +highness then places his 22-gun corvette, "Secundra Shah," at our +disposal, and we went all three over to Bagamoyo, arriving on the +25th. Immediately on landing, Ladha and Sheikh Said showed us +into a hut prepared for us, and all things looked pretty well. +Ladha's hundred loads of beads, cloths, and brass wire were all +tied up for the march, and seventy-five pagazis (porters from the +Moon country) had received their hire to carry these loads to +Kaze in the land of the Moon. Competition, I found, had raised +these men's wages, for I had to pay, to go even as far as Kaze, +nine and a quarter dollars a-head!--as Masudi and some other +merchants were bound on the same line as myself, and all were +equally in a hurry to be off and avoid as much as possible the +famine we knew we should have to fight through at this late +season. Little troubles, of course, must always be expected, else +these blacks would not be true negroes. Sheikh Said now reported +it quite impossible to buy anything at a moderate rate; for, as I +was a "big man," I ought to "pay a big price;" and my men had all +been obliged to fight in the bazaar before they could get even +tobacco at the same rate as other men, because they were the +servants of the big man, who could afford to give higher wages +than any one else. The Hottentots, too, began to fall sick, which +my Wanguana laughingly attributed to want of grog to keep their +spirits up, as these little creatures, the "Tots," had frequently +at Zanzibar, after heavy potations, boasted to the more sober +free men, that they "were strong, because they could stand plenty +drink." The first step now taken was to pitch camp under large +shady mango-trees, and to instruct every man in his particular +duty. At the same time, the Wanguana, who had carbines, were +obliged to be drilled in their use and formed into companies, +with captains of ten, headed by General Baraka, who was made +commander-in-chief. + +On the 30th September, as things were looking more orderly, I +sent forward half of the property, and all the men I had then +collected, to Ugeni, a shamba, or garden, two miles off; and on +the 2nd October, after settling with Ladha for my "African +money," as my pagazis were completed to a hundred and one, we +wished Rigby adieu, and all assembled together at Ugeni, which +resembles the richest parts of Bengal. + + + + + + + Chapter II + + + + Uzaramo + +The Nature of the Country--The Order of March--The Beginning of +our Taxation--Sultan Lion's Claw, and Sultan Monkey's Tail--The +Kingani --Jealousies and Difficulties in the Camp--The Murderer +of M. Maizan. + +We were now in U-za-Ramo, which may mean the country of Ramo, +though I have never found any natives who could enlighten me on +the derivation of this obviously triple word. The extent of the +country, roughly speaking, stretches from the coast to the +junction or bifurcation of the Kingani and its upper branch the +Mgeta river, westwards; and from the Kingani, north, to the +Lufigi river, south; though in the southern portions several +subtribes have encroached upon the lands. There are no hills in +Uzaramo; but the land in the central line, formed like a ridge +between the two rivers, furrow fashion, consists of slightly +elevated flats and terraces, which, in the rainy season, throw +off their surplus waters to the north and south by nullahs into +these rivers. The country is uniformly well covered with trees +and large grasses, which, in the rainy season, are too thick, +tall, and green to be pleasant; though in the dry season, after +the grasses have been burnt, it is agreeable enough, though not +pretty, owing to the flatness of the land. The villages are not +large or numerous, but widely spread, consisting generally of +conical grass huts, while others are gable-ended, after the +coast-fashion--a small collection of ten or twenty comprising one +village. Over these villages certain headmen, titled Phanze, +hold jurisdiction, who take black-mail from travellers with high +presumption when they can. Generally speaking, they live upon +the coast, and call themselves Diwans, headsmen, and subjects of +the Sultan Majid; but they no sooner hear of the march of a +caravan than they transpose their position, become sultans in +their own right, and levy taxes accordingly. + +The Wazaramo are strictly agriculturists; they have no cows, and +but few goats. They are of low stature and thick set and their +nature tends to the boisterous. Expert slavehunters, they mostly +clothe themselves by the sale of their victims on the coast, +though they do business by the sale of goats and grain as well. +Nowhere in the interior are natives so well clad as these +creatures. In dressing up their hair, and otherwise smearing +their bodies with ochreish clay, they are great dandies. They +always keep their bows and arrows, which form their national arm, +in excellent order, the latter well poisoned, and carried in +quivers nicely carved. To intimidate a caravan and extort a hongo +or tax, I have seen them drawn out in line as if prepared for +battle; but a few soft words were found sufficient to make them +all withdraw and settle the matter at issue by arbitration in +some appointed place. A few men without property can cross their +lands fearlessly, though a single individual with property would +stand no chance, for they are insatiable thieves. But little is +seen of these people on the journey, as the chiefs take their +taxes by deputy, partly out of pride, and partly because they +think they can extort more by keeping in the mysterious distance. +At the same time, the caravan prefers camping in the jungles +beyond the villages to mingling with the inhabitants, where rows +might be engendered. We sometimes noticed Albinos, with greyish- +blue eyes and light straw-coloured hair. Not unfrequently we +would pass on the track side small heaps of white ashes, with a +calcined bone or two among them. These, we were told, were the +relics of burnt witches. The caravan track we had now to travel +on leads along the right bank of the Kingani valley, overlooking +Uzegura, which, corresponding with Uzaramo, only on the other +side of the Kigani, extends northwards to the Pangani river, and +is intersected in the centre by the Wami river, of which more +hereafter. + +Starting on a march with a large mixed caravan, consisting of 1 +corporal and 9 privates, Hottentots--1 jemadar and 25 privates, +Beluchs--1 Arab Cafila Bashi and 75 freed slaves--1 Kirangozi, or +leader, and 100 negro porters--12 mules untrained, 3 donkeys, and +22 goats--one could hardly expect to find everybody in his place +at the proper time for breaking ground; but, at the same time, it +could hardly be expected that ten men, who had actually received +their bounty-money, and had sworn fidelity, should give one the +slip the very first day. Such, however, was the case. Ten out +of the thirty-six given by the Sultan ran away, because they +feared that the white men, whom they believed to be cannibals, +were only taking them into the interior to eat them; and one +pagazi, more honest than the freed men, deposited his pay upon +the ground, and ran away too. Go we must, however; for one +desertion is sure to lead to more; and go we did. Our procession +was in this fashion: The Kirangozi, with a load on his shoulder, +led the way, flag in hand, followed by the pagazis carrying +spears of bows and arrows in their hands, and bearing their share +of the baggage in the shape either of bolster-shaped loads of +cloth and beads covered with matting, each tied into the fork of +a three-pronged stick, or else coils of brass or copper wire tied +in even weights to each end of sticks which they laid on the +shoulder; then helter-skelter came the +Wanguana, carrying carbines in their hands, and boxes, bundles, +tents, cooking-pots--all the miscellaneous property--on their +heads; next the Hottentots, dragging the refractory mules laden +with ammunition-boxes, but very lightly, to save the animals for +the future; and, finally, Sheikh Said and the Beluch escort; +while the goats, sick women, and stragglers, brought up the rear. +From first to last, some of the sick Hottentots rode the hospital +donkeys, allowing the negroes to tug their animals; for the +smallest ailment threw them broadcast on their backs. In a +little while we cleared from the rich gardens, mango clumps, and +cocoa-but trees, which characterise the fertile coast-line. After +traversing fields of grass well clothed with green trees, we +arrived at the little settlement of Bomani, where camp was +formed, and everybody fairly appointed to his place. The process +of camp-forming would be thus: Sheikh Said, with Bombay under +him, issues cloths to the men for rations at the rate of one- +fourth load a-day (about 15 lb.) amongst 165; the Hottentots cook +our dinners and their own, or else lie rolling on the ground +overcome with fatigue; the Beluchs are supposed to guard the +camp, but prefer gossip and brightening their arms. Some men are +told off to look after the mules, donkeys, and goats, whilst out +grazing; the rest have to pack the kit, pitch our tents, cut +boughs for huts, and for fencing in the camp--a thing rarely +done, by-the-by. After cooking, when the night has set it, the +everlasting dance begins, attended with clapping of hands and +jingling small bells strapped to the legs--the whole being +accompanied by a constant repetition of senseless words, which +stand in place of the song to the negroes; for song they have +none, being mentally incapacitated for musical composition, +though as timists they are not to be surpassed. + +What remains to be told is the daily occupation of Captain Grant, +myself, and our private servants. Beginning at the foot: Rahan, +a very peppery little negro, who had served in a British man-of- +war at the taking of Rangoon, was my valet; and Baraka, who had +been trained much in the same manner, but had seen engagements at +Multan, was Captain Grant's. They both knew Hindustani; but +while Rahan's services at sea had been short, Baraka had served +nearly all his life with Englishmen--was the smartest and most +intelligent negro I ever saw--was invaluable to Colonel Rigby as +a detector of slave-traders, and enjoyed his confidence +completely--so much so, that he said, on parting with him, that +he did not know where he should be able to find another man to +fill his post. These two men had now charge of our tents and +personal kit, while Baraka was considered the general of the +Wanguana forces, and Rahan a captain of ten. + +My first occupation was to map the country. This is done by +timing the rate of march with a watch, taking compass-bearings +along the road, or on any conspicuous marks--as, for instance, +hills off it --and by noting the watershed--in short, all +topographical objects. On arrival in camp every day came the +ascertaining, by boiling a thermometer, of the altitude of the +station above the sea-level; of the latitude of the station by +the meridian altitude of the star taken with a sextant; and of +the compass variation by azimuth. Occasionally there was the +fixing of certain crucial stations, at intervals of sixty miles +or so, by lunar observations, or distances of the moon either +from the sun or from certain given stars, for determining the +longitude, by which the original-timed course can be drawn out +with certainty on the map by proportion. Should a date be lost, +you can always discover it by taking a lunar distance and +comparing it with the Nautical Almanac, by noting the time when a +star passes the meridian if your watch is right, or by observing +the phases of the moon, or her rising or setting, as compared +with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of my work, besides +sketching and keeping a diary, which was the most troublesome of +all, consisted in making geological and zoological collections. +With Captain Grant rested the botanical collections and +thermometrical registers. He also boiled one of the +thermometers, kept the rain-gauge, and undertook the photography; +but after a time I sent the instruments back, considering this +work too severe for the climate, and he tried instead sketching +with watercolours-- the results of which form the chief part of +the illustrations in this book. The rest of our day went in +breakfasting after the march was over--a pipe, to prepare us for +rummaging the fields and villages to discover their contents for +scientific purposes-- dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe +before turning in at night. + +A short stage brought us to Ikamburu, included in the district of +Nzasa, where there is another small village presided over by +Phanze Khombe la Simba, meaning Claw of Lion. He, immediately +after our arrival, sent us a present of a basket of rice, value +one dollar, of course expecting a return--for absolute generosity +is a thing unknown to the negro. Not being aware of the value of +the offering, I simply requested the Sheikh to give him four +yards of American sheeting, and thought no more about the matter, +until presently I found the cloth returned. The "Sultan" could +not think of receiving such a paltry present from me, when on the +former journey he got so much; if he showed this cloth at home, +nobody would believe him, but would say he took much more and +concealed it from his family, wishing to keep all his goods to +himself. I answered that my footing in the country had been paid +for on the last journey, and unless he would accept me as any +other common traveller, he had better walk away; but the little +Sheikh, a timid, though very gentlemanly creature, knowing the +man, and dreading the consequences of too high a tone, pleaded +for him, and proposed as a fitting hongo, one dubuani, one +sahari, and eight yards merikani, as the American sheeting is +called here. This was pressed by the jemadar, and acceded to by +myself, as the very utmost I could afford. Lion's Claw, however, +would not accept it; it was too far below the mark of what he got +last time. He therefore returned the cloths to the Sheikh, as he +could get no hearing from myself, and retreated in high dudgeon, +threatening the caravan with a view of his terrible presence on +the morrow. Meanwhile the little Sheikh, who always carried a +sword fully two-thirds the length of himself, commenced casting +bullets for his double-barrelled rifle, ordered the Wanguana to +load their guns, and came wheedling up to me for one more cloth, +as it was no use hazarding the expedition's safety for four yards +of cloth. This is a fair specimen of tax-gathering, within +twelve miles of the coast, by a native who claims the protection +of Zanzibar. We shall soon see what they are further on. The +result of experience is, that, ardent as the traveller is to see +the interior of Africa, no sooner has he dealings with the +natives, than his whole thoughts tend to discovering some road +where he won't be molested, or a short cut, but long march, to +get over the ground. + +Quite undisturbed, we packed and marched as usual, and soon +passed Nzasa close to the river, which is only indicated by a +line of trees running through a rich alluvial valley. We camped +at the little settlement of Kizoto, inhospitably presided over by +Phanze Mukia ya Nyani or Monkey's Tail, who no sooner heard of +our arrival than he sent a demand for his "rights." One dubani +was issued, with orders than no one need approach me again, +unless he wanted to smell my powder. Two taxes in five miles was +a thing unheard of; and I heard no more about the matter, until +Bombay in the evening told me how Sheikh Said, fearing awkward +consequences, had settled to give two dubuani, one being taken +from his own store. Lion's Claw also turned up again, getting +his cloths of yesterday--one more being added from the Sheikh's +stores--and he was then advised to go off quietly, as I was a +fire-eater whom nobody dared approach after my orders had been +issued. This was our third march in Uzaramo; we had scarcely +seen a man of the country, and had no excessive desire to do so. + +Deflecting from the serpentine course of the Kingani a little, we +crossed a small bitter rivulet, and entered on the elevated +cultivation of Kiranga Ranga, under Phanze Mkungu-pare, a very +mild man, who, wishing to give no offence, begged for a trifling +present. He came in person, and his manner having pleased us, I +have him one sahari, four yards merikani, and eight yards kiniki, +which pleased our friend so much that he begged us to consider +his estate our own, even to the extent of administering his +justice, should any Mzaramo be detected stealing from us. Our +target-practice, whilst instructing the men, astonished him not a +little, and produced an exclamation that, with so many guns, we +need fear nothing, go where we would. From this place a good +view is obtained of Uzegura. Beyond the flat alluvial valley of +the Kingani, seven to eight miles broad, the land rises suddenly +to a table-land of no great height, on which trees grow in +profusion. In fact it appeared, as far as the eye could reach, +the very counterpart of that where we stood, with the exception +of a small hill, very distant, called Phongue. + +A very welcome packet of quinine and other medicines reached us +here from Rigby, who, hearing our complaints that the Hottentots +could only be kept alive by daily potions of brandy and quinine, +feared our supplies were not enough, and sent us more. + +We could not get the Sultan's men to chum with the Wanguana +proper; they were shy, like wild animals--built their huts by +themselves-- and ate and talked by themselves, for they felt +themselves inferiors; and I had to nominate one of their number +to be their chief, answerable for the actions of the whole. +Being in the position of "boots" to the camp, the tending of +goats fell to their lot. Three goats were missing this evening, +which the goatherds could not account for, nor any of their men. +Suspecting that they were hidden for a private feast, I told +their chief to inquire farther, and report. The upshot was, that +the man was thrashed for intermeddling, and came back only with +his scars. This was a nice sort of insubordination, which of +course could not be endured. The goatherd was pinioned and +brought to trial, for the double offence of losing the goats and +rough-handling his chief. The tricking scoundrel--on quietly +saying he could not be answerable for other men's actions if they +stole goats, and he could not recognise a man as his chief whom +the Sheikh, merely by a whim of his own, thought proper to +appoint--was condemned to be tied up for the night with the +prospect of a flogging in the morning. Seeing his fate, the +cunning vagabond said, "Now I do see it was by your orders the +chief was appointed, and not by a whim of Sheikh Said's; I will +obey him for the future;" and these words were hardly pronounced +than the three missing goats rushed like magic into camp, nobody +of course knowing where they came from. + +Skirting along the margin of the rising ground overlooking the +river, through thick woods, cleared in places for cultivation, we +arrived at Thumba Lhere. The chief here took a hongo of three +yards merikani and two yards kiniki without much fuss, for he had +no power. The pagazis struck, and said they would not move from +this unless I gave them one fundo or ten necklaces of beads each +daily, in lieu of rations, as they were promised by Ladha on the +coast that I would do so as soon as they had made four marches. +This was an obvious invention, concocted to try my generosity, +for I had given the kirangozi a goat, which is customary, to +"make the journey prosperous"--had suspended a dollar to his neck +in recognition of his office, and given him four yards merikani, +that he might have a grand feast with his brothers; while neither +the Sheikh, myself, nor any one else in the camp, had heard of +such a compact. With high words the matter dropped, African +fashion. + +The pagazis would not start at the appointed time, hoping to +enforce their demands of last night; so we took the lead and +started, followed by the Wanguana. Seeing this, the pagazis +cried out with one accord: "The master is gone, leaving the +responsibility of his property in our hands; let us follow, let +us follow, for verily he is our father;" and all came hurrying +after us. Here the river, again making a bend, is lost to sight, +and we marched through large woods and cultivated fields to +Muhugue, observing, as we passed long, the ochreish colour of the +earth, and numerous pits which the copal-diggers had made +searching for their much-valued gum. A large coast-bound +caravan, carrying ivory tusks with double-toned bells suspended +to them, ting-tonging as they moved along, was met on the way; +and as some of the pagazis composing it were men who had formerly +taken me to the Victoria N'yanza, warm recognitions passed +between us. The water found here turned our brandy and tea as +black as ink. The chief, being a man of small pretensions, took +only one sahari and four yards merikani. + +Instead of going on to the next village we halted in this jungly +place for the day, that I might comply with the desire of the +Royal Geographical Society to inspect Muhonyera, and report if +there were really any indications of a "raised sea-beach" there, +such as their maps indicate. An inspection brought me to the +conclusion that no mind but one prone to discovering sea-beaches +in the most unlikely places could have supposed for a moment that +one existed here. The form and appearance of the land are the +same as we have seen everywhere since leaving Bomani--a low +plateau subtended by a bank cut down by the Kingani river, and +nothing more. There are no pebbles; the soil is rich reddish +loam, well covered with trees, bush, and grass, in which some +pigs and antelopes are found. From the top of this enbankment we +gain the first sight of the East Coast Range, due west of us, +represented by the high elephant's-back hill, Mkambaku, in +Usagara, which, joining Uraguru, stretches northwards across the +Pangani river to Usumbara and the Kilimandjaro, and southwards, +with a westerly deflection, across the Lufiji to Southern +N'yassa. What course the range takes beyond those two extremes, +the rest of the world knows as well as I. Another conspicuous +landmark here is Kidunda (the little hill), which is the +southernmost point of a low chain of hills, also tending +northwards, and representing an advance-guard to the higher East +Coast Range in its rear. At night, as we had no local "sultans" +to torment us, eight more men of sultan Majid's donation ran +away, and, adding injury to injury, took with them all our goats, +fifteen in number. This was a sad loss. We could keep ourselves +on guinea-fowls or green pigeons, doves, etc.; but the Hottentots +wanted nourishment much more than ourselves, and as their dinner +always consisted of what we left, "short-commons" was the fate in +store for them. The Wanguana, instead of regarding these poor +creatures as soldiers, treated them like children; and once, as a +diminutive Tot--the common name they go by--was exerting himself +to lift his pack and place it on his mule, a fine Herculean +Mguana stepped up behind, grasped Tot, pack and all, in his +muscular arms, lifted the whole over his head, paraded the Tot +about, struggling for release, and put him down amidst the +laughter of the camp, then saddled his mule and patted him on the +back. + +After sending a party of Beluch to track down the deserters and +goats, in which they were not successful, we passed through the +village of Sagesera, and camped one mile beyond, close to the +river. Phanze Kirongo (which means Mr Pit) here paid us his +respects, with a presentation of rice. In return he received +four yards merikani and one dubuani, which Bombay settled, as the +little Sheikh, ever done by the sultans, pleaded indisposition, +to avoid the double fire he was always subjected to on these +occasions, by the sultans grasping on the one side, and my +resisting on the other; for I relied on my strength, and thought +it very inadvisable to be generous with my cloth to the prejudice +of future travellers, by decreasing the value of merchandise, and +increasing proportionately the expectations of these negro +chiefs. From the top of the bank bordering on the valley, a good +view was obtainable of the Uraguru hills, and the top of a very +distant cone to its northward; but I could see no signs of any +river joining the kingani on its left, though on the former +expedition I heard that the Mukondokua river, which was met with +in Usagara, joined the Kingani close to Sagesera, and actually +formed its largest head branch. Neither could Mr Pit inform me +what became of the Mukondokua, as the Wazaramo are not given to +travelling. He had heard of it from the traders, but only knew +himself of one river beside the Kingani. It was called Wami in +Uegura, and mouths at Utondue, between the ports of Whindi and +Saadani. To try and check the desertions of Sultan Majid's men, +I advised--ordering was of no use--that their camp should be +broken up, and they should be amalgamated with the Wanguana; but +it was found that the two would not mix. In fact, the whole +native camp consisted of so many clubs of two, four, six, or ten +men, who originally belonged to one village or one master, or +were united by some other family tie which they preferred keeping +intact; so they cooked together, ate together, slept together, +and sometimes mutinied together. The amalgamation having failed, +I wrote some emanicipation tickets, called the Sultan's men all +up together, selected the best, gave them these tickets, +announced that their pay and all rewards would be placed for the +future on the same conditions as those of the Wanguana, and as +soon as I saw any signs of improvement in the rest, they would +all be treated in the same manner; but should they desert, they +would find my arm long enough to arrest them on the coast and put +them into prison. + +During this march we crossed three deep nullahs which drain the +Uzaramo plateau, and arrived at the Makutaniro, or junction of +this line with those of Mboamaji and Konduchi, which traverse +central Uzaramo, and which, on my former return journey, I went +down. The gum-copal diggings here cease. The Dum palm is left +behind; the large rich green-leaved trees of the low plateau give +place to the mimosa; and now, having ascended the greater decline +of the Kingani river, instead of being confined by a bank, we +found ourselves on flat open-park land, where antelopes roam at +large, buffalo and zebra are sometimes met with, and guinea-fowl +are numerous. The water for the camp is found in the river, but +supplies of grain come from the village of Kipora farther on. + +A march through the park took us to a camp by a pond, from which, +by crossing the Kingani, rice and provisions for the men were +obtained on the opposite bank. One can seldom afford to follow +wild animals on the line of march, otherwise we might have bagged +some antelopes to-day, which, scared by the interminable singing, +shouting, bell-jingling, horn-blowing, and other such merry +noises of the moving caravan, could be seen disappearing in the +distance. + +Leaving the park, we now entered the riches part of Uzaramo, +affording crops as fine as any part of India. Here it was, in +the district of Dege la Mhora, that the first expedition to this +country, guided by a Frenchman, M. Maizan, came to a fatal +termination, that gentleman having been barbarously murdered by +the sub-chief Hembe. The cause of the affair was distinctly +explained to me by Hembe himself, who, with his cousin Darunga, +came to call upon me, presuming, as he was not maltreated by the +last expedition, that the matter would now be forgotten. The two +men were very great friends of the little Sheikh, and as a +present was expected, which I should have to pay, we all talked +cheerfully and confidentially, bringing in the fate of Maizan for +no other reason than to satisfy curiosity. Hembe, who lives in +the centre of an almost impenetrable thicket, confessed that he +was the murderer, but said the fault did not rest with him, as he +merely carried out the instructions of his father, Mzungera, who, +a Diwan on the coast, sent him a letter directing his actions. +Thus it is proved that the plot against Maizan was concocted on +the coast by the Arab merchants--most likely from the same motive +which has induced one rival merchant to kill another as the best +means of checking rivalry or competition. When Arabs--and they +are the only class of people who would do such a deed--found a +European going into the very middle of their secret trading- +places, where such large profits were to be obtained, they would +never suppose that the scientific Maizan went for any other +purpose than to pry into their ivory stores, bring others into +the field after him, and destroy their monopoly. The Sultan of +Zanzibar, in those days, was our old ally Said Said, commonly +called the Emam of Muscat; and our Consul, Colonel Hamerton, had +been M. Maizan's host as long as he lived upon the coast. Both +the Emam and Consul were desirous of seeing the country surveyed, +and did everything in their power to assist Maizan, the former +even appointing the Indian Musa to conduct him safely as far as +Unyamuezi; but their power was not found sufficient to damp the +raging fire of jealousy in the ivory-trader's heart. Musa +commenced the journey with Maizan, and they travelled together a +march or two, when one of Maizan's domestic establishment fell +sick and stopped his progress. Musa remained with him eight or +ten days, to his own loss in trade and expense in keeping up a +large establishment, and then they parted by mutual consent, +Maizan thinking himself quite strong enough to take care of +himself. This separation was, I believe, poor Maizan's death- +blow. His power, on the Emam's side, went with Musa's going, and +left the Arabs free to carry out their wicked wills. + +The presents I had to give here were one sahari and eight yards +merikani to Hembe, and the same to Darunga, for which they gave a +return in grain. Still following close to the river--which, +unfortunately, is so enshrouded with thick bush that we could +seldom see it--a few of the last villages in Uzaramo were passed. +Here antelopes reappear amongst the tall mimosa, but we let them +alone in prosecution of the survey, and finally encamped opposite +the little hill of Kidunda, which lying on the left bank of the +Kingani, stretches north, a little east, into Uzegura. The hill +crops out through pisolitic limestone, in which marine fossils +were observable. It would be interesting to ascertain whether +this lime formation extends down the east coast of Africa from +the Somali country, where also, on my first expedition, I found +marine shells in the limestone, especially as a vast continuous +band of limestone is known to extend from the Tagus, through +Egypt and the Somali country, to the Burrumputra. To obtain food +it was necessary here to ferry the river and purchase from the +Wazaramo, who, from fear of the passing caravans, had left their +own bank and formed a settlement immediately under this pretty +little hill--rendered all the more enchanting to our eyes, as it +was the first we had met since leaving the sea-coast. The Diwan, +or head man, was a very civil creature; he presented us freely +with two fine goats--a thing at that time we were very much in +want of--and took, in return, without any comments, one dubani +and eight yards merikani. + +The next day, as we had no further need of our Beluch escort, a +halt was made to enable me to draw up a "Progress Report," and +pack all the specimens of natural history collected on the way, +for the Royal Geographical Society. Captain Grant, taking +advantage of the spare time, killed for the larder two buck +antelopes, and the Tots brought in, in high excited triumph, a +famous pig. + +This march, which declines from the Kingani a little, leads +through rolling, jungly ground, full of game, to the tributary +stream Mgeta. It is fordable in the dry season, but has to be +bridged by throwing a tree across it in the wet one. Rising in +the Usagara hills to the west of the hog-backed Mkambaku, this +branch intersects the province of Ukhutu in the centre, and +circles round until it unites with the Kingani about four miles +north of the ford. Where the Kingani itself rises, I never could +find out; though I have heard that its sources lies in a gurgling +spring on the eastern face of the Mkambaku, by which account the +Mgeta is made the longer branch of the two. + + + + + Chapter III + + + + Usagara + +Nature of the Country--Resumption of the March--A Hunt--Bombay +and Baraka--The Slave-Hunters--The Ivory-Merchants--Collection of +Natural-History Specimens--A Frightened Village--Tracking a Mule. + +Under U-Sagara, or, as it might be interpreted, U-sa-Gara-- +country of Gara--is included all the country lying between the +bifurcation of the Kingani and Mgeta rivers east, and Ugogo, the +first country on the interior plateau west,--a distance of a +hundred miles. On the north it is bounded by the Mukondokua, or +upper course of the Wami river and on the south by the Ruaha, or +northern great branch of the Lufiji river. It forms a link of +the great East Coast Range; but though it is generally +comprehended under the single name Usagara, many sub-tribes +occupy and apply their own names to portions of it; as, for +instance, the people on whose ground we now stood at the foot of +the hills, are Wa-Khutu, and their possessions consequently are +U-Khutu, which is by far the best producing land hitherto alluded +to since leaving the sea-coast line. Our ascent by the river, +though quite imperceptible to the eye, has been 500 feet. From +this level the range before us rises in some places to 5000 to +6000 feet, not as one grand mountain, but in two detached lines, +lying at an angle of 45 degrees from N.E. to S.W., and separated +one from the other by elevated valleys, tables, and crab-claw +spurs of hill which incline towards the flanking rivers. The +whole having been thrown up by volcanic action, is based on a +strong foundation of granite and other igneous rocks, which are +exposed in many places in the shape of massive blocks; otherwise +the hill-range is covered in the upper part with sandstone, and +in the bottoms with alluvial clay. This is the superficial +configuration of the land as it strikes the eye; but, knowing the +elevation of the interior plateau to be only 2500 feet above the +sea immediately on the western flank of these hills, whilst the +breath of the chain is 100 miles, the mean slope of incline of +the basal surface must be on a gradual rise of twenty feet per +mile. The hill tops and sides, where not cultivated, are well +covered with bush and small trees, amongst which the bamboo is +conspicuous; whilst the bottoms, having a soil deeper and richer, +produce fine large fig-trees of exceeding beauty, the huge +calabash, and a variety of other trees. Here, in certain places +where water is obtainable throughout the year, and wars, or +slave-hunts more properly speaking, do not disturb the industry +of the people, cultivation thrives surprisingly; but such a boon +is rarely granted them. It is in consequence of these +constantly- recurring troubles that the majority of the Wasagara +villages are built on hill-spurs, where the people can the better +resist attack, or, failing, disperse and hide effectually. The +normal habitation is the small conical hut of grass. These +compose villages, varying in number according to the influence of +their head men. There are, however, a few mud villages on the +table-lands, each built in a large irregular square of chambers +with a hollow yard in the centre, known as tembe. + +As to the people of these uplands, poor, meagre-looking wretches, +they contrast unfavourably with the lowlanders on both sides of +them. Dingy in colour, spiritless, shy, and timid, they invite +attack in a country where every human being has a market value, +and are little seen by the passing caravan. In habits they are +semi-pastoral agriculturalists, and would be useful members of +society were they left alone to cultivate their own possessions, +rich and beautiful by nature, but poor and desolate by force of +circumstance. Some of the men can afford a cloth, but the +greater part wear an article which I can only describe as a grass +kilt. In one or two places throughout the passage of these hills +a caravan may be taxed, but if so, only to a small amount; the +villagers more frequently fly to the hill-tops as soon as the +noise of the advancing caravan is heard, and no persuasions will +bring them down again, so much ground have they, from previous +experience, to fear treachery. It is such sad sights, and the +obvious want of peace and prosperity, that weary the traveller, +and make him every think of pushing on to his journey's end from +the instant he enters Africa until he quits the country. + +Knowing by old experience that the beautiful green park in the +fork of these rivers abounded in game of great variety and in +vast herds, where no men are ever seen except some savage hunters +sitting in the trees with poisoned arrows, or watching their +snares and pitfalls, I had all along determined on a hunt myself, +to feed and cheer the men, and also to collect some specimens for +the home museums. In the first object we succeeded well, as "the +bags" we made counted two brindled gnu, four water-boc, one +pallah-boc, and one pig,-- enough to feed abundantly the whole +camp round. The feast was all the better relished as the men +knew well that no Arab master would have given them what he could +sell; for if a slave shot game, the animals would be the +master's, to be sold bit by bit among the porters, and +compensated from the proceeds of their pay. In the variety and +number of our game we were disappointed, partly because so many +wounded got away, and partly because we could not find what we +knew the park to contain, in addition to what we killed--namely, +elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, zebra, and many +varieties of antelopes, besides lions and hyenas. In fact, "the +park," as well as all the adjacent land at the foot of the hills, +is worth thinking of, with a view to a sporting tour as well as +scientific investigation. + +A circumstance arose here, which, insignificant though it +appeared, is worth noting, to show how careful one must be in +understanding and dealing with negro servants. Quite +unaccountably to myself, the general of my Wanguana, Baraka, +after showing much discontent with his position as head of +Captain Grant's establishment, became so insolent, that it was +necessary to displace him, and leave him nothing to do but look +after the men. This promoted Frij, who enjoyed his rise as much +as Baraka, if his profession was to be believed, enjoyed his +removal from that office. Though he spoke in this manner, still +I knew that there was something rankling in his mind which +depressed his spirits as long as he remained with us, though what +it was I could not comprehend, nor did I fully understand it till +months afterwards. It was ambition, which was fast making a +fiend of him; and had I known it, he would, and with great +advantage too, have been dismissed upon the spot. The facts were +these: He was exceedingly clever, and he knew it. His command +over men was surprising. At Zanzibar he was the Consul's right- +hand man: he ranked above Bombay in the consular boat's crew, and +became a terror even to the Banyans who kept slaves. He seemed, +in fact, in his own opinion, to have imbibed all the power of the +British Consul who had instructed him. Such a man was an element +of discord in our peaceful caravan. He was far too big-minded +for the sphere which he occupied; and my surprise now is that he +ever took service, knowing what he should, at the time of +enlistment, have expected, that no man would be degraded to make +room for him. But this was evidently what he had expected, +though he dared not say it. He was jealous of Bombay, because he +thought his position over the money department was superior to +his own over the men; and he had seen Bombay, on one occasion, +pay a tax in Uzaramo--a transaction which would give him +consequence with the native chiefs. Of Sheikh Said he was +equally jealous, for a like reason; and his jealousy increased +the more that I found it necessary to censure the timidity of +this otherwise worthy little man. Baraka thought, in his +conceit, that he could have done all things better, and gained +signal fame, had he been created chief. Perhaps he thought he +had gained the first step towards this exalted rank, and hence +his appearing very happy for this time. I could not see through +so deep a scheme and only hoped that he would shortly forget, in +the changes of the marching life, those beautiful wives he had +left behind him, which Bombay in his generosity tried to persuade +me was the cause of his mental distraction. + +Our halt at the ford here was cut short by the increasing +sickness of the Hottentots, and the painful fact that Captain +Grant was seized with fever.[FN#6] We had to change camp to the +little village of Kiruru, where, as rice was grown--an article +not to be procured again on this side of Unyamuezi--we stopped a +day to lay in supplies of this most valuable of all travelling +food. Here I obtained the most consistent accounts of the river +system which, within five days' journey, trends through Uzegura; +and I concluded, from what I heard, that there is no doubt of the +Mukondokua and Wami rivers being one and the same stream. My +informants were the natives of the settlement, and they all +concurred in saying that the Kingani above the junction is called +the Rufu, meaning the parent stream. Beyond it, following under +the line of the hills, at one day's journey distant, there is a +smaller river called Msonge. At an equal distance beyond it, +another of the same size is known as Lungerengeri; and a fourth +river is the Wami, which mouths in the sea at Utondue, between +the ports of Whindi and Saadami. In former years, the ivory- +merchants, ever seeking for an easy road for their trade, and +knowing they would have no hills to climb if they could only gain +a clear passage by this river from the interior plateau to the +sea, made friends with the native chiefs of Uzegura, and +succeeded in establishing it as a thoroughfare. Avarice, +however, that fatal enemy to the negro chiefs, made them +overreach themselves by exorbitant demands of taxes. Then +followed contests for the right of appropriating the taxes, and +the whole ended in the closing of the road, which both parties +were equally anxious to keep open for their mutual gain. This +foolish disruption having at first only lasted for a while, the +road was again opened and again closed, for the merchants wanted +an easy passage, and the native chiefs desired cloths. But it +was shut again; and now we heard of its being for a third time +opened, with what success the future only can determine--for +experience WILL not teach the negro, who thinks only for the +moment. Had they only sense to see, and patience to wait, the +whole trade of the interior would inevitably pass through their +country instead of Uzaramo; and instead of being poor in cloths, +they would be rich and well dressed like their neighbours. But +the curse of Noah sticks to these his grandchildren by Ham, and +no remedy that has yet been found will relieve them. They +require a government like ours in India; and without it, the +slave trade will wipe them off the face of the earth. + +Now leaving the open parks of pretty acacias, we followed up the +Mgazi branch of the Mgeta, traversed large tree-jungles, where +the tall palm is conspicuous, and drew up under the lumpy +Mkambaku, to find a residence for the day. Here an Arab +merchant, Khamis, bound for Zanzibar, obliged us by agreeing for +a few dollars to convey our recent spoils in natural history to +the coast. + +My plans for the present were to reach Zungomero as soon as +possible, as a few days' halt would be required there to fix the +longitude of the eastern flank of the East Coast Range by +astronomical observation; but on ordering the morning's march, +the porters--too well fed and lazy--thought our marching-rate +much too severe, and resolutely refused to move. They ought to +have made ten miles a-day, but preferred doing five. Argument +was useless, and I was reluctant to apply the stick, as the Arabs +would have done when they saw their porters trifling with their +pockets. Determining, however, not to be frustrated in this +puerile manner, I ordered the bugler to sound the march, and +started with the mules and coast-men, trusting to Sheikh and +Baraka to bring on the Wanyamuezi as soon as they could move +them. The same day we crossed the Mgazi where we found several +Wakhutu spearing fish in the muddy hovers of its banks. + +We slept under a tree, and this morning found a comfortable +residence under the eaves of a capacious hut. The Wanyamuezi +porters next came in at their own time, and proved to us how +little worth are orders in a land where every man, in his own +opinion, is a lord, and no laws prevail. Zungomero, bisected by +the Mgeta, lies on flat ground, in a very pretty amphitheatre of +hills, S. lat. 7§ 26' 53", and E. long. 37§ 36' 45". It is +extremely fertile, and very populous, affording everything that +man can wish, even to the cocoa and papwa fruits; but the slave- +trade has almost depopulated it, and turned its once flourishing +gardens into jungles. As I have already said, the people who +possess these lands are cowardly by nature, and that is the +reason why they are so much oppressed. The Wasuahili, taking +advantage of their timidity, flock here in numbers to live upon +the fruits of their labours. The merchants on the coast, too, +though prohibited by their Sultan from interfering with the +natural course of trade, send their hungry slaves, as touters, to +entice all approaching caravans to trade with their particular +ports, authorising the touters to pay such premiums as may be +necessary for the purpose. Where they came from we could not +ascertain; but during our residence, a large party of the +Wasuahili marched past, bound for the coast, with one hundred +head of cattle, fifty slaves in chains, and as many goats. Halts +always end disastrously in Africa, giving men time for mischief;- +-and here was an example of it. During the target-practice, +which was always instituted on such occasions to give confidence +to our men, the little pepper-box Rahan, my head valet, +challenged a comrade to a duel with carbines. Being stopped by +those around him, he vented his wrath in terrible oaths, and +swung about his arms, until his gun accidentally went off, and +blew his middle finger off. + +Baraka next, with a kind of natural influence of affinity when a +row is commenced, made himself so offensive to Bombay, as to send +him running to me so agitated with excitement that I thought him +drunk. He seized my hands, cried, and implored me to turn him +off. What could this mean? I could not divine; neither could he +explain, further than that he had come to a determination that I +must send either him or Baraka to the right-about; and his first +idea was that he, and not Baraka, should be the victim. Baraka's +jealousy about his position had not struck me yet. I called them +both together and asked what quarrel they had, but could not +extract the truth. Baraka protested that he had never given, +either by word or deed, the slightest cause of rupture; he only +desired the prosperity of the march, and that peace should reign +throughout the camp; but Bombay was suspicious of him, and +malignantly abused him, for what reason Baraka could not tell. +When I spoke of this to Bombay, like a bird fascinated by the eye +of a viper, he shrank before the slippery tongue of his opponent, +and could only say, "No, Sahib--oh no, that is not it; you had +better turn me off, for his tongue is so long, and mine so short, +you never will believe me." I tried to make them friends, hoping +it was merely a passing ill-wind which would soon blow over; but +before long the two disputants were tonguing it again, and I +distinctly heard Bombay ordering Baraka out of camp as he could +not keep from intermeddling, saying, which was true, he had +invited him to join the expedition, that his knowledge of +Hindustani might be useful to us; he was not wanted for any other +purpose, and unless he was satisfied with doing that alone, we +would get on much better without him. To this provocation Baraka +mildly made the retort, "Pray don't put yourself in a passion, +nobody is hurting you, it is all in your own heart, which is full +of suspicions and jealousy without the slightest cause." + +This complicated matters more than ever. I knew Bombay to be a +generous, honest man, entitled by his former services to be in +the position he was now holding as fundi, or supervisor in the +camp. Baraka, who never would have joined the expedition +excepting through his invitation, was indebted to him for the +rank he now enjoyed-- a command over seventy men, a duty in which +he might have distinguished himself as a most useful accessory to +the camp. Again I called the two together, and begged them to act +in harmony like brothers, noticing that there was no cause for +entertaining jealousy on either side, as every order rested with +myself to reward for merit or to punish. The relative position +in the camp was like that of the senior officers in India, Bombay +representing the Mulki lord, or Governor-General, and Baraka the +Jungi lord, or Commander- in-Chief. To the influence of this +distinguished comparison they both gave way, acknowledging myself +their judge, and both protesting that they wished to serve in +peace and quietness for the benefit of the march. + +Zungomero is a terminus or junction of two roads leading to the +interior--one, the northern, crossing over the Goma Pass, and +trenching on the Mukondokua river, and the other crossing over +the Mabruki Pass, and edging on the Ruaha river. They both unite +again at Ugogi, the western terminus on the present great +Unyamuezi line. On the former expedition I went by the northern +line and returned by the southern, finding both equally easy, +and, indeed, neither is worthy of special and permanent +preference. In fact, every season makes a difference in the +supply of water and provisions; and with every year, owing to +incessant wars, or rather slave-hunts, the habitations of the +wretched inhabitants become constantly changed--generally +speaking, for the worse. Our first and last object, therefore, +as might be supposed, from knowing these circumstances, was to +ascertain, before mounting the hill-range, which route would +afford us the best facilities for a speedy march now. No one, +however, could or would advise us. The whole country on ahead, +especially Ugogo, was oppressed by drought and famine. To avoid +this latter country, then, we selected the southern route, as by +doing so it was hoped we might follow the course of the Ruaha +river from Maroro to Usenga and Usanga, and thence strike across +to Unyanyembe, sweeping clear of Ugogo. + +With this determination, after despatching a third set of +specimens, consisting of large game animals, birds, snakes, +insects, land and freshwater shells, and a few rock specimens, of +which one was fossiliferous, we turned southwards, penetrating +the forests which lie between the greater range and the little +outlying one. At the foot of this is the Maji ya Wheta, a hot, +deep-seated spring of fresh water, which bubbles up through many +apertures in a large dome-shaped heap of soft lime--an +accumulation obviously thrown up by the force of the spring, as +the rocks on either side of it are of igneous character. We +arrived at the deserted village of Kirengue. This was not an easy +go-ahead march, for the halt had disaffected both men and mules. +Three of the former bolted, leaving their loads upon the ground; +and on the line of march, one of the mules, a full-conditioned +animal, gave up the ghost after an eighteen hours' sickness. +What his disease was I never could ascertain; but as all the +remaining animals died afterwards much in the same manner, I may +state for once and for all, that these attacks commenced with +general swelling, at first on the face, then down the neck, along +the belly and down the legs. It proved so obstinate that fire +had no effect upon it; and although we cut off the tails of some +to relieve them by bleeding, still they died. + +In former days Kirengue was inhabited, and we reasonably hoped to +find some supplies for the jungly march before us. But we had +calculated without our host, for the slave-hunters had driven +every vestige of humanity away; and now, as we were delayed by +our three loads behind, there was nothing left but to send back +and purchase more grain. Such was one of the many days frittered +away in do-nothingness. + +This day, all together again, we rose the first spurs of the +well-wooded Usagara hills, amongst which the familiar bamboo was +plentiful, and at night we bivouacked in the jungle. + +Rising betimes in the morning, and starting with a good will, we +soon reached the first settlements of Mbuiga, from which could be +seen a curious blue mountain, standing up like a giant +overlooking all the rest of the hills. The scenery here formed a +strong and very pleasing contrast to any we had seen since +leaving the coast. Emigrant Waziraha, who had been driven from +their homes across the Kingani river by the slave-hunters, had +taken possession of the place, and disposed their little conical- +hut villages on the heights of the hill-spurs in such a +picturesque manner, that one could not help hoping they would +here at least be allowed to rest in peace and quietness. The +valleys, watered by little brooks, are far richer, and even +prettier, than the high lands above, being lined with fine trees +and evergreen shrubs; while the general state of prosperity was +such, that the people could afford, even at this late season of +the year, to turn their corn into malt to brew beer for sale; and +goats and fowls were plentiful in the market. + +Passing by the old village of Mbuiga, which I occupied on my +former expedition, we entered some huts on the western flank of +the Mbuiga district; and here, finding a coast-man, a great +friend of the little sheikh's, willing to take back to Zanzibar +anything we might give him, a halt was made, and I drew up my +reports. I then consigned to his charge three of the most sickly +of the Hottentots in a deplorable condition--one of the mules, +that they might ride by turns--and all the specimens that had +been collected. With regret I also sent back the camera; because +I saw, had I allowed my companion to keep working it, the heat he +was subjected to in the little tent whilst preparing and fixing +his plates would very soon have killed him. The number of +guinea-fowl seen here was most surprising. + +A little lighter and much more comfortable for the good riddance +of those grumbling "Tots," we worked up to and soon breasted the +stiff ascent of the Mabruki Pass, which we surmounted without +much difficult. This concluded the first range of these Usagara +hills; and once over, we dropped down to the elevated valley of +Makata, where we halted two days to shoot. As a travelling Arab +informed me that the whole of the Maroro district had been laid +waste by the marauding Wahehe, I changed our plans again, and +directed our attention to a middle and entirely new line, which +in the end would lead us to Ugogi. The first and only giraffe +killed upon the journey was here shot by Grant, with a little 40- +gauge Lancaster rifle, at 200 yards' distance. Some smaller +animals were killed; but I wasted all my time in fruitlessly +stalking some wounded striped eland--magnificent animals, as +large as Delhi oxen--and some other animals, of which I wounded +three, about the size of hartebeest, and much their shape, only +cream-coloured, with a conspicuous black spot in the centre of +each flank. The eland may probably be the animal first mentioned +by Livingstone, but the other animal is not known. + +Though reluctant to leave a place where such rare animals were to +be found, the fear of remaining longer on the road induced us to +leave Kikobogo, and at a good stride we crossed the flat valley +of Makata, and ascended the higher lands beyond, where we no +sooner arrived than we met the last down trader from Unyamuezi, +well known to all my men as the great Mamba or Crocodile. Mamba, +dressed in a dirty Arab gown, with coronet of lion's nails +decorating a thread-bare cutch cap, greeted us with all the +dignity of a savage potentate surrounded by his staff of half- +naked officials. As usual, he had been the last to leave the +Unyamuezi, and so purchased all his stock of ivory at a cheap +rate, there being no competitors left to raise the value of that +commodity; but his journey had been a very trying one. With a +party, at his own estimate, of two thousand souls-- we did not +see anything like that number--he had come from Ugogo to this, by +his own confession, living on the products of the jungle, and by +boiling down the skin aprons of his porters occasionally for a +soup. Famines were raging throughout the land, and the Arabs +preceding him had so harried the country, that every village was +deserted. On hearing our intention to march upon the direct +line, he frankly said he thought we should never get through for +my men could not travel as he had done, and therefore he advised +our deflecting northwards from New Mbumi to join the track +leading from Rumuma to Ugogi. This was a sad disappointment; +but, rather than risk a failure, I resolved to follow his advice. + +After reaching the elevated ground, we marched over rolling tops, +covered with small trees and a rich variety of pretty bulbs, and +reached the habitations of Muhanda, where we no sooner appeared +than the poor villagers, accustomed only to rough handling, +immediately dispersed in the jungles. By dint of persuasion, +however, we induced them to sell us provisions, though at a +monstrous rate, such as no merchant could have afforded; and +having spent the night quietly, we proceeded on to the upper +courses of the M'yombo river, which trends its way northwards to +the Mukondokua river. The scenery was most interesting, with +every variety of hill, roll, plateau, and ravine, wild and +prettily wooded; but we saw nothing of the people. Like +frightened rats, as soon as they caught the sound of our +advancing march, they buried themselves in the jungles, carrying +off their grain with them. Foraging parties, of necessity, were +sent out as soon as the camp was pitched, with cloth for +purchases, and strict orders not to use force; the upshot of +which was, that my people got nothing but a few arrows fired at +them by the lurking villagers, and I was abused for my +squeamishness. Moreover, the villagers, emboldened by my lenity, +vauntingly declared they would attack the camp by night, as they +could only recognise in us such men as plunder their houses and +steal their children. This caused a certain amount of alarm +among my men, which induced them to run up a stiff bush-fence +round the camp, and kept them talking all night. + +This morning we marched on as usual, with one of the Hottentots +lashed on a donkey; for the wretched creature, after lying in the +sun asleep, became so sickly that he could not move or do +anything for himself, and nobody would do anything for him. The +march was a long one, but under ordinary circumstances would have +been very interesting, for we passed an immense lagoon, where +hippopotami were snorting as if they invited an attack. In the +larger tree-jungles the traces of elephants, buffaloes, +rhinoceros, and antelopes were very numerous; while a rich +variety of small birds, as often happened, made me wish I had +come on a shooting rather than on a long exploring expedition. +Towards sunset we arrived at New Mbimi, a very pretty and fertile +place, lying at the foot of a cluster of steep hills, and pitched +camp for three days to lay in supplies for ten, as this was +reported to be the only place where we could buy corn until we +reached Ugogo, a span of 140 miles. Mr Mbumi, the chief of the +place, a very affable negro, at once took us by the hand, and +said he would do anything we desired, for he had often been to +Zanzibar. He knew that the English were the ruling power in that +land, and that they were opposed to slavery, the terrible effects +of which had led to his abandoning Old Mbumi, on the banks of the +Mukondokua river, and rising here. + +The sick Hottentot died here, and we buried him with Christian +honours. As his comrades said, he died because he had determined +to die,--an instance of that obstinate fatalism in their mulish +temperament which no kind words or threats can cure. This +terrible catastrophe made me wish to send all the remaining +Hottentots back to Zanzibar; but as they all preferred serving +with me to returning to duty at the Cape, I selected two of the +MOST sickly, put them under Tabib, one of Rigby's old servants, +and told him to remain with them at Mbumi until such time as he +might find some party proceeding to the coasts; and, in the +meanwhile, for board and lodgings I have Mbumi beads and cloth. +The prices of provisions here being a good specimen of what one +has to pay at this season of the year, I give a short list of +them:--sixteen rations corn, two yards cloth; three fowls, two +yards cloth; one goat, twenty yards cloth; one cow, forty yards +cloth,--the cloth being common American sheeting. Before we left +Mbumi, a party of forty men and women of the Waquiva tribe, +pressed by famine, were driven there to purchase food. The same +tribe had, however killed many of Mbumi's subjects not long +since, and therefore, in African revenge, the chief seized them +all, saying he would send them off for sale to Zanzibar market +unless they could give a legitimate reason for the cruelty they +had committed. These Waquiva, I was given to understand, +occupied the steep hills surrounding this place. They were a +squalid-looking set, like the generality of the inhabitants of +this mountainous region. + +This march led us over a high hill to the Mdunhwi river, another +tributary to the Mukondokua. It is all clad in the upper regions +with the slender pole-trees which characterise these hills, +intermingled with bamboo; but the bottoms are characterised by a +fine growth of fig-trees of great variety along with high +grasses; whilst near the villages were found good gardens of +plantains, and numerous Palmyra trees. The rainy season being +not far off, the villagers were busy in burning rubble and +breaking their ground. Within their reach everywhere is the +sarsaparilla vine, but growing as a weed, for they know nothing +of its value. + +Rising up from the deep valley of Mdunhwi we had to cross another +high ridge before descending to the also deep valley of Chongue, +as picturesque a country as the middle heights of the Himalayas, +dotted on the ridges and spur-slopes by numerous small conical- +hut villages; but all so poor that we could not, had we wanted +it, have purchased provisions for a day's consumption. + +Leaving this valley, we rose to the table of Manyovi, overhung +with much higher hills, looking, according to the accounts of our +Hottentots, as they eyed the fine herds of cattle grazing on the +slopes, so like the range in Kafraria, that they formed their +expectations accordingly, and appeared, for the first time since +leaving the coast, happy at the prospect before them, little +dreaming that such rich places were seldom to be met with. The +Wanyamuezi porters even thought they had found a paradise, and +forthwith threw down their loads as the villagers came to offer +them grain for sale; so that, had I not had the Wanguana a little +under control, we should not have completed our distance that +day, and so reached Manyonge, which reminded me, by its ugliness, +of the sterile Somali land. Proceeding through the semi-desert +rolling table-land--in one place occupied by men who build their +villages in large open squares of flat-topped mud huts, which, +when I have occasion to refer to them in future, I shall call by +their native name tembe--we could see on the right hand the +massive mountains overhanging the Mukondokua river, to the front +the western chain of these hills, and to the left the high crab- +claw shaped ridge, which, extending from the western chain, +circles round conspicuously above the swelling knolls which lie +between the two main rocky ridges. Contorted green thorn-trees, +"elephant-foot" stumps, and aloes, seem to thrive best here, by +their very nature indicating what the country is, a poor stony +land. Our camp was pitched by the river Rumuma, where, sheltered +from the winds, and enriched by alluvial soil, there ought to +have been no scarcity; but still the villagers had nothing to +sell. + +On we went again to Marenga Mkhaili, the "Salt Water," to +breakfast, and camped in the crooked green thorns by night, +carrying water on for our supper. This kind of travelling-- +forced marches--hard as it may appear, was what we liked best, +for we felt that we were shortening the journey, and in doing so, +shortening the risks of failure by disease, by war, by famine, +and by mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us for +presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and truculent, +concoct devices for stopping the way, or fight amongst +themselves. + +On again, and at last we arrived at the foot of the western +chain; but not all together. Some porters, overcome by heat and +thirst, lay scattered along the road, while the corporal of the +Hottentots allowed his mule to stray from him, never dreaming the +animal would travel far from his comrades, and, in following +after him, was led such a long way into the bush, that my men +became alarmed for his safety, knowing as they did that the +"savages" were out living like monkeys on the calabash fruit, and +looking out for any windfalls, such as stragglers worth +plundering, that might come in their way. At first the Wanguana +attempted to track down the corporal; but finding he would not +answer their repeated shots, and fearful for their own safety, +they came into camp and reported the case. Losing no time, I +ordered twenty men, armed with carbines, to carry water for the +distressed porters, and bring the corporal back as soon as +possible. They all marched off, as they always do on such +exploits, in high good-humour with themselves for the valour +which they intended to show; and in the evening came in, firing +their guns in the most reckless manner, beaming with delight; for +they had the corporal in tow, two men and two women captives, and +a spear as a trophy. Then in high impatience, all in a breath, +they began a recital of the great day's work. The corporal had +followed on the spoor of the mule, occasionally finding some of +his things that had been torn from the beast's back by the +thorns, and, picking up these one by one, had become so burdened +with the weight of them, that he could follow no farther. In +this fix the twenty men came up with him, but not until they had +had a scrimmage with the "savages," had secured four, and taken +the spear which had been thrown at them. Of the mule's position +no one could give an opinion, save that they imagined, in +consequence of the thickness of the bush, he would soon become +irretrievably entangled in the thicket, where the savages would +find him, and bring him in as a ransom for the prisoners. + +What with the diminution of our supplies, the famished state of +the country, and the difficulties which frowned upon us in +advance, together with unwillingness to give up so good a mule, +with all its gear and ammunition, I must say I felt doubtful as +to what had better be done, until the corporal, who felt +confident he would find the beast, begged so hard that I sent him +in command of another expedition of sixteen men, ordering him to +take one of the prisoners with him to proclaim to his brethren +that we would give up the rest if they returned us the mule. The +corporal then led off his band to the spot where he last saw +traces of the animal, and tracked on till sundown; while Grant +and myself went out pot-hunting and brought home a bag consisting +of one striped eland, one saltiana antelope, four guinea-fowl, +four ringdoves, and one partridge--a welcome supply, considering +we were quite out of flesh. + +Next day, as there were no signs of the trackers, I went again to +the place of the elands, wounded a fine male, but gave up the +chase, as I heard the unmistakable gun-firing return of the +party, and straightway proceeded to camp. Sure enough, there +they were; they had tracked the animal back to Marenga Mkhali, +through jungle-- for he had not taken to the footpath. Then +finding he had gone on, they returned quite tired and famished. +To make the most of a bad job, I now sent Grant on to the Robeho +(or windy) Pass, on the top of the western chain, with the mules +and heavy baggage, and directions to proceed thence across the +brow of the hill the following morning, while I remained behind +with the tired men, promising to join him by breakfast-time. I +next released the prisoners, much to their disgust, for they had +not known such good feeding before, and dreaded being turned +adrift again in the jungles to live on calabash seeds; and then, +after shooting six guinea-fowl, turned in for the night. + +Betimes in the morning we were off, mounting the Robeho, a good +stiff ascent, covered with trees and large blocks of granite, +excepting only where cleared for villages; and on we went +rapidly, until at noon the advance party was reached, located in +a village overlooking the great interior plateau--a picture, as +it were, of the common type of African scenery. Here, taking a +hasty meal, we resumed the march all together, descended the +great western chain, and, as night set in, camped in a ravine at +the foot of it, not far from the great junction-station Ugogi, +where terminate the hills of Usagara. + + + + + Chapter IV + + + +Ugogo, and the Wilderness of Mgunda Mkhali + +The Lie of the Country--Rhinoceros-Stalking--Scuffle of Villagers +over a Carcass--Chief "Short-Legs" and His Successors-- Buffalo- +Shooting--Getting Lost--A Troublesome Sultan--Desertions from the +Camp--Getting Plundered--Wilderness March--Diplomatic Relations +with the Local Powers--Manua Sera's Story--Christmas-- The Relief +from Kaze + +This day's work led us from the hilly Usagara range into the more +level lands of the interior. Making a double march of it, we +first stopped to breakfast at the quiet little settlement of +Inenge, where cattle were abundant, but grain so scarce that the +villagers were living on calabash seeds. Proceeding thence +across fields delightfully checkered with fine calabash and fig +trees, we marched, carrying water through thorny jungles, until +dark, when we bivouacked for the night, only to rest and push on +again next morning, arriving at Marenga Mkhali (the saline water) +to breakfast. Here a good view of the Usagara hills is obtained. +Carrying water with us, we next marched half-way to the first +settlement of Ugogo, and bivouacked again, to eat the last of our +store of Mbumi grain. + +At length the greater famine lands had been spanned; but we were +not in lands of plenty--for the Wagogo we found, like their +neighbours Wasagara, eating the seed of the calabash, to save +their small stores of grain. + +The East Coast Range having been passed, no more hills had to be +crossed, for the land we next entered on is a plateau of rolling +ground, sloping southward to the Ruaha river, which forms a great +drain running from west to east, carrying off all the rainwaters +that fall in its neighbourhood through the East Coast Range to +the sea. To the northward can be seen some low hills, which are +occupied by Wahumba, a subtribe of the warlike Masai; and on the +west is the large forest-wilderness of Mgunda Mkhali. Ugogo, +lying under the lee side of the Usagara hills, is comparatively +sterile. Small outcrops of granite here and there poke through +the surface, which, like the rest of the rolling land, being +covered with bush, principally acacias, have a pleasing +appearance after the rains have set in, but are too brown and +desert-looking during the rest of the year. Large prairies of +grass also are exposed in many places, and the villagers have +laid much ground bare for agricultural purposes. + +Altogether, Ugogo has a very wild aspect, well in keeping with +the natives who occupy it, who, more like the Wazaramo than the +Wasagara, carry arms, intended for use rather than show. The +men, indeed, are never seen without their usual arms--the spear, +the shield, and the assage. They live in flat-topped, square, +tembe villages, wherever springs of water are found, keep cattle +in plenty, and farm enough generally to supply not only their own +wants, but those of the thousands who annually pass in caravans. +They are extremely fond of ornaments, the most common of which is +an ugly tube of the gourd thrust through the lower lobe of the +ear. Their colour is a soft ruddy brown, with a slight infusion +of black, not unlike that of a rich plum. Impulsive by nature, +and exceedingly avaricious, they pester travellers beyond all +conception, by thronging the road, jeering, quizzing, and +pointing at them; and in camp, by intrusively forcing their way +into the midst of the kit, and even into the stranger's tent. +Caravans, in consequence, never enter their villages, but camp +outside, generally under the big "gouty-limbed" trees--encircling +their entire camp sometimes with a ring-fence of thorns to +prevent any sudden attack. + +To resume the thread of the journey: we found, on arrival in +Ugogo, very little more food than in Usagara for the Wagogo were +mixing their small stores of grain with the monkey-bread seeds of +the gouty-limbed tree. Water was so scarce in the wells at this +season that we had to buy it at the normal price of country beer; +and, as may be imagined where such distress in food was existing, +cows, goats, sheep, and fowls were also selling at high rates. + +Our mules here gave us the slip again, and walked all the way +back to Marenga Mkhali, where they were found and brought back by +some Wagogo, who took four yards of merikani in advance, with a +promise of four more on return, for the job--their chief being +security for their fidelity. This business detained us two days, +during which time I shot a new variety of florikan, peculiar in +having a light blue band stretching from the nose over the eye to +the occiput. Each day, while we resided here, cries were raised +by the villagers that the Wahumba were coming, and then all the +cattle out in the plains, both far and near, were driven into the +village for protection. + +At last, on the 26th, as the mules were brought it, I paid a +hongo or tax of four barsati and four yards of chintz to the +chief, and departed, but not until one of my porters, a Mhehe, +obtained a fat dog for his dinner; he had set his heart on it, +and would not move until he had killed it, and tied it on to his +load for the evening's repast. Passing through the next +villages--a collection called Kifukuro--we had to pay another +small tax of two barsati and four yards of chintz to the chief. +There we breakfasted, and pushed on, carrying water to a bivouac +in the jungles, as the famine precluded our taking the march more +easily. + +Pushing on again, we cleared out of the woods, and arrived at the +eastern border of the largest clearance of Ugogo, Kanyenye. Here +we were forced to halt a day, as the mules were done up, and +eight of the Wanyamuezi porters absconded, carrying with them the +best part of their loads. There was also another inducement for +stopping here; for, after stacking the loads, as we usually did +on arriving in camp, against a large gouty-limbed tree, a hungry +Mgogo, on eyeing our guns, offered his services to show us some +bicornis rhinoceros, which, he said paid nightly visits to +certain bitter pools that lay in the nullah bottoms not far off. +This exciting intelligence made me inquire if it was not possible +to find them at once; but, being assured that they lived very far +off, and that the best chance was the night, I gave way, and +settled on starting at ten, to arrive at the ground before the +full moon should rise. + +I set forth with the guide and two of the sheikh's boys, each +carrying a single rifle, and ensconced myself in the nullah, to +hide until our expected visitors should arrive, and there +remained until midnight. When the hitherto noisy villagers +turned into bed, the silvery moon shed her light on the desolate +scene, and the Mgogo guide, taking fright, bolted. He had not, +however, gone long, when, looming above us, coming over the +horizon line, was the very animal we wanted. + +In a fidgety manner the beast then descended, as if he expected +some danger in store--and he was not wrong; for, attaching a bit +of white paper to the fly-sight of my Blissett, I approached him, +crawling under cover of the banks until within eighty yards of +him, when, finding that the moon shone full on his flank, I +raised myself upright and planted a bullet behind his left +shoulder. Thus died my first rhinoceros. + +To make the most of the night, as I wanted meat for my men to +cook, as well as a stock to carry with them, or barter with the +villagers for grain, I now retired to my old position, and waited +again. + +After two hours had elapsed, two more rhinoceros approached me in +the same stealthy, fidgety way as the first one. They came even +closer than the first, but, the moon having passed beyond their +meridian, I could not obtain so clear a mark. Still they were +big marks, and I determined on doing my best before they had time +to wind us; so stepping out, with the sheikh's boys behind me +carrying the second rifle to meet all emergencies, I planted a +ball in the larger one, and brought him round with a roar and +whooh-whooh, exactly to the best position I could wish for +receiving a second shot; but, alas! on turning sharply round for +the spare rifle, I had the mortification to see that both the +black boys had made off, and were scrambling like monkeys up a +tree. At the same time the rhinoceros, fortunately for me, on +second consideration turned to the right-about, and shuffled +away, leaving, as is usually the case when conical bullets are +used, no traces of blood. + +Thus ended the night's work. We now went home by dawn to apprise +all the porters that we had flesh in store for them, when the two +boys who had so shamelessly deserted me, instead of hiding their +heads, described all the night's scenes with such capital mimicry +as to set the whole camp in a roar. We had all now to hurry back +to the carcass before the Wagogo could find it; but though this +precaution was quickly taken, still, before the tough skin of the +beast could be cut through, the Wagogo began assembling like +vultures, and fighting with my men. A more savage, filthy, +disgusting, but at the same time grotesque, scene than that which +followed cannot be conceived. All fell to work armed with +swords, spears, knives, and hatchets--cutting and slashing, +thumping and bawling, fighting and tearing, tumbling and +wrestling up to their knees in filth and blood in the middle of +the carcass. When a tempting morsel fell to the possession of +any one, a stronger neighbour would seize and bear off the prize +in triumph. All right was now a matter or pure might, and lucky +it was that it did not end in a fight between our men and the +villagers. These might be afterwards seen, one by one, covered +with blood, scampering home each with his spoil--a piece of +tripe, or liver, or lights, or whatever else it might have been +his fortune to get off with. + +We were still in great want of men; but rather than stop a day, +as all delays only lead to more difficulties, I pushed on to +Magomba's palace with the assistance of some Wagogo carrying our +baggage, each taking one cloth as his hire. The chief wazir at +once come out to meet me on the way, and in an apparently affable +manner, as an old friend, begged that I would live in the palace- +-a bait which I did not take, as I knew my friend by experience a +little too well. he then, in the politest possible manner, told +me that a great dearth of food was oppressing the land--so much +so, that pretty cloths only would purchase grain. I now wished +to settle my hongo, but the great chief could not hear of such +indecent haste. + +The next day, too, the chief was too drunk to listen to any one, +and I must have patience. I took out this time in the jungles +very profitably, killing a fine buck and doe antelope, of a +species unknown. These animals are much about the same size and +shape as the common Indian antelope, and, like them, roam about +in large herds. The only marked difference between the two is in +the shape of their horns, as may be seen by the woodcut; and in +their colour, in which, in both sexes, the Ugogo antelopes +resemble the picticandata gazelle of Tibet, except that the +former have dark markings on the face. + +At last, after thousands of difficulties much like those I +encountered in Uzaramo, the hongo was settled by a payment of one +kisutu, one dubani, four yards bendera, four yards kiniki, and +three yards merikani. The wazir then thought he would do some +business on his own account, and commenced work by presenting me +with a pot of ghee and flour, saying at the same time "empty +words did not show true love," and hoping that I would prove mine +by making some slight return. To get rid of the animal I gave +him the full value of his present in cloth, which he no sooner +pocketed than he had the audacity to accuse Grant of sacrilege +for having shot a lizard on a holy stone, and demanded four +cloths to pay atonement for this offence against the "church." +As yet, he said, the chief was not aware of the damage done, and +it was well he was not; for he would himself, if I only paid him +the four cloths, settle matters quietly, otherwise there would be +no knowing what demands might be made on my cloth. It was +necessary to get up hot temper, else there was no knowing how far +he would go; so I returned him his presents, and told the sheikh, +instead of giving four, to fling six cloths in his face, and tell +him that the holy-stone story was merely a humbug, and I would +take care no more white men ever came to see him again. + +Some Wanyamuezi porters, who had been left sick here by former +caravans, now wished to take service with me as far as Kaze; but +the Wagogo, hearing of their desire, frightened them off it. A +report also at this time was brought to us, that a caravan had +just arrived at our last ground, having come up from Whindi, +direct by the line of the Wami river, in its upper course called +Mukondokua, without crossing a single hill all the way; I +therefore sent three men to see if they had any porters to spare, +as it was said they had; but the three men, although they left +their bows and arrows behind, never came back. + +Another mule died to-day. This was perplexing indeed, but to +stop longer was useless; so we pushed forward as best we could to +a pond at the western end of the district where we found a party +of Makua sportsmen who had just killed an elephant. They had +lived in Ugogo one year and a half, and had killed in all +seventeen elephants; half the tusks of which, as well as some +portion of the flesh, they gave to Magomba for the privilege of +residing there. There were many antelopes there, some of which +both Grant and I shot for the good of the pot, and he also killed +a crocute hyena. From the pond we went on to the middle of a +large jungle, and bivouacked for the night in a shower of rain, +the second of the season. + +During a fierce downpour of rain, the porters all quivering and +quaking with cold, we at length emerged from the jungle, and +entered the prettiest spot in Ugogo--the populous district of +Usekhe--where little hills and huge columns of granite crop out. +Here we halted. + +Next day came the hongo business, which was settled by paying one +dubani, one kitambi, one msutu, four yards merikani, and two +yards kiniki; but whilst we were doing it eight porters ran away, +and four fresh ones were engaged (Wanyamuezi) who had run away +from Kanyenye. + +With one more march from this we reached the last district in +Ugogo, Khoko. Here the whole of the inhabitants turned out to +oppose us, imagining we had come there to revenge the Arab, +Mohinna, because the Wagogo attacked him a year ago, plundered +his camp, and drove him back to Kaze, for having shot their old +chief "Short-legs." They, however, no sooner found out who we +were than they allowed us to pass on, and encamp in the outskirts +of the Mgunda Mkhali wilderness. To this position in the bush I +strongly objected, on the plea that guns could be best used +against arrows in the open; but none would go out in the field, +maintaining that the Wagogo would fear to attack us so far from +their villages, as we now were, lest we might cut them off in +their retreat. + +Hori Hori was now chief in Short-leg's stead, and affected to be +much pleased that we were English, and not Arabs. He told us we +might, he thought, be able to recruit all the men that we were in +want of, as many Wanyanuezi who had been left there sick wished +to go to their homes; and I would only, in addition to their +wages, have to pay their "hotel bills" to the Wagogo. This, of +course, I was ready to do, though I knew the Wanyamuezi had paid +for themselves, as is usual, by their work in the fields of their +hosts. Still, as I should be depriving these of hands, I could +scarcely expect to get off for less than the value of a slave for +each, and told Sheikh said to look out for some men at once, +whilst at the same time he laid in provisions of grain to last us +eight days in the wilderness, and settle the hongo. + +For this triple business, I allowed three days, during which +time, always eager to shoot something, either for science or the +pot, I killed a bicornis rhinoceros, at a distance of five paces +only, with my small 40-gauge Lancaster, as the beast stood +quietly feeding in the bush; and I also shot a bitch fox of the +genus Octocyon lalandii, whose ill-omened cry often alarms the +natives by forewarning them of danger. This was rather tame +sport; but next day I had better fun. + +Starting in the early morning, accompanied by two of Sheikh +Said's boys, Suliman and Faraj, each carrying a rifle, while I +carried a shot-gun, we followed a footpath to the westward in the +wilderness of Mgunda Mkhali. There, after walking a short while +in the bush, as I heard the grunt of a buffalo close on my left, +I took "Blissett" in hand, and walked to where I soon espied a +large herd quietly feeding. They were quite unconscious of my +approach, so I took a shot at a cow, and wounded her; then, after +reloading, put a ball in a bull and staggered him also. This +caused great confusion among them; but as none of the animals +knew where the shots came from, they simply shifted about in a +fidgety manner, allowing me to kill the first cow, and even fire +a fourth shot, which sickened the great bull, and induced him to +walk off, leaving the herd to their fate, who, considerably +puzzled, began moving off also. + +I now called up the boys, and determined on following the herd +down before either skinning the dead cow or following the bull, +who I knew could not go far. Their footprints being well defined +in the moist sandy soil, we soon found the herd again; but as +they now knew they were pursued, they kept moving on in short +runs at a time, when, occasionally gaining glimpses of their +large dark bodies as they forced through the bush, I repeated my +shots and struck a good number, some more and some less severely. +This was very provoking; for all of them being stern shots were +not likely to kill, and the jungle was so thick I could not get a +front view of them. Presently, however, one with her hind leg +broken pulled up on a white-ant hill, and, tossing her horns, +came down with a charge the instant I showed myself close to her. +One crack of the rifle rolled her over, and gave me free scope to +improve the bag, which was very soon done; for on following the +spoors, the traces of blood led us up to another one as lame as +the last. He then got a second bullet in the flank, and, after +hobbling a little, evaded our sight and threw himself into a +bush, where we not sooner arrived than he plunged headlong at us +from his ambush, just, and only just, giving me time to present +my small 40-gauge Lancaster. + +It was a most ridiculous scene. Suliman by my side, with the +instinct of a monkey, made a violent spring and swung himself by +a bough immediately over the beast, whilst Faraj bolted away and +left me single-gunned to polish him off. There was only one +course to pursue, for in one instant more he would have been into +me; so, quick as thought, I fired the gun, and, as luck would +have it, my bullet, after passing through the edge of one of his +horns, stuck in the spine of his neck, and rolled him over at my +feet as dead as a rabbit. Now, having cut the beast's throat to +make him "hilal," according to Mussulman usage, and thinking we +had done enough if I could only return to the first wounded bull +and settle him too, we commenced retracing our steps, and by +accident came on Grant. He was passing by from another quarter, +and became amused by the glowing description of my boys, who +never omitted to narrate their own cowardice as an excellent +tale. He begged us to go on in our course, whilst he would go +back and send us some porters to carry home the game. + +Now, tracking back again to the first point of attack, we +followed the blood of the first bull, till at length I found him +standing like a stuck pig in some bushes, looking as if he would +like to be put out of his miseries. Taking compassion, I +levelled my Blisset; but, as bad luck would have it, a bough +intercepted the flight of the bullet, and it went "pinging" into +the air, whilst the big bull went off at a gallop. To follow on +was no difficulty, the spoor was so good; and in ten minutes +more, as I opened on a small clearance, Blisset in hand, the +great beast, from the thicket on the opposite side, charged down +like a mad bull, full of ferocity--as ugly an antagonist as ever +I saw, for the front of his head was all shielded with horn. A +small mound fortunately stood between us, and as he rounded it, I +jumped to one side and let fly at his flank, but without the +effect of stopping him; for, as quick as thought, the huge +monster was at my feet, battling with the impalpable smoke of my +gun, which fortunately hung so thick on the ground at the height +of his head that he could not see me, though I was so close that +I might, had I been possessed of a hatchet, have chopped off his +head. This was a predicament which looked very ugly, for my boys +had both bolted, taking with them my guns; but suddenly the +beast, evidently regarding the smoke as a phantom which could not +be mastered, turned round in a bustle, to my intense relief, and +galloped off at full speed, as if scared by some terrible +apparition. + +O what would I not then have given for a gun, the chance was such +a good one! Still, angry though I was, I could not help laughing +as the dastardly boys came into the clearance full of their +mimicry, and joked over the scene they had witnessed in security, +whilst my life was in jeopardy because they were too frightened +to give me my gun. But now came the worst part of the day; for, +though rain was falling, I had not the heart to relinquish my +game. Tracking on through the bush, I thought every minute I +should come up with the brute; but his wounds ceased to bleed, +and in the confusion of the numerous tracks which scored all the +forest we lost our own. + +Much disappointed at this, I now proposed to make for the track +we came by in the morning, and follow it down into camp; but this +luxury was not destined to be our lot that night, for the rain +had obliterated all our footprints of the morning, and we passed +the track, mistaking it for the run of wild beasts. It struck me +we had done so; but say what I would, the boys thought they knew +better; and the consequence was that, after wandering for hours +no one knew where--for there was no sun to guide us--I pulled up, +and swore I would wait for the stars, else it might be our fate +to be lost in the wilderness, which I did not much relish. We +were all at this time "hungry as hunters," and beginning to feel +very miserable from being wet through. What little ammunition I +had left I fired off as signals, or made tinder of to get up a +fire, but the wood would not burn. In this hapless condition the +black boys began murmuring, wishing to go on, pretending, though +both held opposite views, that each knew the way; for they +thought nothing could be worse than their present state of +discomfort. + +Night with its gloom was then drawing on, heightened by thunder +and lightning, which set in all around us. At times we thought +we heard musketry in camp, knowing that Grant would be sure to +fire signals for us; and doubtless we did so, but its sound and +the thunder so much resembled one another that we distrusted our +ears. At any rate, the boys mistook the west for the east; and +as I thought they had done so, I stood firm to one spot, and +finally lay down with them to sleep upon the cold wet ground, +where we slept pretty well, being only disturbed occasionally by +some animals sniffing at our feet. As the clouds broke towards +morning, my obstinate boys still swore that west was east, and +would hardly follow me when tracking down Venus; next up rose the +moon and then followed the sun, when, as good luck would have it, +we struck on the track, and walked straight into camp. + +Here every one was in a great state of excitement: Grant had been +making the men fire volleys. The little sheikh was warmly +congratulatory as he spoke of the numbers who had strayed away +and had been lost in that wilderness; whilst Bombay admitted he +thought we should turn up again if I did not listen to the advice +of the boys, which was his only fear. Nothing as yet, I now +found, had been done to further our march. The hongo, the sheikh +said, had to precede everything; yet that had not been settled, +because the chief deferred it the day of our arrival, on the plea +that it was the anniversary of Short-legs's death; and he also +said that till then all the Wagogo had been in mourning by +ceasing to wear all their brass bracelets and other ornaments, +and they now wished to solemnise the occasion by feasting and +renewing their finery. This being granted, the next day another +pretext for delay was found, by the Wahumba having made a raid on +their cattle, which necessitated the chief and all his men +turning out to drive them away; and to-day nothing could be +attended to, as a party of fugitive Wanyamuezi had arrived and +put them all in a fright. These Wanyamuezi, it then transpired, +were soldiers of Manua Sera, the "Tippler," who was at war with +the Arabs. He had been defeated at Mguru, a district in +Unyamuezi, by the Arabs, and had sent these men to cut off the +caravan route, as the best way of retaliation that lay in his +power. + +At last the tax having been settled by the payment of one dubani, +two barsati, one sahari, six yards merikani, and three yards +kiniki (not, however, until I had our tents struck, and +threatened to march away if the chief would not take it), I +proposed going on with the journey, for our provisions were +stored. but when the loads were being lifted, I found ten more +men were missing; and as nothing now could be done but throw ten +loads away, which seemed to great a sacrifice to be made in a +hurry, I simply changed ground to show we were ready to march, +and sent my men about, either to try to induce the fugitive +Wanyamuezi to take service with me or else to buy donkeys, as the +chief said he had some to sell. + +We had already been here too long. A report was now spread that +a lion had killed one of the chief's cows; and the Wagogo, +suspecting that our being here was the cause of this ill luck, +threatened to attack us. This no sooner got noised over the camp +than all my Wanyamuezi porters, who had friends in Ugogo, left to +live with them, and would not come back again even when the +"storm had blown over," because they did not like the incessant +rains that half deluged the camp. The chief, too, said he would +not sell us his donkeys, lest we should give them back to +Mohinna, from whom they were taken during his fight here. +Intrigues of all sorts I could see were brewing, possibly at the +instigation of the fugitive Wanyamuezi, who suspected we were +bound to side with the Arabs-- possibly from some other cause, I +could not tell what; so, to clear out of this pandemonium as soon +as possible I issued cloths to buy double rations, intending to +cross the wilderness by successive relays in double the ordinary +number of days. I determined at the same time to send forward +two freed men to Kaze to ask Musa and the Arabs to send me out +some provisions and men to meet us half-way. + +Matters grew worse and worse. The sultan, now finding me unable +to move, sent a message to say if I would not give him some +better cloths to make his hongo more respectable, he would attack +my camp; and advised all the Wanyamuezi who regarded their lives +not to go near me if I resisted. This was by no means pleasant; +for the porters showed their uneasiness by extracting their own +cloths from my bundles, under the pretext that they wished to +make some purchases of their own. I ought, perhaps, to have +stopped this; but I thought the best plan was to show total +indifference; so, at the same time that they were allowed to take +their cloths, I refused to comply with the chief's request, and +begged them to have no fear so long as they saw I could hold my +own ground with my guns. + +The Wanyamuezi, however, were panic-stricken, and half of them +bolted, with the kirangozi at their head, carrying off all the +double-ration cloths as well as their own. At this time, the +sultan, having changed tactics, as he saw us all ready to stand +on the defensive, sent back his hongo; but, instead of using +threats, said he would oblige us with donkeys or anything else if +we would only give him a few more pretty cloths. With this +cringing, perfidious appeal I refused to comply, until the +sheikh, still more cringing, implored me to give way else not a +single man would remain with me. I then told him to settle with +the chief himself, and give me the account, which amounted to +three barsati, two sahari, and three yards merikani; but the +donkeys were never alluded to. + +With half my men gone, I still ordered the march, though strongly +opposed to the advice of one of old Mamba's men, who was then +passing by on his way to the coast, in command of his master's +rear detachment. He thought it impossible for us to pull through +the wilderness, with its jungle grasses and roots, depending for +food only on Grant's gun and my own; still we made half-way to +the Mdaburu nullah, taking some of Mamba's out to camp with us, +as he promised to take letters and specimens down to the coast +for us, provided I paid him some cloths as ready money down, and +promised some more to be paid at Zanzibar. These letters +eventually reached home, but not the specimens. + +The rains were so heavy that the whole country was now flooded, +but we pushed on to the nullah by relays, and pitched on its left +bank. In the confusion of the march, however, we lost many more +porters, who at the same time relieved us of their loads, by +slipping off stealthily into the bush. + +The fifteenth was a forced halt, as the stream was so deep and so +violent we could not cross it. To make the best of this very +unfortunate interruption, I now sent on two men to Kaze, with +letters to Musa and Sheikh Snay, both old friends on the former +expedition, begging them to send me sixty men, each carrying +thirty rations of grain, and some country tobacco. The tobacco +was to gratify my men, who said of all things they most wanted to +cheer them was something to smoke. At the same time I sent back +some other men to Khoko, with cloth to buy grain for present +consumption, as some of my porters were already reduced to living +on wild herbs and white ants. I then sent all the remaining men, +under the directions of Bombay and Baraka, to fell a tall tree +with hatchets, on the banks of the nullah, with a view to +bridging it; but the tree dropped to the wrong side, and thwarted +the plan. The rain ceased on the 17th, just as we put the rain- +gauge out, which was at once interpreted to be our Uganga, or +religious charm, and therefore the cause of its ceasing. It was +the first fine day for a fortnight, so we were only too glad to +put all our things out to dry, and rejoiced to think of the +stream's subsiding. My men who went back to Khoko for grain +having returned with next to nothing-- though, of course, they +had spent all the cloths--I sent back another batch with pretty +cloths, as it was confidently stated that grain was so scarce +there, nothing but the best fabrics would but it. This also +proved a dead failure; but although animals were very scarce, +Grant relieved our anxiety by shooting a zebra and an antelope. + +After five halts, we forded the stream, middle deep, and pushed +forwards again, doing short stages of four or five miles a-day, +in the greatest possible confusion; for, whilst Grant and I were +compelled to go out shooting all day for the pot, the sheikh and +Bombay went on with the first half of the property and then, +keeping guard over it sent the men back again to Baraka, who kept +rear-guard, to have the rest brought on. Order there was none: +the men hated this "double work;" all the Wanyamuezi but three +deserted, with the connivance of the coast-men, carrying off +their loads with them, under a mutual understanding, as I found +out afterwards, that the coast-men were to go shares in the +plunder as soon as we reached Unyamuezi. The next great obstacle +in this tug-and-pull wilderness-march presented itself on the +24th, when, after the first half of the property had crossed the +Mabunguru nullah, it rose in flood and cut off the rear half. It +soon, however, subsided; and the next day we reached "the +Springs," where we killed a pig and two rhinoceros. Not content, +however, with this fare--notwithstanding the whole camp had been +living liberally on zebra's and antelope's flesh every day +previously-- some of my coast-men bolted on to the little +settlement of Jiwa la Mkoa, contrary to orders, to purchase some +grain; and in doing so, increased our transport difficulties. + +Pulling on in the same way again--when not actually engaged in +shooting, scolding and storming at the men, to keep them up to +the mark, and prevent them from shirking their work, which they +were for every trying to do--we arrived on the 28th at the +"Boss," a huge granite block, from the top of which the green +foliage of the forest-trees looked like an interminable cloud, +soft and waving, fit for fairies to dwell upon. Here the +patience of my men fairly gave way, for the village of Jiwa la +Mkoa was only one long march distance from us; and they, in +consequence, smelt food on in advance much sweeter than the wild +game and wild grasses they had been living on; and many more of +them could not resist deserting us, though they might, had we all +pulled together, have gone more comfortably in, as soon as the +rear property arrived next day with Baraka. + +All the men who deserted on the 25th, save Johur and Mutwana, now +came into camp, and told us they had heard from travellers that +those men who had been sent on for reliefs to Kaze were bringing +us a large detachment of slaves to help us on. My men had +brought no food either for us or their friends, as the cloths +they took with them, "which were their own," were scarcely +sufficient to purchase a meal--famines being as bad where they +had been as in Ugogo. To try and get all the men together again, +I now sent off a party loaded with cloths to see what they could +get for us; but they returned on the 30th grinning and joking, +with nothing but a small fragment of goat-flesh, telling lies by +the dozens. Johur then came into camp, unconscious that Baraka +by my orders had, during his absence, been inspecting his kit, +where he found concealed seventy-three yards of cloth, which +could only have been my property, as Johur had brought no akaba +or reserve fund from the coast. + +The theft having been proved to the satisfaction of every one, I +ordered Baraka to strip him of everything and give him three +dozen lashes; but after twenty-one had been given, the rest were +remitted on his promising to turn Queen's evidence, when it +transpired that Mutwana had done as much as himself. Johur, it +turned out, was a murderer, having obtained his freedom by +killing his master. He was otherwise a notoriously bad +character; so, wishing to make an example, as I knew all my men +were robbing me daily, though I could not detect them, I had him +turned out of camp. Baraka was a splendid detective, and could +do everything well when he wished it, so I sent him off now with +cloths to see what he could to at Jiwa la Mkoa, and next day he +returned triumphantly driving in cows and goats. Three +Wanyamuezi, also, who heard we were given to shooting wild +animals continually, came with him to offer their services as +porters. + +As nearly all the men had now returned, Grant and I spent New +Year's Day with the first detachment at Jiwa la Mkoa, or Round +Rock-- a single tembe village occupied by a few Wakimbu settlers, +who, by their presence and domestic habits, made us feel as +though we were well out of the wood. So indeed we found it; for +although this wilderness was formerly an entire forest of trees +and wild animals, numerous Wakimbu, who formerly occupied the +banks of the Ruaha to the southward, had been driven to migrate +here, wherever they could find springs of water, by the +boisterous naked pastorals the Warori. + +At night three slaves belonging to Sheikh Salem bin Saif stole +into our camp, and said they had been sent by their master to +seek for porters at Kaze, as all the Wanyamuezi porters of four +large caravans had deserted in Ugogo, and they could not move. I +was rather pleased by this news, and thought it served the +merchants right, knowing, as I well did, that the Wanyamuezi, +being naturally honest, had they not been defrauded by foreigners +on the down march to the coast, would have been honest still. +Some provisions were now obtained by sending men out to distant +villages; but we still supplied the camp with our guns, killing +rhinoceros, wild boar, antelope, and zebras. The last of our +property did not come up till the 5th, when another thief being +caught, got fifty lashes, under the superintendence of Baraka, to +show that punishment was only inflicted to prevent further crime. + +The next day my men came from Kaze with letters from Sheikh Snay +and Musa. They had been detained there some days after arrival, +as those merchants' slaves had gone to Utambara to settle some +quarrel there; but as soon as they returned, Musa ordered them to +go and assist us, giving them beads to find rations for +themselves on the way, as the whole country about Kaze had been +half-starved by famines, though he did send a little rice and +tobacco for me. The whole party left Kaze together; but on +arrival at Tura the slaves said they had not enough beads and +would return for some more, when they would follow my men. This +bit of news was the worst that could have befallen us; my men +were broken-hearted enough before, and this drove the last spark +of spirit out of them. To make the best of a bad job, I now sent +Bombay with two other men off to Musa to see what he could do, +and ordered my other men to hire Wakimbu from village to village. +On the 7th, a nervous excitement was produced in the camp by some +of my men running in and calling all to arm, as the fugitive +chief Manua Sera was coming, with thirty armed followers carrying +muskets. Such was the case: and by the time my men were all +under arms, with their sword-bayonets fixed, drawn up by my tent +the veritable "Tippler" arrived; but, not liking the look of such +a formidable array as my men presented, he passed on a short way, +and then sent back a deputation to make known his desire of +calling on me, which was no sooner complied with than he came in +person, attended by a body-guard. On my requesting him to draw +near and sit, his wooden stool was placed for him. He began the +conversation by telling me he had heard of my distress from want +of porters, and then offered to assist me with some, provided I +would take him to Kaze, and mediate between him and the Arabs; +for, through their unjustifiable interference in his government +affairs, a war had ensued, which terminated with the Arabs +driving him from his possessions a vagabond. Manua Sera, I must +say, was as fine a young man as ever I looked upon. He was very +handsome, and looked as I now saw him the very picture of a +captain of the banditti of the romances. I begged him to tell me +his tale, and, in compliance, he gave me the following +narrative:-- + +"Shortly after you left Kaze for England, my old father, the late +chief Fundi Kira, died, and by his desire I became lawful chief; +for, though the son of a slave girl, and not of Fundi Kira's +wife, such is the law of inheritance--a constitutional policy +established to prevent any chance of intrigues between the sons +born in legitimate wedlock. Well, after assuming the title of +chief, I gave presents of ivory to all the Arabs with a liberal +hand, but most so to Musa, which caused great jealousy amongst +the other merchants. Then after this I established a property tax +on all merchandise that entered my country. Fundi Kira had never +done so, but I did not think that any reason why I should not, +especially as the Arabs were the only people who lived in my +country exempt from taxation. This measure, however, exasperated +the Arabs, and induced them to send me hostile messages, to the +effect that, if I ever meddled with them, they would dethrone me, +and place Mkisiwa, another illegitimate son, on the throne in my +stead. This," Manua Sera continued, "I could not stand; the +merchants were living on sufferance only in my country. I told +them so, and defied them to interfere with my orders, for I was +not a 'woman,' to be treated with contempt; and this got up a +quarrel. Mkisiwa, seizing at the opportunity of the prize held +out to him by the Arabs as his supporters, then commenced a +system of bribery. Words led to blows; we had a long and tough +fight; I killed many of their number, and they killed mine. +Eventually they drove me from my palace, and placed Mkisiwa there +as chief in my stead. My faithful followers however, never +deserted me; so I went to Rubuga, and put up with old Maula +there. The Arabs followed--drove me to Nguru, and tried to kill +Maula for having fostered me. He, however, escaped them; but +they destroyed his country, and then followed me down to Nguru. +There we fought for many months, until all provisions were +exhausted, when I defied them to catch me, and forced my way +through their ranks. It is needless to say I have been a +wanderer since; and though I wish to make friends, they will not +allow it, but do all they can to hunt me to death. Now, as you +were a friend of my father, I do hope you will patch up this war +for me, which you must think is unjust." + +I told Manua Sera I felt very much for him, and I would do my +best if he would follow me to Kaze; but I knew that nothing could +ever be done unless he returned to the free-trade principles of +his father. He then said he had never taken a single tax from the +Arabs, and would gladly relinquish his intention to do so. The +whole affair was commenced in too great a hurry; but whatever +happened he would gladly forgive all if I would use my influence +to reinstate him, for by no other means could he ever get his +crown back again. I then assured him that I would do what I could +to restore the ruined trade of his country, observing that, as +all the ivory that went out of his country, came to ours, and all +imports were productions of our country also, this war injured us +as well as himself. Manua Sera seemed highly delighted, and said +he had a little business to transact in Ugogo at present, but he +would overtake me in a few days. He then sent me one of my +runaway porters, whom he had caught in the woods making off with +a load of my beads. We then separated; and Baraka, by my orders, +gave the thief fifty lashes for his double offence of theft and +desertion. + +On the 9th, having bought two donkeys and engaged several men, we +left Jiwa la Mkoa, with half our traps, and marched to Garaeswi, +where, to my surprise, there were as many as twenty tembes-- a +recently-formed settlement of Wokimbu. Here we halted a day for +the rear convoy, and then went on again by detachments to Zimbo, +where, to our intense delight, Bombay returned to us on the 13th, +triumphantly firing guns, with seventy slaves accompanying him, +and with letters from Snay and Musa, in which they said they +hoped, if I met with Manua Sera, that I would either put a bullet +through his head, or else bring him in a prisoner, that they +might do for him, for the scoundrel had destroyed all their trade +by cutting off caravans. Their fights with him commenced by his +levying taxes in opposition to their treaties with his father, +Fundi Kira, and then preventing his subjects selling them grain. + +Once more the whole caravan moved on; but as I had to pay each of +the seventy slaves sixteen yards of cloth, by order of their +masters, in the simple matter of expenditure it would have been +better had I thrown ten loads away at Ugogo, where my +difficulties first commenced. On arrival at Mgongo Thembo--the +Elephant's Back-- called so in consequence of a large granitic +rock, which resembles the back of that animal, protruding through +the ground--we found a clearance in the forest, of two miles in +extent, under cultivation. Here the first man to meet me was the +fugitive chief of Rubuga, Maula. This poor old man--one of the +honestest chiefs in the country--had been to the former +expedition a host and good friend. He now gave me a cow as a +present, and said he would give me ten more if I would assist him +in making friends with the Arabs, who had driven him out of his +country, and had destroyed all his belongings, even putting a +slave to reign in his stead, though he had committed no fault of +intentional injury towards them. It was true Manua Sera, their +enemy, had taken refuge in his palace, but that was not his +fault; for, anticipating the difficulties that would arise, he +did his best to keep Manua Sera out of it, but Manua Sera being +too strong for him, forced his way in. I need not say I tried to +console this unfortunate victim of circumstances as best I could, +inviting him to go with me to Kaze, and promising to protect him +with my life if he feared the Arabs; but the old man, being too +feeble to travel himself, said he would send his son with me. + +Next day we pushed on a double march through the forest, and +reached a nullah. As it crosses the track in a southerly +direction, this might either be the head of the Kululu mongo or +river, which, passing through the district of Kiwele, drains +westward into the Malagarazi river, and thence into the +Tanganyika, or else the most westerly tributary to the Ruaha +river, draining eastward into the sea. The plateau, however, is +apparently so flat here, that nothing b a minute survey, or +rather following the watercourse, could determine the matter. +Then emerging from the wilderness, we came into the open +cultivated district of Tura, or "put down"--called so by the +natives because it was, only a few years ago, the first cleared +space in the wilderness, and served as a good halting-station, +after the normal ten day's march in the jungles, where we had now +been struggling more than a month. + +The whole place, once so fertile, was now almost depopulated and +in a sad state of ruin, showing plainly the savage ravages of +war; for the Arabs and their slaves, when they take the field, +think more of plunder and slavery than the object they started +on--each man of the force looking out for himself. The +incentives, too, are so great;--a young woman might be caught +(the greatest treasure of earth), or a boy or a girl, a cow or a +goat--all of the fortunes, of themselves too irresistible to be +overlooked when the future is doubtful. Here Sheikh Said broke +down in health of a complaint which he formerly had suffered +from, and from which I at once saw he would never recover +sufficiently well to be ever effective again. It was a sad +misfortune, as the men had great confidence in him, being the +representative of their Zanzibar government: still it could not +be helped; for, as a sick man is, after all, the greatest +possible impediment to a march, it was better to be rid of him +than have the trouble of dragging him; so I made up my mind, as +soon as we reached Kaze, I would drop him there with the Arabs. +He could not be moved on the 16th, so I marched across the plain +and put up in some villages on its western side. Whilst waiting +for the sheikh's arrival, some villagers at night stole several +loads of beads, and ran off with them; but my men, finding the +theft out in time, hunted them down, and recovered all but one +load--for the thieves had thrown their loads down as soon as they +found they were hotly pursued. + +Early this morning I called all the head men of the village +together, and demanded the beads to be restored to me; for, as I +was living with them, they were responsible, according to the +laws of the country. They acknowledged the truth and force of my +demand, and said they would each give me a cow as an earnest, +until their chief, who was absent, arrived. This, of course, was +objected to, as the chief, in his absence, must have deputed some +one to govern for him, and I expected him to settle at once, that +I might proceed with the march. Then selecting five of my head +men to conduct the case, with five of their elders, it was +considered my losses were equivalent to thirty head of cattle. +As I remitted the penalty to fifteen head, these were made over +to me, and we went on with the march--all feeling delighted with +the issue but the Hottentots, who, not liking the loss of the +second fifteen cows, said that in Kafirland, where the laws of +the country are the same as here, the whole would have been +taken, and, as it was, they thought I was depriving them of their +rights to beef. + +By a double march, the sheikh riding in a hammock slung on a +pole, we now made Kuale, or "Partridge" nullah, which, crossing +the road to the northward, drains these lands to the Malagarazi +river, and thence into the Tanganyika lake. Thence, having spent +the night in the jungle, we next morning pushed into the +cultivated district of Rubuga, and put up in some half-deserted +tembes, where the ravages of war were even more disgusting to +witness than at Tura. The chief, as I have said, was a slave, +placed there by the Arabs on the condition that he would allow +all traders and travellers to help themselves without payment as +long as they chose to reside there. In consequence of this wicked +arrangement, I found it impossible to keep my men from picking +and stealing. They looked upon plunder as their fortune and +right, and my interference as unjustifiable. + +By making another morning and evening march, we then reached the +western extremity of this cultivated opening; where, after +sleeping the night, we threaded through another forest to the +little clearance of Kigue, and in one more march through forest +arrived in the large and fertile district of Unyanyembe, the +centre of Unyamuezi--the Land of the Moon--within five miles of +Kaze which is the name of a well in the village of Tbora, now +constituted the great central slave and ivory merchants' depot. +My losses up to this date (23d) were as follows:--One Hottentot +dead and five returned; one freeman sent back with the +Hottentots, and one flogged and turned off; twenty-five of Sultan +Majid's gardeners deserted; ninety-eight of the original +Wanyamuezi porters deserted; twelve mules and three donkeys dead. +Besides which, more than half of my property had been stolen; +whilst the travelling expenses had been unprecedented, in +consequence of the severity of the famine throughout the whole +length of the march. + + + + + Chapter V + + + + Unyamuezi + +The Country and People of U-n-ya-muezi--Kaze, the Capital--Old +Musa --The Naked Wakidi--The N'yanza, and the Question of the +River Running in or out--The Contest between Mohinna and "Short- +legs"-- Famine--The Arabs and Local Wars--The Sultana of +Unyambewa--Ungurue "The Pig"--Pillage. + +U-n-ya-muezi--Country of Moon--must have been one of the largest +kingdoms in Africa. It is little inferior in size to England, +and of much the same shape, though now, instead of being united, +it is cut up into petty states. In its northern extremities it +is known by the appellation U-sukuma--country north; and in the +southern, U-takama--country south. There are no historical +traditions known to the people; neither was anything ever written +concerning their country, as far as we know, until the Hindus, +who traded with the east coast of Africa, opened commercial +dealings with its people in salves and ivory, possibly some time +prior to the birth of our Saviour, when, associated with their +name, Men of the Moon, sprang into existence the Mountains of the +Moon. These Men of the Moon are hereditarily the greatest +traders in Africa, and are the only people who, for love of +barter and change, will leave their own country as porters and go +to the coast, and they do so with as much zest as our country- +folk go to a fair. As far back as we can trace they have done +this, and they still do it as heretofore. The whole of their +country ranges from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level--a high +plateau, studded with little outcropping hills of granite, +between which, in the valleys, there are numerous fertilising +springs of fresh water, and rich iron ore is found in sandstone. +Generally industrious--much more so than most other negroes--they +cultivate extensively, make cloths of cotton in their own looms, +smelt iron and work it up very expertly, build tembes to live in +over a large portion of their country, but otherwise live in +grass huts, and keep flocks and herds of considerable extent. + +The Wanyamuezi, however, are not a very well-favoured people in +physical appearance, and are much darker than either the Wazaramo +or the Wagogo, though many of their men are handsome and their +women pretty; neither are they well dressed or well armed, being +wanting in pluck and gallantry. Their women, generally, are +better dressed than the men. Cloths fastened round under the +arms are their national costume, along with a necklace of beads, +large brass or copper wire armlets, and a profusion of thin +circles, called sambo, made of the giraffe's tail-hairs bound +round by the thinnest iron or copper wire; whilst the men at home +wear loin-cloths, but in the field, or whilst travelling, simply +hang a goat-skin over their shoulders, exposing at least three- +fourths of their body in a rather indecorous manner. In all +other respects they ornament themselves like the women, only, +instead of a long coil of wire wound up the arm, they content +themselves with having massive rings of copper or brass on the +wrist; and they carry for arms a spear and bow and arrows. All +extract more or less their lower incisors, and cut a [upside-down +V shape] between their two upper incisors. The whole tribe are +desperate smokers, and greatly given to drink. + +On the 24th, we all, as many as were left of us, marched into the +merchant's depot, S. lat. 5§ 0' 52", and E. long. 33§ 1' +34",[FN#7] escorted by Musa, who advanced to meet us, and guided +us into his tembe, where he begged we would reside with him until +we could find men to carry our property on to Karague. He added +that he would accompany us; for he was on the point of going +there when my first instalment of property arrived, but deferred +his intention out of respect to myself. He had been detained at +Kaze ever since I last left it in consequence of the Arabs having +provoked a war with Manua Sera, to which he was adverse. For a +long time also he had been a chained prisoner; as the Arabs, +jealous of the favour Manua Sera had shown to him in preference +to themselves, basely accused him of supplying Manua Sera with +gunpowder, and bound him hand and foot "like a slave." It was +delightful to see old Musa's face again, and the supremely +hospitable, kind, and courteous manner in which he looked after +us, constantly bringing in all kind of small delicacies, and +seeing that nothing was wanting to make us happy. All the +property I had sent on in advance he had stored away; or rather, +I should say, as much as had reached him, for the road expenses +had eaten a great hole in it. + +Once settled down into position, Sheikh Snay and the whole +conclave of Arab merchants came to call on me. They said they +had an army of four hundred slaves armed with muskets ready to +take the field at once to hunt down Manua Sera, who was cutting +their caravan road to pieces, and had just seized, by their +latest reports, a whole convoy of their ammunition. I begged +them strongly to listen to reason, and accept my advice as an old +soldier, not to carry on their guerilla warfare in such a +headlong hurry, else they would be led a dance by Manua Sera, as +we had been by Tantia Topee in India. I advised them to allow me +to mediate between them, after telling them what a favourable +interview I had had with Manua Sera and Maula, whose son was at +that moment concealed in Musa's tembe. My advice, however, was +not wanted. Snay knew better than any one how to deal with +savages, and determined on setting out as soon as his army had +"eaten their beef-feast of war." + +On my questioning him about the Nile, Snay still thought the +N'yanza was the source of the Jub river[FN#8] as he did in our +former journey, but gave way when I told him that vessels +frequented the Nile, as this also coincided with his knowledge of +navigators in vessels appearing on some waters to the northward +of Unyoro. In a great hurry he then bade me good-bye; when, as +he thought it would be final, I gave him, in consideration of his +former good services to the last expedition, one of the gold +watches given me by the Indian Government. I saw him no more, +though he and all the other Arabs sent me presents of cows, +goats, and rice, with a notice that they should have gone on +their war-oath before, only, hearing of my arrival, out of due +respect to my greatness they waited to welcome me in. Further, +after doing for Manua Sera, they were determined to go on to +Ugogo to assist Salem bin Saif and the other merchants on, during +which, at the same time, they would fight all the Wagogo who +persisted in taking taxes and in harassing caravans. At the +advice of Musa, I sent Maula's son off at night to tell the old +chief how sorry I was to find the Arabs so hot-headed I could not +even effect an arrangement with them. It was a great pity; for +Manua Sera was so much liked by the Wanyamuezi, they would, had +they been able, have done anything to restore him. + +Next day the non-belligerent Arabs left in charge of the station, +headed by my old friends Abdulla and Mohinna, came to pay their +respects again, recognising in me, as they said, a +"personification of their sultan," and therefore considering what +they were doing only due to my rank. They regretted with myself +that Snay was so hot-headed; for they themselves thought a treaty +of peace would have been the best thing for them, for they were +more than half-ruined already, and saw no hope for the future. +Then, turning to geography, I told Abdulla all I had written and +lectured in England concerning his stories about navigators on +the N'yanza, which I explained must be the Nile, and wished to +know if I should alter it in any way: but he said, "Do not; you +may depend it will all turn out right;" to which Musa added, all +the people in the north told him that when the N'yanza rose, the +stream rushed with such violence it tore up islands and floated +them away. + +I was puzzled at this announcement, not then knowing that both +the lake and the Nile, as well as all ponds, were called N'yanza: +but we shall see afterwards that he was right; and it was in +consequence of this confusion in the treatment of distinctly +different geographical features under one common name by these +people, that in my former journey I could not determine where the +lake had ended and the Nile began. Abdulla again--he had done so +on the former journey--spoke to me of a wonderful mountain to the +northward of Karague, so high and steep no one could ascend it. +It was, he said, seldom visible, being up in the clouds, where +white matter, snow or hail, often fell. Musa said this hill was +in Ruanda, a much larger country than Urundi; and further, both +men said, as they had said before, that the lands of Usoga and +Unyoro were islands, being surrounded by water; and a salt lake, +which was called N'yanza, though not the great Victoria N'yanza +lay on the other said of the Unyoro, from which direction +Rumanika, king of Karague, sometimes got beads forwarded to him +by Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, of a different sort from any brought +from Zanzibar. Moreover, these beads were said to have been +plundered from white men by the Wakidi,--a stark-naked people who +live up in trees--have small stools fixed on behind, always ready +for sitting--wear their hair hanging down as far as the rump, all +covered with cowrie-shells--suspend beads from wire attached to +their ears and their lower lips--and wear strong iron collars and +bracelets. + +This people, I was told, are so fierce in war that no other tribe +can stand against them, though they only fight with short spears. +When this discourse was ended, ever perplexed about the +Tanganyika being a still lake, I enquired of Mohinna and other +old friends what they thought about the Marungu river: did it run +into or out of the lake? and they all still adhered to its +running into the lake-- which, after all, in my mind, is the most +conclusive argument that it does run out of the lake, making it +one of a chain of lakes leading to the N'yanza, and through it by +the Zambezi into the sea; for all the Arabs on the former journey +said the Rusizi river ran out of the Tanganyika, as also the +Kitangule ran out of the N'yanza, and the Nile ran into it, even +though Snay said he thought the Jub river drained the N'yanza. +All these statements were, when literally translated into +English, the reverse of what the speakers, using a peculiar Arab +idiom, meant to say; for all the statements made as to the flow +of rivers by the negroes--who apparently give the same meaning to +"out" and "in" as we do--contradicted the Arabs in their +descriptions of the direction of the flow of these rivers. + +Mohinna now gave us a very graphic description of his fight with +Short-legs, the late chief of Khoko. About a year ago, as he was +making his way down to the coast with his ivory merchandise, on +arrival at Khoko, and before his camp was fortified with a ring- +fence of thorns, some of his men went to drink at a well, where +they no sooner arrived than the natives began to bean them with +sticks, claiming the well as their property. This commenced a +row, which brought out a large body of men, who demanded a +bullock at the point of their spears. Mohinna hearing this, also +came to the well, and said he would not listen to their demand, +but would drink as he wished, for the water was the gift of God. +Words then changed to blows. All Mohinna's pagazis bolted, and +his merchandise fell into the hands of the Wagogo. Had his camp +been fortified, he think he would have been too much for his +enemies; but, as it was, he retaliated by shooting Short-legs in +the head, and at once bolted back to Kaze with a few slaves as +followers, and his three wives. + +The change that had taken place in Unyanyembe since I last left +it was quite surprising. Instead of the Arabs appearing +merchants, as they did formerly, they looked more like great +farmers, with huge stalls of cattle attached to their houses; +whilst the native villages were all in ruins--so much so that, to +obtain corn for my men, I had to send out into the district +several days' journey off, and even then had to pay the most +severe famine prices for what I got. The Wanyamuezi, I was +assured, were dying of starvation in all directions; for, in +addition to the war, the last rainy season had been so light, all +their crops had failed. + +27th and 28th.--I now gave all my men presents for the severe +trials they had experienced in the wilderness, forgetting, as I +told them, the merciless manner in which they had plundered me; +but as I have a trifle more in proportion, to the three sole +remaining pagazis, because they had not finished their work, my +men were all discontented, and wished to throw back their +presents, saying I did not love them, although they were +"perminents," as much as the "temperaries." They, however, gave +in, after some hours of futile arguments, on my making them +understand, through Baraka, that what they saw me give to the +pagazis would, if they reflected, only tend to prove to them that +I was not a bad master who forgot his obligations when he could +get no more out of his servants. + +I then went into a long inquiry with Musa about our journey +northward to Karague; and as he said there were no men to be +found in or near Unyanyembe, for they were either all killed or +engaged in the war, it was settled he should send some of his +head men on to Rungua, where he had formerly resided, trading for +some years, and was a great favourite with the chief of the +place, by name Kiringuana. He also settled that I might take out +of his establishment of slaves as many men as I could induce to +go with me, for he thought them more trouble than profit, hired +porters being more safe; moreover, he said the plan would be of +great advantage to him, as I offered to pay, both man and master, +each the same monthly stipend as I gave my present men. This was +paying double, and all the heavier a burden, as the number I +should require to complete my establishment to one hundred armed +men would be sixty. He, however, very generously advised me not +to take them, as they would give so much trouble; but finally +gave way when I told him I felt I could not advance beyond +Karague unless I was quite independent of the natives there--a +view in which he concurred. + +29th and 30th.--Jafu, another Indian merchant here, and co- +partner of Musa, came in from a ten days' search after grain, and +described the whole country to be in the most dreadful state of +famine. Wanyamuezi were lying about dead from starvation in all +directions, and he did not think we should ever get through Usui, +as Suwarora, the chief, was so extortionate he would "tear us to +pieces"; but advised our waiting until the war was settled, when +all the Arabs would combine and go with us. Musa even showed +fear, but arranged, at my suggestion, that he should send some +men to Rumanika, informing him of our intention to visit him, and +begging, at the same time, he would use his influence in +preventing our being detained in Usui. + +I may here explain that the country Uzinza was once a large +kingdom, governed by a king named Ruma, of Wahuma blood. At his +death, which took place in Dagara's time (the present Rumanika's +father), the kingdom was contested by his two sons, Rohinda and +Suwarora, but, at the intercession of Dagara, was divided-- +Rohinda taking the eastern, called Ukhanga, and Suwarora the +western half of the country, called Usui. This measure made Usui +feudatory to Karague, so that much of the produce of the +extortions committed in Usui went to Karague, and therefore they +were recognised, though the odium always rested on Suwarora, "the +savage extortioner," rather than on the mild-disposed king of +Karague, who kept up the most amicable relations with every one +who visited him. + +Musa, I must say, was most loud in his praises of Rumanika; and +on the other hand, as Musa, eight years ago, had saved Rumanika's +throne for him against an insurrection got up by his younger +brother Rogero, Rumanika, always regarding Musa as his saviour, +never lost an opportunity to show his gratitude, and would have +done anything that Musa might have asked him. Of this matter, +however, more in Karague. + +31st.--To-day, Jafu, who had lost many ivories at Khoko when +Mohinna was attacked there, prepared 100 slaves, with Said bin +Osman, Mohinna's brother, with a view to follow down Snay, and, +combining forces, attack Hori Hori, hoping to recover their +losses; for it appeared to them the time had now come when their +only hope left in carrying their trade to a successful issue, lay +in force of arms. They would therefore not rest satisfied until +they had reduced Khoko and Usekhe both, by actual force, to +acknowledge their superiority, "feeding on them" until the +Ramazan, when they would return with all the merchants detained +in Ugogo, and, again combining their forces, they would fall on +Usui, to reduce that country also. + +When these men had gone, a lunatic set the whole place in +commotion. He was a slave of Musa's, who had wounded some men +previously in his wild excesses, and had been tied up; but now, +breaking loose again, he swore he would not be satisfied until he +killed some "big man." His strength was so great no one could +confine him, though they hunted him into a hut, where, having +seized a gun and some arrows, he defied any one to put hands on +him. Here, however, he was at last reduced to submission and a +better state of his senses by starvation: for I must add, the +African is much give to such mental fits of aberration at certain +periods: these are generally harmless, but sometimes not; but +they come and they go again without any visible cause. + +1st.--Musa's men now started for Rungua, and promised to bring +all the porters we wanted by the first day of the next moon. We +found that this would be early enough, for all the members of the +expedition, excepting myself, were suffering from the effects of +the wilderness life--some with fever, some with scurvy, and some +with ophthalmia--which made it desirable they should all have +rest. Little now was done besides counting out my property, and +making Sheikh Said, who became worse and worse, deliver his +charge of Cafila Bashi over to Bombay for good. When it was +found so much had been stolen, especially of the best articles, I +was obliged to purchase many things from Musa, paying 400 per +cent, which he said was their value here, over the market price +of Zanzibar. I also got him to have all my coils of brass and +copper wire made into bracelet, as is customary, to please the +northern people. + +7th.--To-day information was brought here that whilst Manua Sera +was on his way from Ugogo to keep his appointment with me, Sheikh +Snay's army came on him at Tura, where he was ensconced in a +tembe. Hearing this, Snay, instead of attacking the village at +once, commenced negotiations with the chief of the place by +demanding him to set free his guest, otherwise they, the Arabs, +would storm the tembe. The chief, unfortunately, did not comply +at once, but begged grace for one night, saying that if Manua +Sera was found there in the morning they might do as they liked. +Of course Manua bolted; and the Arabs, seeing the Tura people all +under arms ready to defend themselves the next morning, set at +them in earnest, and shot, murdered, or plundered the whole of +the district. Then, whilst Arabs were sending in their captures +of women, children, and cattle, Manua Sera made off to a district +called Dara, where he formed an alliance with its chief, Kifunja, +and boasted he would attack Kaze as soon as the travelling season +commenced, when the place would be weakened by the dispersion of +the Arabs on their ivory excursions. + +The startling news set the place in a blaze, and brought all the +Arabs again to seek my advice for they condemned what Snay had +done in not listening to me before, and wished to know if I could +not now treat for them with Manua Sera, which they thought could +be easily managed, as Manua Sera himself was not only the first +to propose mediation, but was actually on his way here for the +purpose when Snay opposed him. I said nothing could give me +greater pleasure than mediating for them, to put a stop to these +horrors, but it struck me the case had now gone too far. Snay, +in opposition to my advice, was bent on fighting; he could not be +recalled and unless all the Arabs were of one mind, I ran the +risk of committing myself to a position I could not maintain. To +this they replied that the majority were still at Kaze, all +wishing for peace at any price, and that whatever terms I might +wish to dictate they would agree to. Then I said, "What would you +do with Mkisiwa? you have made him chief, and cannot throw him +over." "Oh, that," they said, "can be easily managed; for +formerly, when we confronted Manua Sera at Nguru, we offered to +give him as much territory as his father governed, though not +exactly in the same place; but he treated our message with +disdain, not knowing then what a fix he was in. Now, however, as +he has seen more, and wishes for peace himself, there can be no +difficulty." I then ordered two of my men to go with two of +Musa's to acquaint Manua Sera with what we were about, and to +know his views on the subject; but these men returned to say +Manua Sera could not be found, for he was driven from "pillar to +post" by the different native chiefs, as, wherever he went, his +army ate up their stores, and brought nothing but calamities with +them. Thus died this second attempted treaty. Musa then told me +it was well it turned out so; for Manua Sera would never believe +the Arabs, as they had broken faith so often before, even after +exchanging blood by cutting incision in one another's legs--the +most sacred bond or oath the natives know of. + +As nothing more of importance was done, I set out with Grant to +have a week's shooting in the district, under the guidance of an +old friend, Fundi Sangoro, Musa's "head gamekeeper," who assured +me that the sable antelope and blanc boc, specimens of which I +had not yet seen, inhabited some low swampy place called N'yama, +or "Meat," not far distant, on the left bank of the Wale nullah. +My companion unfortunately got fever here, and was prevented from +going out, and I did little better; for although I waded up to my +middle every day, and wounded several blanc boc, I only bagged +one, and should not have got even him, had it not happened that +some lions in the night pulled him down close to our camp, and +roared so violently that they told us the story. The first thing +in the morning I wished to have at them; but they took the hint +of daybreak to make off, and left me only the half of the animal. +I saw only one sable antelope. We all went back to Kaze, +arriving there on the 24th. + +25th to 13th.--Days rolled on, and nothing was done in +particular-- beyond increasing my stock of knowledge of distant +places and people, enlarging my zoological collection, and taking +long series of astronomical observations--until the 13th, when +the whole of Kaze was depressed by a sad scene of mourning and +tears. Some slaves came in that night--having made their way +through the woods from Ugogo, avoiding the track to save +themselves from detection-- and gave information that Snay, Jafu, +and five other Arabs, had been killed, as well as a great number +of slaves. The expedition, they said, had been defeated, and the +positions were so complicated nobody knew what to do. At first +the Arabs achieved two brilliant successes, having succeeded in +killing Hori Hori of Khoko, when they recovered their ivory, made +slaves of all they could find, and took a vast number of cattle; +then attacking Usekhe they reduced that place to submission by +forcing a ransom out of its people. At this period, however, +they heard that a whole caravan, carrying 5000 dollars' worth of +property, had been cut up by the people of Mzanza, a small +district ten miles north of Usekhe; so, instead of going on to +Kanyenye to relieve the caravans which were waiting there for +them, they foolishly divided their forces into three parts. Of +these they sent one to take their loot back to Kaze, another to +form a reserve force at Mdaburu, on the east flank of the +wilderness, and a third, headed by Snay and Jafu, to attack +Mzanza. At the first onset Snay and Jafu carried everything +before them, and became so excited over the amount of their loot +that they lost all feelings of care or precaution. + +In this high exuberance of spirits, a sudden surprise turned +their momentary triumph into a total defeat; for some Wahumba, +having heard the cries of the Wagogo, joined in their cause, and +both together fell on the Arab force with such impetuosity that +the former victors were now scattered in all directions. Those +who could run fast enough were saved--the rest were speared to +death by the natives. Nobody knew how Jafu fell; but Snay, after +running a short distance, called one of his slaves, and begged +him to take his gun, saying, "I am too old to keep up with you; +keep this gun for my sake, for I will lie down here and take my +chance." He never was seen again. But this was not all their +misfortunes; for the slaves who brought in this information had +met the first detachment, sent with the Khoko loot, at Kigua, +where, they said, the detachment had been surprised by Manua +Sera, who, having fortified a village with four hundred men, +expecting this sort of thing, rushed out upon them, and cut them +all up. + +The Arabs, after the first burst of their grief was over, came to +me again in a body, and begged me to assist them, for they were +utterly undone. Manua Sera prevented their direct communication +with their detachment at Mdaburu, and that again was cut off from +their caravans at Kanyenye by the Mzanza people, and in fact all +the Wagogo; so they hoped at least I would not forsake them, +which they heard I was going to do, as Manua Sera had also +threatened to attack Kaze. I then told them, finally that their +proposals were now beyond my power, for I had a duty to perform +as well as themselves, and in a day or two I should be off. + +14th to 17th.--On the 14th thirty-nine porters were brought in +from Rungua by Musa's men, who said they had collected one +hundred and twenty, and brought them to within ten miles of this, +when some travellers frightened all but thirty-nine away, by +telling them, "Are you such fools as to venture into Kaze now? +all the Arabs have been killed, or were being cut up and pursued +by Manua Sera." This sad disappointment threw me on my "beam- +ends." For some reason or other none of Musa's slaves would take +service, and the Arabs prevented theirs from leaving the place, +as it was already too short of hands. To do the best under these +circumstances, I determined on going to Rungua with what kit +could be carried, leaving Bombay behind with Musa until such time +as I should arrive there, and, finding more men, could send them +back for the rest. I then gave Musa the last of the gold watches +the Indian Government had given me;[FN#9] and, bidding Sheikh +Said take all our letters and specimens back to the coast as soon +as the road was found practicable, set out on the march +northwards with Grant and Baraka, and all the rest of my men who +were well enough to carry loads, as well as some of Musa's head +men, who knew where to get porters. + +After passing Masange and Zimbili, we put up a night in the +village of Iviri, on the northern border of Unyanyembe, and found +several officers there, sent by Mkisiwa, to enforce a levy of +soldiers to take the field with the Arabs at Kaze against Manua +Sera; to effect which, they walked about ringing bells, and +bawling out that if a certain percentage of all the inhabitants +did not muster, the village chief would be seized, and their +plantations confiscated. My men all mutinied here for increase of +ration allowances. To find themselves food with, I had given +them all one necklace of beads each per diem since leaving Kaze, +in lieu of cloth, which hitherto had been served out for that +purpose. It was a very liberal allowance, because the Arabs +never gave more than one necklace to every three men, and that, +too, of inferior quality to what I served. I brought them to at +last by starvation, and then we went on. Dipping down into a +valley between two clusters of granitic hills, beautifully +clothed with trees and grass, studded here and there with rich +plantations, we entered the district of Usagari, and on the +second day forded the Gombe nullah again--in its upper course, +called Kuale. + +Rising again up to the main level of the plantation, we walked +into the boma of the chief of Unyambewa, Singinya, whose wife was +my old friend the late sultana Ungugu's lady's-maid. Immediately +on our entering her palace, she came forward to meet me with the +most affable air of a princess, begged I would always come to her +as I did then, and sought to make every one happy and +comfortable. Her old mistress, she said, died well stricken in +years; and, as she had succeeded her, the people of her country +invited Singinya to marry her, because feuds had arisen about the +rights of succession; and it was better a prince, whom they +thought best suited by birth and good qualities, should head +their warriors, and keep all in order. At that moment Singinya +was out in the field fighting his enemies; and she was sure, when +he heard I was here, that he would be very sorry he had missed +seeing me. + +We next went on to the district of Ukumbi, and put up in a +village there, on approaching which all the villagers turned out +to resist us, supposing we were an old enemy of theirs. They +flew about brandishing their spears, and pulling their bows in +the most grotesque attitudes, alarming some of my porters so much +that they threw down their loads and bolted. All the country is +richly cultivated, though Indian corn at that time was the only +grain ripe. The square, flat-topped tembes had now been left +behind, and instead the villagers lived in small collections of +grass huts, surrounded by palisades of tall poles. + +Proceeding on we put up at the small settlement of Usenda, the +proprietor of which was a semi-negro Arab merchant called +Sangoro. He had a large collection of women here, but had himself +gone north with a view to trade in Karague. Report, however, +assured us that he was then detained in Usui by Suwarora, its +chief, on the plea of requiring his force of musketeers to +prevent the Watuta from pillaging his country, for these Watuta +lived entirely on plunder of other people's cattle. + +With one move, by alternately crossing strips of forest and +cultivation, studded here and there with small hills of granite, +we forded the Qaunde nullah--a tributary to the Gombe--and +entered the rich flat district of Mininga, where the gingerbread- +palm grows abundantly. The greatest man we found here was a +broken-down ivory merchant called Sirboko, who gave us a good hut +to live in. Next morning, I believe at the suggestion of my +Wanguana, with Baraka at their head, he induced me to stop there; +for he said Rungua had been very recently destroyed by the +Watuta, and this place could afford porters better than it. To +all appearance this was the case, for this district was better +cultivated than any place I had seen. I also felt a certain +inclination to stop, as I was dragging on sick men, sorely +against my feelings; and I also thought I had better not go +farther away from my rear property; but, afraid of doing wrong in +not acting up to Musa's directions, I called up his head men who +were with me, and asked them what they thought of the matter, as +they had lately come from Rungua. On their confirming Sirboki's +story, and advising my stopping, I acceded to their +recommendation, and immediately gave Musa's men orders to look +out for porters. + +Hearing this, all my Wanguana danced with delight; and I, fearing +there was some treachery, called Musa's men again, saying I had +changed my mind, and wished to go on in the afternoon; but when +the time came, not one of our porters could be seen. There was +now no help for it; so, taking it coolly, I gave Musa's men +presents, begged them to look sharp in getting the men up, and +trusted all would end well in the long-run. Sirboko's attentions +were most warm and affecting. He gave us cows, rice, and milk, +with the best place he had to live in, and looked after us as +constantly and tenderly as if he had been our father. It seemed +quite unjust to harbour any suspicion against him. + +He gave the following account of himself:--He used to trade in +ivory, on account of some Arabs at Zanzibar. On crossing Usui, +he once had a fight with one of the chiefs of the country and +killed him; but he got through all right, because the natives, +after two or three of their number had been killed, dispersed, +and feared to come near his musket again. He visited Uganda when +the late king Sunna was living, and even traded Usoga; but as he +was coming down from these northern countries he lost all his +property by a fire breaking out in a village he stopped in, which +drove him down here a ruined man. As it happened, however, he +put up with the chief of this district, Ugali--Mr Paste--at a +time when the Watuta attacked the place and drove all the +inhabitants away. The chief, too, was on the point of bolting, +when Sirboko prevented him by saying, "If you will only have +courage to stand by me, the Watuta shall not come near--at any +rate, if they do, let us both die together." The Watuta at that +time surrounded the district, crowning all the little hills +overlooking it; but fearing the Arabs' guns might be many, they +soon walked away, and left them in peace. In return for this +magnanimity, and feeling a great security in firearms, Ugali then +built the large enclosure, with huts for Sirboko, we were now +living in. Sirboko, afraid to return to the coast lest he should +be apprehended for debt, has resided here ever since, doing odd +jobs for other traders, increasing his family, and planting +extensively. His agricultural operations are confined chiefly to +rice, because the natives do not like it enough to be tempted to +steal it. + +25th to 2d.--I now set to work, collecting, stuffing, and +drawing, until the 2d, when Musa's men came in with three hundred +men, whom I sent on to Kaze at once with my specimens and +letters, directing Musa and Bombay to come on and join us +immediately. Whilst waiting for these men's return, one of +Sirboko's slaves, chained up by him, in the most piteous manner +cried out to me: "Hai Bana wangi, Bana wangi (Oh, my lord, my +lord), take pity on me! When I was a free man I saw you at +Uvira, on the Tanganyika lake, when you were there; but since +then the Watuta, in a fight at Ujiji, speared me all over and +left me for dead, when I was seized by the people, sold to the +Arabs, and have been in chains ever since. Oh, I saw, Bana +wangi, if you would only liberate me I would never run away, but +would serve you faithfully all my life." This touching appeal +was too strong for my heart to withstand, so I called up Sirboko, +and told him, if he would liberate this one man to please me he +should be no loser; and the release was effected. He was then +christened Farham (Joy), and was enrolled in my service with the +rest of my freed men. I then inquired if it was true the Wabembe +were cannibals, and also circumcised. In one of their slaves the +latter statement was easily confirmed. I was assure that he was +not a cannibal; for the whole tribe of Wabembe, when they cannot +get human flesh otherwise, give a goat to their neighbours for a +sick or dying child, regarding such flesh as the best of all. No +other cannibals, however, were known of; but the Masai, and their +cognates, the Wahumba, Wataturu, Wakasange, Wanyaramba, and even +the Wagogo and Wakimbu, circumcise. + +On the 15th I was surprised to find Bombay come in with all my +rear property and a great quantity of Musa's, but with out the +old man. By a letter from Sheikh Said I then found that, since my +leaving Kaze, the Arabs had, along with Mkisiwa, invested the +position of Manua Sera at Kigue, and forced him to take flight +again. Afterwards the Arabs, returning to Kaze, found Musa +preparing to leave. Angry at this attempt to desert them, they +persuaded him to give up his journey north for the present; so +that at the time Bombay left, Musa was engaged as public +auctioneer in selling the effects of Snay, Jafu, and others, but +privately said he would follow me on to Karague as soon as his +rice was cut. Adding a little advice of his own, Sheikh Said +pressed me to go on with the journey as fast as possible, because +all the Arabs had accused me of conspiring with Manua Sera, and +would turn against me unless I soon got away. + +2d to 30th.--Disgusted with Musa's vacillatory conduct, on the +22d I sent him a letter containing a bit of my mind. I had given +him, as a present, sufficient cloth to pay for his porters, as +well as a watch and a good sum of money, and advised his coming +on at once, for the porters who had just brought in my rear +property would not take pay to go on to Karague; and so I was +detained again, waiting whilst his head man went to Rungua to +look for more. Five days after this, a party of Sangoro's +arrived from Karague, saying they had been detained three months +in Usui by Suwarora, who had robbed them of an enormous quantity +of property, and oppressed them so that all their porters ran +away. Now, slight as this little affair might appear, it was of +vital importance to me, as I found all my men shaking their heads +and predicting what might happen to us when we got there; so, as +a forlorn hope, I sent Baraka with another letter to Musa, +offering to pay as much money for fifty men carrying muskets as +would buy fifty slaves, and, in addition to that, I offered to +pay them what my men were receiving as servants. Next day (23d) +the chief Ugali came to pay his respects to us. He was a fine- +looking young man, about thirty years old, the husband of thirty +wives, but he had only three children. Much surprised at the +various articles composing our kit, he remarked that our +"sleeping-clothes"--blankets--were much better than his royal +robes; but of all things that amused him most were our picture- +books, especially some birds drawn by Wolf. + +Everything still seemed going against me; for on the following +day (24th) Musa's men came in from Rungua to say the Watuta were +"out." They had just seized fifty head of cattle from Rungua, and +the people were in such a state of alarm they dared not leave +their homes and families. I knew not what to do, for there was +no hope left but in what Baraka might bring; and as that even +would be insufficient, I sent Musa's men into Kaze, to increase +the original number by thirty men more. + +Patience, thank God, I had a good stock of, so I waited quietly +until the 30th, when I was fairly upset by the arrival of a +letter from Kaze, stating that Baraka had arrived, and had been +very insolent both to Musa and to Sheikh Said. The bearer of the +letter was at once to go and search for porters at Rungua, but +not a word was said about the armed men I had ordered. At the +same time reports from the other side came in, to the effect that +the Arabs at Kaze and Msene had bribed the Watuta to join them, +and overrun the whole country from Ugogo to Usui; and, in +consequence of this, all the natives on the line I should have to +take were in such dread of that terrible wandering race of +savages, who had laid waste in turn all the lands from N'yassa to +Usui on their west flank, that not a soul dared leave his home. +I could now only suppose that this foolish and hasty +determination of the Arabs, who, quite unprepared to carry out +their wicked alliance to fight, still had set every one against +their own interests as well as mine, had not reached Musa, so I +made up my mind at once to return to Kaze, and settle all matters +I had in my heart with himself and the Arabs in person. + +This settled, I next, in this terrible embarrassment, determined +on sending back the last of the Hottentots, as all four of them, +though still wishing to go on with me, distinctly said they had +not the power to continue the march, for they had never ceased +suffering from fever and jaundice, which had made them all yellow +as guineas, save one, who was too black to change colour. It +felt to me as if I were selling my children, having once +undertaken to lead them through the journey; but if I did not +send them back then, I never could afterwards, and therefore I +allowed the more substantial feelings of humanity to overcome +these compunctions. + +Next morning, then, after giving the Tots over in charge of some +men to escort them on to Kaze quietly, I set our myself with a +dozen men, and the following evening I put up with Musa, who told +me Baraka had just left without one man--all his slaves having +become afraid to go, since the news of the Arab alliance had +reached Kaze. Suwarora had ordered his subjects to run up a line +of bomas to protect his frontier, and had proclaimed his +intention to kill every coast-man who dared attempt to enter +Usui. My heart was ready to sink as I turned into bed, and I was +driven to think of abandoning everybody who was not strong enough +to go on with me carrying a load. + +3d to 13th.--Baraka, hearing I had arrived, then came back to me, +and confirmed Musa's words. The Arabs, too, came flocking in to +beg, nay implore, me to help them out of their difficulties. Many +of them were absolutely ruined, they said; others had their +houses full of stores unemployed. At Ugogo those who wished to +join them were unable to do so, for their porters, what few were +left, were all dying of starvation; and at that moment Manua Sera +was hovering about, shooting, both night and day, all the poor +villagers in the district, or driving them away. Would to God, +they said, I would mediate for them with Manua Sera--they were +sure I would be successful--and then they would give me as many +armed men as I liked. Their folly in all their actions, I said, +proved to me that anything I might attempt to do would be futile, +for their alliance with the Watuta, when they were not prepared +to act, at once damned them in my eyes as fools. This they in +their terror acknowledged, but said it was not past remedy, if I +would join them, to counteract what had been done in that matter. +Suffice it now to say, after a long conversation, arguing all the +pros and cons over, I settled I would write out all the articles +of a treaty of peace, by which they should be liable to have all +their property forfeited on the coast if they afterwards broke +faith; and I begged them to call the next day and sign it. + +They were no sooner gone, however, than Musa assured me they had +killed old Maula of Rubuga in the most treacherous manner, as +follows:--Khamis, who is an Arab of most gentlemanly aspect, on +returning from Ugogo attended by slaves, having heard that Maula +was desirous of adjusting a peace, invited him with his son to do +so. When old Maula came as desired, bringing his son with him, +and a suitable offering of ivory and cattle, the Arab induced +them both to kneel down and exchange blood with him, when, by a +previously concerted arrangement, Khamis had them shot down by +his slaves. This disgusting story made me quite sorry, when next +day the Arabs arrived, expecting that I should attempt to help +them; but as the matter had gone so far, I asked them, in the +first place, how they could hope Manua Sera would have any faith +in them when they were so treacherous, or trust to my help, since +they had killed Maula, who was my protege? They all replied in a +breath, "Oh, let the past be forgotten, and assist us now! for in +you alone we can look for a preserver." + +At length an armistice was agreed to; but as no one dared go to +negotiated it but my men, I allowed them to take pay from the +Arabs, which was settled on the 4th by ten men taking four yards +of cloth each, with a promise of a feast on sweetmeats when they +returned. Ex Mrs Musa, who had been put aside by her husband +because she was too fat for her lord's taste, then gave me three +men of her private establishment, and abused Musa for being +wanting in "brains." She had repeatedly advised him to leave this +place and go with me, lest the Arabs, who were all in debt to +him, should put him to death; but he still hung on to recover his +remaining debts, a portion having been realised by the sale of +Snay's and Jafu's effects; for everything in the shape of +commodities had been sold at the enormous price of 500 per cent-- +the male slaves even fetching 100 dollars per head, though the +females went for less. The Hottentots now arrived, with many more +of my men, who, seeing their old "flames," Snay's women, sold off +by auction, begged me to advance them money to purchase them +with, for they could not bear to see these women, who were their +own when they formerly stayed here, go off like cattle no one +knew where. Compliance, of course, was impossible, as it would +have crowded the caravan with women. Indeed, to prevent my men +every thinking of matrimony on the march, as well as to incite +them on through the journey, I promised, as soon as we reached +Egypt, to give them all wives and gardens at Zanzibar, provided +they did not contract marriages on the road. + +On the 6th, the deputation, headed by Baraka, returned +triumphantly into Kaze, leading in two of Manua Sera's ministers- +-one of them a man with one eye, whom I called Cyclops--and tow +others, ministers of a chief called Kitambi, or Little Blue +Cloth. After going a day's journey, they said they came to where +Manua Sera was residing with Kitambi, and met with a most +cheerful and kind reception from both potentates, who, on hearing +of my proposition, warmly acceded to it, issued orders at once +that hostilities should cease, and, with one voice, said they +were convinced that, unless through my instrumentality, Manua +Sera would never regain his possessions. Kitambi was quite beside +himself, and wished my men to stop one night to enjoy his +hospitality. Manua Sera, after reflecting seriously about the +treacherous murder of old Maula, hesitated, but gave way when it +had been explained away by my men, and said, "No; they shall go +at once, for my kingdom depends on the issue, and Bana Mzungu +(the White Lord) may get anxious if they do not return promptly." +One thing, however, he insisted on, and that was, the only place +he would meet the Arabs in was Unyanyembe, as it would be beneath +his dignity to settle matters anywhere else. And further, he +specified that he wished all the transactions to take place in +Musa's house. + +Next day, 7th, I assembled all the Arabs at Musa's "court," with +all my men and the two chiefs, four men attending, when Baraka, +"on his legs," told them all I proposed for the treaty of peace. +The Arabs gave their assent to it; and Cyclops, for Manua Sera, +after giving a full narrative of the whole history of the war, in +such a rapid and eloquent manner as would have done justice to +our Prime Minister, said his chief was only embittered against +Snay, and now Snay was killed, he wished to make friends with +them. To which the Arabs made a suitable answer, adding, that +all they found fault with was an insolent remark which, in his +wrath, Manua Sera had given utterance to, that their quarrel with +him was owing chiefly to a scurvy jest which he had passed on +them, and on the characteristic personal ceremony of initiation +to their Mussulman faith. Now, however, as Manua Sera wished to +make friends, they would abide by anything that I might propose. +Here the knotty question arose again, what territory they, the +Arabs, would give to Manua Sera? I thought he would not be +content unless he got the old place again; but as Cyclops said +no, that was not in his opinion absolutely necessary, as the +lands of Unyanyembe had once before been divided, the matter was +settled on the condition that another conference should be held +with Manua Sera himself on the subject. + +I now (8th and 9th) sent these men all off again, inviting Manua +Sera to come over and settle matters at once, if he would, +otherwise I should go on with my journey, for I could not afford +to wait longer here. Then, as soon as they left, I made Musa +order some of his men off to Rungua, requesting the chief of the +place to send porters to Mininga to remove all our baggage over +to his palace; at the same time I begged him not to fear the +Watuta's threat to attack him, as Musa would come as soon as the +treaty was concluded, in company with me, to build a boma +alongside his palace, as he did in former years, to be nearer his +trade with Karague. I should have mentioned, by the way, that +Musa had now made up his mind not to go further than the borders +of Usui with me, lest I should be "torn to pieces," and he would +be "held responsible on the coast." Musa's men, however, whom he +selected for this business, were then engaged making Mussulmans +of all the Arab slave boys, and said they would not go until they +had finished, although I offered to pay the "doctor's bill," or +allowance they expected to get. The ceremony, at the same time +that it helps to extend their religion, as christening does ours, +also stamps the converts with a mark effective enough to prevent +desertion; because, after it has been performed, their own tribe +would not receive them again. At last, when they did go, Musa, +who was suffering from a sharp illness, to prove to me that he +was bent on leaving Kaze the same time as myself, began eating +what he called his training pills--small dried buds of roses with +alternate bits of sugar-candy. Ten of these buds, he said, eaten +dry, were sufficient for ordinary cases, and he gave a very +formidable description of the effect likely to follow the use of +the same number boiled in rice-water or milk. + +Fearful stories of losses and distress came constantly in from +Ugogo by small bodies of men, who stole their way through the +jungles. To-day a tremendous commotion took place in Musa's tembe +amongst all the women, as one had been delivered of still-born +twins. They went about in procession, painted and adorned in the +most grotesque fashion, bewailing and screeching, singing and +dancing, throwing their arms and legs about as if they were +drunk, until the evening set in, when they gathered a huge bundle +of bulrushes, and, covering it with a cloth, carried it up to the +door of the bereaved on their shoulders, as though it had been a +coffin. Then setting it down on the ground, they planted some of +the rushes on either side of the entrance, and all kneeling +together, set to bewailing, shrieking, and howling incessantly +for hours together. + +After this (10th to 12th), to my great relief, quite +unexpectedly, a man arrived from Usui conveying a present of some +ivories from a great mganga or magician, named Dr K'yengo, who +had sent them to Musa as a recollection from an old friend, +begging at the same time for some pretty cloths, as he said he +was then engaged as mtongi or caravan director, collecting +together all the native caravans desirous of making a grand march +to Uganda. This seemed to me a heaven-born opportunity of making +friends with one who could help me so materially, and I begged +Musa to seal it by sending him something on my account, as I had +nothing by me; but Musa objected, thinking it better simply to +say I was coming, and if he, K'yengo, would assist me in Usui, I +would then give him some cloths as he wanted; otherwise, Musa +said, the man who had to convey it would in all probability make +away with it, and then do his best to prevent my seeing K'yengo. +As soon as this was settled, against my wish and opinion, a +special messenger arrived from Suwarora, to inquire of Musa what +truth there was in the story of the Arabs having allied +themselves to the Watuta. He had full faith in Musa, and hoped, +if the Arabs had no hostile intentions towards him, he, Musa, +would send him two of theirs; further, Suwarora wished Musa would +send him a cat. A black cat was then given to the messenger for +Suwarora, and Musa sent an account of all that I had done towards +effecting a peace, saying that the Arabs had accepted my views, +and if he would have patience until I arrived in Usui, the four +men required would be sent with me. + +In the evening my men returned again with Cyclops, who said, for +his master, that Manua Sera desired nothing more than peace, and +to make friends with the Arabs; but as nothing was settled about +deposing Mkisiwa, he could not come over here. Could the Arabs, +was Manua Sera's rejoinder, suppose for a moment that he would +voluntarily divide his dominion with one whom he regarded as his +slave! Death would be preferable; and although he would trust +his life in the Mzungu's hands if he called him again, he must +know it was his intention to hunt Mkisiwa down like a wild +animal, and would never rest satisfied until he was dead. The +treaty thus broke down; for the same night Cyclops decamped like +a thief, after brandishing an arrow which Manua Sera had given +him to throw down as a gauntlet of defiance to fight Mkisiwa to +death. After this the Arabs were too much ashamed of themselves +to come near me, though invited by letter, and Musa became so ill +he would not take my advice and ride in a hammock, the best +possible cure for his complaint; so, after being humbugged so +many times by his procrastinations, I gave Sheikh Said more +letters and specimens, with orders to take the Tots down to the +coast as soon as practicable, and started once more for the +north, expecting very shortly to hear of Musa's death, though he +promised to follow me the very next day or die in the attempt, +and he also said he would bring on the four men required by +Suwarora; for I was fully satisfied in my mind that he would have +marched with me then had he had the resolution to do so at all. + +Before I had left the district I heard that Manua Sera had +collected a mixed force of Warori, Wagogo, and Wasakuma, and had +gone off to Kigue again, whilst the Arabs and Mkisiwa were +feeding their men on beef before setting out to fight him. Manua +Sera, it was said, had vast resources. His father, Fundi Kira, +was a very rich man, and had buried vast stores of property, +which no one knew of but Manua Sera, his heir. The Wanyamuezi +all inwardly loved him for his great generosity, and all alike +thought him protected by a halo of charm-power so effective +against the arms of the Arabs that he could play with them just +as he liked. + +On crossing Unyambewa (14th), when I a third time put up with my +old friend the sultana, her chief sent word to say he hoped I +would visit him at his fighting boma to eat a cow which he had in +store for me, as he could not go home and enjoy the society of +his wife whilst the war was going on; since, by so doing, it was +considered he "would lose strength." + +On arriving at Mininga, I was rejoiced to see Grant greatly +recovered. Three villagers had been attacked by two lions during +my absence. Two of the people escaped, but the third was seized +as he was plunging into his hut, and was dragged off and devoured +by the animals. A theft also had taken place, by which both +Grant and Sirboko lost property; and the thieves had been traced +over the borders of the next district. No fear, however, was +entertained about the things being recovered, for Sirboko had +warned Ugali the chief, and he had promised to send his Waganga, +or magicians, out to track them down, unless the neighbouring +chief chose to give them up. After waiting two days, as no men +came from Rungua, I begged Grant to push ahead on to Ukani, just +opposite Rungua, with all my coast-men, whilst I remained behind +for the arrival of Musa's men and porters to carry on the rest of +the kit--for I had now twenty-two in addition to men permanently +enlisted, who took service on the same rate of pay as my original +coast-men; though, as usual, when the order for marching was +issued, a great number were found to be either sick or +malingering. + +Two days afterwards, Musa's men came in with porters, who would +not hire themselves for more than two marches, having been +forbidden to do so by their chief on account of the supposed +Watuta invasion; and for these two marches they required a +quarter of the whole customary hire to Karague. Musa's traps, +too, I found, were not to be moved, so I saw at once Musa had not +kept faith with me, and there would be a fresh set of +difficulties; but as every step onwards was of the greatest +importance--for my men were consuming my stores at a fearful +pace--I paid down the beads they demanded, and next day joined +Grant at Mbisu, a village of Ukuni held by a small chief called +Mchimeka, who had just concluded a war of two years' standing +with the great chief Ukulima (the Digger), of Nunda (the Hump). +During the whole of the two years' warfare the loss was only +three men on each side. Meanwhile Musa's men bolted like thieves +one night, on a report coming that the chief of Unyambewa, after +concluding the war, whilst amusing himself with his wife, had +been wounded on the foot by an arrow that fell from her hand. The +injury had at once taken a mortal turn, and the chief sent for +his magicians, who said it was not the fault of the wife-- +somebody else must have charmed the arrow to cause such a deadly +result. They then seized hold of the magic horn, primed for the +purpose, and allowed it to drag them to where the culprits dwelt. +Four poor men, who were convicted in this way, were at once put +to death, and the chief from that moment began to recover. + +After a great many perplexities, I succeeded in getting a +kirangozi, or leader, by name Ungurue (the Pig). He had several +times taken caravans to Karague, and knew all the languages well, +but unfortunately he afterwards proved to be what his name +implied. That, however, I could not foresee, so, trusting to him +and good-luck, I commenced making fresh enlistments of porters; +but they came and went in the most tantalising manner, +notwithstanding I offered three times the hire that any merchant +could afford to give. Every day seemed to be worse and worse. +Some of Musa's men came to get palm-toddy for him, as he was too +weak to stand, and was so cold nothing would warm him. There +was, however, no message brought for myself; and as the +deputation did not come to me, I could only infer that I was +quite forgotten, of that Musa, after all, had only been +humbugging me. I scarcely knew what to do. Everybody advised me +to stop where I was until the harvest was over, as no porters +could be found on ahead, for Ukuni was the last of the fertile +lands on this side of Usui. + +Stopping, however, seemed endless; not so my supplies, I +therefore tried advancing in detachments again, sending the free +men off under Grant to Ukulima's, whilst I waited behind keeping +ourselves divided in the hopes of inducing all hands to see the +advisability of exerting themselves for the general good--as my +men, whilst we were all together, showed they did not care how +long they were kept doing no more fatiguing work than chaffing +each other, and feeding at my expense. + +In the meanwhile the villagers were very merry, brewing and +drinking their pombe (beer) by turns, one house after the other +providing the treat. On these occasions the chief--who always +drank freely, and more than any other--heading the public +gatherings of men and women, saw the large earthen pots placed +all in a row, and the company taking long draughts from bowls +made of plaited straw, laughing as they drank, until, half- +screwed, they would begin bawling and shouting. To increase the +merriment, one or two jackanapes, with zebras' manes tied over +their heads, would advance with long tubes like monster bassoons, +blowing with all their might, contorting their faces and bodies, +and going through the most obscene and ridiculous motions to +captivate their simple admirers. This, however, was only the +feast; the ball then began, for the pots were no sooner emptied +than five drums at once, of different sizes and tones, suspended +in a line from a long horizontal bar, were beaten with fury, and +all the men, women, and children, singing and clapping their +hands in time, danced for hours together. + +A report reached me, by some of Sirboko's men, whom he had sent +to convey to us a small present of rice, that an Arab, who was +crossing Msalala to our northward, had been treacherously robbed +of all his arms and guns by a small district chief, whose only +excuse was that the Wanyamuezi had always traded very well by +themselves until the Arabs came into the country; but now, as +they were robbed of their property, on account of the +disturbances caused by these Arabs, they intended for the future +to take all they could get, and challenged the Arabs to do the +same. + +My patience was beginning to suffer again, for I could not help +thinking that the chiefs of the place were preventing their +village men going with me in order that my presence here might +ward of the Watuta; so I called up the kirangozi, who had +thirteen "Watoto," as they are called, or children of his own, +wishing to go, and asked him if he knew why no other men could be +got. As he could not tell me, saying some excused themselves on +the plea they were cutting their corn, and others that they +feared the Watuta, I resolved at once to move over to Nunda; and +if that place also failed to furnish men, I would go on to Usui +or Karague with what men I had, and send back for the rest of my +property; for though I could bear the idea of separating from +Grant, still the interests of old England were at stake, and +demanded it. + +This resolve being strengthened by the kirangozi's assurance that +the row in Msalala had shaken the few men who had half dreaded to +go with me, I marched over to Hunda, and put up with Grant in +Ukulima's boma, when Grant informed me that the chief had +required four yards of cloth from him for having walked round a +dead lioness, as he had thus destroyed a charm that protected his +people against any more of these animals coming, although, +fortunately, the charm could be restored again by paying four +yards of cloth. Ukulima, however, was a very kind and good man, +though he did stick the hands and heads of his victims on the +poles of his boma as a warning to others. He kept five wives, of +whom the rest paid such respect to the elder one, it was quite +pleasing to see them. A man of considerable age, he did +everything the state or his great establishment required himself. +All the men of his district clapped their hands together as a +courteous salutation to him, and the women curtsied as well as +they do at our court--a proof that they respected him as a great +potentate--a homage rarely bestowed on the chiefs of other small +states. Ukulima was also hospitable; for on one occasion, when +another chief came to visit him, he received his guest and +retainers with considerable ceremony, making all the men of the +village get up a dance; which they did, beating the drums and +firing off guns, like a lot of black devils let loose. + +We were not the only travellers in misfortune here, for Masudi, +with several other Arabs, all formed in one large caravan, had +arrived at Mchimeka's, and could not advance for want of men. +They told me it was the first time they had come on this line, +and they deeply regretted it, for they had lost 5000 dollar's +worth of beads by their porters running away with their loads, +and now they did not know how to proceed. Indeed, they left the +coast and arrived at Kaze immediately in rear of us, and had, +like ourselves, found it as much as they could do even to reach +this, and now they were at a standstill for want of porters. + +As all hopes of being able to get any more men were given up, I +called on Bombay and Baraka to make arrangements for my going +ahead with the best of my property as I had devised. They both +shook their heads, and advised me to remain until the times +improved, when the Arabs, being freed from the pressure of war, +would come along and form with us a "sufari ku" or grand march, +as Ukulima and every one else had said we should be torn to +pieces in Usui if we tried to cross that district with so few +men. I then told them again and again of the messages I had sent +on to Rumanika in Karague, and to Suwarora in Usui, and begged +them to listen to me, instancing as an example of what could be +done by perseverance the success of Columbus, who, opposed by his +sailors' misgivings, still when on and triumphed, creating for +himself immortal renown. + +They gave way at last; so, after selecting all the best of my +property, I formed camp at Phunze, left Bombay with Grant behind, +as I thought Bombay the best and most honest man I had got, from +his having had so much experience, and then went ahead by myself, +with the Pig as my guide and interpreter, and Baraka as my +factotum. The Waguana then all mutinied for a cloth apiece, +saying they would not lift a load unless I gave it. Of course a +severe contest followed; I said, as I had given them so much +before, they could not want it, and ought to be ashamed of +themselves. They urged, however, they were doing double work, +and would not consent to carry loads as they had done at Mgunda +Mkhali again. + +Arguments were useless, for, simply because they were tired of +going on, they WOULD not see that as they were receiving pay +every day, they therefore ought to work every day. However, as +they yielded at last, by some few leaning to my side, I gave what +they asked for, and went to the next village, still inefficient +in men, as all the Pig's Watoto could not be collected together. +This second move brought us into a small village, of which Ghiya, +a young man, was chief. + +He was very civil to me, and offered to sell me a most charming +young woman, quite the belle of the country; but as he could not +bring me to terms, he looked over my picture-books with the +greatest delight, and afterwards went into a discourse on +geography with considerable perspicacity; seeming fully to +comprehend that if I got down the Nile it would afterwards result +in making the shores of the N'yanza like that of the coast at +Zanzibar, where the products of his country could be exchanged, +without much difficulty, for cloths, beads, and brass wire. I +gave him a present; then a letter was brought to me from Sheikh +Said, announcing Musa's death, and the fact that Manua Sera was +still holding out at Kigue; in answer to which I desired the +sheikh to send me as many of Musa's slaves as would take service +with me, for they ought now, by the laws of the Koran, to be all +free. + +On packing up to leave Ghiya's, all the men of the village shut +the bars of the entrance, wishing to extract some cloths from me, +as I had not given enough, they said, to their chief. They soon, +however, saw that we, being inside their own fort, had the best +of it, and they gave way. We then pushed on to Ungurue's, +another chief of the same district. Here the men and women of +the place came crowding to see me, the fair sex all playfully +offering themselves for wives, and wishing to know which I +admired most. They were so importunate, after a time, that I was +not sorry to hear an attack was made on their cattle because a +man of the village would not pay his dowry-money to his father- +in-law, and this set everybody flying out to the scene of action. + +After this, as Bombay brought up the last of my skulking men, I +bade him good-bye again, and made an afternoon-march on to +Takina, in the district of Msalala, which we no sooner approached +than all the inhabitants turned out and fired their arrows at us. +They did no harm, however, excepting to create a slight alarm, +which some neighbouring villagers took advantage of to run of +with two of my cows. To be returned to them, but called in vain, +as the scoundrels said, "Findings are keepings, by the laws of +our country; and as we found your cows, so we will keep them." +For my part I was glad they were gone, as the Wanguana never yet +kept anything I put under their charge; so, instead of allowing +them to make a fuss the next morning, I marched straight on for +M'ynoga's, the chief of the district, who was famed for his +infamy and great extortions, having pushed his exactions so far +as to close the road. + +On nearing his palace, we heard war-drums beat in every +surrounding village, and the kirangozi would go no farther until +permission was obtained from M'yonga. This did not take long, as +the chief said he was most desirous to see a white man, never +having been to the coast, though his father-in-law had, and had +told him that the Wazungu were even greater people than the +sultan reigning there. On our drawing near the palace, a small, +newly-constructed boma was shown for my residence; but as I did +not wish to stop there, knowing how anxious Grant would be to +have his relief, I would not enter it, but instead sent Baraka to +pay the hongo as quickly as possible, that we might move on +again; at the same time ordering him to describe the position +both Grant and myself were in, and explain that what I paid now +was to frank both of us, as the whole of the property was my own. +Should he make any remarks about the two cows that were stolen, I +said he must know that I could not wait for them, as my brother +would die of suspense if we did not finish the journey and send +back for him quickly. Off went Baraka with a party of men, +stopping hours, of course, and firing volleys of ammunition away. +He did not return again until the evening, when the palace-drums +announced that the hongo had been settled for one barsati, one +lugoi, and six yards merikani. Baraka approached me +triumphantly, saying how well he had managed the business. +M'yonga did not wish to see me, because he did not know the coast +language. He was immensely pleased with the present I had given +him, and said he was much and very unjustly abused by the Arabs, +who never came this way, saying he was a bad man. He should be +very glad to see Grant, and would take nothing from him; and, +though he did not see me in person, he would feel much affronted +if I did not stop the night there. In the meanwhile he would +have the cows brought in, for he could not allow any one to leave +his country abused in any way. + +My men had greatly amused him by firing their guns off and +showing him the use of their sword-bayonets. I knew, as a matter +of course, that if I stopped any longer I should be teased for +more cloths, and gave orders to my men to march the same instant, +saying, if they did not--for I saw them hesitate--I would give +the cows to the villagers, since I knew that was the thing that +weighed on their minds. This raised a mutiny. No one would go +forward with the two cows behind; besides which, the day was far +spent, and there was nothing but jungle, they said, beyond. The +kirangozi would not show the way, nor would any man lift a load. +A great confusion ensued. I knew they were telling lies, and +would not enter the village, but shot the cows when they arrived, +for the villagers to eat, to show them I cared for nothing but +making headway, and remained out in the open all night. Next +morning, sure enough, before we could get under way, M'yonga sent +his prime minister to say that the king's sisters and other +members of his family had been crying and tormenting him all +night for having let me off so cheaply--they had got nothing to +cover their nakedness, and I must pay something more. This +provoked fresh squabbles. The drums had beaten and the tax was +settled; I could not pay more. The kirangozi, however, said he +would not move a peg unless I gave something more, else he would +be seized on his way back. His "children' all said the same; and +as I thought Grant would only be worsted if I did not keep +friends with the scoundrel, I gave four yards more merikani, and +then went on my way. + +For the first few miles there were villagers, but after that a +long tract of jungle, inhabited chiefly by antelopes and +rhinoceros. It was wilder in appearance than most parts of +Unyamuezi. In this +jungle a tributary nullah to the Gombe, called Nurhungure, is the +boundary-line between the great Country of the Moon and the +kingdom of Uzinza. + + + + + Chapter VI + + + + Uzinza + +The Politics of Uzinza--The Wahuma--"The Pig's" Trick--First +Taste of Usui Taxation--Pillaged by Mfumbi--Pillaged by Makaka-- +Pillaged by Lumeresi--Grant Stripped by M'Yonga--Stripped Again +by Ruhe-- Terrors and Defections in the Camp--Driven back to Kaze +with new Tribulations and Impediments. + +Uzinza, which we now entered, is ruled by two Wahuma chieftains +of foreign blood, descended from the Abyssinian stock, of whom we +saw specimens scattered all over Unyamuezi, and who extended even +down south as far as Fipa. Travellers see very little, however, +of these Wahuma, because, being pastorals, they roam about with +their flocks and build huts as far away as they can from +cultivation. Most of the small district chiefs, too, are the +descendants of those who ruled in the same places before the +country was invaded, and with them travellers put up and have +their dealings. The dress of the Wahuma is very simple, composed +chiefly of cow-hide tanned black-- a few magic ornaments and +charms, brass or copper bracelets, and immense number of sambo +for stockings, which looked very awkward on their long legs. +They smear themselves with rancid butter instead of macassar, and +are, in consequence, very offensive to all but the negro, who +seems, rather than otherwise, to enjoy a good sharp nose tickler. +For arms they carry both bow and spear; more generally the +latter. The Wazinza in the southern parts are so much like the +Wanyamuezi, as not to require any especial notice; but in the +north, where the country is more hilly, they are much more +energetic and actively built. All alike live in grass-hut +villages, fenced round by bomas in the south, but open in the +north. Their country rises in high rolls, increasing in altitude +as it approaches the Mountains of the Moon, and is generally well +cultivated, being subjected to more of the periodical rains than +the regions we have left, though springs are not so abundant, I +believe, as they are in the Land of the Moon, where they ooze out +by the flanks of the little granitic hills. + +After tracking through several miles of low bush-jungle, we came +to the sites of some old bomas that had been destroyed by the +Watuta not long since. Farther on, as we wished to enter a +newly- constructed boma, the chief of which was Mafumbu Wantu (a +Mr Balls), we felt the effects of those ruthless marauders; for +the villagers, thinking us Watuta in disguise, would not let us +in; for those savages, they said, had once tricked them by +entering their village, pretending to be traders carrying ivory +and merchandise, whilst they were actually spies. This was +fortunate for me, however, as Mr Balls, like M'yonga, was noted +for his extortions on travellers. We then went on and put up in +the first village of Bogue, where I wished to get porters and +return for Grant, as the place seemed to be populous. Finding, +however, that I could not get a sufficient number for that +purpose, I directed those who wished for employment to go off at +once and take service with Grant. + +I found many people assembled here from all parts of the +district, for the purpose of fighting M'yonga; but the chief +Ruhe, having heard of my arrival, called me to his palace, which, +he said, was on my way, that he might see me, for he never in all +his life had a white man for his guest, and was so glad to hear +of my arrival that he would give orders for the dispersing of his +forces. I wished to push past him, as I might be subjected to +such calls every day; but Ungurue, in the most piggish manner-- +for he was related to Ruhe --insisted that neither himself nor +any of his children would advance one step farther with me unless +I complied with their wish, which was a simple conformity with +the laws of their country, and therefore absolute. At length +giving in, I entered Ruhe's boma, the poles of which were decked +with the skulls of his enemies stuck upon them. Instead, +however, of seeing him myself, as he feared my evil eye, I +conducted the arrangements for the hongo through Baraka, in the +same way as I did at M'yonga's, directing that it should be +limited to the small sum of one barsati and four yards kiniki. + +The drum was beaten, as the public intimation of the payment of +the hongo, and consequently of our release, and we went on to +Mihambo, on the west border of the eastern division of Uzinza, +which is called Ukhanga. It overlooks the small district of +Sorombo, belonging to the great western division, known as Usui, +and is presided over by a Sorombo chief, named Makaka, whose +extortions had been so notorious that no Arabs now ever went near +him. I did not wish to do so either, though his palace lay in +the direct route. It was therefore agreed we should skirt round +by the east of this district, and I even promised the Pig I would +give him ten necklaces a-day in addition to his wages, if he +would avoid all the chiefs, and march steadily ten miles every +day. By doing so, we should have avoided the wandering Watuta, +whose depredations had laid waste nearly all of this country; but +the designing blackguard, in opposition to my wishes, to +accomplish some object of his own, chose to mislead us all, and +quietly took us straight into Sorombo to Kague, the boma of a +sub-chief, called Mfumbi, where we no sooner arrived than the +inhospitable brute forbade any one of his subjects to sell us +food until the hongo was paid, for he was not sure that we were +not allied with the Watuta to rob his country. After receiving +what he called his dues--one barsati, two yards merikani, and two +yards kiniki--the drums beat, and all was settled with him; but I +was told the head chief Makaka, who lived ten miles to the west, +and so much out of my road, had sent expressly to invite me to +see him. He said it was his right I should go to him as the +principal chief of the district. Moreover he longed for a sight +of a white man; for though he had travelled all across Uganda and +Usoga into Masawa, or the Masai country, as well as to the coast, +where he had seen both Arabs and Indians, he had never yet seen +an Englishman. If I would oblige him, he said he would give me +guides to Suwarora, who was his mkama or king. Of course I knew +well what all this meant; and at the same time that I said I +could not comply, I promised to send him a present of friendship +by the hands of Baraka. + +This caused a halt. Makaka would not hear of such an +arrangement. A present, he said, was due to him of course, but of +more importance than the present was his wish to see me. Baraka +and all the men begged I would give in, as they were sure he must +be a good man to send such a kind message. I strove in vain, for +no one would lift a load unless I complied; so, perforce, I went +there, in company, however, with Mfumbi, who now pretended to be +great friends; but what was the result? On entering the palace +we were shown into a cowyard without a tree in it, or any shade; +and no one was allowed to sell us food until a present of +friendship was paid, after which the hongo would be discussed. + +The price of friendship was not settled that day, however, and my +men had to go supperless to bed. Baraka offered him one common +cloth, and then another--all of which he rejected with such +impetuosity that Baraka said his head was all on a whirl. Makaka +insisted he would have a deole, or nothing at all. I protested I +had no deoles I could give him; for all the expensive cloths +which I had brought from the coast had been stolen in Mgunda +Mkhali. I had three, however, concealed at the time--which I had +bought from Musa, at forty dollars each--intended for the kings +of Karague and Uganda. + +Incessant badgering went on for hours and hours, until at last +Baraka, clean done with the incessant worry of this hot-headed +young chief, told him, most unfortunately, he would see again if +he could find a deole, as he had one of his own. Baraka then +brought one to my tent, and told me of his having bought it for +eight dollars at the coast; and as I now saw I was let in for it, +I told him to give it. It was given, but Makaka no sooner saw it +than he said he must have another one; for it was all nonsense +saying a white man had no rich cloths. Whenever he met Arabs, +they all said they were poor men, who obtained all their +merchandise from the white men on credit, which they refunded +afterwards, by levying a heavy percentage on the sale of their +ivory. + +I would not give way that night; but next day, after fearful +battling, the present of friendship was paid by Baraka's giving +first a dubuani, then one sahari, then one barsati, then one +kisutu, and then eight yards of merikani--all of which were +contested in the most sickening manner--when Baraka, fairly done +up, was relieved by Makaka's saying, "That will do for +friendship; if you had given the deole quietly, all this trouble +would have been saved; for I am not a bad man, as you will see." +My men then had their first dinner here, after which the hongo +had to be paid. This for the time was, however, more easily +settled; because Makaki at once said he would never be satisfied +until he had received, if I had really not got a deole, exactly +double in equivalents of all I had given him. This was a fearful +drain on my store; but the Pig, seeing my concern, merely laughed +at it, and said, "Oh, these savage chiefs are all alike here; you +will have one of these taxes to pay every stage to Uyofu, and +then the heavy work will begin; for all these men, although they +assume the dignity of chief to themselves, are mere officers, who +have to pay tribute to Suwarora, and he would be angry if they +were shortcoming." + +The drums as yet had not beaten, for Makaka said he would not be +satisfied until we had exchanged presents, to prove that we were +the best of friends. To do this last act properly, I was to get +ready whatever I wished to give him, whilst he would come and +visit me with a bullock; but I was to give him a royal salute, or +the drums would not beat. I never felt so degraded as when I +complied, and gave orders to my men to fire a volley as he +approached my tent; but I ate the dirt with a good grace, and met +the young chief as if nothing had happened. My men, however, +could not fire the salute fast enough for him; for he was one of +those excitable impulsive creatures who expect others to do +everything in as great a hurry as their minds wander. The moment +the first volley was fired, he said, "Now, fire again, fire +again; be quick, be quick! What's the use of those things?" +(meaning the guns). "We could spear you all whilst you are +loading: be quick, be quick, I tell you." But Baraka, to give +himself law, said: "No; I must ask Bana" (master) "first, as we +do everything by order; this is not fighting at all." + +The men being ready, file-firing was ordered, and then the young +chief came into my tent. I motioned him to take my chair, which, +after he sat down upon it, I was very sorry for, as he stained +the seat all black with the running colour of one of the new +barsati cloths he had got from me, which, to improve its +appearance, he had saturated with stinking butter, and had tied +round his loins. A fine-looking man of about thirty, he wore the +butt-end of a large sea-shell cut in a circle, and tied on his +forehead, for a coronet, and sundry small saltiana antelope +horns, stuffed with magic powder, to keep off the evil eye. His +attendants all fawned on him, and snapped their fingers whenever +he sneezed. After passing the first compliment, I gave him a +barsati, as my token of friendship, and asked him what he saw +when he went to the Masai country. He assured me "that there were +two lakes, and not one"; for, on going from Usoga to the Masai +country, he crossed over a broad strait, which connected the big +N'yanza with another one at its north-east corner. Fearfully +impetuous, as soon as this answer was given, he said, "Now I have +replied to your questions, do you show me all the things you have +got, for I want to see everything, and be very good friends. I +did not see you the first day, because you being a stranger, it +was necessary I should first look into the magic horn to see if +all was right and safe; and now I can assure you that, whilst I +saw I was safe, I also saw that your road would be prosperous. I +am indeed delighted to see you, for neither my father, nor any of +my forefathers, ever were honoured with the company of a white +man in all their lives." + +My guns, clothes, and everything were then inspected, and begged +for in the most importunate manner. He asked for the picture- +books, examined the birds with intense delight--even trying to +insert under their feathers his long royal fingernails, which are +grown like a Chinaman's by these chiefs, to show they have a +privilege to live on meat. Then turning to the animals, he +roared over each one in turn as he examined them, and called out +their names. My bull's-eye lantern he coveted so much, I had to +pretend exceeding anger to stop his further importunities. He +then began again begging for lucifers, which charmed him so +intensely I thought I should never get rid of him. He would have +one box of them. I swore I could not part with them. He +continued to beg, and I to resist. I offered a knife instead, +but this he would not have, because the lucifers would be so +valuable for his magical observances. On went the storm, till at +last I drove him off with a pair of my slippers, which he had +stuck his dirty feet into without my leave. I then refused to +take his bullock, because he had annoyed me. On his part he was +resolved not to beat the drum; but he graciously said he would +think about it if I paid another lot of cloth equal to the second +deole I ought to have given him. + +I began seriously to consider whether I should have this chief +shot, as a reward for his oppressive treachery, and a warning to +others; but the Pig said it was just what the Arabs were +subjected to in Ubena, and they found it best to pay down at +once, and do all they were ordered. If I acted rightly, I would +take the bullock, and then give the cloth; whilst Baraka said, +"We will shoot him if you give the order, only remember Grant is +behind, and if you commence a row you will have to fight the +whole way, for every chief in the country will oppose you." + +I then told the Pig and Baraka to settle at once. They no sooner +did so than the drums beat, and Makaka, in the best humour +possible, came over to say I had permission to go when I liked, +but he hoped I would give him a gun and a box of lucifers. This +was too provoking. The perpetual worry had given Baraka a fever, +and had made me feel quite sick; so I said, if he ever mentioned +a gun or lucifers again, I would fight the matter out with him, +for I had not come there to be bullied. He then gave way, and +begged I would allow my men to fire a volley outside his boma, as +the Watuta were living behind a small line of granitic hills +flanking the west of his district, and he wished to show them +what a powerful force he had got with him. This was permitted; +but his wisdom in showing off was turned into ridicule; for the +same evening the Watuta made and attack on his villages and +killed three of his subjects, but were deterred from committing +further damage by coming in contact with my men, who, as soon as +they saw the Watuta fighting, fired their muskets off in the air +and drove them away, they themselves at the same time bolting +into my camp, and as usual vaunting their prowess. + +I then ordered a march for the next morning, and went out in the +fields to take my regular observations for latitude. Whilst +engaged in this operation, Baraka, accompanied by Wadimoyo +(Heart's-stream), another of my freeman, approached me in great +consternation, whispering to themselves. They said they had some +fearful news to communicate, which, when I heard it, they knew +would deter our progress: it was of such great moment and +magnitude, they thought they could not deliver it then. I said, +"What nonsense! out with it at once. Are we such chickens that +we cannot speak about matters like men? out with it at once." + +Then Baraka said, "I have just heard from Makaka, that a man who +arrived from Usui only a few minutes ago has said Suwarora is so +angry with the Arabs that he has detained one caravan of theirs +in his country, and, separating the whole of their men, has +placed each of them in different bomas, with orders to his +village officers that, in case the Watuta came into his country, +without further ceremony they were to be all put to death." I +said, "Oh, Baraka, how can you be such a fool? Do you not see +through this humbug? Makaka only wishes to keep us here to +frighten away the Watuta; for Godsake be a man, and don't be +alarmed at such phantoms as these. You always are nagging at me +that Bombay is the 'big' and you are the 'small' man. Bombay +would never be frightened in this silly way. Now, do you reflect +that I have selected you for this journey, as it would, if you +succeed with me in carrying out our object, stamp you for ever as +a man of great fame. Pray, don't give way, but do your best to +encourage the men, and let us march in the morning." On this, as +on other occasions of the same kind, I tried to impart +confidence, by explaining, in allusion to Petherick's expedition, +that I had arranged to meet white men coming up from the north. +Baraka at last said, "All right--I am not afraid; I will do as +you desire." But as the two were walking off, I heard Wadimoyo +say to Baraka, "Is he not afraid now? won't he go back?"--which, +if anything, alarmed me more than the first intelligence; for I +began to think that they, and not Makaka, had got up the story. + +All night Makaka's men patrolled the village, drumming and +shouting to keep off the Watuta, and the next morning, instead of +a march, after striking my tent I found that the whole of my +porters, the Pig's children, were not to be found. They had gone +off and hidden themselves, saying that they were not such fools +as to go any farther, as the Watuta were out, and would cut us up +on the road. This was sickening indeed. + +I knew the porters had not gone far, so I told the Pig to bring +them to me, that we might talk the matter over; but say what I +would, they all swore they would not advance a step farther. +Most of them were formerly men of Utambara. The Watuta had +invaded their country and totally destroyed it, killing all their +wives and children, and despoiling everything they held dear to +them. They did not wish to rob me, and would give up their hire, +but not one step more would they advance. Makaka then came +forward and said, "Just stop here with me until this ill wind +blows over"; but Baraka, more in a fright at Makaka than at any +one else, said, No--he would do anything rather than that; for +Makaka's bullying had made him quite ill. I then said to my men, +"If nothing else will suit you, the best plan I can think of is +to return to Mihambo in Bogue, and there form a depot, where, +having stored my property, I shall give the Pig a whole load, or +63 lb., of Mzizima beads if he will take Baraka in disguise on to +Suwarora, and ask him to send me eighty men, whilst I go back to +Unyanyembe to see what men I can get from the late Musa's +establishment, and then we might bring on Grant, and move in a +body together." At first Baraka said, "Do you wish to have us +killed? Do you think if we went to Suwarora's you would ever see +us back again? You would wait and wait for us, but we should +never return." To which I replied, "Oh, Baraka, do not think so! +Bombay, if he were here, would go in a minute. Suwarora by this +time knows I am coming, and you may depend on it he will be just +as anxious to have us in Usui as Makaka is to keep us here, and +he cannot hurt us, as Rumanika is over him, and also expects us." +Baraka then, in the most doleful manner, said he would go if the +Pig would. The Pig, however, did not like it either, but said +the matter was so important he would look into the magic horn all +night, and give his answer next morning as soon as we arrived at +Mihambo. + +On arrival at Mihambo next day, all the porters brought their pay +to me, and said they would not go, for nothing would induce them +to advance a step farther. I said nothing; but, with "my heart +in my shoes," I gave what I thought their due for coming so far, +and motioned them to be off; then calling on the Pig for his +decision, I tried to argue again, though I saw it was no use, for +there was not one of my own men who wished to go on. They were +unanimous in saying Usui was a "fire," and I had no right to +sacrifice them. The Pig then finally refused, saying three loads +even would not tempt him, for all were opposed to it. Of what +value, he observed, would the beads be to him if his life was +lost? This was crushing; the whole camp was unanimous in +opposing me. I then made Baraka place all my kit in the middle +of the boma, which was a very strong one, keeping out only such +beads as I wished him to use for the men's rations daily, and +ordered him to select a few men who would return with me to Kaze; +when I said, if I could not get all the men I wanted, I would try +and induce some one, who would not fear, to go on to Usui; +failing which, I would even walk back to Zanzibar for men, as +nothing in the world would ever induce me to give up the journey. + +This appeal did not move him; but, without a reply, he sullenly +commenced collecting some men to accompany me back to Kaze. At +first no one would go; they then mutinied for more beads, +announcing all sorts of grievances, which they said they were +always talking over to themselves, though I did not hear them. +The greatest, however, that they could get up was, that I always +paid the Wanyamuezi "temporaries" more than they got, though +"permanents." "They were the flesh, and I was the knife"; I cut +and did with them just as I liked, and they could not stand it +any longer. However, they had to stand it; and next day, when I +had brought them to reason, I gave over the charge of my tent and +property to Baraka, and commenced the return with a bad hitching +cough, caused by those cold easterly winds that blow over the +plateau during the six dry months of the years, and which are, I +suppose, the Harmattan peculiar to Africa. + +Next day I joined Grant once more, and found he had collected a +few Sorombo men, hoping to follow after me. I then told him all +my mishaps in Sorombo, as well as of the "blue-devil" frights +that had seized all my men. I felt greatly alarmed about the +prospects of the expedition, scarcely knowing what I should do. +I resolved at last, if everything else failed, to make up a raft +at the southern end of the N'yanza, and try to go up to the Nile +in that way. My cough daily grew worse. I could not lie or sleep +on either side. Still my mind was so excited and anxious that, +after remaining one day here to enjoy Grant's society, I pushed +ahead again, taking Bombay with me, and had breakfast at +Mchimeka's. + +There I found the Pig, who now said he wished he had taken my +offer of beads, for he had spoken with his chief, and saw that I +was right. Baraka and the Wanguana were humbugs, and had they +not opposed his going, he would have gone then; even now, he +said, he wished I would take him again with Bombay. Though half +inclined to accept his offer, which would have saved a long +trudge to Kaze, yet as he had tricked me so often, I felt there +would be no security unless I could get some coast interpreters, +who would not side with the chiefs against me as he had done. +From this I went on to Sirboko's, and spent the next day with him +talking over my plans. The rafting up the lake he thought a good +scheme; but he did not think I should ever get through Usui until +all the Kaze merchants went north in a body, for it was no use +trying to force my men against their inclinations; and if I did +not take care how I handled them, he thought they would all +desert. + +My cough still grew worse, and became so bad that, whilst +mounting a hill on entering Ungugu's the second day after, I blew +and grunted like a broken-winded horse, and it became so +distressing I had to halt a day. In two more marches, however, I +reached Kaze, and put up with Musa's eldest son, Abdalla, on the +2nd July, who now was transformed from a drunken slovenly boy +into the appearance of a grand swell, squatting all day as his +old father used to do. The house, however, did not feel the same- +-no men respected him as they had done his father. Sheikh Said +was his clerk and constant companion, and the Tots were well fed +on his goats--at my expense, however. On hearing my fix, Abdalla +said I should have men; and, what's more, he would go with me as +his father had promised to do; but he had a large caravan +detained in Ugogo, and for that he must wait. + +At that moment Manua Sera was in a boma at Kigue, in alliance +with the chief of that place; but there was no hope for him now, +as all the Arabs had allied themselves with the surrounding +chiefs, including Kitambi; and had invested his position by +forming a line, in concentric circles, four deep, cutting off his +supplies of water within it, so that they daily expected to hear +of his surrendering. The last news that had reached them brought +intelligence of one man killed and two Arabs wounded; whilst, on +the other side, Manua Sera had lost many men, and was put to such +straits that he had called out if it was the Arabs' determination +to kill him he would bolt again; to which the Arabs replied it +was all the same; if he ran up to the top of the highest mountain +or down into hell, they would follow after and put him to death. + +3d.--After much bother and many disappointments, as I was assured +I could get no men to help me until after the war was over, and +the Arabs had been to Ugogo, and had brought up their property, +which was still lying there, I accepted two men as guides--one +named Bui, a very small creature, with very high pretensions, who +was given me by Abdalla--the other, a steady old traveller, named +Nasib (or Fortune), who was given me by Fundi Sangoro. These two +slaves, both of whom knew all the chiefs and languages up to and +including Uganda, promised me faithfully they would go with +Bombay on to Usui, and bring back porters in sufficient number +for Grant and myself to go on together. They laughed at the +stories I told them of the terror that had seized Baraka and all +the Wanguana, and told me, as old Musa had often done before, +that those men, especially Baraka, had from their first leaving +Kaze made up their minds they would not enter Usui, or go +anywhere very far north. + +I placed those men on the same pay as Bombay, and then tried to +buy some beads from the Arabs, as I saw it was absolutely +necessary I should increase my fast-ebbing store if I ever hoped +to reach Gondokoro. The attempt failed, as the Arabs would not +sell at a rate under 2000 per cent.; and I wrote a letter to +Colonel Rigby, ordering up fifty armed men laden with beads and +pretty cloths-- which would, I knew, cost me œ1000 at the least-- +and left once more for the north on the 5th. + +Marching slowly, as my men kept falling sick, I did not reach +Grant again until the 11th. His health had greatly improved, and +he had been dancing with Ukulima, as may be seen by the +accompanying woodcut. So, as I was obliged to wait for a short +time to get a native guide for Bui, Nasib and Bombay, who would +show them a jungle-path to Usui, we enjoyed our leisure hours in +shooting guinea-fowls for the pot. A report then came to us that +Suwarora had heard with displeasure that I had been endeavouring +to see him, but was deterred because evil reports concerning him +had been spread. This unexpected good news delighted me +exceedingly; confirmed my belief that Baraka, after all, was a +coward, and induced me to recommend Bombay to make his cowardice +more indisputable by going on and doing what he had feared to do. +To which Bombay replied, "Of course I will. It is all folly +pulling up for every ill wind that blows, because, until one +actually SEES there is something in it, you never can tell +amongst these savages-- 'shaves' are so common in Africa. +Besides, a man has but one life, and God is the director of +everything." "Bravo!" said I, "we will get on as long as you +keep to that way of thinking." + +At length a guide was obtained, and with him came some of those +men of the Pig's who returned before; for they had a great desire +to go with me, but had been deterred, they said, by Baraka and +the rest of my men. Seeing all this, I changed my plans again, +intending, on arrival at Baraka's camp, to prevail on the whole +of the party to go with me direct, which I thought they could not +now refuse, since Suwarora had sent us an invitation. Moreover, +I did not like the idea of remaining still whilst the three men +went forwards, as it would be losing time. + +These separations from Grant were most annoying, but they could +not be helped; so, when all was settled here, I bade him adieu-- +both of us saying we would do our best--and set out on my +journey, thinking what a terrible thing it was I could not +prevail on my men to view things as I did. Neither my experience +with native chiefs, nor my money and guns, were of any use to me, +simply because my men were such incomprehensible fools, though +many of them who had travelled before ought to have known better. + +More reports came to us about Suwarora, all of the most inviting +nature; but nothing else worth mentioning occurred until we +reached the border of Msalala, where an officer of M'yonga's, who +said he was a bigger man than his chief, demanded a tax, which I +refused, and the dispute ended in his snatching Nasib's gun out +of his hands. I thought little of this affair myself, beyond +regretting the delay which it might occasion, as M'yonga, I knew, +would not permit such usage, if I chose to go round by his palace +and make a complaint. Both Bui and Nasib, however, were so +greatly alarmed, that before I could say a word they got the gun +back again by paying four yards merikani. We had continued +bickering again, for Bui had taken such fright at this kind of +rough handling, and the "push-ahead" manner in which I persisted +"riding over the lords of the soil," that I could hardly drag the +party along. + +However, on the 18th, after breakfasting at Ruhe's, we walked +into Mihambo, and took all the camp by surprise. I found the +Union Jack hoisted upon a flag-staff, high above all the trees, +in the boma. Baraka said he had done this to show the Watuta that +the place was occupied by men with guns--a necessary precaution, +as all the villages in the neighbourhood had, since my departure, +been visited and plundered by them. Lumeresi, the chief of the +district, who lived ten miles to the eastward, had been +constantly pressing him to leave this post and come to his +palace, as he felt greatly affronted at our having shunned him +and put up with Ruhe. He did not want property, he said, but he +could not bear that the strangers had lived with his mtoto, or +child, which Ruhe was, and yet would not live with him. He +thought Baraka's determined obstinacy on this could only be +caused by the influence of the head man of the village, and +threatened that if Baraka did not come to visit him at once, he +would have the head man beheaded. Then, shifting round a bit, he +thought of ordering his subjects to starve the visitors into +submission, and said he must have a hongo equal to Ruhe's. To +all this Baraka replied, that he was merely a servant, and as he +had orders to stop where he was, he could not leave it until I +came; but to show there was no ill-feeling towards him, he sent +the chief a cloth. + +These first explanations over, I entered my tent, in which Baraka +had been living, and there I found a lot of my brass wires on the +ground, lying scattered about. I did not like the look of this, +so ordered Bombay to resume his position of factotum, and count +over the kit. Whilst this was going on, a villager came to me +with a wire, and asked me to change it for a cloth. I saw at +once what the game was; so I asked my friend where he got it, on +which he at once pointed to Baraka. I then heard the men who +were standing round us say one to another in under-tones, +giggling with the fun of it, "Oh, what a shame of him! Did you +hear what Bana said, and that fool's reply to it? What a shame +of him to tell in that way." Without appearing to know, or rather +to hear, the by-play that was going on, I now said to Baraka, +"How is it this man has got one of my wires, for I told you not +to touch or unpack them during my absence?" To which he coolly +replied, in face of such evidence, "It is not one of your wires; +I never gave away one of yours; there are lots more wires besides +yours in the country. The man tells a falsehood; he had the wire +before, but now, seeing your cloth open, wants to exchange it." +"If that is the case," I said, taking things easy, "how is it you +have opened my loads and scattered the wires about in the tent?" +"Oh, that was to take care of them; for I thought, if they were +left outside all night with the rest of the property, some one +would steal them, and I should get the blame of it." + +Further parley was useless; for, though both my wires and cloths +were short, still it was better not to kick up a row, when I had +so much to do to keep all my men in good temper for the journey. +Baraka then, wishing to beguile me, as he thought he could do, +into believing him a wonderful man for both pluck and honesty, +said he had had many battles to fight with the men since I had +been gone to Kaze, for there were two strong parties in the camp; +those who, during the late rebellion at Zanzibar, had belonged to +the Arabs that sided with Sultan Majid, and were royalists, and +those who, having belonged to the rebellious Arabs, were on the +opposite side. The battle commenced, he stated, by the one side +abusing the other for their deeds during that rebellion, the +rebels in this sort of contest proving themselves the stronger. +But he, heading the royalist party, soon reduced them to order, +though only for a short while, as from that point they turned +round to open mutiny for more rations; and some of the rebels +tried to kill him, which, he said, they would have done had he +not settled the matter by buying some cows for them. It was on +this account he had been obliged to open my loads. And now he +had told me the case, he hoped I would forgive him if he had done +wrong. Now, the real facts of the case were these--though I did +not find them out at the time:-- Baraka had bought some slaves +with my effects, and he had had a fight with some of my men +because they tampered with his temporary wife--a princess he had +picked up in Phunze. To obtain her hand he had given ten +necklaces of MY beads to her mother, and had agreed to the +condition that he should keep the girl during the journey; and +after it was over, and he took her home, he would, if his wife +pleased him, give her mother ten necklaces more. + +Next day Baraka told me his heart shrank to the dimensions of a +very small berry when he saw whom I had brought with me +yesterday-- meaning Bombay, and the same porters whom he had +prevented going on with me before. I said, "Pooh, nonsense; have +done with such excuses, and let us get away out of this as fast +as we can. Now, like a good man, just use your influence with +the chief of the village, and try and get from him five or six +men to complete the number we want, and then we will work round +the east of Sorombo up to Usui, for Suwarora has invited us to +him." This, however, was not so easy; for Lumeresi, having heard +of my arrival, sent his Wanyapara, or grey-beards, to beg I would +visit him. He had never seen a white man in all his life, +neither had his father, nor any of his forefathers, although he +had often been down to the coast; I must come and see him, as I +had seen his mtoto Ruhe. He did not want property; it was only +the pleasure of my company that he wanted, to enable him to tell +all his friends what a great man had lived in his house. + +This was terrible: I saw at once that all my difficulties in +Sorombo would have to be gone through again if I went there, and +groaned when I thought what a trick the Pig had played me when I +first of all came to this place; for if I had gone on then, as I +wished, I should have slipped past Lumeresi without his knowing +it. + +I had to get up a storm at the grey-beards, and said I could not +stand going out of my road to see any one now, for I had already +lost so much time by Makaka's trickery in Sorombo. Bui then, +quaking with fright at my obstinacy, said, "You must--indeed you +must--give in and do with these savage chiefs as the Arabs when +they travel, for I will not be a party to riding rough-shod over +them." Still I stuck out, and the grey-beards departed to tell +their chief of it. Next morning he sent them back to say he +would not be cheated out of his rights as the chief of the +district. Still I would not give in, and the whole day kept +"jawing" without effect, for I could get no man to go with me +until the chief gave his sanction. I then tried to send Bombay +off with Bui, Nasib, and their guide, by night; but though Bombay +was willing, the other two hung back on the old plea. In this +state of perplexity, Bui begged I would allow him to go over to +Lumeresi and see what he could do with a present. Bui really now +was my only stand-by, so I sent him off, and next had the +mortification to find that he had been humbugged by honeyed +words, as Baraka had been with Makaka, into believing that +Lumeresi was a good man, who really had no other desire at heart +than the love of seeing me. His boma, he said, did not lie much +out of my line, and he did not wish a stitch of my cloth. So far +from detaining me, he would give me as many men as I wanted; and, +as an earnest of his good intentions, he sent his copper hatchet, +the badge of office as chief of the district, as a guarantee for +me. + +To wait there any longer after this, I knew, would be a mere +waste of time, so I ordered my men to pack up that moment, and we +all marched over at once to Lumeresi's, when we put up in his +boma. Lumeresi was not in then, but, on his arrival at night, he +beat all his drums to celebrate the event, and fired a musket, in +reply to which I fired three shots. The same night, whilst +sitting out to make astronomical observations, I became deadly +cold--so much so, that the instant I had taken the star, to fix +my position, I turned into bed, but could not get up again; for +the cough that had stuck to me for a month then became so +violent, heightened by fever succeeding the cold fit, that before +the next morning I was so reduced that I could not stand. For +the last month, too, I had not been able to sleep on either side, +as interior pressure, caused by doing so, provoked the cough; but +now I had, in addition, to be propped in position to get any +repose whatever. The symptoms, altogether, were rather alarming, +for the heart felt inflamed and ready to burst, pricking and +twingeing with every breath, which was exceedingly aggravated by +constant coughing, when streams of phlegm and bile were ejected. +The left arm felt half-paralysed, the left nostril was choked +with mucus, and on the centre of the left shoulder blade I felt a +pain as if some one was branding me with a hot iron. All this +was constant; and, in addition, I repeatedly felt severe pains-- +rather paroxysms of fearful twinges--in the spleen, liver, and +lungs; whilst during my sleep I had all sorts of absurd dreams: +for instance--I planned a march across Africa with Sir Roderick +Murchison; and I fancied some curious creatures, half-men and +half-monkeys, came into my camp to inform me that Petherick was +waiting in boats at the south-west corner of the N'yanza, etc., +etc. + +Though my mind was so weak and excited when I woke up from these +trances, I thought of nothing but the march, and how I could get +out of Lumeresi's hands. He, with the most benign countenance, +came in to see me, the very first thing in the morning, as he +said, to inquire after my health; when, to please him as much as +I could, I had a guard of honour drawn up at the tent door to +fire a salute as he entered; then giving him my iron camp-chair +to sit upon, which tickled him much--for he was very corpulent, +and he thought its legs would break down with his weight--we had +a long talk, though it was as much as I could do to remember +anything, my brain was so excited and weak. Kind as he looked +and spoke, he forgot all his promises about coveting my property, +and scarcely got over the first salutation before he began +begging for many things that he saw, and more especially for a +deole, in order that he might wear it on all great occasions, to +show his contemporaries what a magnanimous man his white visitor +was. I soon lost my temper whilst striving to settle the hongo. +Lumeresi would have a deole, and I would not admit that I had +one. + +23d to 31st.--Next morning I was too weak to speak moderately, +and roared more like a madman than a rational being, as, breaking +his faith, he persisted in bullying me. The day after, I took +pills and blistered my chest all over, still Lumeresi would not +let me alone, nor come to any kind of terms until the 25th, when +he said he would take a certain number of pretty common cloths +for his children if I would throw in a red blanket for himself. +I jumped at this concession with the greatest eagerness, paid +down my cloths on the spot; and, thinking I was free at last, +ordered a hammock to be slung on a pole, that I might leave the +next day. Next morning, however, on seeing me actually preparing +to start, Lumeresi found he could not let me go until I increased +the tax by three more cloths, as some of his family complained +that they had got nothing. After some badgering, I paid what he +asked for, and ordered the men to carry me out of the palace +before anything else was done, for I would not sleep another +night where I was. Lumeresi then stood in my way, and said he +would never allow a man of his country to give me any assistance +until I was well, for he could not bear the idea of hearing it +said that, after taking so many cloths from me, he had allowed me +to die in the jungles--and dissuaded my men from obeying my +orders. + +In vain I appealed to his mercy, declaring that the only chance +left me of saving my life would be from the change of air in the +hammock as I marched along. He would not listen, professing +humanity, whilst he meant plunder; and I now found that he was +determined not to beat the drum until I had paid him some more, +which he was to think over and settle next day. When the next +day came, he would not come near me, as he said I must possess a +deole, otherwise I would not venture on to Karague; for nobody +ever yet "saw" Rumanika without one. This suspension of business +was worse than the rows; I felt very miserable, and became worse. +At last, on my offering him anything that he might consider an +equivalent for the deole if he would but beat the drums of +satisfaction, he said I might consider myself his prisoner +instead of his guest if I persisted in my obstinacy in not giving +him Rumanika's deole; and then again peremptorily ordered all of +his subjects not to assist me in moving a load. After this, +veering round for a moment on the generous tack, he offered me a +cow, which I declined. + +1st to 4th.--Still I rejected the offered cow, until the 2nd, +when, finding him as dogged as ever, at the advice of my men I +accepted it, hoping thus to please him; but it was no use, for he +now said he must have two deoles, or he would never allow me to +leave his palace. Every day matters got worse and worse. +Mfumbi, the small chief of Sorombo, came over, in an Oily-Gammon +kind of manner, to say Makaka had sent him over to present his +compliments to me, and express his sorrow on hearing that I had +fallen sick here. He further informed me that the road was closed +between this and Usui, for he had just been fighting there, and +had killed the chief Gomba, burnt down all his villages, and +dispersed all the men in the jungle, where they now resided, +plundering every man who passed that way. This gratuitous, +wicked, humbugging terrifier helped to cause another defeat. It +was all nonsense, I knew, but both Bui and Nasib, taking fright, +begged for their discharges. In fearful alarm and anxiety, I +begged them to have patience and see the hongo settled first, for +there was no necessity, at any rate, for immediate hurry; I +wished them to go on ahead with Bombay, as in four days they +could reach Suwarora's. But they said they could not hear of it- +-they would not go a step beyond this. All the chiefs on ahead +would do the same as Lumeresi; the whole country was roused. I +had not even half enough cloths to satisfy the Wasui; and my +faithful followers would never consent to be witness to my being +"torn to pieces." + +5th and 6th.--The whole day and half of the next went in +discussions. At last, able for the first time to sit up a +little, I succeeded in prevailing on Bui to promise he would go +to Usui as soon as the hongo was settled, provided, as he said, I +took on myself all responsibilities of the result. This cheered +me so greatly, I had my chair placed under a tree and smoked my +first pipe. On seeing this, all my men struck up a dance, to the +sound of the drums, which they carried on throughout the whole +night, never ceasing until the evening of the next day. These +protracted caperings were to be considered as their +congratulation for my improvement in health; for, until I got +into my chair, they always thought I was going to die. They then +told me, with great mirth and good mimicry, of many absurd scenes +which, owing to the inflamed state of my brain, had taken place +during my interviews with Lumeresi. Bombay at this time very +foolishly told Lumeresi, if he "really wanted a deole," he must +send to Grant for one. This set the chief raving. He knew there +was one in my box, he said, and unless I gave it, the one with +Grant must be brought; for under no circumstances would he allow +of my proceeding northwards until that was given him. Bui and +Nasib then gave me the slip, and slept that night in a +neighbouring boma without my knowledge. + +7th to 9th.--As things had now gone so far, I gave Lumeresi the +deole I had stored away for Rumanika, telling him, at the same +time as he took it, that he was robbing Rumanika, and not myself; +but I hoped, now I had given it, he would beat the drums. The +scoundrel only laughed as he wrapped my beautiful silk over his +great broad shoulders, and said, "Yes, this will complete our +present of friendship; now then for the hongo--I must have +exactly double of all you have given." This Sorombo trick I +attributed to the instigation of Makaka, for these savages never +fail to take their revenge when they can. I had doubled back +from his country, and now he was cutting me off in front. I +expected as much when the oily blackguard Mfumbi came over from +his chief to ask after my health; so, judging from my experience +with Makaka, I told Lumeresi at once to tell me what he +considered his due, for this fearful haggling was killing me by +inches. I had no more deoles, but would make that up in brass +wire. He then fixed the hongo at fifteen masango or brass wire +bracelets, sixteen cloths of sorts, and a hundred necklaces of +samisami or red coral beads, which was to pay for Grant as well +as myself. I paid it down on the spot; the drums beat the +"satisfaction," and I ordered the march with the greatest relief +of mind possible. + +But Bui and Nasib were not to be found; they had bolted. The +shock nearly killed me. I had walked all the way to Kaze and +back again for these men, to show mine a good example--had given +them pay and treble rations, the same as Bombay and Baraka--and +yet they chose to desert. I knew not what to do, for it appeared +to me that, do what I would, we would never succeed; and in my +weakness of body and mind I actually cried like a child over the +whole affair. I would rather have died than have failed in my +journey, and yet failure seemed at this juncture inevitable. + +8th.--As I had no interpreters, and could not go forward myself, +I made up my mind at once to send back all my men with Bombay, to +Grant; after joining whom, Bombay would go back to Kaze again for +other interpreters, and on his return would pick up Grant, and +bring him on here. This sudden decision set all my men up in a +flame; they swore it was no use my trying to go on to Karague; +they would not go with me; they did not come here to be killed. +If I chose to lose my life, it was no business of theirs, but +they would not be witness to it. They all wanted their discharge +at once; they would not run away, but must have a letter of +satisfaction, and then they would go back to their homes at +Zanzibar. But when they found they lost all their arguments and +could not move me, they said they would go back for Grant, but +when they had done that duty, then they would take their leave. + +10th to 15th.--This business being at last settled, I wrote to +Grant on the subject, and sent all the men off who were not sick. +Thinking then how I could best cure the disease that was keeping +me down, as I found the blister of no use, I tried to stick a +packing needle, used as a seton, into my side; but finding it was +not sharp enough, in such weak hands a mine, to go through my +skin, I got Baraka to try; and he failing too, I then made him +fire me, for the coughing was so incessant I could get no sleep +at night. I had now nothing whatever to think of but making +dodges for lying easy, and for relieving my pains, or else for +cooking strong broths to give me strength, for my legs were +reduced to the appearance of pipe-sticks, until the 15th, when +Baraka, in the same doleful manner as in Sorombo, came to me and +said he had something to communicate, which was so terrible, if I +heard it I should give up the march. Lumeresi was his authority, +but he would not tell it until Grant arrive. I said to him, "Let +us wait till Grant arrives; we shall then have some one with us +who won't shrink from whispers"--meaning Bombay; and so I let the +matter drop for the time being. But when Grant came, we had it +out of him, and found this terrible mystery all hung on +Lumeresi's prognostications that we never should get through Usui +with so little cloth. + +16th to 19th.--At night, I had such a terrible air-catching fit, +and made such a noise whilst trying to fill my lungs, that it +alarmed all the camp, so much so that my men rushed into my tent +to see if I was dying. Lumeresi, in the morning, then went on a +visiting excursion into the district, but no sooner left than the +chief of Isamiro, whose place lies close to the N'yanza, came +here to visit him (17th); but after waiting a day to make friends +with me, he departed (18th), as I heard afterwards, to tell his +great Mhuma chief, Rohinda, the ruler of Ukhanga, to which +district this state of Bogue belongs, what sort of presents I had +given to Lumeresi. He was, in fact, a spy whom Rohinda had sent +to ascertain what exactions had been made from me, as he, being +the great chief, was entitled to the most of them himself. On +Lumeresi's return, all the men of the village, as well as mine, +set up a dance, beating the drums all day and all night. + +20th to 21st.--Next night they had to beat their drums for a very +different purpose, as the Watuta, after lifting all of Makaka's +cattle in Sorombo, came hovering about, and declared they would +never cease fighting until they had lifted all those that +Lumeresi harboured round his boma; for it so happened that +Lumeresi allowed a large party of Watosi, alias Wahuma, to keep +their cattle in large stalls all round his boma, and these the +Watuta had now set their hearts upon. After a little reflection, +however, they thought better of it, as they were afraid to come +in at once on account of my guns. + +Most gladdening news this day came in to cheer me. A large mixed +caravan of Arabs and coast-men, arriving from Karague, announced +that both Rumanika and Suwarora were anxiously looking out for +us, wondering why we did not come. So great, indeed, was +Suwarora's desire to see us, that he had sent four men to invite +us, and they would have been here now, only that one of them fell +sick on the way, and the rest had to stop for him. I cannot say +what pleasure this gave me; my fortune, I thought, was made; and +so I told Baraka, and pretended he did not believe the news to be +true. Without loss of time I wrote off to Grant, and got these +men to carry the letter. + +Next day (22d) the Wasui from Suwarora arrived. They were a very +gentle, nice-dispositioned-looking set of men--small, but well +knit together. They advanced to my tent with much seeming grace; +then knelt at my feet, and began clapping their hands together, +saying, at the same time, "My great chief, my great chief, I hope +you are well; for Suwarora, having heard of your detention here, +has sent us over to assure you that all those reports that have +been circulated regarding his ill-treatment of caravans are +without foundation; he is sorry for what has happened to deter +your march, and hopes you will at once come to visit him." I +then told them all that had happened--how Grant and myself were +situated--and begged them to assist me by going off to Grant's +camp to inspire all the men there with confidence, and bring my +rear property to me--saying, as they agreed to do so, "Here are +some cloths and some beads for your expenses, and when you return +I will give you more." Baraka at once, seeing this, told me they +were not trustworthy, for at Mihambo an old man had come there +and tried to inveigle him in the same manner, but he kicked him +out of the camp, because he knew he was a touter, who wished +merely to allure him with sweet words to fleece him afterwards. +I then wrote to Grant another letter to be delivered by these +men. + +Lumeresi no sooner heard of the presents I had given them, than +he flew into a passion, called them imposters, abused them for +not speaking to him before they came to me, and said he would not +allow them to go. High words then ensued. I said the business +was mine, and not his; he had no right to interfere, and they +should go. Still Lumeresi was obstinate, and determined they +should not, for I was his guest; he would not allow any one to +defraud me. It was a great insult to himself, if true, that +Suwarora should attempt to snatch me out of his house; and he +could not bear to see me take these strangers by the hand, when, +as we have seen, it took him so long to entice me to his den, and +he could not prevail over me until he actually sent his copper +hatchet. + +When this breeze blew over, by Lumeresi's walking away, I told +the Wasui not to mind him, but to do just as I bid them. They +said they had their orders to bring me, and if Lumeresi would not +allow them to go for Grant, they would stop where they were, for +they knew that if Suwarora found them delaying long, he would +send more men to look after them. There was no peace yet, +however; for Lumeresi, finding them quietly settled down eating +with my men, ordered them out of his district, threatening force +if they did not comply at once. I tried my best for them, but the +Wasui, fearing to stop any longer, said they would take leave to +see Suwarora, and in eight days more they would come back again, +bringing something with them, the sight of which would make +Lumeresi quake. Further words were now useless, so I gave them +more cloth to keep them up to the mark, and sent them off. +Baraka, who seemed to think this generosity a bit of insanity, +grumbled that if I had cloths to throw away it would have been +better had I disposed of them to my own men. + +Next day (26th), as I was still unwell, I sent four men to Grant +with inquiries how he was getting on, and a request for +medicines. The messengers took four days to bring back the +information that Bombay had not returned from Kaze, but that +Grant, having got assistance, hoped to break ground about the 5th +of next month. They brought me at the same time information that +the Watuta had invested Ruhe's, after clearing off all the cattle +in the surrounding villages, and had proclaimed their intention +of serving out Lumeresi next. In consequence of this, Lumeresi +daily assembled his grey-beards and had councils of war in his +drum-house; but though his subjects sent to him constantly for +troops, he would not assist them. + +Another caravan then arrived (31st) from Karague, in which I +found an old friend, of half Arab breed, called Saim, who whilst +I was residing with Sheikh Snay at Kaze on my former expedition, +taught me the way to make plantain-wine. He, like the rest of +the porters in the caravan, wore a shirt of fig-tree bark called +mbugu. As I shall have frequently to use this word in the course +of the Journal, I may here give an explanation of its meaning. +The porter here mentioned told me that the people about the +equator all wore this kind of covering, and made it up of +numerous pieces of bark sewn together, which they stripped from +the trees after cutting once round the trunk above and below, and +then once more down the tree from the upper to the lower circular +cutting. This operation did not kill the trees, because, if they +covered the wound, whilst it was fresh, well over with plaintain- +leaves, shoots grew down from above, and a new bark came all over +it. The way they softened the bark, to make it like cloth, was +by immersion in water, and a good strong application of a mill- +headed mallet, which ribbed it like corduroy. [FN#10] Saim told +me he had lived ten years in Uganda, had crossed the Nile, and +had traded eastward as far as the Masai country. He thought the +N'yanza was the sources of the Ruvuma river; as the river which +drained the N'yanza, after passing between Uganda and Usoga, went +through Unyoro, and then all round the Tanganyika lake into the +Indian Ocean, south of Zanzibar. Kiganda, he also said, he knew +as well as his own tongue; and as I wanted an interpreter, he +would gladly take service with me. This was just what I wanted-- +a heaven-born stroke of luck. I seized at his offer with +avidity, gave him a new suit of clothes, which made him look +quite a gentleman, and arranged to send him next day with a +letter to Grant. + +1st and 2d.--A great hubbub and confusion now seized all the +place, for the Watuta were out, and had killed a woman of the +place who had formerly been seized by them in war, but had since +escaped and resided here. To avenge this, Lumeresi headed his +host, and was accompanied by my men; but they succeeded in +nothing save in frightening off their enemies, and regaining +possession of the body of the dead woman. Then another hubbub +arose, for it was discovered that three Wahuma women were missing +(2d); and, as they did not turn up again, Lumeresi suspected the +men of the caravan, which left with Saim, must have taken them +off as slaves. He sent for the chief of the caravan, and had him +brought back to account for this business. Of course the man +swore he knew nothing about the matter, whilst Lumeresi swore he +should stop there a prisoner until the women were freed, as it +was not the first time his women had been stolen in this manner. +About the same time a man of this place, who had been to Sorombo +to purchase cows, came in with a herd, and was at once seized by +Lumeresi; for, during his absence, one of Lumeresi's daughters +had been discovered to be with child, and she, on being asked who +was the cause of it, pointed out that man. To compensate for +damage done to himself, as his daughter by this means had become +reduced to half her market-value, Lumeresi seized all the cattle +this man had brought with him. + +3d to 10th.--When two days had elapsed, one of the three missing +Wahuma women was discovered in a village close by. As she said +she had absconded because her husband had ill-treated her, she +was flogged, to teach her better conduct. It was reported they +had been seen in M'yonga's establishment; and I was at the same +time informed that the husbands who were out in search of them +would return, as M'yonga was likely to demand a price for them if +they were claimed, in virtue of their being his rightful property +under the acknowledged law of buni, or findings-keepings. + +For the next four days nothing but wars and rumours of wars could +be heard. The Watuta were out in all directions plundering +cattle and burning villages, and the Wahuma of this place had +taken such fright, they made a stealthy march with all their +herds to a neighbouring chief, to whom it happened that one of +Lumeresi's grey-beards was on a visit. They thus caught a +Tartar; for the grey-beard no sooner saw them than he went and +flogged them all back again, rebuking them on the way for their +ingratitude to their chief, who had taken them in when they +sought his shelter, and was now deserted by them on the first +alarm of war. + +10th.--Wishing now to gain further intelligence of Grant, I +ordered some of my men to carry a letter to him; but they all +feared the Watuta meeting them on the way, and would not. Just +then a report came in that one of Lumeresi's sons, who had gone +near the capital of Ukhanga to purchase cows, was seized by +Rohinda in consequence of the Isamiro chief telling him that +Lumeresi had taken untold wealth from me, and he was to be +detained there a prisoner until Lumeresi either disgorged, or +sent me on to be fleeced again. Lumeresi, of course, was greatly +perplexed at this, and sought my advice, but could get nothing +out of me, for I laughed in my sleeve, and told him such was the +consequence of his having been too greedy. + +11th to 15th.--Masudi with his caravan arrived from Mchimeka-- +Ungurue "the Pig," who had led me astray, was, by the way, his +kirangozi or caravan-leader. Masudi told us he had suffered most +severely from losses by his men running away, one after the +other, as soon as they received their pay. He thought Grant +would soon join me, as, the harvest being all in, the men about +Rungua would naturally be anxious for service. He had had +fearful work with M'yonga, having paid him a gun, some gunpowder, +and a great quantity of cloth; and he had to give the same to +Ruhe, with the addition of twenty brass wires, one load of +mzizima, and one load of red coral beads. This was startling, +and induced me to send all the men I could prudently spare off to +Grant at once, cautioning him to avoid Ruhe's, as Lumeresi had +promised me he would not allow one other thing to be taken from +me. Lumeresi by this time was improving, from lessons on the +policy of moderation which I had been teaching him; for when he +tried to squeeze as much more out of Masudi as Ruhe had taken, he +gave way, and let him off cheaply at my intercession. He had seen +enough to be persuaded that this unlimited taxation or plunder +system would turn out a losing game, such as Unyamyembe and Ugogo +were at that time suffering from. Moreover, he was rather put to +shame by my saying, "Pray, who now is biggest--Ruhe or yourself? +for any one entering this country would suspect that he was, as +he levies the first tax, and gives people to understand that, by +their paying it, the whole district will be free to them; such at +any rate he told me, and so it appears he told Masudi. If you +are the sultan, and will take my advice, I would strongly +recommend your teaching Ruhe a lesson, by taking from him what +the Arabs paid, and giving it back to Masudi. + +At midnight (16th) I was startled in my sleep by the hurried +tramp of several men, who rushed in to say they were Grant's +porters-- Bogue men who had deserted him. Grant, they said, in +incoherent, short, rapid, and excited sentences, was left by them +standing under a tree, with nothing but his gun in his hand. All +the Wanguana had been either killed or driven away by M'yonga's +men, who all turned out and fell upon the caravan, shooting, +spearing, and plundering, until nothing was left. The porters +then, seeing Grant all alone, unable to help him, bolted off to +inform me and Lumeresi, as the best thing they could do. Though +disbelieving the story in all its minutiae, I felt that something +serious must have happened; so, without a moment's delay, I sent +off the last of my men strong enough to walk to succour Grant, +carrying with them a bag of beads. Baraka then stepped outside my +tent, and said in a loud voice, purposely for my edification, +"There, now, what is the use of thinking any more about going to +Karague? I said all along it was impossible"; upon hearing which +I had him up before all the remaining men, and gave him a +lecture, saying, happen what would, I must die or go on with the +journey, for shame would not allow me to give way as Baraka was +doing. Baraka replied, he was not afraid --he only meant to +imply that men could not act against impossibilities. +"Impossibilities!" I said; "what is impossible? Could I not go on +as a servant with the first caravan, or buy up a whole caravan if +I liked? What is impossible? For Godsake don't try any more to +frighten my men, for you have nearly killed me already in doing +so." + +Next day (17th) I received a letter from Grant, narrating the +whole of his catastrophes:-- + + "In the Jungles, near M'yonga's, 16th Sept. 1861. + +"My dear Speke,--The caravan was attacked, plundered, and the men +driven to the winds, while marching this morning into M'yonga's +country. + +"Awaking at cock-crow, I roused the camp, all anxious to rejoin +you; and while the loads were being packed, my attention was +drawn to an angry discussion between the head men and seven or +eight armed fellows sent by Sultan M'yonga, to insist upon my +putting up for the day in his village. They were summarily told +that as YOU had already made him a present, he need not expect a +visit from ME. Adhering, I doubt not, to their master's +instructions, they officiously constituted themselves our guides +till we chose to strike off their path, when, quickly heading our +party, they stopped the way, planted their spears, and DARED our +advance! + +"This menace made us firmer in our determination, and we swept +past the spears. After we had marched unmolested for some seven +miles, a loud yelping from the woods excited our attention, and a +sudden rush was made upon us by, say two hundred men, who came +down seemingly in great glee. In an instant, at the caravan's +centre, they fastened upon the poor porters. The struggle was +short; and with the threat of an arrow or spear at their breasts, +men were robbed of their cloths and ornaments, loads were yielded +and run away with before resistance could be organised; only +three men of a hundred stood by me, the others, whose only +thought was their lives, fled into the woods, where I went +shouting for them. One man, little Rahan--rip as he is--stood +with cocked gun, defending his load, against five savages with +uplifted spears. No one else could be seen. Two or three were +reported killed; some were wounded. Beads, boxes, cloths, etc., +lay strewed about the woods. In fact, I felt wrecked. My +attempt to go and demand redress from the sultan was resisted, +and, in utter despair, I seated myself among a mass of rascals +jeering round me, and insolent after the success of the day. +Several were dressed in the very cloths, etc., they had stolen +from my men. + +"In the afternoon, about fifteen men and loads were brought me, +with a message from the sultan, that the attack had been a +mistake of his subjects--that one man had had a hand cut off for +it, and that all the property would be restored! + +Yours sincerely, J. W. Grant." + +Now, judging from the message sent to Grant by M'yonga, it +appeared to me that his men had mistaken their chief's orders, +and had gone one step beyond his intentions. It was obvious that +the chief merely intended to prevent Grant from passing through +or evading his district without paying a hongo, else he would not +have sent his men to invite him to his palace, doubtless with +instructions, if necessary, to use force. This appears the more +evident from the fact of his subsequent contrition, and finding +it necessary to send excuses when the property was in his hands; +for these chiefs, grasping as they are, know they must conform to +some kind of system, to save themselves from a general war, or +the avoidance of their territories by all travellers in future. +To assist Grant, I begged Lumeresi to send him some aid in men at +once; but he refused, on the plea that M'yonga was at war with +him, and would kill them if they went. This was all the more +provoking, as Grant, in a letter next evening, told me he could +not get all his men together again, and wished to know what +should be done. He had recovered all the property except six +loads of beads, eighty yards of American sheeting, and many minor +articles, besides what had been rifled more or less from every +load. In the same letter he asked me to deliver up a Mhuma woman +to a man who came with the bearers of his missive, as she had +made love to Saim at Ukulima's, and had bolted with my men to +escape from her husband. + +On inquiring into this matter, she told me her face had been her +misfortune, for the man who now claimed her stole her from her +parents at Ujiji, and forcibly made her his wife, but ever since +had ill-treated her, often thrashing her, and never giving her +proper food or clothing. It was on this account she fell in love +with Saim; for he, taking compassion on her doleful stories, had +promised to keep her as long as he travelled with me, and in the +end to send her back to her parents at Ujiji. She was a +beautiful woman, with gazelle eyes, oval face, high thin nose, +and fine lips, and would have made a good match for Saim, who had +a good deal of Arab blood in him, and was therefore, in my +opinion, much of the same mixed Shem-Hamitic breed. But as I did +not want more women in my camp, I have her some beads, and sent +her off with the messenger who claimed her, much against my own +feelings. I had proposed to Grant that, as Lumeresi's +territories extended to within eight miles of M'yonga's, he +should try to move over the Msalala border by relays, when I +would send some Bogue men to meet him; for though Lumeresi would +not risk sending his men into the clutches of M'yonga, he was +most anxious to have another white visitor. + +20th and 21st.--I again urged Lumeresi to help on Grant, saying +it was incumbent on him to call M'yonga to account for +maltreating Grant's porters, who were his own subjects, else the +road would be shut up--he would lose all the hongos he laid on +caravans--and he would not be able to send his own ivory down to +the coast. This appeal had its effect: he called on his men to +volunteer, and twelve porters came forward, who no sooner left, +than in came another letter from Grant, informing me that he had +collected almost enough men to march with, and that M'yonga had +returned on of the six missing loads, and promised to right him +in everything. + +Next day, however, I had from Grant two very opposite accounts-- +one, in the morning, full of exultation, in which he said he +hoped to reach Ruhe's this very day, as his complement of porters +was then completed; while by the other, which came in the +evening, I was shocked to hear that M'yonga, after returning all +the loads, much reduced by rifling, had demanded as a hongo two +guns, two boxed ammunition, forty brass wires, and 160 yards of +American sheeting, in default of which he, Grant, must lend +M'yonga ten Wanguana to build a boma on the west of his district, +to enable him to fight some Wasona who were invading his +territory, otherwise he would not allow Grant to move from his +palace. Grant knew not what to do. He dared not part with the +guns, because he knew it was against my principle, and therefore +deferred the answer until he heard from me, although all his +already collected porters were getting fidgety, and two had +bolted. In this fearful fix I sent Baraka off with strict orders +to bring Grant away at any price, except the threatened sacrifice +of men, guns, and ammunition, which I would not listen to, as one +more day's delay might end in further exactions; at the same +time, I cautioned him to save my property as far as he could, for +it was to him that M'yonga had formerly said that what I paid him +should do for all. + +Some of M'yonga's men who had plundered Grant now "caught a +Tartar." After rifling his loads of a kilyndo, or bark box of +beads, they, it appeared, received orders from M'yonga to sell a +lot of female slaves, amongst whom were the two Wahuma women who +had absconded from this. The men in charge, not knowing their +history, brought them for sale into this district, where they +were instantly recognised by some of Lumeresi's men, and brought +in to him. The case was not examined at once, Lumeresi happening +to be absent; so, to make good their time, the men in charge +brought their beads to me to be exchanged for something else, not +knowing that both camps were mine, and that they held my beads +and not Grant's. Of course I took them from them, but did not +give them a flogging, as I knew if I did so they would at once +retaliate upon Grant. The poor Wahuma women, as soon as Lumeresi +arrived, were put to death by their husbands, because, by +becoming slaves, they had broken the laws of their race. + +22d to 24th.--At last I began to recover. All this exciting +news, with the prospect of soon seeing Grant, did me a world of +good,-- so much so, that I began shooting small birds for +specimens-- watching the blacksmiths as they made tools, spears, +ad bracelets-- and doctoring some of the Wahuma women who came to +be treated for ophthalmia, in return for which they gave me milk. +The milk, however, I could not boil excepting in secrecy, else +they would have stopped their donations on the plea that this +process would be an incantation or bewitchment, from which their +cattle would fall sick and dry up. I now succeeded in getting +Lumeresi to send his Wanyapara to go and threaten M'yonga, that +if he did not release Grant at once, we would combine to force +him to do so. They, however, left too late, for the hongo had +been settled, as I was informed by a letter from Grant next day, +brought to my by Bombay, who had just returned from Kaze after +six weeks' absence. He brought with him old Nasib and another +man, and told me both Bui and Nasib had hidden themselves in a +Boma close to Lumeresi's the day when my hongo was settled; but +they bolted the instant the drums beat, and my men fired guns to +celebrate the event, supposing that the noise was occasioned by +our fighting with Lumeresi. These cowards then made straight for +Kaze, when Fundi Sangoro gave Nasib a flogging for deserting me, +and made him so ashamed of his conduct that he said he would +never do it again. Bui also was flogged, but, admitting himself +to be a coward, was set to the "right-about." With him Bombay +also brought three new deoles, for which I had to pay 160 +dollars, and news that the war with Manua Sera was not then over. +He had effected his escape in the usual manner, and was leading +the Arabs another long march after him. + +Expecting to meet Grant this morning (25th), I strolled as far as +my strength and wind would allow me towards Ruhe's; but I was +sold, for Ruhe had detained him for a hongo. Lumeresi also +having heard of it, tried to interpose, according to a plan +arranged between us in case of such a thing happening, by sending +his officers to Ruhe, with an order not to check my "brother's" +march, as I had settled accounts for all. Later in the day, +however, I heard from Grant that Ruhe would not let him go until +he had paid sixteen pretty cloths, six wires, one gun, one box of +ammunition, and one load of mzizima beads, coolly saying that I +had only given him a trifle, under the condition that, when the +big caravan arrived, Grant would make good the rest. I +immediately read this letter to Lumeresi, and asked him how I +should answer it, as Grant refused to pay anything until I gave +the order. + +To which Lumeresi replied, Ruhe, "my child," could not dare to +interfere with Grant after his officers arrived, and advised me +to wait until the evening. At all events, if there were any +further impediments, he himself would go over there with a force +and release Grant. In the evening another messenger arrived from +Grant, giving a list of his losses and expenses at M'yonga's. +They amounted to an equivalent of eight loads, and were as +follows: --100 yards cloth, and 4600 necklaces of beads (these +had been set aside as the wages paid to the porters, but being in +my custody, I had to make them good); 300 necklaces of beads +stolen from the loads; one brass wire stolen; one sword-bayonet +stolen; Grant's looking-glass stolen; one saw stolen; one box +ammunition stolen. Then paid in hongo, 160 yards cloth; 150 +necklaces; one scarlet blanket, double; one case ammunition; ten +brass wires. Lastly, there was one donkey beaten to death by the +savages. This was the worst of all; for this poor brute carried +me on the former journey to the southern end of the N'yanza, and +in consequence was a great pet. + +As nothing further transpired, and I was all in the dark (26th), +I wrote to Grant telling him of my interviews with Lumeresi, and +requesting him to pay nothing; but it was too late, for Grant, to +my inexpressible delight, was the next person I saw; he walked +into camp, and then he was a good laugh over all our misfortunes. +Poor Grant, he had indeed had a most troublesome time of it. The +scoundrel Ruhe, who only laughed at Lumeresi's orders, had +stopped his getting supplies of food for himself and his men; +told him it was lucky that he came direct to the palace, for full +preparations had been made for stopping him had he attempted to +avoid it; would not listen to any reference being made to avoid +myself; badgered and bullied over every article that he +extracted; and, finally, when he found compliance with his +extortionate requests was not readily granted, he beat the +wardrums to frighten the porters, and ordered the caravan out of +his palace, to where he said they would find his men ready to +fight it out with them. It happened that Grant had just given +Ruhe a gun when my note arrived, on which they made an agreement, +that it was to be restored, provided that, after the full +knowledge of all these transactions had reached us, it was both +Lumeresi's and my desire that it should be so. + +I called Lumeresi (27th), and begged he would show whether he was +the chief or not, by requiring Ruhe to disgorge the property he +had taken from me. His Wanyapara had been despised, and I had +been most unjustly treated. Upon this the old chief hung down +his head, and said it touched his heart more than words could +tell to hear my complaint, for until I came that way no one had +come, and I had paid him handsomely. He fully appreciated the +good service I had done to him and his country by opening a road +which all caravans for the future would follow if property dealt +with. Having two heads in a country was a most dangerous thing, +but it could not be helped for the present, as his hands were too +completely occupied already. There were Rohinda, the Watuta, and +M'yonga, whom he must settle with before he could attend to Ruhe; +but when he was free, then Ruhe should know who was the chief. +To bring the matter to a climax, Mrs. Lumeresi then said she +ought to have something, because Ruhe was her son, whilst +Lumeresi was only her second husband and consort, for Ruhe was +born to her by her former husband. She therefore was queen. + +Difficulties now commenced again (28th). All the Wanguana +struck, and said they would go no further. I argued--they +argued; they wanted more pay--I would not give more. Bombay, who +appeared the only one of my men anxious to go on with Grant and +myself, advised me to give in, else they would all run away, he +said. I still stuck out, saying that if they did go, they should +be seized on the coast and cast into jail for desertion. I had +sent for fifty more men on the same terms as themselves, and +nothing in the world would make me alter what had been +established at the British Consulate. There all their +engagements were written down in the office-book, and the Consul +was our judge. + +29th to 4th.--This shut them up, but at night two of them +deserted; the Wanyamuezi porters also deserted, and I had to find +more. Whilst this was going on, I wrote letters and packed up my +specimens, and sent them back by my late valet, Rahan, who also +got orders to direct Sheikh Said to seize the two men who +deserted, and take them down chained to the coast when he went +there. On the 4th, Lumeresi was again greatly perplexed by his +sovereign Rohinda calling on him for some cloths; he must have +thirty at least, else he would not give up Lumeresi's son. +Further, he commanded in a bullying tone that all the Wahuma who +were with Lumeresi should be sent to him at once, adding, at the +same time, if his royal mandate was not complied with as soon as +he expected, he would at once send a force to seize Lumeresi, and +place another man in his stead to rule over the district. + +Lumeresi, on hearing this, first consulted me, saying his chief +was displeased with him, accusing him of being too proud, in +having at once two such distinguished guests, and meant by these +acts only to humble him. I replied, if that was the case, the +sooner he allowed us to go, the better it would be for him; and, +reminding him of his original promise to give me assistance on to +Usui, said he could do so now with a very good grace. + +Quite approving himself of this suggestion, Lumeresi then gave me +one of his officers to be my guide--his name was Sangizo. This +man no sooner received his orders than, proud of his office as +the guide of such a distinguished caravan, he set to work to find +us porters. Meanwhile my Wasui friends, who left on the 25th of +August, returned, bearing what might be called Suwarora's mace--a +long rod of brass bound up in stick charms, and called +Kaquenzingiriri, "the commander of all things." This they said +was their chief's invitation to see us, and sent this +Kaquenzingiriri, to command us respect wherever we went. + +5th.--Without seeing us again, Lumeresi, evidently ashamed of the +power held over him by this rod of Suwarora's, walked off in the +night, leaving word that he was on his way to Ruhe's, to get back +my gun and all the other things that had been taken from Grant. +The same night a large herd of cattle was stolen from the boma +without any one knowing it; so next morning, when the loss was +discovered, all the Wahuma set off on the spoor to track them +down; but with what effect I never knew. + +As I had now men enough to remove half our property, I made a +start of it, leaving Grant to bring up the rest. I believe I was +a most miserable spectre in appearance, puffing and blowing at +each step I took, with shoulder drooping, and left arm hanging +like a dead leg, which I was unable ever to swing. Grant, +remarking this, told me then, although fro a friendly delicacy he +had abstained from saying so earlier, that my condition, when he +first saw me on rejoining, gave him a sickening shock. Next day +(7th) he came up with the rest of the property, carried by men +who had taken service for that one march only. + +Before us now lay a wilderness of five marches' duration, as the +few villages that once lined it had all been depopulated by the +Sorombo people and the Watuta. We therefore had to lay in +rations for those days, and as no men could be found who would +take service to Karague, we filled up our complement with men at +exorbitant wages to carry our things on to Usui. At this place, +to our intense joy, three of Sheikh Said's boys came to us with a +letter from Rigby; but, on opening it, our spirits at once fell +far below zero, for it only informed us that he had sent us all +kinds of nice things, and letters from home, which were packed up +in boxes, and despatched from the coast on the 30th October 1860. + +The boys then told me that a merchant, nickname Msopora, had left +the boxes in Ugogo, in charge of some of those Arabs who were +detained there, whilst he went rapidly round by the south, +following up the Ruaha river to Usanga and Usenga, whence he +struck across to Kaze. Sheikh Said, they said, sent his +particular respects to me; he had heard of Grant's disasters with +great alarm. If he could be of service, he would readily come to +me; but he had dreamed three times that he saw me marching into +Cairo, which, as three times were lucky, he was sure would prove +good, and he begged I would still keep my nose well to the front, +and push boldly on. Manua Sera was still in the field, and all +was uncertain. Bombay then told me-- he had forgotten to do so +before--that when he was last at Kaze, Sheikh said told him he +was sure we would succeed if both he and myself pulled together, +although it was well known no one else of my party wished to go +northwards. + +With at last a sufficiency of porters, we all set out together, +walking over a new style of country. Instead of the constantly- +recurring outcrops of granite, as in Unyamuezi, with valleys +between, there were only two lines of little hills visible, one +right and one left of us, a good way off; whilst the ground over +which we were travelling, instead of being confined like a +valley, rose in long high swells of sandstone formation, covered +with small forest-trees, among which flowers like primroses, only +very much larger, and mostly of a pink colour, were frequently +met with. Indeed, we ought all to have been happy together, for +all my men were paid and rationed trebly--far better than they +would have been if they had been travelling with any one else; +but I had not paid all, as they thought, proportionably, and +therefore there were constant heartburnings, with strikes and +rows every day. It was useless to tell them that they were all +paid according to their own agreements--that all short-service +men had a right to expect more in proportion to their work than +long-service ones; they called it all love and partiality, and in +their envy would think themselves ill-used. + +At night the kirangozi would harangue the camp, cautioning all +hands to keep together on the line of march, as the Watuta were +constantly hovering about, and the men should not squabble and +fight with their master, else no more white men would come this +way again. On the 11th we were out of Bogue, in the district of +Ugomba, and next march brought us into Ugombe (12th), where we +crossed the Ukongo nullah, draining westwards to the Malagarai +river. Here some of the porters, attempting to bolt, were +intercepted by my coast-men and had a fight of it, for they fired +arrows, and in return the coast-men cut their bows. The whole +camp, of course, was in a blaze at this; their tribe was +insulted, and they would not stand it, until Bombay put down +their pride with a few strings of beads, as the best means of +restoring peace in the camp. + +At this place we were visited by the chief of the district, Pongo +(Bush-boc), who had left his palace to see us and invite us his +way, for he feared we might give him the slip by going west into +Uyofu. He sent us a cow, and said he should like some return; for +Masudi, who had gone ahead, only gave him a trifle, professing to +be our vanguard, and telling him that as soon as we came with the +large caravan we would satisfy him to his heart's content. We +wished for an interview, but he would not see us, as he was +engaged looking into his magic horn, with an endeavour to see +what sort of men we were, as none of our sort had ever come that +way before. + +The old sort of thing occurred again. I sent him one kitambi and +eight yards kiniki, explaining how fearfully I was reduced from +theft and desertions, and begging he would have mercy; but +instead of doing so he sent the things back in a huff, after a +whole day's delay, and said he required, besides, one sahari, one +kitambi, and eight yards kiniki. In a moment I sent them over, +and begged he would beat the drums; but no, he thought he was +entitled to ten brass wires, in addition, and would accept them +at his palace the next day, as he could not think of allowing us +to leave his country until we had done him that honour, else all +the surrounding chiefs would call him inhospitable. + +Too knowing now to be caught with such chaff, I told him, through +Bombay, if he would consider the ten brass wires final, I would +give them, and then go to his palace, not otherwise. He acceded +to this, but no sooner got them, than he broke his faith, and +said he must either have more pretty cloths, or five more brass +wires, and then, without doubt, he would beat the drums. A long +badgering bargain ensued, at which I made all my men be present +as witnesses, and we finally concluded the hongo with four more +brass wires. + +The drums then no sooner beat the satisfaction, than the Wasui +mace-bearers, in the most feeling and good-mannered possible +manner, dropped down on their knees before me, and congratulated +me on the cessation of this tormenting business. Feeling much +freer, we now went over and put up in Pong's palace, for we had +to halt there a day to collect more porters, as half my men had +just bolted. This was by no means an easy job, for all my +American sheeting was out, and so was the kiniki. Pongo then for +the first time showed himself, sneaking about with an escort, +hiding his head in a cloth lest our "evil eyes" might bewitch +him. Still he did us a good turn; for on the 16th he persuaded +his men to take service with us at the enormous hire of ten +necklaces of beads per man for every day's march--nearly ten +times what an Arab pays. Fowls were as plentiful here as +elsewhere, though the people only kept them to sell to +travellers, or else for cutting them open for diving purposes, by +inspection of their blood and bones. + +From the frying pan we went into the fire in crossing from Ugombe +into the district of Wanga, where we beat up the chief, +N'yaruwamba, and at once went into the hongo business. He +offered a cow to commence with, which I would not accept until +the tax was paid, and then I made my offering of two wires, one +kitambi, and one kisutu. Badgering then commenced: I must add two +wires, and six makete or necklaces of mzizima beads, the latter +being due to the chief for negotiating the tax. When this +addition was paid, we should be freed by beat of drum. + +I complied at once, by way of offering a special mark of respect +And friendship, and on the reliance that he would keep his word. +The scoundrel, however, no sooner got the articles, than he said +a man had just come there to inform hi that I gave Pongo ten +wires and ten cloths; he, therefore, could not be satisfied until +I added one more wire, when, without fail, he would beat the +drums. It was given, after many angry words; but it was the old +story over again-- he would have one more wire and a cloth, or +else he would not allow us to proceed on the morrow. My men, +this time really provoked, said they would fight it out;--a king +breaking his word in that way! But in the end the demand had to +be paid; and at last, at 9 P.M., the drums beat the satisfaction. + +From this we went on to the north end of Wanga, in front of which +was a wilderness, separating the possessions of Rohinda from +those of Suwarora. We put up in a boma, but were not long +ensconced there when the villagers got up a pretext for a +quarrel, thinking they could plunder us of all our goods, and +began pitching into my men. We, however, proved more than a match +for them. Our show of guns frightened them all out of the place; +my men then gave chase, firing off in the air, which sent them +flying over the fields, and left us to do there as we liked until +night, when a few of the villagers came back and took up their +abode with us quietly. Next, after dark, the little village was +on the alert again. The Watuta were out marching, and it was +rumoured that they were bound for M'yaruwamba's. The porters who +were engaged at Pongo's now gave us the slip: we were +consequently detained here next day (19th), when, after engaging +a fresh set, we crossed the wilderness, and in Usui put up with +Suwarora's border officer of this post, N'yamanira. + +Here we were again brought to a standstill. + + + + + Chapter VII + + + + Usui + +Taxation recommenced--A Great Doctor--Suwarora pillaging--The +Arabs --Conference with an Ambassador from Uganda--Disputes in +Camp-- Rivalry of Bombay and Baraka--Departure from the +Inhospitable Districts. + +We were now in Usui, and so the mace-bearers, being on their own +ground forgot their manners, and peremptorily demanded their pay +before they would allow us to move one step farther. At first I +tried to stave the matter off, promising great rewards if they +took us quickly on to Suwarora; but they would take no +alternative--their rights were four wires each. I could not +afford such a sum, and tried to beat them down, but without +effect; for they said, they had it in their power to detain us +here a whole month, and they could get us bullied at every stage +by the officers of the stations. No threats of reporting them to +their chief had any effect, so, knowing that treachery in these +countries was a powerful enemy, I ordered them to be paid. +N'yamanira, the Mkungu, then gave us a goat and two pots of +pombe, begging, at the same time, for four wires, which I paid, +hoping thus to get on in the morning. + +I then made friends with him, and found he was a great doctor as +well as an officer. In front of his hut he had his church or +uganga--a tree, in which was fixed a blaue boc's horn charged +with magic powder, and a zebra's hoof, suspended by a string over +a pot of water sunk in the earth below it. His badges of office +he had tied on his head; the butt of a shell, representing the +officer's badge, being fixed on the forehead, whilst a small +sheep's horn, fixed jauntily over the temple, denoted that he was +a magician. Wishing to try my powers in magical arts, as I +laughed at his church, he begged me to produce an everlasting +spring of water by simply scratching the ground. He, however, +drew short up, to the intense delight of my men, on my promising +that I would do so if he made one first. + +At night, 22d, a steel scabbard and some cloths were extracted +from our camp, so I begged my friend the great doctor would show +us the use of his horn. This was promised, but never performed. +I then wished to leave, as the Wasui guides, on receiving their +pay, promised we should; but they deferred, on the plea that one +of them must see their chief first, and get him to frank us +through, else, they said, we should be torn to pieces. I said I +thought the Kaquenzingiriri could do this; but they said, "No; +Suwarora must be told first of your arrival, to prepare him +properly for your coming; so stop here for three days with two of +us, whilst the third one goes to the palace and returns again; +for you know the chiefs of these countries do not feel safe until +they have a look at the uganga." + +One of them then went away, but no sooner had left than a man +named Makinga arrived to invite us on, as he said, at his adopted +brother K'yengo's request. Makinga then told us that Suwarora, +on first hearing that we were coming, became greatly afraid, and +said he would not let us set eyes on his country, as he was sure +we were king-dethroners; but, referring for opinion to Dr +K'yengo, his fears were overcome by the doctor assuring him that +he had seen hosts of our sort at Zanzibar; and he knew, moreover, +that some years ago we had been to Ujiji and to Ukerewe without +having done any harm in those places; and, further, since Musa +had sent word that I had done my best to subdue the war at +Unyanyembe, and had promised to do my best here, he, Suwarora, +had been anxiously watching our movements, and longed for our +arrival. This looked famous, and it was agreed we should move +the next morning. Just then a new light broke in on my defeat at +Sorombo, for with Makinga I recognised one of my former porters, +who I had supposed was a "child" of the Pig's. This man now said +before all my men, Baraka included, that he wished to accept the +load of mzizima I had offered the Pig if he would go forward with +Baraka and tell Suwarora I wanted some porters to help me to +reach him. He was not a "child" of the Pig's, but a "child" of +K'yengo's; and as Baraka would not allow him to accept the load +of mzizima, he went on to K'yengo by himself, and told all that +had happened. It was now quite clear what motives induced +Suwarora to send out the three Wasui; but how I blessed Baraka +for this in my heart, though I said nothing about it to him, for +fear of his playing some more treacherous tricks. Grant then +told me Baraka had been frightened at Mininga, by a blackguard +Mganga to whom he would not give a present, into the belief that +our journey would encounter some terrible mishap; for, when the +M'yonga catastrophe happened, he thought that a fulfillment of +the Mganga's prophecy. + +I wished to move in the morning (23d), and had all hands ready, +but was told by Makinga he must be settled with first. His dues +for the present were four brass wires, and as many more when we +reached the palace. I could not stand this: we were literally, +as Musa said we should be, being "torn to pieces"; so I appealed +to the mace-bearers, protested that Makinga could have no claims +on me, as he was not a man of Usui, but a native of Utambara, and +brought on a row. On the other hand, as he could not refute +this, Makinga swore the mace was all a pretence, and set a- +fighting with the Wasui and all the men in turn. + +To put a stop to this, I ordered a halt, and called on the +district officer to assist us, on which he said he would escort +us on to Suwarora's if we would stop till next morning. This was +agreed to; but in the night we were robbed of three goats, which +he said he could not allow to be passed over, lest Suwarora might +hear of it, and he would get into a scrape. He pressed us +strongly to stop another day whilst he sought for them, but I +told him I would not, as his magic powder was weak, else he would +have found the scabbard we lost long before this. + +At last we got under way, and, after winding through a long +forest, we emerged on the first of the populous parts of Usui, a +most convulsed-looking country, of well-rounded hills composed of +sandstone. In all the parts not under cultivation they were +covered with brushwood. Here the little grass-hut villages were +not fenced by a boma, but were hidden in large fields of +plantains. Cattle were numerous, kept by the Wahuma, who could +not sell their milk to us because we ate fowls and a bean called +maharague. + +Happily no one tried to pillage us here, so on we went to +Vikora's, another officer, living at N'yakasenye, under a +sandstone hill, faced with a dyke of white quartz, over which +leaped a small stream of water--a seventy-feet drop--which, it is +said, Suwarora sometimes paid homage to when the land was +oppressed by drought. Vikora's father it was whom Sirboko of +Mininga shot. Usually he was very severe with merchants in +consequence of that act; but he did not molest us, as the +messenger who went on to Suwarora returned here just as we +arrived, to say we must come on at once, as Suwarora was anxious +to see us, and had ordered his Wakungu not to molest us. Thieves +that night entered our ringfence of thorns, and stole a cloth +from off one of my men while he was sleeping. + +We set down Suwarora, after this very polite message, "a regular +trump," and walked up the hill of N'yakasenye with considerable +mirth, singing his praises; but we no sooner planted ourselves on +the summit than we sang a very different tune. We were ordered +to stop by a huge body of men, and to pay toll. + +Suwarora, on second thoughts, had changed his mind, or else he +had been overruled by two of his officers--Kariwami, who lived +here, and Virembo, who lived two stages back, but were then with +their chief. There was no help for it, so I ordered the camp to +be formed, and sent Nasib and the mace-bearers at once off to the +palace to express to his highness how insulted I felt as his +guest, being stopped in this manner, even when I had his +Kaquenzingiriri with me as his authority that I was invited there +as a guest. I was not a merchant who carried merchandise, but a +prince like himself, come on a friendly mission to see him and +Rumanika. I was waiting at night for the return of the +messengers, and sitting out with my sextant observing the stars, +to fix my position, when some daring thieves, in the dark bushes +close by, accosted two of the women of the camp, pretending a +desire to know what I was doing. They were no sooner told by the +unsuspecting women, than they whipped off their cloths and ran +away with them, allowing their victims to pass me in a state of +absolute nudity. I could stand this thieving no longer. My +goats and other things had been taken away without causing me +much distress of mind, but now, after this shocking event, I +ordered my men to shoot at any thieves that came near them. + +This night one was shot, without any mistake about it; for the +next morning we tracked him by his blood, and afterwards heard he +had died of his wound. The Wasui elders, contrary to my +expectation, then came and congratulated us on our success. They +thought us most wonderful men, and possessed of supernatural +powers; for the thief in question was a magician, who until now +was thought to be invulnerable. Indeed, they said Arabs with +enormous caravans had often been plundered by these people; but +though they had so many more guns than ourselves, they never +succeeded in killing one. + +Nasib then returned to inform us that the king had heard our +complaint, and was sorry for it, but said he could not interfere +with the rights of his officers. He did not wish himself to take +anything from us, and hoped we would come on to him as soon as we +had satisfied his officers with the trifle they wanted. Virembo +then sent us some pombe by his officers, and begged us to have +patience, for he was then fleecing Masudi at the encamping-ground +near the palace. This place was alive with thieves. During the +day they lured my men into their huts by inviting them to dinner; +but when they got them they stripped them stark-naked and let +them go again; whilst at night they stone our camp. After this, +one more was shot dead and two others wounded. + +I knew that Suwarora's message was all humbug, and that his +officers merely kept about one per cent. of what they took from +travellers, paying the balance into the royal coffers. Thinking +I was now well in for a good fleecing myself, I sent Bombay off +to Masudi's camp, to tell Insangez, who was travelling with him +on a mission of his master's, old Musa's son, that I would reward +him handsomely if he would, on arrival at Karague, get Rumanika +to send us his mace here in the same way as Suwarora had done to +help us out of Bogue, as he knew Musa at one time said he would +go with us to Karague in person. When Bombay was gone, Virembo +then deputed Kariwami to take the hongo for both at once, mildly +requiring 40 wires, 80 cloths, and 400 necklaces of every kind of +bead we possessed. This was, indeed, too much of a joke. I +complained of all the losses I had suffered, and begged for +mercy; but all he said, after waiting the whole day, was, "Do not +stick at trifles; for, after settling with us, you will have to +give as much more to Vikora, who lives down below." + +Next morning, as I said I could not by any means pay such an +exorbitant tax as was demanded, Kariwami begged me to make an +offer which I did by sending him four wires. These, of course, +were rejected with scorn; so, in addition, I sent an old box. +That, too, was thrown back on me, as nothing short of 20 wires, +40 cloths, and 200 necklaces of all sorts of beads, would satisfy +him; and this I ought to be contented to pay, as he had been so +moderate because I was the king's guest, and had been so reduced +by robbery. I now sent six wires more, and said this was the +last I could give--they were worth so many goats to me--and now +by giving them away, I should have to live on grain like a poor +man, though I was a prince in my own country, just like Suwarora. +Surely Suwarora could not permit this if he knew it; and if they +would not suffice, I should have to stop here until called again +by Suwarora. The ruffian, on hearing this, allowed the wires to +lie in his hut, and said he was going away, but hoped, when he +returned, I should have, as I had got no cloths, 20 wires, and +1000 necklaces of extra length, strung and all ready for him. + +Just then Bombay returned flushed with the excitement of a great +success. He had been in Masudi's camp, and had delivered my +message to Insangez. Asudi, he said, had been there a fortnight +unable to settle his hongo, for the great Mkama had not deigned +to see him, though the Arab had been daily to his palace +requesting an interview. "Well," I said, "that is all very +interesting, but what next?--will the big king see us?" "O no; +by the very best good fortune in the world, on going into the +palace I saw Suwarora, and spoke to him at once; but he was so +tremendously drunk, he could not understand me." "What luck was +there in that?" I asked. On which Bombay said, "Oh, everybody in +the place congratulated me on my success in having obtained an +interview with that great monarch the very first day, when Arabs +had seldom that privilege under one full month of squatting; even +Masudi had not yet seen him." To which Nasib also added, "Ah, +yes--indeed it is so-- a monstrous success; there is great +ceremony as well as business at these courts; you will better see +what I mean when you get to Uganda. These Wahuma kings are not +like those you ever saw in Unyamuezi or anywhere else; they have +officers and soldiers like Said Majid, the Sultan at Zanzibar." +"Well," said I to Bombay, "what was Suwarora like?" "Oh, he is a +very fine man--just as tall, and in the face very like Grant; in +fact, if Grant were black you would not know the difference." +"And were his officers drunk too?" "O yes, they were all drunk +together; men were bringing in pombe all day." "And did you get +drunk?" "O yes," said Bombay, grinning, and showing his whole +row of sharp-pointed teeth, "they WOULD make me drink; and then +they showed me the place they assigned for your camp when you +come over there. It was not in the palace, but outside, without +a tree near it; anything but a nice-looking residence." I then +sent Bombay to work at the hongo business; but, after haggling +till night with Kariwami, he was told he must bring fourteen +brass wires, two cloths, and five mukhnai of kanyera, or white +porcelain beads--which, reduced, amounted to three hundred +necklaces; else he said I might stop there for a month. + +At last I settled this confounded hongo, by paying seven +additional wires in lieu of the cloth; and, delighted at the +termination of this tedious affair, I ordered a march. Like +magic, however, Vikora turned up, and said we must wait until he +was settled with. His rank was the same as the others, and one +bead less than I had given them he would not take. I fought all +the day out, but the next morning, as he deputed his officers to +take nine wires, these were given, and then we went on with the +journey. + +Tripping along over the hill, we descended to a deep miry +watercourse, full of bulrushes, then over another hill, from the +heights of which we saw Suwarora's palace, lying down in the +Uthungu valley, behind which again rose another hill of +sandstone, faced on the top with a dyke of white quartz. The +scene was very striking, for the palace enclosures, of great +extent, were well laid out to give effect. Three circles of milk +bush, one within the other, formed the boma, or ring-fence. The +chief's hut (I do not think him worthy of the name of king, since +the kingdom is divided in two) was three times as large as any of +the others, and stood by itself at the farther end; whilst the +smaller huts, containing his officers and domestics, were +arranged in little groups within a circle, at certain distances +apart from one another, sufficient to allow of their stalling +their cattle at night. + +On descending into the Uthungu valley, Grant, who was preceding +the men, found Makinga opposed to the progress of the caravan +until his dues were paid. He was a stranger like ourselves, and +was consequently treated with scorn, until he tried to maintain +what he called his right, by pulling the loads off my men's +shoulders, whereupon Grant cowed him into submission, and all +went on again-- not to the palace, as we had supposed, but, by +the direction of the mace-bearers, to the huts of Suwarora's +commander-in-chief, two miles from the palace; and here we found +Masudi's camp also. We had no sooner formed camp for ourselves +and arranged all our loads, than the eternal Vikora, whom I +thought we had settled with before we started, made a claim for +some more wire, cloth, and beads, as he had not received as much +as Kariwani and Virembo. Of course I would not listen to this, as +I had paid what his men asked for, and that was enough for me. +Just then Masudi, with the other Arabs who were travelling with +him, came over to pay us a visit, and inquire what we thought of +the Usui taxes. He had just concluded his hongo to Suwarora by +paying 80 wires, 120 yards of cloth, and 130 lb. of beads, whilst +he had also paid to every officer from 20 to 40 wires, as well as +cloths and beads. On hearing of my transactions, he gave it as +his opinion that I had got off surprisingly well. + +Next morning, (1st) Masudi and his party started for Karague. +They had been more than a year between this and Kaze, trying all +the time to get along. Provisions here were abundant--hawked +about by the people, who wore a very neat skin kilt strapped +round the waist, but otherwise were decorated like the +Wanyamuezi. It was difficult to say who were of true breed here, +for the intercourse of the natives with the Wahuma and the +Wanyamuezi produced a great variety of facial features amongst +the people. Nowhere did I ever see so many men and women with +hazel eyes as at this place. + +In the evening, an Uganda man, by name N'yamgundu, came to pay +his respects to us. He was dressed in a large skin wrapper, made +up of a number of very small antelope skins: it was as soft as +kid, and just as well sewn as our gloves. To our surprise the +manners of the man were quite in keeping with his becoming dress. +I was enchanted with his appearance, and so were my men, though +no one could speak to him but Nasib, who told us he knew him +before. He was the brother of the dowager queen of Uganda, and, +along with a proper body of officers, he had been sent by Mtesa, +the present king of Uganda, to demand the daughter of Suwarora, +as reports had reached his king that she was surprisingly +beautiful. They had been here more than a year, during which +time this beautiful virgin had died; and now Suwarora, fearful of +the great king's wrath, consequent on his procrastinations, was +endeavouring to make amends for it, by sending, instead of his +daughter, a suitable tribute in wires. I thought it not wonderful +that we should be fleeced. + +Next day (2d) Sirhid paid us a visit, and said he was the first +man in the state. He certainly was a nice-looking young man, +with a good deal of the Wahuma blood in him. Flashily dressed in +coloured cloths and a turban, he sat down in one of our chairs as +if he had been accustomed to such a seat all his life, and spoke +with great suavity. I explained our difficulties as those of +great men in misfortune; and, after listening to our tale, he +said he would tell Suwarora of the way we had been plundered, and +impress upon him to deal lightly with us. I said I had brought +with me a few articles of European manufacture for Suwarora, +which I hoped would be accepted if I presented them, for they +were such things as only great men like his chief every +possessed. One was a five-barrelled pistol, another a large +block-in box, and so fourth; but after looking at them, and +seeing the pistol fired, he said; "No; you must not shew these +things at first, or the Mkama might get frightened, thinking them +magic. I might lose my head for presuming to offer them, and +then there is no knowing what might happen afterwards." "Then can +I not see him at once and pay my respects, for I have come a +great way to obtain that pleasure?" "No," said Sirhid, "I will +see him first; for he is not a man like myself, but requires to +be well assured before he sees anybody." "Then why did he invite +me here!" "He heard that Makaka, and afterwards Lumeresi, had +stopped your progress; and as he wished to see what you were +like, he ordered me to send some men to you, which, as you know, +I did twice. He wishes to see you, but does not like doing +things in a hurry. Superstition, you know, preys on these men's +minds who have not seen the world like you and myself." Sirhid +then said he would ask Suwarora to grant us an interview as soon +as possible; then, whilst leaving, he begged for the iron chair +he had sat upon; but hearing we did not know how to sit on the +ground, and therefore could not spare it, he withdrew without any +more words about it. + +Virembo then said (3d) he must have some more wire and beads, as +his proxy Kariwami had been satisfied with too little. I drove +him off in a huff, but he soon came back again with half the +hongo I had paid to Kariwami, and said he must have some cloths +or he would not have anything. As fortune decreed it, just then +Sirhid dropped in, and stopped him importunity for the time by +saying that if we had possessed cloths his men must have known +it, for they had been travelling with us. No sooner, however, +did Virembo turn tail than the Sirhid gave us a broad hint that +he usually received a trifle from the Arabs before he made an +attempt at arranging the hongo with Suwarora. Any trifle would +do but he preferred cloth. + +This was rather perplexing. Sirhid knew very well that I had a +small reserve of pretty cloths, though all the common ones had +been expended; so, to keep in good terms with him who was to be +our intercessor, I said I would give him the last I had got if he +would not tell Suwarora or any one else what I had done. Of +course he was quite ready to undertake the condition, so I gave +him two pretty cloths, and he in return gave me two goats. But +when this little business had been transacted, to my surprise he +said: "I have orders from Suwarora to be absent five days to +doctor a sick relation of his, for there is no man in the country +so skilled in medicines as myself; but whilst I am gone I will +leave Karambule, my brother, to officiate in my stead about +taking your hongo; but the work will not commence until to- +morrow, for I must see Suwarora on the subject myself first." + +Irungu, a very fine-looking man of Uganda, now called on me and +begged for beads. He said his king had heard of our approach, +and was most anxious to see us. Hearing this I begged him to +wait here until my hongo was paid, that we might travel on to +Uganda together. He said, No, he could not wait, for he had been +detained here a whole year already; but, if I liked, he would +leave some of his children behind with me, as their presence +would intimidate Suwarora, and incite him to let us off quickly. + +I then begged him to convey a Colt's six-chamber revolving rifle +to his king, Mtesa, as an earnest that I was a prince most +desirous of seeing him. No one, I said, but myself could tell +what dangers and difficulties I had encountered to come thus far +for the purpose, and all was owing to his great fame, as the king +of kings, having reached me even as far off as Zanzibar. The +ambassador would not take the rifle, lest his master, who had +never seen such a wonderful weapon before, should think he had +brought him a malign charm, and he would be in danger of losing +his head. I then tried to prevail on him to take a knife and +some other pretty things, but he feared them all; so, as a last +chance--for I wished to send some token, by way of card or +letter, for announcing my approach and securing the road--I gave +him a red six-penny pocket-handkerchief, which he accepted; and +he then told me he was surprised I had come all this way round to +Uganda, when the road by the Masai country was so much shorter. +He told me how, shortly after the late king of Uganda, Sunna, +died, and before Mtesa had been selected by the officers of the +country to be their king, an Arab caravan came across the Masai +as far as Usoga, and begged for permission to enter Uganda; but +as the country was disturbed by the elections, the officers of +the state advised the Arabs to wait, or come again when the king +was elected. I told him I had heard of this before, but also +heard that those Arabs had met with great disasters, owing to the +turbulence of the Masai. To which he replied: "That is true; +there were great difficulties in those times, but now the Masai +country was in better order; and as Mtesa was most anxious to +open that line, he would give me as many men as I liked if I +wished to go home that way." + +This was pleasant information, but not quite new, for the Arabs +had told me Mtesa was so anxious to open that route, he had +frequently offered to aid them in it himself. Still it was most +gratifying to myself as I had written to the Geographical +Society, on leaving Bogue, that if I found Petherick in Uganda, +or on the northern end of the N'yanza, so that the Nile question +was settled, I would endeavour to reach Zanzibar via the Masai +country. In former days, I knew, the kings of Uganda were in the +habit of sending men to Karague when they heard that Arabs wished +to visit them--even as many as two hundred at a time--to carry +their kit; so I now begged Irungu to tell Mtesa that I should +want at least sixty men; and then, on his promising that he would +be my commissioner, I gave him the beads he had begged for +himself. + +4th to 6th.--Karambule now told us to string our beads on the +fibre of the Mwale tree, which was sold here by the Wasui, as he +intended to live in the palace for a couple of days, arranging +with Suwarora what tax we should have to pay, after which he +would come and take it from us; but we must mind and be ready, +for whatever Suwarora said, it must be done instantly. There was +no such thing as haggling with him; you must pay and be off at +once, failing which you might be detained a whole month before +there would be an opportunity to speak on the subject again. +Beads were then served out to all my men to be strung, a certain +quantity to every kambi or mess, and our work was progressing; +but next day we heard that Karambule was sick or feigning to be +so, and therefore had never gone to the palace at all. On the +6th, provoked at last by the shameful manner in which we were +treated, I send word to him to say, if he did not go at once I +would go myself, and force my way in with my guns, for I could +not submit to being treated like a slave, stuck out here in the +jungle with nothing to do but shoot for specimens, or make +collections of rocks, etc. This brought on another row; for he +said both Virembo and Vikora had returned their hongos, and until +their tongues were quieted he could not speak to Suwarora. + +To expedite matters (7th), as our daily consumption in camp was a +tax of itself, I gave these tormenting creatures one wire, one +pretty cloth, and five hundred necklaces of white beads, which +were no sooner accepted than Karambule, in the same way as Sirhid +had done, said it would be greatly to my advantage if I gave him +something worth having before he saw the Mkama. Only too glad to +being work I gave him a red blanket, called joho, and five +strings of mzizima beads, which were equal to fifty of the common +white. + +8th and 9th.--All this time nothing but confusion reigned in +camp, khambi fighting against khambi. Both men and women got +drunk, whilst from outside we were tormented by the Wasui, both +men and women pertinaciously pressing into our hut, watching us +eat, and begging in the most shameless manner. They did not know +the word bakhshish, or present; but, as bad as the Egyptians, +they held our their hands, patted their bellies, and said +Kaniwani (my friend) until we were sick of the sound of that +word. Still it was impossible to dislike these simple creatures +altogether, they were such perfect children. If we threw water +at them to drive them away, they came back again, thinking it +fun. + +Ten days now had elapsed since we came here, still nothing was +done (10th), as Karambule said, because Suwarora had been so +fully occupied collecting an army to punish an officer who had +refused to pay his taxes, had ignored his authority, and had set +himself us as king of the district he was appointed to +superintend. After this, at midnight, Karambule, in an excited +manner, said he had seen Suwarora, and it then was appointed +that, not he, but Virembo should take the royal hongo, as well as +the Wahinda, or princes' shares, the next morning--after which we +might go as fast as we liked, for Suwarora was so full occupied +with his army he could not see us this time. Before, however, +the hongo could be paid, I must give the Sirhid and himself +twenty brass wires, three joho, three barsati, twenty strings of +mzizima, and one thousand strings of white beads. They were +given. + +A fearful row now broke out between Bombay and Baraka (11th). +Many of my men had by this time been married, notwithstanding my +prohibition. Baraka, for instance, had with him the daughter of +Ungurue, chief of Phunze; Wadimoyo, a woman called Manamaka; +Sangizo, his wife and sister; but Bombay had not got one, and +mourned for a girl he had set his eyes on, unfortunately for +himself letting Baraka into his confidence. This set Baraka on +the qui vive to catch Bombay tripping; for Baraka knew he could +not get her without paying a good price for her, and therefore +watched his opportunity to lay a complaint against him of +purloining my property, by which scheme he would, he thought, get +Bombay's place as storekeeper himself. In a sly manner Bombay +employed some of my other men to take five wires, a red blanket, +and 500 strings of beads, to his would-be father-in-law, which, +by a previously-concocted arrangement, was to be her dowry price. +These men did as they were bid; but the father-in-law returned +things, saying he must have one more wire. That being also +supplied, the scoundrel wanted more, and made so much fuss about +it, that Baraka became conversant with all that was going on, and +told me of it. + +This set the whole camp in a flame, for Bombay and Baraka were +both very drunk, as well as most of the other men, so that it was +with great difficulty I could get hold of the rights of their +stories. Bombay acknowledged he had tried to get the girl, for +they had been sentimentalising together for several days, and +both alike wished to be married. Baraka, he said, was allowed to +keep a wife, and his position, demanded that he should have one +also; but the wires were his own property, and not mine, for he +was given them by the chiefs as a perquisite when I paid their +hongo through him. He thought it most unjust and unfair of +Baraka to call him to account in that way, but he was not +surprised at it, as Baraka, from the beginning of the journey to +the present moment, had always been backbiting him, to try and +usurp his position. Baraka, at this, somewhat taken aback, said +there were no such things as perquisites on a journey like this; +for whatever could be saved from the chiefs was for the common +good of all, and all alike ought to share in it--repeating words +I had often expressed. Then Bombay retorted trembling and +foaming in his liquor: "I know I shall get the worst of it, for +whilst Baraka's tongue is a yard long, mine is only an inch; but +I would not have spent any wires of master's to purchase slaves +with (alluding to what Baraka had done at Mihambo); nor would I, +for any purpose of making myself richer; but when it comes to a +wife, that's a different thing." + +In my heart I liked Bombay all the more for this confession, but +thought it necessary to extol Baraka for his quickness in finding +him out, which drove Bombay nearly wild. He wished me to degrade +him, if I thought him dishonest; threw himself on the ground, and +kissed my feet. I might thrash him, turn him into a porter, or +do anything else that I liked with him, as long as I did not +bring a charge of dishonesty against him. He could not explain +himself with Baraka's long tongue opposed to him, but there were +many deficiencies in my wires before he took overcharge at Bogue, +which he must leave for settlement till the journey was over, and +then, the whole question having been sifted at Zanzibar, we would +see who was the most honest. I then counted all the wires over, +at Bombay's request, and found them complete in numbers, without +those he had set aside from the dowry money. Still there was a +doubt, for the wires might have been cut by him without +detection, as from the commencement they were of different +lengths. However, I tried to make them friends, claimed all the +wires myself, and cautioned every man in the camp again, that +they were all losers when anything was misappropriated; for I +brought this property to pay our way with and whatever balance +was over at the end of the journey I would divide amongst the +whole of them. + +12th and 13th.--When more sober, Bombay again came to crave a +thousand pardons for what he had done, threw himself down at my +feet, then at Grant's, kissed our toes, swore I was his Ma Pap +(father and mother); he had no father or mother to teach him +better; he owed all his prosperity to me; men must err sometimes; +oh, if I would only forgive him,--and so forth. Then being +assured that I knew he never would have done as he had if a +woman's attractions had not led him astray, he went to his work +again like a man, and consoled himself by taking Sangizo's sister +to wife on credit instead of the old love, promising to pay the +needful out of his pay, and to return her to her brother when the +journey was over. + +In the evening Virembo and Karambule came to receive the hongo +for their chief, demanding 60 wires, 160 yards merikani, 300 +strings of mzizima, and 5000 strings of white beads; but they +allowed themselves to be beaten down to 50 wires, 20 pretty +cloths, 100 strings mzizima, and 4000 kutuamnazi, or cocoa-nut- +leaf coloured beads, my white being all done. It was too late, +however, to count all the things out, so they came the next day +and took them. They then said we might go as soon as we had +settled with the Wahinda or Wanawami (the king's children), for +Suwarora could not see us this time, as he was so engaged with +his army; but he hoped to see us and pay us more respect when we +returned from Uganda, little thinking that I had sworn in my mind +never to see him, or return that way again. I said to those men, +I thought he was ashamed to see us, as he had robbed us so after +inviting us into the country, else he was too superstitious, for +he ought at least to have given us a place in his palace. They +both rebutted the insinuation; and, to change the subject, +commenced levying the remaining dues to the princes, which ended +by my giving thirty-four wires and six pretty cloths in a lump. + +Early in the morning we were on foot again, only too thankful to +have got off so cheaply. Then men were appointed as guides and +protectors, to look after us as far as the border. What an +honour! We had come into the country drawn there by a combination +of pride and avarice and now we were leaving it in hot haste +under the guidance of an escort of officers, who were in reality +appointed to watch us as dangerous wizards and objects of terror. +It was all the same to us, as we now only thought of the prospect +of relief before us, and laughed at what we had gone through. + +Rising out of the Uthungu valley, we walked over rolling ground, +drained in the dips by miry rush rivulets. The population was +thinly scattered in small groups of grass huts, where the scrub +jungle had been cleared away. On the road we passed cairns, to +which every passer-by contributed a stone. Of the origin of the +cairns I could not gain any information, though it struck me as +curious I should find them in the first country we had entered +governed by the Wahuma, as I formerly saw the same thing in the +Somali country, which doubtless, in earlier days, was governed by +a branch of the Abyssinians. Arrived at our camping, we were +immediately pounced upon by a deputation of officers, who said +they had been sent by Semamba, the officer of this district. He +lived ten miles from the road; but hearing of our approach, he +had sent these men to take his dues. At first I objected to pay, +lest he should afterwards treat me as Virembo had done; but I +gave way in the end, and paid nine wires, two chintz and two +bindera cloths, as the guides said they would stand my security +against any further molestation. + +Rattling on again as merry as larks, over the same red sandstone +formation, we entered a fine forest, and trended on through it as +a stiff pace until we arrived at the head of a deep valley called +Lohuati, which was so beautiful we instinctively pulled up to +admire it. Deep down its well-wooded side below us was a stream, +of most inviting aspect for a trout-fisher, flowing towards the +N'yanza. Just beyond it the valley was clothed with fine trees +and luxuriant vegetation of all descriptions, amongst which was +conspicuous the pretty pandana palm, and rich gardens of +plantains; whilst thistles of extraordinary size and wild indigo +were the more common weeds. The land beyond that again rolled +back in high undulations, over which, in the far distance, we +could see a line of cones, red and bare on their tops, guttered +down with white streaks, looking for all the world like recent +volcanoes; and in the far background, rising higher than all, +were the rich grassy hills of Karague and Kishakka. + +On resuming our march, a bird, called khongota, flew across our +path; seeing which, old Nasib, beaming with joy, in his +superstitious belief cried out with delight, "Ah, look at that +good omen!--now our journey will be sure to be prosperous." +After fording the stream, we sat down to rest, and were visited +by all the inhabitants, who were more naked than any people we +had yet seen. All the maidens, even at the age of puberty, did +not hesitate to stand boldly in front of us--for evil thoughts +were not in their minds. From this we rose over a stony hill to +the settlement of Vihembe, which, being the last on the Usui +frontier, induced me to give our guides three wires each, and +four yards of bindera, which Nasib said was their proper fee. +Here Bombay's would-be, but disappointed, father-in-law sent +after us to say that he required a hongo; Suwarora had never +given his sanction to our quitting his country; his hongo even +was not settled. He wished, moreover, particularly to see us; +and if we did not return in a friendly manner, an army would +arrest our march immediately. + + + + + Chapter VIII + + + + Karague + +Relief from Protectors and Pillagers--The Scenery and Geology-- +Meeting with the Friendly King Rumanika--His Hospitalities and +Attention--His Services to the Expedition--Philosophical and +Theological Inquiries--The Royal Family of Karague--The M-Fumbiro +Mountain--Navigation of "The Little Windermere"--The New-Moon +Levee --Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus Hunting--Measurement of a +Fattened Queen--Political Polygamy--Christmas--Rumours of +Petherick's Expedition--Arrangements to meet it--March to Uganda. + +This was a day of relief and happiness. A load was removed from +us in seeing the Wasui "protectors" depart, with the truly +cheering information that we now had nothing but wild animals to +contend with before reaching Karague. This land is "neutral," by +which is meant that it is untenanted by human beings; and we +might now hope to bid adieu for a time to the scourging system of +taxation to which we had been subjected. + +Gradually descending from the spur which separates the Lohugati +valley from the bed of the Lueru lo Urigi, or Lake of Urigi, the +track led us first through a meadow of much pleasing beauty, and +then through a passage between the "saddle-back" domes we had +seen from the heights above Lohugati, where a new geological +formation especially attracted my notice. From the green slopes +of the hills, set up at a slant, as if the central line of +pressure on the dome top had weighed on the inside plates, +protruded soft slabs of argillaceous sandstone, whose laminae +presented a beef-sandwich appearance, puce or purple alternating +with creamy-white. Quartz and other igneous rocks were also +scattered about, lying like superficial accumulations in the dips +at the foot of the hills, and red sandstone conglomerates clearly +indicated the presence of iron. The soil itself looked rich and +red, not unlike our own fine country of Devon. + +On arriving in camp we pitched under some trees, and at once were +greeted by an officer sent by Rumanika to help us out of Usui. +This was Kachuchu, an old friend of Nasib's, who no sooner saw +him than, beaming with delight, he said to us, "Now, was I not +right when I told you the birds flying about on Lohugati hill +were a good omen? Look here what this man says: Rumanika has +ordered him to bring you on to his palace at once, and wherever +you stop a day, the village officers are instructed to supply you +with food at the king's expenses, for there are no taxes gathered +from strangers in the kingdom of Karague. Presents may be +exchanged, but the name of tax is ignored." Grant here shot a +rhinoceros, which came well into play to mix with the day's flour +we had carried on from Vihembe. + +Deluded yesterday by the sight of the broad waters of the Lueru +lo Urigi, espied in the distance from the top of a hill, into the +belief that we were in view of the N'yanza itself, we walked +triumphantly along, thinking how well the Arabs at Kaze had +described this to be a creek of the great lake; but on arrival in +camp we heard from the village officer that we had been +misinformed, and that it was a detached lake, but connected with +the Victoria N'yanza by a passage in the hills and the Kitangule +river. Formerly, he said, the Urigi valley was covered with +water, extending up to Uhha, when all the low lands we had +crossed from Usui had to be ferried, and the saddle-back hills +were a mere chain of islands in the water. But the country had +dried up, and the lake of Urigi became a small swamp. He further +informed us, that even in the late king Dagara's time it was a +large sheet of water; but the instant he ceased to exist, the +lake shrank to what we now saw. + +Our day's march had been novel and very amusing. The hilly +country surrounding us, together with the valley, brought back to +recollection many happy days I had once spent with the Tartars in +the Thibetian valley of the Indus--only this was more +picturesque; for though both countries are wild, and very thinly +inhabited, this was greened over with grass, and dotted here and +there on the higher slopes with thick bush of acacias, the haunts +of rhinoceros, both white and black; whilst in the flat of the +valley, herds of hartebeests and fine cattle roamed about like +the kiyang and tame yak of Thibet. Then, to enhance all these +pleasure, so different from our former experiences, we were +treated like guests by the chief of the place, who, obeying the +orders of his king, Rumanika, brought me presents, as soon as we +arrived, of sheep, fowls, and sweet potatoes, and was very +thankful for a few yards of red blanketing as a return, without +begging for more. + +The farther we went in this country the better we liked it, as +the people were all kept in good order; and the village chiefs +were so civil, that we could do as we liked. After following +down the left side of the valley and entering the village, the +customary presents and returns were made. Wishing then to obtain +a better view of the country, I strolled over the nearest hills, +and found the less exposed slopes well covered with trees. Small +antelopes occasionally sprang up from the grass. I shot a +florikan for the pot; and as I had never before seen white +rhinoceros, killed one now; though, as no one would eat him, I +felt sorry rather than otherwise for what I had done. When I +returned in the evening, small boys brought me sparrows for sale; +and then I remembered the stories I had heard from Musa Mzuri-- +that in the whole of Karague the small birds were so numerous, +the people, to save themselves from starvation were obliged to +grow a bitter corn which the birds disliked; and so I found it. +At night, whilst observing for latitude, I was struck by surprise +to see a long noisy procession pass by where I sat, led by some +men who carried on their shoulders a woman covered up in a +blackened skin. On inquiry, however, I heard she was being taken +to the hut of her espoused, where, "bundling fashion," she would +be put in bed; but it was only with virgins they took so much +trouble. + +A strange but characteristic story now reached my ears. Masudi, +the merchant who took up Insangez, had been trying his best to +deter Rumanika from allowing us to enter his country, by saying +we were addicted to sorcery; and had it not been for Insangez's +remonstrances, who said we were sent up by Musa, our fate would +have been doubtful. Rumanika, it appeared, as I always had +heard, considered old Musa his saviour, for having eight years +before quelled a rebellion, when his younger brother, Rogero, +aspired to the throne; whilst Musa's honour and honesty were +quite unimpeachable. But more of this hereafter. + +Khonze, the next place, lying in the bending concave of this +swamp lake, and facing Hangiro, was commanded by a fine elderly +man called Muzegi, who was chief officer during Dagara's time. +He told me with the greatest possible gravity, that he remembered +well the time when a boat could have gone from this to Vigura; as +also when fish and crocodiles came up from the Kitangule; but the +old king no sooner died than the waters dried up; which showed as +plainly as words could tell, that the king had designed it, to +make men remember him with sorrow in all future ages. Our +presents after this having been exchanged, the good old man, at +my desire, explained the position of all the surrounding +countries, in his own peculiar manner, by laying a long stick on +the ground pointing due north and south, to which he attached +shorter ones pointing to the centre of each distant country. He +thus assisted me in the protractions of the map, to the countries +which lie east and west of the route. + +Shortly after starting this morning, we were summoned by the last +officer on the Urigi to take breakfast with him, as he could not +allow us to pass by without paying his respects to the king's +guests. He was a man of most affable manners, and loth we should +part company without one night's entertainment at least; but as +it was a matter of necessity, he gave us provisions to eat on the +way, adding, at the same time, he was sorry he could not give +more, as a famine was then oppressing the land. We parted with +reiterated compliments on both sides; and shortly after, diving +into the old bed of the Urigi, were constantly amused with the +variety of game which met our view. On several occasions the +rhinoceros were so numerous and impudent as to contest the right +of the road with us, and the greatest sport was occasioned by our +bold Wanguana going at them in parties of threes and fours, when, +taking good care of themselves at considerable distances, they +fired their carbines all together, and whilst the rhinoceros ran +one way, they ran the other. Whilst we were pitching our tents +after sunset by some pools on the plain, Dr K'yengo arrived with +the hongo of brass and copper wires sent by Suwarora for the +great king Mtesa, in lieu of his daughter who died; so next +morning we all marched together on to Uthenga. + +Rising out of the bed of the Urigi, we passed over a low spur of +beef-sandwich clay sandstones, and descended into the close, rich +valley of Uthenga, bound in by steep hills hanging over us more +than a thousand feet high, as prettily clothed as the mountains +of Scotland; whilst in the valley there were not only magnificent +trees of extraordinary height, but also a surprising amount of +the richest cultivation, amongst which the banana may be said to +prevail. Notwithstanding this apparent richness in the land, the +Wanyambo, living in their small squalid huts, seem poor. The +tobacco they smoke is imported from the coffee-growing country of +Uhaiya. After arrival in the village, who should we see but the +Uganda officer, Irungu! The scoundrel, instead of going on to +Uganda, as he had promised to do, conveying my present to Mtesa, +had stopped here plundering the Wanyambo, and getting drunk on +their pombe, called, in their language, marwa--a delicious kind +of wine made from the banana. He, or course, begged for more +beads; but, not able to trick me again, set his drummers and +fifers at work, in hopes that he would get over our feelings in +that way. + +Henceforth, as we marched, Irungu's drummers and fifers kept us +alive on the way. This we heard was a privilege that Uganda +Wakungu enjoyed both at home and abroad, although in all other +countries the sound of the drum is considered a notice of war, +unless where it happens to accompany a dance or festival. +Leaving the valley of Uthenga, we rose over the spur of +N'yamwara, where we found we had attained the delightful altitude +of 5000 odd feet. Oh, how we enjoyed it! every one feeling so +happy at the prospect of meeting so soon the good king Rumanika. +Tripping down the greensward, we now worked our way to the Rozoka +valley, and pitched our tents in the village. + +Kachuchu here told us he had orders to precede us, and prepare +Rumanika for our coming, as his king wished to know what place we +would prefer to live at--the Arab depot at kufro, on the direct +line to Uganda, in his palace with himself, or outside his +enclosures. Such politeness rather took us aback; so, giving our +friend a coil of copper wire to keep him in good spirits, I said +all our pleasure rested in seeing the king; whatever honours he +liked to confer on us we should take with good grace, but one +thing he must understand, we came not to trade, but to see him +and great kings and therefore the Arabs had no relations with us. +This little point settled, off started Kachuchu in his usual +merry manner, whilst I took a look at the hills, to see their +geological formation, and found them much as before, based on +streaky clay sandstones, with the slight addition of pure blue +shales, and above sections of quartzose sandstone lying in flags, +as well as other metamorphic and igneous rocks scattered about. + +Moving on the next morning over hill and dale, we came to the +junction of two roads, where Irungu, with his drummers, fifers +and amazon followers, took one way to Kufro, followed by the men +carrying Suwarora's hongo, and we led off on the other, directed +to the palace. The hill-tops in many places were breasted with +dykes of pure white quartz, just as we had seen in Usui, only +that here their direction tended more to the north. It was most +curious to contemplate, seeing that the chief substance of the +hills was a pure blue, or otherwise streaky clay sandstone, which +must have been formed when the land was low, but has now been +elevated, making these hills the axis of the centre of the +continent, and therefore probably the oldest of all. + +When within a few miles of the palace we were ordered to stop and +wait for Kachuchu's return; but no sooner put up in a plaintain +grove, where pombe was brewing, and our men were all taking a +suck at it, than the worthy arrived to call us on the same +instant, as the king was most anxious to see us. The love of +good beer of course made our men all too tired to march again; so +I sent off Bombay with Nasib to make our excuses, and in the +evening found them returning with a huge pot of pombe and some +royal tobacco, which Rumanika sent with a notice that he intended +it exclusively for our own use, for though there was abundance +for my men, there was nothing so good as what came from the +palace; the royal tobacco was as sweet and strong as honey-dew, +and the beer so strong it required a strong man to drink it. + +After breakfast next morning, we crossed the hill-spur called +Waeranhanje, the grassy tops of which were 5500 feet above the +sea. Descending a little, we came suddenly in view of what +appeared to us a rich clump of trees, in S. lat. 1§ 42' 42", and +E. long. 31§ 1' 49"; and, 500 feet below it, we saw a beautiful +sheet of water lying snugly within the folds of the hills. We +were not altogether unprepared for it, as Musa of old had +described it, and Bombay, on his return yesterday, told us he had +seen a great pond. The clump, indeed, was the palace enclosure. +As to the lake, for want of a native name, I christened it the +Little Winderemere, because Grant thought it so like our own +English lake of that name. It was one of many others which, like +that of Urigi, drains the moisture of the overhanging hills, and +gets drained into the Victoria N'yanza through the Kitangule +river. + +To do royal honours to the king of this charming land, I ordered +my men to put down their loads and fire a volley. This was no +sooner done than, as we went to the palace gate, we received an +invitation to come in at once, for the king wished to see us +before attending to anything else. Now, leaving our traps +outside, both Grant and myself, attended by Bombay and a few of +the seniors of my Wanguana, entered the vestibule, and, walking +through extensive enclosures studded with huts of kingly +dimensions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which the +Arabs had built as a sort of government office where the king +might conduct his state affairs. + +Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged on the ground +Rumanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji, both of them men of +noble appearance and size. The king was plainly dressed in an +Arab's black choga, and wore, for ornament, dress-stockings of +rich-coloured beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper. +Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high pretensions, in addition to +a check cloth wrapped round him, was covered with charms. At +their sides lay huge pipes of black clay. In their rear, +squatting quiet as mice, were all the king's sons, some six or +seven lads, who wore leather middle-coverings, and little dream- +charms tied under their chins. The first greetings of the king, +delivered in good Kisuahili, were warm and affecting, and in an +instant we both felt and saw we were in the company of men who +were as unlike as they could be to the common order of the +natives of the surrounding districts. They had fine oval faces, +large eyes, and high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia. +Having shaken hands in true English style, which is the peculiar +custom of the men of this country, the ever-smiling Rumanika +begged us to be seated on the ground opposite to him, and at once +wished to know what we thought of Karague, for it had struck him +his mountains were the finest in the world; and the lake, too, +did we not admire it? Then laughing, he inquired--for he knew +all the story--what we thought of Suwarora, and the reception we +had met with in Usui. When this was explained to him, I showed +him that it was for the interest of his own kingdom to keep a +check on Suwarora, whose exorbitant taxations prevented the Arabs +from coming to see him and bringing things from all parts of the +world. He made inquiries for the purpose of knowing how we found +our way all over the world; for on the former expedition a letter +had come to him for Musa, who no sooner read it than he said I +had called him and he must leave, as I was bound for Ujiji. + +This of course led to a long story, describing the world, the +proportions of land and water, and the power of ships, which +conveyed even elephants and rhinoceros--in fact, all the animals +in the world--to fill our menageries at home,--etc., etc.; as +well as the strange announcement that we lived to the northward, +and had only come this way because his friend Musa had assured me +without doubt that he would give us the road on through Uganda. +Time flew like magic, the king's mind was so quick and enquiring; +but as the day was wasting away, he generously gave us our option +to choose a place for our residence in or out of his palace, and +allowed us time to select one. We found the view overlooking the +lake to be so charming, that we preferred camping outside, and +set our men at once to work cutting sticks and long grass to +erect themselves sheds. + +One of the young princes--for the king ordered them all to be +constantly in attendance on us--happening to see me sit on an +iron chair, rushed back to his father and told him about it. +This set all the royals in the palace in a state of high wonder, +and ended by my getting a summons to show off the white man +sitting on his throne; for of course I could only be, as all of +them called me, a king of great dignity, to indulge in such +state. Rather reluctantly I did as I was bid, and allowed myself +once more to be dragged into court. Rumanika, as gentle as ever, +then burst into a fresh fit of merriment, and after making sundry +enlightened remarks of enquire, which of course were responded to +with the greatest satisfaction, finished off by saying, with a +very expressive shake of the head, "Oh, these Wazungu, these +Wazungu! they know and do everything." + +I then put in a word for myself. Since we had entered Karague we +never could get one drop of milk either for love or for money, +and I wished to know what motive the Wahuma had for withholding +it. We had heard they held superstitious dreads; that any one who +ate the flesh of pigs, fish, or fowls, or the bean called +Maharague, if he tasted the products of their cows, would destroy +their cattle --and I hoped he did not labour under any such +absurd delusions. To which he replied, It was only the poor who +thought so; and as he now saw we were in want, he would set apart +one of his cows expressly for our use. On bidding adieu, the +usual formalities of handshaking were gone through; and on +entering camp, I found the good thoughtful king had sent us some +more of his excellent beer. + +The Wanguana were now all in the highest of good-honour; for time +after time goats and fowls were brought into camp by the officers +of the king, who had received orders from all parts of the +country to bring in supplies for his guests; and this kind of +treatment went on for a month, though it did not diminish my +daily expenditures of beads, as grain and plantains were not +enough thought of. The cold winds, however, made the coast-men +all shiver, and suspect, in their ignorance, we must be drawing +close to England, the only cold place they had heard of. + +16th.--Hearing it would be considered indecent haste to present +my tributary offering at once, I paid my morning's visit, only +taking my revolving-pistol, as I knew Rumanika had expressed a +strong wish to see it. The impression it made was surprising--he +had never seen such a thing in his life; so, in return for his +great generosity, as well as to show I placed no value on +property, not being a merchant, I begged him to accept it. We +then adjourned to his private hut, which rather surprised me by +the neatness with which it was kept. The roof was supported by +numerous clean poles, to which he had fastened a large assortment +of spears--brass-headed with iron handles, and iron-headed with +wooden ones--of excellent workmanship. A large standing-screen, +of fine straw-plait work, in elegant devices, partitioned off one +part of the room; and on the opposite side, as mere ornaments, +were placed a number of brass grapnels and small models of cows, +made in iron for his amusement by the Arabs at Kufro. A little +later in the day, as soon as we had done breakfast, both Rumanika +and Nnanaji came over to pay us a visit; for they thought, as we +could find our way all over the world, so we should not find much +difficulty in prescribing some magic charms to kill his brother, +Rogero, who lived on a hill overlooking the Kitangule. Seating +them both on our chairs, which amused them intensely, I asked +Rumanika, although I had heard before the whole facts of the +case, what motives now induced him to wish the committal of such +a terrible act, and brought out the whole story afresh. + +Before their old father Dagara died, he had unwittingly said to +the mother of Rogero, although he was the youngest born, what a +fine king he would make; and the mother, in consequence, tutored +her son to expect the command of the country, although the law of +the land in the royal family is the primogeniture system, +extending, however, only to those sons who are born after the +accession of the king to the throne. + +As soon, therefore, as Dagara died, leaving the three sons +alluded to, all by different mothers, a contest took place with +the brothers, which, as Nnanaji held by Rumanika, ended in the +two elder driving Rogero away. It happened, however, that half +the men of the country, either from fear or love, attached +themselves to Rogero. Feeling his power, he raised an army and +attempted to fight for the crown, which it is generally admitted +would have succeeded, had not Musa, with unparalleled +magnanimity, employed all the ivory merchandise at his command to +engage the services of all the Arabs' slaves residing at Kufro, +to bring muskets against him. Rogero was thus frightened away; +but he went away swearing that he would carry out his intentions +at some future date, when the Arabs had withdrawn from the +country. + +Magic charms, of course, we had none; but the king would not +believe it, and, to wheedle some out of us, said they would not +kill their brother even if they caught him--for fratricide was +considered an unnatural crime in their country--but they would +merely gouge out his eyes and set him at large again; for without +the power of sight he could do them no harm. + +I then recommended, as the best advice I could give him for the +time being, to take some strong measures against Suwarora and the +system of taxation carried on in Usui. These would have the +effect of bringing men with superior knowledge into the country-- +for it was only through the power of knowledge that good +government could be obtained. Suwarora at present stopped eight- +tenths of the ivory-merchants who might be inclined to trade here +from coming into the country, by the foolish system of excessive +taxation he had established. Next I told him, if he would give +me one or two of his children, I would have them instructed in +England; for I admired his race, and believed them to have sprung +from our old friends the Abyssinians, whose king, Sahela +Selassie, had received rich presents from our Queen. They were +Christians like ourselves, and had the Wahuma not lost their +knowledge of God they would be so also. A long theological and +historical discussion ensued, which so pleased the king, that he +said he would be delighted if I would take two of his sons to +England, that they might bring him a knowledge of everything. +Then turning again to the old point, his utter amazement that we +should spend so much property in travelling, he wished to know +what we did it for; when men had such means they would surely sit +down and enjoy it. "Oh no," was the reply; "we have had our fill +of the luxuries of life; eating, drinking, or sleeping have no +charms for us now; we are above trade, therefore require no +profits, and seek for enjoyment the run of the world. To observe +and admire the beauties of creation are worth much more than +beads to us. But what led us this way we have told you before; +it was to see your majesty in particular, and the great kings of +Africa--and at the same time to open another road to the north, +whereby the best manufactures or Europe would find their way to +Karague, and you would get so many more guests." In the highest +good-humour the king said, "As you have come to see me and see +sights, I will order some boats and show you over the lake, with +musicians to play before you, or anything else that you like." +Then, after looking over our pictures with intensest delight, and +admiring our beds, boxes, and outfit in general, he left for the +day. + +In the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa that the wives of the +king and princes were fattened to such an extent that they could +not stand upright, I paid my respects to Wazezeru, the king's +eldest brother--who, having been born before his father ascended +the throne, did not come in the line of succession--with the hope +of being able to see for myself the truth of the story. There +was no mistake about it. On entering the hut I found the old man +and his chief wife sitting side by side on a bench of earth +strewed over with grass, and partitioned like stalls for sleeping +apartments, whilst in front of them were placed numerous wooden +pots of milk, and hanging from the poles that supported the +beehive-shaped hut, a large collection of bows six feet in +length, whilst below them were tied an even larger collection of +spears, intermixed with a goodly assortment of heavy-headed +assages. I was struck with no small surprise at the way he +received me, as well as with the extraordinary dimensions, yet +pleasing beauty, of the immoderately fat fair one his wife. She +could not rise; and so large were her arms that, between the +joints, the flesh hung down like large, loose-stuffed puddings. +Then in came their children, all models of the Abyssinian type of +beauty, and as polite in their manners as thorough-bred +gentlemen. They had heard of my picture-books from the king, and +all wished to see them; which they no sooner did, to their +infinite delight, especially when they recognised any of the +animals, then the subject was turned by my inquiring what they +did with so many milk-pots. This was easily explained by +Wazezeru himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, "This is all +the product of those pots: from early youth upwards we keep those +pots to their mouths, as it is the fashion at court to have very +fat wives." + +27th.--Ever anxious to push on with the journey, as I felt every +day's delay only tended to diminish my means--that is, my beads +and copper wire--I instructed Bombay to take the under-mentioned +articles to Rumanika as a small sample of the products of my +country;[FN#11] to say I felt quite ashamed of their being so few +and so poor, but I hoped he would forgive my shortcomings, as he +knew I had been so often robbed on the way to him; and I trusted, +in recollection of Musa, he would give me leave to go on to +Uganda, for every day's delay was consuming my supplies. +Nnanaji, however, it was said, should get something; so, in +addition to the king's present, I apportioned one out for him, +and Bombay took both up to the palace.[FN#12] Everybody, I was +pleased to hear, was surprised with both the quantity and quality +of what I had been able to find for them; for, after the +plundering in Ugogo, the immense consumption caused by such long +delays on the road, the fearful prices I had had to pay for my +porters' wages, the enormous taxes I had been forced to give both +in Msalala and Uzinza, besides the constant thievings in camp, +all of which was made public by the constantly-recurring tales of +my men, nobody thought I had got anything left. + +Rumanika, above all, was as delighted as if he had come in for a +fortune, and sent to say the Raglan coat was a marvel, and the +scarlet broadcloth the finest thing he had ever seen. Nobody but +Musa had ever given him such beautiful beads before, and none +ever gave with such free liberality. Whatever I wanted I should +have in return for it, as it was evident to him I had really done +him a great honour in visiting him. Neither his father nor any +of his forefathers had had such a great favour shown them. He +was alarmed, he confessed, when he heard we were coming to visit +him, thinking we might prove some fearful monsters that were not +quite human, but now he was delighted beyond all measure with +what he saw of us. A messenger should be sent at once to the king +of Uganda to inform him of our intention to visit him, with his +own favourable report of us. This was necessary according to the +etiquette of the country. Without such a recommendation our +progress would be stopped by the people, whilst with one word +from him all would go straight; for was he not the gatekeeper, +enjoying the full confidence of Uganda? A month, however, must +elapse, as the distance to the palace of Uganda was great; but, +in the meantime, he would give me leave to go about in his +country to do and see what I liked, Nnanaji and his sons +escorting me everywhere. Moreover, when the time came for my +going on to Uganda, if I had not enough presents to give the +king, he would fill up the complement from his own stores, and +either go with me himself, or send Nnanaji to conduct me as far +as the boundary of Uganda, in order that Rogero might not molest +us on the way. In the evening, Masudi, with Sangoro and several +other merchants, came up from Kufro to pay us a visit of respect. + +28th and 29th.--A gentle hint having come to us that the king's +brother, Wazezeru, expected a trifle in virtue of his rank, I +sent him a blanket and seventy-five blue egg-beads. These were +accepted with the usual good grace of these people. The king +then, ever attentive to our position as guests, sent his royal +musicians to give us a tune. The men composing the band were a +mixture of Waganda and Wanyambo, who played on reed instruments +made telescope fashion, marking time by hand-drums. At first +they marched up and down, playing tunes exactly like the +regimental bands of the Turks, and then commenced dancing a +species of "hornpipe," blowing furiously all the while. When +dismissed with some beads, Nnanaji dropped in and invited me to +accompany him out shooting on the slopes of the hills overlooking +the lake. He had in attendance all the king's sons, as well as a +large number of beaters, with three or four dogs. Tripping down +the greensward of the hills together, these tall, athletic +princes every now and then stopped to see who could shoot +furthest, and I must say I never witnessed better feats in my +life. With powerful six-feet-long bows they pulled their arrows' +heads up to the wood, and made wonderful shots in the distance. +They then placed me in position, and arranging the field, drove +the covers like men well accustomed to sport--indeed, it struck +me they indulged too much in that pleasure, for we saw nothing +but two or three montana and some diminutive antelopes, about the +size of mouse deer, and so exceedingly shy that not one was +bagged. + +Returning home to the tents as the evening sky was illumined with +the red glare of the sun, my attention was attracted by observing +in the distance some bold sky-scraping cones situated in the +country Ruanda, which at once brought back to recollection the +ill-defined story I had heard from the Arabs of a wonderful hill +always covered with clouds, on which snow or hail was constantly +falling. This was a valuable discovery, for I found these hills +to be the great turn-point of the Central African watershed. +Without loss of time I set to work, and, gathering all the +travellers I could in the country, protracted, from their +descriptions, all the distance topographical features set down in +the map, as far north as 3§ of north latitude, as far east as +36§, and as far west as 26§ of east longitude; only afterwards +slightly corrected, as I was better able to connect and clear up +some trifling but doubtful points. + +Indeed, I was not only surprised at the amount of information +about distant places I was enabled to get here from these men, +but also at the correctness of their vast and varied knowledge, +as I afterwards tested it by observation and the statements of +others. I rely so far on the geographical information I thus +received, that I would advise no one to doubt the accuracy of +these protractions until he has been on the spot to test them by +actual inspection. About the size only of the minor lakes do I +feel doubtful, more especially the Little Luta Nzige, which on +the former journey I heard was a salt lake, because salt was +found on its shores and in one of its islands. Now, without +going into any lengthy details, and giving Rumanika due credit +for everything--for had he not ordered his men to give me every +information that lay in their power, they would not have done so- +-I will merely say for the present that, whilst they conceived +the Victoria N'yanza would take a whole month for a canoe to +cross it, they thought the Little Luta Nzige might be crossed in +a week. The Mfumbiro cones in Ruanda, which I believe reach +10,000 feet, are said to be the highest of the "Mountains of the +Moon." At their base are both salt and copper mines, as well as +hot springs. There are also hot springs in Mpororo, and one in +Karague near where Rogero lived. + +30th.--The important business of announcing our approach to +Uganda was completed by Rumanika appointing Kachuchu to go to +king Mtesa as quickly as possible, to say we were coming to visit +him. He was told that we were very great men, who only travelled +to see great kings and great countries; and, as such, Rumanika +trusted we should be received with courteous respect, and allowed +to roam all over the country wherever we liked, he holding +himself responsible for our actions for the time being. In the +end, however, we were to be restored to him, as he considered +himself our father, and therefore must see that no accident +befell us. + +To put the royal message in proper shape, I was now requested to +send some trifle by way of a letter or visiting card; but, on +taking out a Colt's revolving rifle for the purpose, Rumanika +advised me not to send it, as Mtesa might take fright, and, +considering it a charm of evil quality, reject us as bad +magicians, and close his gates on us. Three bits of cotton cloth +were then selected as the best thing for the purpose; and, +relying implicitly on the advice of Rumanika, who declared his +only object was to further our views, I arranged accordingly, and +off went Kachuchu. + +To keep my friend in good-humour, and show him how well the +English can appreciate a kindness, I presented him with a hammer, +a sailor's knife, a Rodger's three-bladed penknife, a gilt +letter-slip with paper and envelopes, some gilt pens, an ivory +holder, and a variety of other small articles. Of each of these +he asked the use, and then in high glee put it into the big +block-tin box, in which he kept his other curiosities, and which +I think he felt more proud of than any other possession. After +this, on adjourning to his baraza, Ungurue the Pig, who had +floored my march in Sorombo, and Makinga, our persecutor in Usui, +came in to report that the Watuta had been fighting in Usui, and +taken six bomas, upon which Rumanika asked me what I thought of +it, and if I knew where the Watuta came from. I said I was not +surprised to hear Usui had attracted the Watuta's cupidity, for +every one knew of the plundering propensities of the inhabitants, +and as they became rich by their robberies, they must in turn +expect to be robbed. Where the Watuta came from, nobody could +tell; they were dressed something like the Zulu Kaffirs of the +South, but appeared to be now gradually migrating from the +regions of N'yazza. To this Dr K'yengo, who was now living with +Rumanika as his head magician, added that, whilst he was living +in Utambara, the Watuta invested his boma six months; and +finally, when all their cows and stores were exhausted, they +killed all the inhabitants but himself, and he only escaped by +the power of the charms which he carried about him. These were +so powerful, that although he lay on the ground, and the Watuta +struck at him with their spears, not one could penetrate his +body. + +In the evening after this, as the king wished to see all my +scientific instruments, we walked down to the camp; and as he did +not beg for anything, I gave him some gold and mother-of-pearl +shirt studs to swell up his trinket-box. The same evening I made +up my mind, if possible, to purchase a stock of beads from the +Arabs, and sent Baraka off to Kufro, to see what kind of a +bargain he could make with them; for, whilst I trembled to think +what those "blood-suckers" would have the impudence to demand +when they found me at their mercy, I felt that the beads must be +bought, or the expedition would certainly come to grief. + +1st and 2d.--Two days after this the merchants came in a body to +see me, and said their worst beads would stand me 80 dollars per +frasala, as they would realise that value in ivory on arrival at +the coast. Of course no business was done, for the thing was +preposterous by all calculation, being close on 2500 per cent. +above Zanzibar valuation. I was "game" to give 50 dollars, but +as they would not take this, I thought of dealing with Rumanika +instead. I then gave Nnanaji, who had been constantly throwing +out hints that I ought to give him a gun as he was a great +sportsman, a lappet of beadwork to keep his tongue quiet, and he +in return sent me a bullock and sundry pots of pombe, which, in +addition to the daily allowance sent by Rumanika, made all my +people drunk, and so affected Baraka that one of the women--also +drunk--having given him some sharp abuse, he beat her in so +violent a manner that the whole drunken camp set upon him, and +turned the place into a pandemonium. A row amongst the negroes +means a general rising of arms, legs, and voices; all are in a +state of the greatest excitement; and each individual thinks he +is doing the best to mend matters, but is actually doing his best +to create confusion. + +By dint of perseverance, I now succeeded in having Baraka +separated from the crowd and dragged before me for justice. I +found that the woman, who fully understood the jealous hatred +which existed in Baraka's heart against Bombay, flirted with both +of them; and, pretending to show a preference for Bombay, set +Baraka against her, when from high words they came to blows, and +set the place in a blaze. It was useless to remonstrate--Baraka +insisted he would beat the woman if she abused him, no matter +whether I thought it cowardly or not; he did not come with me +expecting to be bullied in this way--the whole fault lay with +Bombay--I did not do him justice-- when he proved Bombay a thief +at Usui, I did not turn him off, but now, instead, I showed the +preference to Bombay by always taking him when I went to +Rumanika. It was useless to argue with such a passionate man, so +I told him to go away and cool himself before morning. + +When he was gone, Bombay said there was not one man in the camp, +besides his own set, who wished to go on to Egypt--for they had +constant arguments amongst themselves about it; and whilst Bombay +always said he would follow me wherever I led, Baraka and those +who held by him abused him and his set for having tricked them +away from Zanzibar, under the false hopes that the road was quite +safe. Bombay said his arguments were, that Bana knew better than +anybody else what he was about, and he would follow him, trusting +to luck, as God was the disposer of all things, and men could die +but once. Whilst Baraka's arguments all rested the other way;-- +that no one could tell what was ahead of him--Bana had sold +himself to luck and the devil--but though he did not care for his +own safety, he ought not to sacrifice the lives of others--Bombay +and his lot were fools for their pains in trusting to him. + +3d.--At daybreak Rumanika sent us word he was off to Moga- +Namarinzi, a spur of a hill beyond "the Little Windermere," +overlooking the Ingezi Kagera, or river which separates Kishakka +from Karague, to show me how the Kiangule river was fed by small +lakes and marshes, in accordance with my expressed wish to have a +better comprehension of the drainage system of the Mountains of +the Moon. He hoped we would follow him, not by the land route he +intended to take, but in canoes which he had ordered at the ferry +below. Starting off shortly afterwards, I made for the lake, and +found the canoes all ready, but so small that, besides two +paddlers, only two men could sit down in each. After pushing +through the tall reeds with which the end of the lake is covered, +we emerged in the clear open, and skirted the further side of the +water until a small strait was gained, which led us into another +lake, drained at the northern end with a vast swampy plain, +covered entirely with tall rushes, excepting only in a few places +where bald patches expose the surface of the water, or where the +main streams of the Ingezi and Luchoro valleys cut a clear drain +for themselves. + +The whole scenery was most beautiful. Green and fresh, the +slopes of the hills were covered with grass, with small clumps of +soft cloudy-looking acacias growing at a few feet only above the +water, and above them, facing over the hills, fine detached +trees, and here and there the gigantic medicinal aloe. Arrived +near the end of the Moga-Namirinzi hill in the second lake, the +paddlers splashed into shore, where a large concourse of people, +headed by Nnanaji, were drawn up to receive me. I landed with +all the dignity of a prince, when the royal band struck up a +march, and we all moved on to Rumanika's frontier palace, talking +away in a very complimentary manner, not unlike the very polite +and flowery fashion of educated Orientals. + +Rumanika we found sitting dressed in a wrapper made of an nzoe +antelope's skin, smiling blandly as we approached him. In the +warmest manner possible he pressed me to sit by his side, asked +how I had enjoyed myself, what I thought of his country, and if I +did not feel hungry; when a pic-nic dinner was spread, and we all +set to at cooked plantains and pombe, ending with a pipe of his +best tobacco. Bit by bit Rumanika became more interested in +geography, and seemed highly ambitious of gaining a world-wide +reputation through the medium of my pen. At his invitation we +now crossed over the spur to the Ingezi Kagera side, when, to +surprise me, the canoes I had come up the lake in appeared before +us. They had gone out of the lake at its northern end, paddled +into, and then up the Kagera to where we stood, showing, by +actual navigation, the connection of these highland lakes with +the rivers which drain the various spurs of the Mountains of the +Moon. The Kagera was deep and dark, of itself a very fine +stream, and, considering it was only one-- and that, too, a minor +one--of the various affluents which drain the mountain valleys +into the Victoria N'yanza through the medium of the Kitangule +river, I saw at once there must be water sufficient to make the +Kitangule a very powerful tributary to the lake. + +On leaving this interesting place, with the widespread +information of all the surrounding countries I had gained, my +mind was so impressed with the topographical features of all this +part of Africa, that in my heart I resolved I would make Rumanika +as happy as he had made me, and asked K'yengo his doctor, of all +things I possessed what the king would like best. To my surprise +I then learnt that Rumanika had set his heart on the revolving +rifle I had brought for Mtesa--the one, in fact, which he had +prevented my sending on to Uganda in the hands of Kachuchu, and +he would have begged me for it before had his high-minded +dignity, and the principle he had established of never begging +for anything, not interfered. I then said he should certainly +have it; for as strongly as I had withheld from giving anything +to those begging scoundrels who wished to rob me of all I +possessed in the lower countries, so strongly now did I feel +inclined to be generous with this exceptional man Rumanika. We +then had another pic-nic together, and whilst I went home to join +Grant, Rumanika spent the night doing homage and sacrificing a +bullock at the tomb of his father Dagara. + +Instead of paddling all down the lake again, I walked over the +hill, and, on crossing at its northern end, whished to shoot +ducks; but the superstitious boatmen put a stop to my intended +amusement by imploring me not to do so, lest the spirit of the +lake should be roused to dry up the waters. + +4th.--Rumanika returned in the morning, walking up the hill, +followed by a long train of his officers, and a party of men +carrying on their shoulders his state carriage, which consisted +of a large open basket laid on the top of two very long poles. +After entering his palace, I immediately called on him to thank +him for the great treat he had given me, and presented him, as an +earnest of what I thought, with the Colt's revolving rifle and a +fair allowance of ammunition. His delight knew no bounds on +becoming the proprietor of such an extraordinary weapon, and +induced him to dwell on his advantages over his brother Rogero, +whose antipathy to him was ever preying on his mind. He urged me +again to devise some plan for overcoming him; and, becoming more +and more confidential, favoured me with the following narrative, +by way of evidence how the spirits were inclined to show all the +world that he was the rightful successor to the throne:--When +Dagara died, and he, Nnanaji, and Rogero, were the only three +sons left in line of succession to the crown, a small mystic drum +of diminutive size was placed before them by the officers of +state. It was only feather weight in reality, but, being loaded +with charms, became so heavy to those who were not entitled to +the crown, that no one could lift it but the one person whom the +spirits were inclined towards as the rightful successor. Now, of +all the three brothers, he, Rumanika, alone could raise it from +the ground; and whilst his brothers laboured hard, in vain +attempting to move it, he with his little finger held it up +without any exertion. + +This little disclosure in the history of Karague led us on to +further particulars of Dagara's death and burial, when it +transpired that the old king's body, after the fashion of his +predecessors, was sewn up in a cow-skin, and placed in a boat +floating on the lake, where it remained for three days, until +decomposition set in and maggots were engendered, of which three +were taken into the palace and given in charge to the heir-elect; +but instead of remaining as they were, one worm was transformed +into a lion, another into a leopard, and the third into a stick. +After this the body of the king was taken up and deposited on the +hill Moga-Namirinzi, where, instead of putting him underground, +the people erected a hut over him, and, thrusting in five maidens +and fifty cows, enclosed the doorway in such a manner that the +whole of them subsequently died from starvation. + +This, as may naturally be supposed, led into further genealogical +disclosures of a similar nature, and I was told by Rumanika that +his grandfather was a most wonderful man; indeed, Karague was +blessed with more supernatural agencies than any other country. +Rohinda the Sixth, who was his grandfather, numbered so many +years that people thought he would never die; and he even became +so concerned himself about it, reflecting that his son Dagara +would never enjoy the benefit of his position as successor to the +crown of Karague, that he took some magic powders and charmed +away his life. His remains were then taken to Moga-Namirinzi, in +the same manner as were those of Dagara; but, as an improvement +on the maggot story, a young lion emerged from the heart of the +corpse and kept guard over the hill, from whom other lions came +into existence, until the whole place has become infested by +them, and has since made Karague a power and dread to all other +nations; for these lions became subject to the will of Dagara, +who, when attacked by the countries to the northward, instead of +assembling an army of men, assembled his lion force, and so swept +all before him. + +Another test was then advanced at the instigation of K'yengo, who +thought Rumanika not quite impressive enough of his right to the +throne; and this was, that each heir in succession, even after +the drum dodge, was required to sit on the ground in a certain +place of the country, where, if he had courage to plant himself, +the land would gradually rise up, telescope fashion, until it +reached the skies, when, if the aspirant was considered by the +spirits the proper person to inherit Karague, he would gradually +be lowered again without any harm happening; but, otherwise, the +elastic hill would suddenly collapse, and he would be dashed to +pieces. Now, Rumanika, by his own confession, had gone through +this ordeal with marked success; so I asked him if he found the +atmosphere cold when so far up aloft, and as he said he did so, +laughing at the quaintness of the question, I told him I saw he +had learnt a good practical lesson on the structure of the +universe, which I wished he would explain to me. In a state of +perplexity, K'yengo and the rest, on seeing me laughing, thought +something was wrong; so, turning about, they thought again, and +said, "No, it must have been hot, because the higher one ascended +the nearer he got to the sun." + +This led on to one argument after another, on geology, geography, +and all the natural sciences, and ended by Rumanika showing me an +iron much the shape and size of a carrot. This he said was found +by one of his villagers whilst tilling the ground, buried some +way down below the surface; but dig as he would, he could not +remove it, and therefore called some men to his help. Still the +whole of them united could not lift the iron, which induced them, +considering there must be some magic in it, to inform the king. +"Now," says Rumanika, "I no sooner went there and saw the iron, +and brought it here as you see it. What can such a sign mean?" +"Of course that you are the rightful king," said his flatterers. +"Then," said Rumanika, in exuberant spirits, "during Dagara's +time, as the king was sitting with many other men outside his +hut, a fearful storm of thunder and lightning arose, and a +thunderbolt struck the ground in the midst of them, which +dispersed all the men but Dagara, who calmly took up the +thunderbolt and places it in the palace. I, however, no sooner +came into possession, and Rogero began to contend with me, than +the thunderbolt vanished. How would you account for this?" The +flatterers said, "It is as clear as possible; God gave the +thunderbolt to Dagaro as a sign he was pleased with him and his +rule; but when he found two brothers contending, he withdrew it +to show their conduct was wicked." + +5th.-- Rumanika in the morning sent me a young male nzoe (water- +boc)[FN#13] which his canoe-men had caught in the high rushes at +the head of the lake, by the king's order, to please me; for I +had heard this peculiar animal described in such strange ways at +Kaze, both by Musa and the Arabs, I was desirous of having a look +at one. It proved to be closely allied to a water-boc found by +Livingstone on the Ngami Lake; but, instead of being striped, was +very faintly spotted, and so long were its toes, it could hardly +walk on the dry ground; whilst its coat, also well adapted to the +moist element it lived in, was long, and of such excellent +quality that the natives prize it for wearing almost more than +any other of the antelope tribe. The only food it would eat were +the tops of the tall papyrus rushes; but though it ate and drank +freely, and lay down very quietly, it always charged with +ferocity any person who went near it. + +In the afternoon Rumanika invited both Grant and myself to +witness his New Moon Levee, a ceremony which takes place every +month with a view of ascertaining how many of his subjects are +loyal. On entering his palace enclosure, the first thing we saw +was a blaue boc's horn stuffed full of magic powder, with very +imposing effect, by K'yengo, and stuck in the ground, with its +mouth pointing in the direction of Rogero. In the second court, +we found thirty-five drums ranged on the ground, with as many +drummers standing behind them, and a knot of young princes and +officers of high dignity waiting to escort us into the third +enclosure, where, in his principal hut, we found Rumanika +squatting on the ground, half-concealed by the portal, but +showing his smiling face to welcome us in. His head was got up +with a tiara of beads, from the centre of which, directly over +the forehead, stood a plume of red feathers, and encircling the +lower face with a fine large white beard set in a stock or band +of beads. We were beckoned to squat alongside Nnanaji, the +master of ceremonies, and a large group of high officials outside +the porch. Then the thirty-five drums all struck up together in +very good harmony; and when their deafening noise was over, a +smaller band of hand-drums and reed instruments was ordered in to +amuse us. + +This second performance over, from want of breath only, district +officers, one by one, came advancing on tip-toe, then pausing, +contorting and quivering their bodies, advancing again with a +springing gait and outspread arms, which they moved as if they +wished to force them out of their joints, in all of which actions +they held drum-sticks or twigs in their hands, swore with a +maniacal voice an oath of their loyalty and devotion to their +king, backed by the expression of a hope that he would cut off +their heads if they ever turned from his enemies, and then, +kneeling before him, they held out their sticks that he might +touch them. With a constant reiteration of these scenes--the +saluting at one time, the music at another--interrupted only once +by a number of girls dancing something like a good rough Highland +fling whilst the little band played, the day's ceremonies ended. + +6th and 7th.--During the next two days, as my men had all worn +out their clothes, I gave them each thirty necklaces of beads to +purchase a suit of the bark cloth called mbugu, already +described. Finding the flour of the country too bitter to eat by +itself, we sweetened it with ripe plantains, and made a good cake +of it. The king now, finding me disinclined to fight his brother +Rogero, either with guns or magic horns, asked me to give him a +"doctor" or charm to create longevity and to promote the increase +of his family, as his was not large enough to maintain the +dignity of so great a man as himself. I gave him a blister, and, +changing the subject, told him the history of the creation of +man. After listening to it attentively, he asked what thing in +creation I considered the greatest of all things in the world; +for whilst a man at most could only live one hundred years, a +tree lived many; but the earth ought to be biggest, for it never +died. + +I then told him again I wished one of his sons would accompany me +to England, that he might learn the history of Moses, wherein he +would find that men had souls which live for ever, but that the +earth would come to an end in the fullness of time. This +conversation, diversified by numerous shrewd remarks on the part +of Rumanika, led to his asking how I could account for the +decline of countries, instancing the dismemberment of the Wahuma +in Kittara, and remarking that formerly Karague included Urundi, +Ruanda, and Kishakka, which collectively were known as the +kingdom of Meru, governed by one man. Christian principles, I +said, made us what we are, and feeling a sympathy for him made me +desirous of taking one of his children to learn in the same +school with us, who, on returning to him, could impart what he +knew, and, extending the same by course of instruction, would +doubtless end by elevating his country to a higher position than +it ever knew before,--etc., etc. The policy and government of +the vast possessions of Great Britain were then duly discussed, +and Rumanika acknowledged that the pen was superior to that of +the sword, and the electric telegraph and steam engine the most +wonderful powers he had ever heard of. + +Before breaking up, Rumanika wished to give me any number of +ivories I might like to mention, even three or four hundred, as a +lasting remembrance that I had done him the honour of visiting +Karague in his lifetime, for though Dagara had given to coloured +merchants, he would be the first who had given to a white man. +Of course this royal offer was declined with politeness; he must +understand that it was not the custom of big men in my country to +accept presents of value when we made visits of pleasure. I had +enjoyed my residence in Karague, his intellectual conversations +and his kind hospitality, all of which I should record in my +books to hand down to posterity; but if he would give me a cow's +horn, I would keep it as a trophy of the happy days I had spent +in his country. He gave me one, measuring 3 feet 5 inches in +length, and 18 3/4 inches in circumference at the base. He then +offered me a large sheet, made up of a patchwork of very small +N'yera antelope skins, most exquisitely cured and sewn. This I +rejected, as he told me it had been given to himself, explaining +that we prided ourselves on never parting with the gifts of a +friend; and this speech tickled his fancy so much, that he said +he never would part with anything I gave him. + +8th and 9th.--The 8th went off much in the usual way, by my +calling on the king, when I gave him a pack of playing-cards, +which he put into his curiosity-box. He explained to me, at my +request, what sort of things he would like any future visitors to +bring him-- a piece of gold and silver embroidery; but, before +anything else, I found he would like to have toys--such as Yankee +clocks with the face in a man's stomach, to wind up behind, his +eyes rolling with every beat of the pendulum; or a china-cow +milk-pot, a jack-in-the- box, models of men, carriages, and +horses--all animals in fact, and railways in particular. + +On the 9th I went out shooting, as Rumanika, with his usual +politeness, on hearing my desire to kill some rhinoceros, ordered +his sons to conduct the filed for me. Off we started by sunrise +to the bottom of the hills overlooking the head of the Little +Windermere lake. On arrival at the scene of action--a thicket or +acacia shrubs--all the men in the neighbourhood were assembled to +beat. Taking post myself, by direction, in the most likely place +to catch a sight of the animals, the day's work began by the +beaters driving the covers in my direction. In a very short +time, a fine male was discovered making towards me, but not +exactly knowing where he should bolt to. While he was in this +perplexity, I stole along between the bushes, and caught sight of +him standing as if anchored by the side of a tree and gave him a +broadsider with Blissett, which, too much for his constitution to +stand, sent him off trotting, till exhausted by bleeding he lay +down to die, and allowed me to give him a settler. + +In a minute or two afterwards, the good young princes, attracted +by the sound of the gun, came to see what was done. Their +surprise knew no bounds; they could scarcely believe what they +saw; and then, on recovering, with the spirit of true gentlemen, +they seized both my hands, congratulating me on the magnitude of +my success, and pointed out, as an example of it, a bystander who +showed fearful scars, both on his abdomen and at the blade of his +shoulder, who they declared had been run through by one of these +animals. It was, therefore, wonderful to them, they observed, +with what calmness I went up to such formidable beasts. + +Just at this time a distant cry was heard that another rhinoceros +was concealed in a thicket, and off we set to pursue her. +Arriving at the place mentioned, I settled at once I would enter +with only two spare men carrying guns, for the acacia thorns were +so thick that the only tracks into the thicket were runs made by +these animals. Leading myself, bending down to steal in, I +tracked up a run till half-way through cover, when suddenly +before me, like a pig from a hole, a large female, with her young +one behind her, came straight down whoof-whoofing upon me. In +this awkward fix I forced myself to one side, though pricked all +over with thorns in doing so, and gave her one on the head which +knocked her out of my path, and induced her for safety to make +for the open, where I followed her down and gave her another. +She then took to the hills and crossed over a spur, when, +following after her, in another dense thicket, near the head of a +glen, I came upon three, who no sooner sighted me, than all in +line they charged down my way. Fortunately at the time my gun- +bearers were with me; so, jumping to one side, I struck them all +three in turn. One of them dropped dead a little way on; but the +others only pulled up when they arrived at the bottom. To please +myself now I had done quite enough; but as the princes would have +it, I went on with the chase. As one of the two, I could see, +had one of his fore-legs broken, I went at the sounder one, and +gave him another shot, which simply induced him to walk over the +lower end of the hill. Then turning to the last one, which could +not escape, I asked the Wanyambo to polish him off with their +spears and arrows, that I might see their mode of sport. As we +moved up to the animal, he kept charging with such impetuous +fury, they could not go into him; so I gave him a second ball, +which brought him to anchor. In this helpless state the men set +at him in earnest, and a more barbarous finale I never did +witness. Every man sent his spear, assage, or arrow, into his +sides, until, completely exhausted, he sank like a porcupine +covered with quills. The day's sport was now ended, so I went +home to breakfast, leaving instructions that the heads should be +cut off and sent to the king as a trophy of what the white man +could do. + +10th and 11th.--The next day, when I called on Rumanika, the +spoils were brought into court, and in utter astonishment he +said, "Well, this must have been done with something more potent +than powder, for neither the Arabs nor Nnanaji, although they +talk of their shooting powers, could have accomplished such a +great feat as this. It is no wonder the English are the greatest +men in the world." + +Neither the Wanyambo nor the Wahuma would eat the rhinoceros, so +I was not sorry to find all the Wanyamuezi porters of the Arabs +at Kufro, on hearing of the sport, come over and carry away all +the flesh. They passed by our camp half borne down with their +burdens of sliced flesh, suspended from poles which they carried +on their shoulders; but the following day I was disgusted by +hearing that their masters had forbidden their eating "the +carrion," as the throats of the animals had not been cut; and, +moreover, had thrashed them soundly because they complained they +were half starved, which was perfectly true, by the poor food +that they got as their pay. + +12th.--On visiting Rumanika again, and going through my +geographical lessons, he told me, in confirmation of Musa's old +stories, that in Ruanda there existed pigmies who lived in trees, +but occasionally came down at night, and, listening at the hut +doors of the men, would wait until they heard the name of one of +its inmates, when they would call him out, and, firing an arrow +into his heart, disappear again in the same way as they came. +But, more formidable even than these little men, there were +monsters who could not converse with me, and never showed +themselves unless they saw women pass by; then, in voluptuous +excitement, they squeezed them to death. Many other similar +stories were then told, when I, wishing to go, was asked if I +could kill hippopotami. Having answered that I could, the king +graciously said he would order some canoes for me the next +morning; and as I declined because Grant could not accompany me, +as a terrible disease had broken out in his leg, he ordered a +pig-shooting party. Agreeably with this, the next day I went out +with his sons, numerously attended; but although we beat the +covers all day, the rain was so frequent that the pigs would not +bolt. + +14th.--After a long and amusing conversation with Rumanika in the +morning, I called on one of his sisters-in-law, married to an +elder brother who was born before Dagara ascended the throne. +She was another of those wonders of obesity, unable to stand +excepting on all fours. I was desirous to obtain a good view of +her, and actually to measure her, and induced her to give me +facilities for doing so, by offering in return to show her a bit +of my naked legs and arms. The bait took as I wished it, and +after getting her to sidle and wriggle into the middle of the +hut, I did as I promised, and then took her dimensions as noted +below.[FN#14] All of these are exact except the height, and I +believe I could have obtained this more accurately if I could +have her laid on the floor. Not knowing what difficulties I +should have to contend with in such a piece of engineering, I +tried to get her height by raising her up. This, after infinite +exertions on the part of us both, was accomplished, when she sank +down again, fainting, for her blood had rushed to her head. +Meanwhile, the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat stark-naked +before us, sucking at a milk-pot, on which the father kept her at +work by holding a rod in his hand, for as fattening is the first +duty of fashionable female life, it must be duly enforced by the +rod if necessary. I got up a bit of flirtation with missy, and +induced her to rise and shake hands with me. Her features were +lovely, but her body was as round as a ball. + +In the evening we had another row with my head men--Baraka having +accused Bombay of trying to kill him with magic. Bombay, who was +so incessantly bullied by Baraka's officious attempts to form +party cliques opposed to the interests of the journey, and get +him turned out of the camp, indiscreetly went to one of K'yengo's +men, and asked him if he knew of any medicine that would affect +the hearts of the Wanguana so as to incline them towards him; and +on the sub-doctor saying Yes, Bombay gave him some beads, and +bought the medicine required, which, put into a pot of pombe, was +placed by Baraka's side. Baraka in the meanwhile got wind of the +matter through K'yengo, who, misunderstanding the true facts of +the case, said it was a charm to deprive Baraka of his life. A +court of inquiry having been convened, with all the parties +concerned in attendance, K'yengo's mistake was discovered, and +Bombay was lectured for his folly, as he had a thousand times +before abjured his belief in such magical follies; moreover, to +punish him for the future, I took Baraka, whenever I could, with +me to visit the king, which, little as it may appear to others, +was of the greatest consequence to the hostile parties. + +15th and 16th.--When I next called on Rumanika I gave him a +Vautier's binocular and prismatic compass; on which he politely +remarked he was afraid he was robbing me of everything. More +compliments went round, and then he asked if it was true we could +open a man's skull, look at his brains, and close it up again; +also if it was true we sailed all round the world into regions +where there was no difference between night and day, and how, +when he ploughed the seas in such enormous vessels as would carry +at once 20,000 men, we could explain to the sailors what they +ought to do; for, although he had heard of these things, no one +was able to explain them to him. + +After all the explanations were given, he promised me a boat-hunt +after the nzoe in the morning; but when the time came, as +difficulties were raised, I asked him to allow us to anticipate +the arrival of Kachuchu, and march on to Kitangule. He answered, +with his usual courtesy, That he would be very glad to oblige us +in any way that we liked; but he feared that, as the Waganda were +such superstitious people, some difficulties would arise, and he +must decline to comply with our request. "You must not," he +added, "expect ever to find again a reasonable man like myself." +I then gave him a book on "Kafir laws," which he said he would +keep for my sake, with all the rest of the presents, which he was +determined never to give away, though it was usual for him to +send novelties of this sort to Mtesa, king of Uganda, and +Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, as a friendly recognition of their +superior positions in the world of great monarchies. + +17th.--Rumanika next introduced me to an old woman who came from +the island of Gasi, situated in the little Luta Nzige. Both her +upper and lower incisors had been extracted, and her upper lip +perforated by a number of small holes, extending in an arch from +one corner to the other. This interesting but ugly old lady +narrated the circumstances by which she had been enslaved, and +then sent by Kamrasi as a curiosity to Rumanika, who had ever +since kept her as a servant in his palace. A man from Ruanda +then told us of the Wilyanwantu (men-eaters), who disdained all +food but human flesh; and Rumanika confirmed the statement. +Though I felt very sceptical about it, I could not help thinking +it a curious coincidence that the position they were said to +occupy agreed with Petherick's Nyam Nyams (men-eaters). + +Of far more interest were the results of a conversation which I +had with another of Kamrasi's servants, a man of Amara, as it +threw some light upon certain statements made by Mr Leon of the +people of Amara being Christians. He said they bore single holes +in the centres both of their upper and lower lips, as well as in +the lobes of both of their ears, in which they wear small brass +rings. They live near the N'yanza--where it is connected by a +strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river to the northward- +-in comfortable houses, built like the tembes of Unyamuezi. When +killing a cow, they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with +both hands together, held palm upwards, and utter Zu, a word the +meaning of which he did not know. I questioned him to try if the +word had any trace of a Christian meaning--for instance, a +corruption of Jesu--but without success. Circumcision is not +known amongst them, neither have they any knowledge of God or a +soul. A tribe called Wakuavi, who are white, and described as +not unlike myself, often came over the water and made raids on +their cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief weapon +of war. These attacks were as often resented, and sometimes led +the Wamara in pursuit a long way into their enemy's country, +where, at a place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red +cloths. Beads were imported, he thought, both from the east and +from Ukidi. Associated with the countries Masau or Masai, and +Usamburu, which he knew, there was a large mountain, the exact +position of which he could not describe. + +I took down many words of his language, and found they +corresponded with the North African dialects, as spoken by the +people of Kidi, Gani, and Madi. The southerners, speaking of +these, would call them Wakidi, Wagani, and Wamadi, but among +themselves the syllable was is not prefixed, as in the southern +dialects, to signify people. Rumanika, who appeared immensely +delighted as he assisted me in putting the questions I wanted, +and saw me note them down in my book, was more confirmed than +ever in the truth of my stories that I came from the north, and +thought as the beads came to Amara, so should I be able to open +the road and bring him more visitors. This he knew was his only +chance of ever seeing me more, for I swore I would never go back +through Usui, so greatly did I feel the indignities imposed on me +by Suwarora. + +18th.--To keep the king in good-humour, I now took a table-knife, +spoon, and fork to the palace, which, after their several uses +were explained, were consigned to his curiosity-box. Still +Rumanika could not understand how it was I spent so much and +travelled so far, or how it happened such a great country as ours +could be ruled by a woman. He asked the Queen's name, how many +children she had, and the mode of succession; then, when fully +satisfied, led the way to show me what his father Dagara had done +when wishing to know of what the centre of the earth was +composed. At the back of the palace a deep ditch was cut, +several yards long, the end of which was carried by a +subterranean passage into the palace, where it was ended off with +a cavern led into by a very small aperture. It then appeared +that Dagara, having failed, in his own opinion, to arrive any +nearer to the object in view, gave the excavating up as a bad +job, and turned the cave into a mysterious abode, where it was +confidently asserted he spent many days without eating or +drinking, and turned sometimes into a young man, and then an old +one, alternately, as the humour seized him. + +19th to 22d.--On the 19th I went fishing, but without success, +for they said the fish would not take in the lake; and on the +following day, as Grant's recovery seemed hopeless, for a long +time at least, I went with all the young princes to se what I +could do with the hippopotami in the lake, said to inhabit the +small island of Conty. The part was an exceedingly merry one. +We went off to the island in several canoes, and at once found an +immense number of crocodiles basking in the sun, but not a single +hippopotamus was in sight. The princes then, thinking me "green" +at this kind of sport, said the place was enchanted, but I need +not fear, for they would bring them out to my feet by simply +calling out certain names, and this was no sooner done than four +old and one young one came immediately in font of us. It seemed +quite a sin to touch them, they looked all so innocent; but as +the king wanted to try me again, I gave one a ball on the head +which sent him under, never again to be seen, for on the 22nd, by +which time I supposed he ought to have risen inflated with gases, +the king sent out his men to look out for him; but they returned +to say, that whilst all the rest were in the old place, that one, +in particular, could not be found. + +On this K'yengo, who happened to be present whilst our interview +lasted, explained that the demons of the deep were annoyed with +me for intruding on their preserves, without having the courtesy +to commemorate the event by the sacrifice of a goat or a cow. +Rumanika then, at my suggestions, gave Nnanaji the revolving +pistol I first gave him, but not without a sharp rebuke for his +having had the audacity to beg a gun of me in consideration of +his being a sportsman. We then went into a discourse on +astrology, when the intelligent Rumanika asked me if the same sun +we saw one day appeared again, or whether fresh suns came every +day, and whether or not the moon made different faces, to laugh +at us mortals on earth. + +23d and 24th.--This day was spent by the king introducing me to +his five fat wives, to show with what esteem he was held by all +the different kings of the countries surrounding. From Mpororo-- +which, by the by, is a republic--he was wedded to Kaogez, the +daughter of Kahaya, who is the greatest chief in the country; +from Unyoro he received Kauyangi, Kamrasi's daughter; from Nkole, +Kambiri, the late Kasiyonga's daughter; from Utumbi, Kirangu, the +late Kiteimbua's daughter; and lastly, the daughter of +Chiuarungi, his head cook. + +After presenting Rumanika with an india-rubber band--which, as +usual, amused him immensely--for the honour he had done me in +showing me his wives, a party of Waziwa, who had brought some +ivory from Kidi, came to pay their respects to him. On being +questioned by me, they said that they once saw some men like my +Wanguana there; they had come from the north to trade, but, +though they carried firearms, they were all killed by the people +of Kidi. This was famous; it corroborated what I knew, but could +not convince others of,--that traders could find their way up to +Kidi by the Nile. It in a manner explained also how it was that +Kamrasi, some years before, had obtained some pink beads, of a +variety the Zanzibar merchants had never thought of bringing into +the country. Bombay was now quite convinced, and we all became +transported with joy, until Rumanika, reflecting on the sad state +of Grant's leg, turned that joy into grief by saying that the +rules of Uganda are so strict, that no one who is sick could +enter the country. "To show," he said, "how absurd they are, +your donkey would not be permitted because he has no trousers; +and you even will have to put on a gown, as your unmentionables +will be considered indecorous." I now asked Rumanika if he would +assist me in replenishing my fast-ebbing store of beads, by +selling tusks to the Arabs at Kufro, when for every 35lb. weight +I would give him 50 dollars by orders on Zanzibar, and would +insure him from being cheated, by sending a letter of advice to +our Consul residing there. At first he demurred, on the high- +toned principle that he could not have any commercial dealings +with myself; but, at the instigation of Bombay and Baraka, who +viewed it in its true character, as tending merely to assist my +journey in the best manner he could, without any sacrifice to +dignity, he eventually yielded, and, to prove his earnestness, +sent me a large tusk, with a notice that his ivory was not kept +in the palace, but with his officers, and as soon as they could +collect it, so soon I should get it. + +Rumanika, on hearing that it was our custom to celebrate the +birth of our Saviour with a good feast of beef, sent us an ox. I +immediately paid him a visit to offer the compliments of the +season, and at the same time regretted, much to his amusement, +that he, as one of the old stock of Abyssinians, who are the +oldest Christians on record, should have forgotten this rite; but +I hoped the time would come when, by making it known that his +tribe had lapsed into a state of heathenism, white teachers would +be induced to set it all to rights again. At this time some +Wahaiya traders (who had been invited at my request by Rumanika) +arrived. Like the Waziwa, they had traded with Kidi, and they +not only confirmed what the Waziwa had said, but added that, when +trading in those distant parts, they heard of Wanguana coming in +vessels to trade to the north of Unyoro; but the natives there +were so savage, they only fought with these foreign traders. A +man of Ruanda now informed us that the cowrie-shells, so +plentiful in that country, come there from the other or western +side, but he could not tell whence they were originally obtained. +Rumanika then told me Suwarora had been so frightened by the +Watuta, and their boastful threats to demolish Usui bit by bit, +reserving him only as a tit-bit for the end, that he wanted a +plot of ground in Karague to preserve his property in. + +26th, 27th, and 28th.--Some other travellers from the north again +informed us that they had heard of Wanguana who attempted to +trade in Gani and Chopi, but were killed by the natives. I now +assured Rumanika that in two or three years he would have a +greater trade with Egypt than he ever could have with Zanzibar; +for when I opened the road, all those men he heard of would swarm +up here to visit him. He, however, only laughed at my folly in +proposing to go to a place of which all I heard was merely that +every stranger who went there was killed. He began to show a +disinclination to allow my going there, and though from the most +friendly intention, this view was alarming, for one word from him +could have ruined my projects. As it was, I feared my followers +might take fright and refuse to advance with me. I thought it +good policy to talk of there being many roads leading through +Africa, so that Rumanika might see he had not got, as he thought, +the sole key to the interior. I told him again of certain views +I once held of coming to see him from the north up the Nile, and +from the east through the Masai. He observed that, "To open +either of those routes, you would require at least two hundred +guns." He would, however, do something when we returned from +Uganda; for as Mtesa followed his advice in everything, so did +Kamrasi, for both held the highest opinion of him. + +The conversation then turning on London, and the way men and +carriages moved up the streets like strings of ants on their +migrations, Rumanika said the villages in Ruanda were of enormous +extent, and the people great sportsmen, for they turned out in +multitudes, with small dogs on whose necks were tied bells, and +blowing horns themselves, to hunt leopards. They were, however, +highly superstitious, and would not allow any strangers to enter +their country; for some years ago, when Arabs went there, a great +drought and famine set in, which they attributed to evil +influences brought by them, and, turning them out of their +country, said they would never admit any of their like amongst +them again. I said, in return, I thought his Wanyambo just as +superstitious, for I observed, whilst walking one day, that they +had placed a gourd on the path, and on inquiry found they had +done so to gain the sympathy of all passers-by to their crop +close at hand, which was blighted, imagining that the voice of +the sympathiser heard by the spirits would induce them to relent, +and restore a healthy tone to the crop. + +During this time an interesting case was brought before us for +judgment. Two men having married one woman, laid claim to her +child, which, as it was a male one, belonged to the father. +Baraka was appointed the umpire, and immediately comparing the +infant's face with those of its claimants, gave a decision which +all approved of but the loser. It was pronounced amidst peals of +laughter from my men; for whenever any little excitement is going +forward, the Wanguana all rush to the scene of action to give +their opinions, and joke over it afterwards. + +29th and 30th.--On telling Rumanika this story next morning, he +said, "Many funny things happen in Karague"; and related some +domestic incidents, concluding with the moral that "Marriage in +Karague was a mere matter of money." Cows, sheep, and slaves +have to be given to the father for the value of his daughter; but +if she finds she has made a mistake, she can return the dowry- +money, and gain her release. The Wahuma, although they keep +slaves and marry with pure negroes, do not allow their daughters +to taint their blood by marrying out of their clan. In warfare +it is the rule that the Wahinda, or princes, head their own +soldiers, and set them the example of courage, when, after firing +a few arrows, they throw their bows away, and close at once with +their spears and assages. Life is never taken in Karague, either +for murder or cowardice, as they value so much their Wahuma +breed; but, for all offences, fines of cows are exacted according +to the extent of the crime. + +31st.--Ever proud of his history since I had traced his descent +from Abyssinia and King David, whose hair was as straight as my +own, Rumanika dwelt on my theological disclosures with the +greatest delight, and wished to know what difference existed +between the Arabs and ourselves; to which Baraka replied, as the +best means of making him understand, that whilst the Arabs had +only one Book, we had two; to which I added, Yes, that is true in +a sense; but the real merits lie in the fact that we have got the +better BOOK, as may be inferred from the obvious fact that we are +more prosperous, and their superiors in all things, as I would +prove to him if he would allow me to take one of his sons home to +learn that BOOK; for then he would find his tribe, after a while, +better off than the Arabs are. Much delighted, he said he would +be very glad to give me two boys for that purpose. + +Then, changing the subject, I pressed Rumanika, as he said he had +no idea of a God or future state, to tell me what advantage he +expected from sacrificing a cow yearly at his father's grave. He +laughingly replied he did not know, but he hoped he might be +favoured with better crops if he did so. He also place pombe and +grain, he said, for the same reason, before a large stone on the +hillside, although it could not eat, or make any use of it; but +the coast-men were of the same belief as himself, and so were all +the natives. No one in Africa, as far as he knew, doubted the +power of magic and spells; and if a fox barked when he was +leading an army to battle, he would retire at once, knowing that +this prognosticated evil. There were many other animals, and +lucky and unlucky birds, which all believed in. + +I then told him it was fortunate he had no disbelievers like us +to contend with in battle, for we, instead of trusting to luck +and such omens, put our faith only in skill and pluck, which +Baraka elucidated from his military experience in the wars in +British India. Lastly, I explained to him how England formerly +was as unenlightened as Africa, and believing in the same sort of +superstitions, and the inhabitants were all as naked as his skin- +wearing Wanyambo; but now, since they had grown wiser, and saw +through such impostures, they were the greatest men in the world. +He said, for the future he would disregard what the Arabs said, +and trust to my doctrines, for without doubt he had never seen +such a wise man as myself; and the Arabs themselves confirmed +this when they told him that all their beads and cloths came from +the land of the Wazungu, or white men. + +1st, 2d, and 3d.--The new year was ushered in by the most +exciting intelligence, which drove us half wild with delight, for +we fully believed Mr Petherick was indeed on his road up the +Nile, endeavouring to meet us. It was this:--An officer of +Rumanika's, who had been sent four years before on a mission to +Kamrasi, had just then returned with a party of Kamrasi's who +brought ivory for sale to the Arabs at Kufro, along with a +vaunting commission to inform Rumanika that Kamrasi had foreign +visitors as well as himself. They had not actually come into +Unyoro, but were in his dependency, the country of Gani, coming +up the Nile in vessels. They had been attacked by the Gani +people, and driven back with considerable loss both of men and +property, although they were in sailing vessels, and fired guns +which even broke down the trees on the banks. Some of their +property had been brought to him, and he in return had ordered +his subjects not to molest them, but allow them to come on to +him. Rumanika enjoyed this news as much as myself, especially +when I told him of Petherick's promise to meet us, just as these +men said he was trying to do; and more especially so, when I told +him that if he would assist me in trying to communicate with +Petherick, the latter would either come here himself, or send one +of his men, conveying a suitable present, whilst I was away in +Uganda; and then in the end we would all go off to Kamrasi's +together. + +4th.--Entering warmly into the spirit of this important +intelligence, Rumanika inquired into its truth; and, finding no +reason to doubt it, said he would send some men back with +Kamrasi's men, if I could have patience until they were ready to +go. There would be no danger, as Kamrasi was his brother-in-law, +and would do all that he told him. + +I now proposed to send Baraka, who, ashamed to cry off, said he +would go with Rumanika's officers if I allowed him a companion of +his own choosing, who would take care of him if he got sick on +the way, otherwise he should be afraid they would leave him to +die, like a dog, in the jungles. We consoled him by assenting to +the companion he wished, and making Rumanika responsible that no +harm should come to him from any of the risks which his +imagination conjured up. Rumanika then gave him and Uledi, his +selected companion, some sheets of mbugu, in order that they +might disguise themselves as his officers whilst crossing the +territories of the king of Uganda. On inquiring as to the reason +of this, it transpired that, to reach Unyoro, the party would +have to cross a portion of Uddu, which the late king Sunna, on +annexing that country to Uganda, had divided, not in halves, but +by alternate bands running transversely from Nkole to the +Victoria N'yanza. + +5th and 6th.--To keep Rumanika up to the mark, I introduced to +him Saidi, one of my men, who was formerly a slave, captured in +Walamo, on the borders of Abyssinia, to show him, by his +similarity to the Wahuma, how it was I had come to the conclusion +that he was of the same race. Saidi told him his tribe kept +cattle with the same stupendous horns as those of the Wahuma; and +also that, in the same manner, they all mixed blood and milk for +their dinners, which, to his mind, confirmed my statement. At +night, as there was a partial eclipse of the moon, all the +Wanguana marched up and down from Rumanika's to Nnanaji's huts, +singing and beating our tin cooking-pots to frighten off the +spirit of the sun from consuming entirely the chief object of +reverence, the moon. + +7th.--Our spirits were now further raised by the arrival of a +semi-Hindu-Suahili, named Juma, who had just returned from a +visit to the king of Uganda, bringing back with him a large +present of ivory and slaves; for he said he had heard from the +king of our intention to visit him, and that he had despatched +officers to call us immediately. This intelligence delighted +Rumanika as much as it did us, and he no sooner heard it than he +said, with ecstasies, "I will open Africa, since the white men +desire it; for did not Dagara command us to show deference to +strangers?" Then, turning to me, he added, "My only regret is, +you will not take something as a return for the great expenses +you have been put to in coming to visit me." The expense was +admitted, for I had now been obliged to purchase from the Arabs +upwards of œ400 worth of beads, to keep such a store in reserve +for my return from Uganda as would enable me to push on to +Gondokoro. I thought this necessary, as every report that +arrived from Unyamuezi only told us of further disasters with the +merchants in that country. Sheikh Said was there even then, with +my poor Hottentots, unable to convey my post to the coast. + +8th to 10th.--At last we heard the familiar sound of the Uganda +drum. Maula, a royal officer, with a large escort of smartly- +dressed men, women, and boys, leading their dogs and playing +their reeds, announced to our straining ears the welcome +intelligence that their king had sent them to call us. +N'yamgundu, who had seen us in Usui, had marched on to inform the +king of our advance and desire to see him; and he, intensely +delighted at the prospect of having white men for his guests, +desired no time should be lost in our coming on. Maula told us +that his officers had orders to supply us with everything we +wanted whilst passing through his country, and that there would +be nothing to pay. + +One thing only now embarrassed me--Grant was worse, without hope +of recovery for at least one or two months. This large body of +Waganda could not be kept waiting. To get on as fast as possible +was the only chance of ever bringing the journey to a successful +issue; so, unable to help myself, with great remorse at another +separation, on the following day I consigned my companion, with +several Wanguana, to the care of my friend Rumanika. I then +separated ten loads of beads and thirty copper wires for my +expenses in Uganda; wrote a letter to Petherick, which I gave to +Baraka; and gave him and his companion beads to last as money for +six months, and also a present both for Kamrasi and the Gani +chief. To Nsangez I gave charge of my collections in natural +history, and the reports of my progress, addressed to the +Geographical Society, which he was to convey to Sheikh Said at +Kaze, for conveyance as far as Zanzibar. + +This business concluded in camp, I started my men and went to the +palace to bid adieu to Rumanika, who appointed Rozaro, one of his +officers, to accompany me wherever I went in Uganda, and to bring +me back safely again. At Rumanika's request I then gave Mtesa's +pages some ammunition to hurry on with to the great king of +Uganda, as his majesty had ordered them to bring him, as quickly +as possible, some strengthening powder, and also some powder for +his gun. Then, finally, to Maula, also under Rumanika's +instructions, I gave two copper wires and five bundles of beads; +and, when all was completed, set out on the march, perfectly sure +in my mind that before very long I should settle the great Nile +problem for ever; and, with this consciousness, only hoping that +Grant would be able to join me before I should have to return +again, for it was never supposed for a moment that it was +possible I ever could go north from Uganda. Rumanika was the most +resolute in this belief, as the kings of Uganda, ever since that +country was detached from Unyoro, had been making constant raids, +seizing cattle and slaves from the surrounding communities. + + + + + Chapter IX + + + + History of the Wahuma + +The Abyssinians and Gallas--Theory of Conquest of Inferior by +Superior Races--The Wahuma and the Kingdom of Kittara--Legendary +History of the Kingdom of Uganda--Its Constitution, and the +Ceremonials of the Court. + +The reader has now had my experience of several of the minor +states, and has presently to be introduced to Uganda, the most +powerful state in the ancient but now divided great kingdom of +Kittara. I shall have to record a residence of considerable +duration at the court there; and, before entering on it, I +propose to state my theory of the ethnology of that part of +Africa inhabited by the people collectively styled Wahuma-- +otherwise Gallas or Abyssinians. My theory is founded on the +traditions of the several nations, as checked by my own +observations of what I saw when passing through them. It appears +impossible to believe, judging from the physical appearance of +the Wahuma, that they can be of any other race than the semi- +Shem-Hamitic of Ethiopia. The traditions of the imperial +government of Abyssinia go as far back as the scriptural age of +King David, from whom the late reigning king of Abyssinia, Sahela +Selassie, traced his descent. + +Most people appear to regard the Abyssinians as a different race +from the Gallas, but, I believe, without foundation. Both alike +are Christians of the greatest antiquity. It is true that, +whilst the aboriginal Abyssinians in Abyssinia proper are more +commonly agriculturists, the Gallas are chiefly a pastoral +people; but I conceive that the two may have had the same +relations with each other which I found the Wahuma kings and +Wahuma herdsmen holding with the agricultural Wazinza in Uzinza, +the Wanyambo in Karague, the Waganda in Uganda, and the Wanyoro +in Unyoro. + +In these countries the government is in the hands of foreigners, +who had invaded and taken possession of them, leaving the +agricultural aborigines to till the ground, whilst the junior +members of the usurping clans herded cattle--just as in +Abyssinia, or wherever the Abyssinians or Gallas have shown +themselves. There a pastoral clan from the Asiatic side took the +government of Abyssinia from its people and have ruled over them +ever since, changing, by intermarriage with the Africans, the +texture of their hair and colour to a certain extent, but still +maintaining a high stamp of Asiatic feature, of which a market +characteristic is a bridged instead of bridgeless nose. + +It may be presumed that there once existed a foreign but compact +government in Abyssinia, which, becoming great and powerful, sent +out armies on all sides of it, especially to the south, south- +east, and west, slave-hunting and devastating wherever they went, +and in process of time becoming too great for one ruler to +control. Junior members of the royal family then, pushing their +fortunes, dismembered themselves from the parent stock, created +separate governments, and, for reasons which cannot be traced, +changed their names. In this manner we may suppose that the +Gallas separated from the Abyssinians, and located themselves to +the south of their native land. + +Other Abyssinians, or possibly Gallas--it matters not which they +were or what we call them--likewise detaching themselves, fought +in the Somali country, subjugated that land, were defeated to a +certain extent by the Arabs from the opposite continent, and +tried their hands south as far as the Jub river, where they also +left many of their numbers behind. Again they attacked Omwita +(the present Mombas), were repulsed, were lost sight of in the +interior of the continent, and, crossing the Nile close to its +source, discovered the rich pasture-lands of Unyoro, and founded +the great kingdom of Kittara, where they lost their religion, +forgot their language, extracted their lower incisors like the +natives, changed their national name to Wahuma, and no longer +remembered the names of Hubshi or Galla--though even the present +reigning kings retain a singular traditional account of their +having once been half white and half black, with hair on the +white side straight, and on the black side frizzly. It was a +curious indication of the prevailing idea still entertained by +them of their foreign extraction, that it was surmised in Unyoro +that the approach of us white men into their country from both +sides at once, augured an intention on our part to take back the +country from them. Believing, as they do, that Africa formerly +belonged to Europeans, from whom it was taken by negroes with +whom they had allied themselves, the Wahuma make themselves a +small residue of the original European stock driven from the +land-- an idea which seems natural enough when we consider that +the Wahuma are, in numbers, quite insignificant compared with the +natives. + +Again, the princes of Unyoro are called Wawitu, and point to the +north when asked where their country Uwitu is situated, +doubtfully saying, when questioned about its distance, "How can +we tell circumstances which took place in our forefathers' times? +we only think it is somewhere near your country." Although, +however, this very interesting people, the Wahuma, delight in +supposing themselves to be of European origin, they are forced to +confess, on closer examination, that although they came in the +first instance from the doubtful north, they came latterly from +the east, as part of a powerful Wahuma tribe, beyond Kidi, who +excel in arms, and are so fierce no Kidi people, terrible in war +as these too are described to be, can stand against them. This +points, if our maps are true, to the Gallas--for all pastorals in +these people's minds are Wahuma; and if we could only reconcile +ourselves to the belief that the Wawitu derived their name from +Omwita, the last place they attacked on the east coast of Africa, +then all would be clear: for it must be noticed the Wakama, or +kings, when asked to what race they owe their origin, invariably +reply, in the first place, from princes--giving, for instance, +the titles Wawitu in Unyoro, and Wahinda in Karague-- which is +most likely caused by their never having been asked such a close +question before, whilst the idiom of the language generally +induces them to call themselves after the name applied to their +country. + +So much for ethnological conjecture. Let us now deal with the +Wahuma since they crossed the Nile and founded the kingdom of +Kittara, a large tract of land bounded by the Victoria N'yanza +and Kitangule Kagera or River on the south, the Nile on the east, +the Little Luta-Nzige Lake[FN#15] on the north, and the kingdoms +of Utubi and Nkole on the west. + +The general name Kittara is gradually becoming extinct, and is +seldom applied to any but the western portions; whilst the north- +eastern, in which the capital is situated, is called Unyoro, and +the other, Uddu apart from Uganda, as we shall presently see. + +Nobody has been able to inform us how many generations old the +Wahuma government of Unyoro is. The last three kings are +Chiawambi, N'yawongo, and the present king Kamrasi. In very +early times dissensions amongst the royal family, probably +contending for the crown, such as we presume must have occurred +in Abyssinia, separated the parent stock, and drove the weaker to +find refuge in Nkole, where a second and independent government +of Wahuma was established. Since then, twenty generations ago, +it is said the Wahuma government of Karague was established in +the same manner. The conspirator Rohinda fled from Kittara to +Karague with a large party of Wahuma; sought the protection of +Nono, who, a Myambo, was king over the Wanyambo of that country; +ingratiated himself and his followers with the Wanyambo; and, +finally, designing a crown for himself, gave a feast, +treacherously killed King Nono in his cups, and set himself on +the throne, the first mkama or king who ruled in Karague. +Rohinda was succeeded by Ntare, then Rohinda II., then Ntare II., +which order only changed with the eleventh reign, when Rusatira +ascended the throne, and was succeeded by Mehinga, then Kalimera, +then Ntare VII., then Rohinda VI., then Dagara, and now Rumanika. +During this time the Wahuma were well south of the equator, and +still destined to spread. Brothers again contended for the crown +of their father, and the weaker took refuge in Uzinza, where the +fourth Wahuma government was created, and so remained under one +king until the last generation, when King Ruma died, and his two +sons, Rohinda, the eldest, and Suwarora, contended for the crown, +but divided the country between them, Rohinda taking the eastern +half, and Suwarora the western, at the instigation of the late +King Dagara of Karague. + +This is the most southerly kingdom of the Wahuma, though not the +farthest spread of its people, for we find the Watusi, who are +emigrants from Karague of the same stock, overlooking the +Tanganyika Lake from the hills of Uhha, and tending their cattle +all over Unyamuezi under the protection of the native negro +chiefs; and we also hear that the Wapoka of Fipa, south of the +Rukwa Lake are the same. How or when their name became changed +from Wahuma to Watusi no one is able to explain; but, again +deducing the past from the present, we cannot help suspecting +that, in the same way as this change has taken place, the name +Galla may have been changed from Hubshi, and Wahuma from Gallas. +But though in these southern regions the name of the clan has +been changed, the princes still retain the title of Wahinda as in +Karague, instead of Wawitu as in Unyoro, and are considered of +such noble breed that many of the pure negro chiefs delight in +saying, I am a Mhinda, or prince, to the confusion of travellers, +which confusion is increased by the Wahuma habits of conforming +to the regulations of the different countries they adopt. For +instance, the Wahuma of Uganda and Karague, though so close to +Unyoro, do not extract their lower incisors; and though the +Wanyoro only use the spear in war, the Wahuma in Karague are the +most expert archers in Africa. We are thus left only the one +very distinguishing mark, the physical appearance of this +remarkable race, partaking even more of the phlegmatic nature of +the Shemitic father than the nervous boisterous temperament of +the Hamitic mother, as a certain clue to their Shem-Hamitic +origin. + +It remains to speak of the separation of Uddu from Unyoro, the +present kingdom of Uganda--which, to say the least of it, is +extremely interesting, inasmuch as the government there is as +different from the other surrounding countries as those of Europe +are compared to Asia. + +In the earliest times the Wahuma of Unyoro regarded all their +lands bordering on the Victoria Lake as their garden, owing to +its exceeding fertility, and imposed the epithet of Wiru, or +slaves, upon its people, because they had to supply the imperial +government with food and clothing. Coffee was conveyed to the +capital by the Wiru, also mbugu (bark-cloaks), from an +inexhaustible fig-tree; in short, the lands of the Wiru were +famous for their rich productions. + +Now Wiru in the northern dialect changes to Waddu in the +southern; hence Uddu, the land of the slaves, which remained in +one connected line from the Nile to the Kitangule Kagera until +eight generations back, when, according to tradition, a sportsman +from Unyoro, by name Uganda, came with a pack of dogs, a woman, a +spear, and a shield, hunting on the left bank of Katonga valley, +not far from the lake. He was but a poor man, though so +successful in hunting that vast numbers of the Wiru flocked to +him for flesh, and became so fond of him as to invite him to be +their king, saying, "Of what avail to us is our present king, +living so far away that when we sent him a cow as a tributary +offering, that cow on the journey gave a calf, and the calf +became a cow and gave another calf, and so on, and yet the +present has not reached its destination?" + +At first Uganda hesitated, on the plea that they had a king +already, but on being farther pressed consented; when the people +hearing his name said, "Well, let it be so; and for the future +let this country between the Nile and Katonga be called Uganda, +and let your name be Kimera, the first king of Uganda." + +The same night Kimera stood upon a stone with a spear in his +hand, and a woman and dog sitting by his side; and to this day +people assert that his footprints and the mark left by his spear- +end, as well as the seats of the woman and dog, are visible. The +report of these circumstances soon reached the great king of +Unyoro, who, in his magnificence, merely said, "The poor creature +must be starving; allow him to feed there if he likes." The +kings who have succeeded Kimera are: 1. Mahanda; 2. Katereza; 3. +Chabago; 4. Simakokiro; 5. Kamanya; 6. Sunna; 7. Mtesa, not yet +crowned. + +These kings have all carried on the same system of government as +that commenced by Kimera, and proved themselves a perfect terror +to Unyoro, as we shall see in the sequel. Kimera, suddenly risen +to eminence, grew proud and headstrong--formed a strong clan +around him, whom he appointed to be his Wakunga, or officers-- +rewarded well, punished severely, and soon became magnificent. +Nothing short of the grandest palace, a throne to sit upon, the +largest harem, the smartest officers, the best dressed people, +even a menagerie for pleasure--in fact, only the best of +everything--would content him. Fleets of boats, not canoes, were +built for war, and armies formed, that the glory of the king +might never decrease. In short, the system of government, +according to barbarous ideas was perfect. Highways were cut from +one extremity of the country to the other, and all rivers +bridged. No house could be built without its necessary +appendages for cleanliness; no person, however poor, could expose +his person; and to disobey these laws was death. + +After the death of Kimera, the prosperity of Uganda never +decreased, but rather improved. The clan of officers formed by +him were as proud of their emancipation from slavery, as the king +they had created was of his dominion over them. They buried +Kimera with state honours, giving charge of the body to the late +king's most favourite consort, whose duty it was to dry the +corpse by placing it on a board resting on the mouth of an +earthen open pot heated by fire from below. When this drying +process was completed, at the expiration of three months, the +lower jaw was cut out and neatly worked over with beads; the +umbilical cord, which had been preserved from birth, was also +worked with beads. These were kept apart, but the body was +consigned to a tomb, and guarded ever after by this officer and a +certain number of the king's next most favourite women, all of +whom planted gardens for their maintenance, and were restricted +from seeing the succeeding king. + +By his large establishment of wives, Kimera left a number of +princes or Warangira, and as many princesses. From the Warangira +the Wakunga now chose as their king the one whom they thought +best suited for the government of the country--not of too high +rank by the mother's side, lest their selection in his pride +should kill them all, but one of low birth. The rest were placed +with wives in a suite of huts, under charge of a keeper, to +prevent any chance of intrigues and dissensions. They were to +enjoy life until the prince-elect should arrive at the age of +discretion and be crowned, when all but two of the princes would +be burnt to death, the two being reserved in case of accident as +long as the king wanted brother companions, when one would be +banished to Unyoro, and the other pensioned with suitable +possessions in Uganda. The mother of the king by this measure +became queen-dowager, or N'yamasore. She halved with her son all +the wives of the deceased king not stationed at his grave, taking +second choice; kept up a palace only little inferior to her son's +with large estates, guided the prince-elect in the government of +the country, and remained until the end of his minority the +virtual ruler of the land; at any rate, no radical political +changes could take place without her sanction. The princesses +became the wives of the king; no one else could marry them. + +Both mother and son had their Ktikiros or commander-in-chief, +also titled Kamraviona, as well as other officers of high rank. +Amongst them in due order of gradation are the Ilmas, a woman who +had the good fortune to have cut the umbilical cord at the king's +birth; the Sawaganzi, queen's sister and king's barber; Kaggao, +Polino, Sakibobo, Kitunzi, and others, governors of provinces; +Jumab, admiral of the fleet; Kasugu, guardian of the king's +sister; Mkuenda, factor; Kunsa and Usungu, first and second class +executioners; Mgemma, commissioner in charge of tombs; Seruti, +brewer; Mfumbiro, cook; numerous pages to run messages and look +after the women, and minor Wakungu in hundreds. One Mkungu is +always over the palace, in command of the Wanagalali, or guards +which are changed monthly; another is ever in attendance as +seizer of refractory persons. There are also in the palace +almost constantly the Wanangalavi, or drummers; Nsase, pea-gourd +rattlers; Milele, flute-players; Mukonderi, clarionet-players; +also players on wooden harmonicons and lap-harps, to which the +players sing accompaniments; and, lastly, men who whistle on +their fingers--for music is half the amusement of these courts. +Everybody in Uganda is expected to keep spears, shields and dogs, +the Uganda arms and cognisance; whilst the Wakungu are entitled +to drums. There is also a Neptune Mgussa, or spirit, who lives +in the depths of the N'yanza, communicates through the medium of +his temporal Mkungu, and guides to a certain extent the naval +destiny of the king. + +It is the duty of all officers, generally speaking, to attend at +court as constantly as possible; should they fail, they forfeit +their lands, wives, and all belongings. These will be seized and +given to others more worthy of them; as it is presumed that +either insolence or disaffection can be the only motive which +would induce any person to absent himself for any length of time +from the pleasure of seeing his sovereign. Tidiness in dress is +imperatively necessary, and for any neglect of this rule the head +may be the forfeit. The punishment for such offences, however, +may be commuted by fines of cattle, goats, fowls, or brass wire. +All acts of the king are counted benefits, for which he must be +thanked; and so every deed done to his subjects is a gift +received by them, though it should assume the shape of flogging +or fine; for are not these, which make better men of them, as +necessary as anything? The thanks are rendered by gravelling on +the ground, floundering about and whining after the manner of +happy dogs, after which they rise up suddenly, take up sticks-- +spears are not allowed to be carried in court--make as if +charging the king, jabbering as fast as tongues can rattle, and +so they swear fidelity for all their lives. + +This is the greater salutation; the lesser one is performed +kneeling in an attitude of prayer, continually throwing open the +hands, and repeating sundry words. Among them the word +"n'yanzig" is the most frequent and conspicuous; and hence these +gesticulations receive the general designation n'yanzig--a term +which will be frequently met with, and which I have found it +necessary to use like an English verb. In consequence of these +salutations, there is more ceremony in court than business, +though the king, ever having an eye to his treasury, continually +finds some trifling fault, condemns the head of the culprit, +takes his liquidation-present, if he has anything to pay, and +thus keeps up his revenue. + +No one dare stand before the king whilst he is either standing +still or sitting, but must approach him with downcast eyes and +bended knees, and kneel or sit when arrived. To touch the king's +throne or clothes, even by accident, or to look upon his women is +certain death. When sitting in court holding a levee, the king +invariably has in attendance several women, Wabandwa, evil-eye +averters or sorcerers. They talk in feigned voices raised to a +shrillness almost amounting to a scream. They wear dried lizards +on their heads, small goat-skin aprons trimmed with little bells, +diminutive shields and spears set off with cock-hackles--their +functions in attendance being to administer cups of marwa +(plantain wine). To complete the picture of the court, one must +imagine a crowd of pages to run royal messages; they dare not +walk for such deficiency in zeal to their master might cost their +life. A further feature of the court consists in the national +symbols already referred to-- a dog, two spears, and shield. + +With the company squatting in large half-circle or three sides of +a square many deep before him, in the hollow of which are +drummers and other musicians, the king, sitting on his throne in +high dignity, issues his orders for the day much to the following +effect:-- "Cattle, women, and children are short in Uganda; an +army must be formed of one to two thousand strong, to plunder +Unyoro. The Wasoga have been insulting his subjects, and must be +reduced to subjection: for this emergency another army must be +formed, of equal strength, to act by land in conjunction with the +fleet. The Wahaiya have paid no tribute to his greatness lately +and must be taxed." For all these matters the commander-in-chief +tells off the divisional officers, who are approved by the king, +and the matter is ended in court. The divisional officers then +find subordinate officers, who find men, and the army proceeds +with its march. Should any fail with their mission, +reinforcements are sent, and the runaways, called women, are +drilled with a red-hot iron until they are men no longer, and die +for their cowardice., All heroism, however, ensures promotion. +The king receives his army of officers with great ceremony, +listens to their exploits, and gives as rewards, women, cattle, +and command over men--the greatest elements of wealth in Uganda-- +with a liberal hand. + +As to the minor business transacted in court, culprits are +brought in bound by officers, and reported. At once the sentence +is given, perhaps awarding the most torturous, lingering death-- +probably without trial or investigation, and, for all the king +knows, at the instigation of some one influenced by wicked spite. +If the accused endeavour to plead his defence, his voice is at +once drowned, and the miserable victim dragged off in the +roughest manner possible by those officers who love their king, +and delight in promptly carrying out his orders. Young virgins, +the daughters of Wakungu, stark naked, and smeared with grease, +but holding, for decency's sake, a small square of mbugu at the +upper corners in both hands before them, are presented by their +fathers in propitiation for some offence, and to fill the harem. +Seizing-officers receive orders to hunt down Wakungu who have +committed some indiscretions, and to confiscate their lands, +wives, children, and property. An officer observed to salute +informally is ordered for execution, when everybody near him +rises in an instant, the drums beat, drowning his cries, and the +victim of carelessness is dragged off, bound by cords, by a dozen +men at once. Another man, perhaps, exposes an inch of naked leg +whilst squatting, or has his mbugu tied contrary to regulations, +and is condemned to the same fate. + +Fines of cows, goats, and fowls are brought in and presented; +they are smoothed down by the offender's hands, and then applied +to his face, to show there is no evil spirit lurking in the gift; +then thanks are proferred for the leniency of the king in letting +the presenter off so cheaply, and the pardoned man retires, full +of smiles, to the ranks of the squatters. Thousands of cattle, +and strings of women and children, sometimes the result of a +victorious plundering hunt, or else the accumulated seizures from +refractory Wakungu, are brought in; for there is no more common +or acceptable offering to appease the king's wrath towards any +refractory or blundering officer than a present of a few young +beauties, who may perhaps be afterwards given as the reward of +good service to other officers. + +Stick-charms, being pieces of wood of all shapes, supposed to +have supernatural virtues, and coloured earths, endowed with +similar qualities, are produced by the royal magicians. The +master of the hunt exposes his spoils--such as antelopes, cats, +porcupines, curious rats, etc., all caught in nets, and placed in +baskets-- zebra, lion, and buffalo skins being added. The +fishermen bring their spoils; also the gardeners. The cutlers +show knives and forks made of iron inlaid with brass and copper; +the furriers, most beautifully-sewn patchwork of antelopes' +skins; the habit-maker, sheets of mbugu barkcloth; the +blacksmith, spears; the maker of shields, his productions;--and +so forth; but nothing is ever given without rubbing it down, then +rubbing the face, and going through a long form of salutation for +the gracious favour the king has shown in accepting it. + +When tired of business, the king rises, spear in hand, and, +leading his dog, walked off without word or comment leaving his +company, like dogs, to take care of themselves. + +Strict as the discipline of the exterior court is, that of the +interior is not less severe. The pages all wear turbans of cord +made from aloe fibres. Should a wife commit any trifling +indiscretion, either by word or deed, she is condemned to +execution on the spot, bound by the pages and dragged out. +Notwithstanding the stringent laws for the preservation of +decorum by all male attendants, stark-naked full-grown women are +the valets. + +On the first appearance of the new moon every month, the king +shuts himself up, contemplating and arranging his magic horns-- +the horns of wild animals stuffed with charm-powder--for two or +three days. These may be counted his Sundays or church festivals, +which he dedicates to devotion. On other days he takes his +women, some hundreds, to bathe or sport in ponds; or, when tired +of that, takes long walks, his women running after him, when all +the musicians fall in, take precedence of the party, followed by +the Wakungu and pages, with the king in the centre of the +procession, separating the male company from the fair sex. On +these excursions no common man dare look upon the royal +procession. Should anybody by chance happen to be seen, he is at +once hunted down by the pages, robbed of everything he possessed, +and may count himself very lucky if nothing worse happens. +Pilgrimages are not uncommon, and sometimes the king spends a +fortnight yachting; but whatever he does, or wherever he goes, +the same ceremonies prevail--his musicians, Wakungu, pages, and +the wives take part in all. + +But the greatest of all ceremonies takes place at the time of the +coronation. The prince-elect then first seeks favour from the +kings of all the surrounding countries, demanding in his might +and power one of each of their daughters in marriage, or else +recognition in some other way, when the Ilmas makes a pilgrimage +to the deceased king's tomb, to observe, by the growth an other +signs of certain trees, and plants, what destiny awaits the king. +According to the prognostics, they report that he will either +have to live a life of peace, or after coronation take the field +at the head of an army to fight either east, west, or both ways, +when usually the first march is on Kittara, and the second on +Usoga. The Mgussa's voice is also heard, but in what manner I do +not know, as all communication on state matters is forbidden in +Uganda. These preliminaries being arranged, the actual +coronation takes place, when the king ceases to hold any farther +communion with his mother. The brothers are burnt to death, and +the king, we shall suppose, takes the field at the head of his +army. + +It is as the result of these expeditions that one-half Usogo and +the remaining half of Uddu have been annexed to Uganda. + + + + + Chapter X + + + + Karague and Uganda + +Escape from Protectors--Cross the Kitangule, the First Affluent +of the Nile--Enter Uddu--Uganda--A Rich Country--Driving away the +Devil--A Conflict in the Camp--A Pretending Prince--Three Pages +with a Diplomatic Message from the King of Uganda--Crime in +Uganda. + +Crossing back over the Weranhanje spur, I put up with the Arabs +at Kufro. Here, for the first time in this part of the world, I +found good English peas growing. Next day (11th), crossing over +a succession of forks, supporters to the main spur, we encamped +at Luandalo. Here we were overtaken by Rozaro, who had remained +behind, as I now found, to collect a large number of Wanyambo, +whom he called his children, to share with him the gratuitous +living these creatures always look out for on a march of this +nature. + +After working round the end of the great spur whilst following +down the crest of a fork, we found Karague separated by a deep +valley from the hilly country of Uhaiya, famous for its ivory and +coffee productions. On entering the rich plantain gardens of +Kisaho, I was informed we must halt there a day for Maula to join +us, as he had been detained by Rumanika, who, wishing to give him +a present, had summoned Rozaro's sister to his palace for that +purpose. She was married to another, and had two children by +him, but that did not signify, as it was found in time her +husband had committed a fault, on account of which it was thought +necessary to confiscate all his property. + +At this place all the people were in a constant state of +inebriety, drinking pombe all day and all night. I shot a +montana antelope, and sent its head and skin back to Grant, +accompanied with my daily report to Rumanika. + +Maula having joined me, we marched down to near the end of the +fork overlooking the plain of Kitangule--the Waganada drums +beating, and whistles playing all the way we went along. + +We next descended from the Mountains of the Moon, and spanned a +long alluvial plain to the settlement of the so-long-heard-of +Kitangule, where Rumanika keeps his thousands and thousands of +cows. In former days the dense green forests peculiar to the +tropics, which grow in swampy places about this plain, were said +to have been stocked by vast herds of elephants; but, since the +ivory trade had increased, these animals had all been driven off +to the hills of Kisiwa and Uhaiya, or into Uddu beyond the river, +and all the way down to the N'yanza. + +To-day we reached the Kitangule Kagera, or river, which, as I +ascertained in the year 1858, falls into the Victoria N'yanza on +the west side. Most unfortunately, as we led off to cross it, +rain began to pour, so that everybody and everything was thrown +into confusion. I could not get a sketch of it, though Grant was +more fortunate afterwards; neither could I measure or fathom it; +and it was only after a long contest with the superstitious +boatmen that they allowed me to cross in their canoe with my +shoes on, as they thought the vessel would either upset, or else +the river would dry up, in consequence of their Neptune taking +offence at me. Once over, I looked down on the noble stream with +considerable pride. About eight yards broad, it was sunk down a +considerable depth below the surface of the land, like a huge +canal, and is so deep, it could not be poled by the canoemen; +while it runs at a velocity of from three to four knots an hour. + +I say I viewed it with pride, because I had formed my judgment of +its being fed from high-seated springs in the Mountains of the +Moon solely on scientific geographical reasonings; and, from the +bulk of the stream, I also believed those mountains must obtain +an altitude of 8000 feet[FN#16] or more, just as we find they do +in Ruanda. I thought then to myself, as I did at Rumanika's, when +I first viewed the Mfumbiro cones, and gathered all my distant +geographical information there, that these highly saturated +Mountains of the Moon give birth to the Congo as well as to the +Nile, and also to the Shire branch of the Zambeze. + +I came, at the same time, to the conclusion that all our previous +information concerning the hydrography of these regions, as well +as the Mountains of the Moon, originated with the ancient Hindus, +who told it to the priests of the Nile; and that all those busy +Egyptian geographers, who disseminated their knowledge with a +view to be famous for their long-sightedness, in solving the +deep-seated mystery with enshrouded the source of their holy +river, were so many hypothetical humbugs. Reasoning thus, the +Hindu traders alone, in those days, I believed, had a firm basis +to stand upon, from their intercourse with the Abyssinians-- +through whom they must have heard of the country of Amara, which +they applied to the N'yanza-- and with the Wanyamuezi or men of +the Moon, from whom they heard of the Tanganyika and Karague +mountains. I was all the more impressed with this belief, by +knowing that the two church missionaries, Rebmann and Erhardt, +without the smallest knowledge of the Hindus' map, constructed a +map of their own, deduced from the Zanzibar traders, something on +the same scale, by blending the Victoria N'yanza, Tanganyida, and +N'yazza into one; whilst to their triuned lake they gave the name +Moon, because the men of the Moon happened to live in front of +the central lake. And later still, Mr Leon, another missionary, +heard of the N'yanza and the country Amara, near which he heard +the Nile made its escape. + +Going on with the march we next came to Ndongo, a perfect garden +of plantains. The whole country was rich--most surprisingly so. +The same streaky argillaceous sandstones prevailed as in Karague. +There was nothing, in fact, that would not have grown here, if it +liked moisture and a temperate heat. It was a perfect paradise +for negroes: as fast as they sowed they were sure of a crop +without much trouble; though, I must say, they kept their huts +and their gardens in excellent order. + +As Maula would stop here, I had to halt also. The whole country +along the banks of the river, and near some impenetrable forests, +was alive with antelopes, principally hartebeests, but I would +not fire at them until it was time to return, as the villagers +led me to expect buffaloes. The consequence was, as no buffaloes +were to be found, I got no sport, though I wounded a hartebeest, +and followed him almost into camp, when I gave up the chase to +some negroes, and amused myself by writing to Rumanika, to say if +Grant did not reach me by a certain date, I would try to navigate +the N'yanza, and return to him in boats up the Kitangule river. + +We crossed over a low spur of hill extending from the mountainous +kingdom of Nkole, on our left, towards the N'yanza. Here I was +shown by Nasib a village called Ngandu, which was the farthest +trading depot of the Zanzibar ivory-merchants. It was +established by Musa Mzuri, by the permission of Rumanika; for, as +I shall have presently to mention, Sunna, after annexing this +part of Uddu to Uganda, gave Rumanika certain bands of territory +in it as a means of security against the possibility of its being +wrested out of his hands again by the future kings of Unyoro. +Following on Musa's wake, many Arabs also came here to trade; but +they were so oppressive to the Waganda that they were recalled by +Rumanika, and obliged to locate themselves at Kufro. To the +right, at the end of the spur, stretching as far as the eye could +reach towards the N'yanza, was a rich, well-wooded, swampy plain, +containing large open patches of water, which not many years +since, I was assured, were navigable for miles, but now, like the +Urigi lake, were gradually drying up. indeed, it appeared to me +as if the N'yanza must have once washed the foot of these hills, +but had since shrunk away from its original margin. + +On arrival at Ngambezi, I was immensely struck with the neatness +and good arrangement of the place, as well as its excessive +beauty and richness. No part of Bengal or Zanzibar could excel +it in either respect; and my men, with one voice, exclaimed, "Ah, +what people these Waganda are!" and passed other remarks, which +may be abridged as follows:--"They build their huts and keep +their gardens just as well as we do at Unguja, with screens and +enclosures for privacy, a clearance in front of their +establishments, and a baraza or reception-hut facing the +buildings. Then, too, what a beautiful prospect it has!--rich +marshy plains studded with mounds, on each of which grow the +umbrella cactus, or some other evergreen tree; and beyond, again, +another hill-spur such as the one we have crossed over." One of +king Mtesa's uncles, who had not been burnt to death by the order +of the late king Sunna on his ascension to the throne, was the +proprietor of this place, but unfortunately he was from home. +However, his substitute gave me his baraza to live in, and +brought many presents of goats, fowls, sweet potatoes, yams, +plantains, sugarcane, and Indian corn, and apologised in the end +for deficiency in hospitality. I, of course, gave him beads in +return. + +Continuing over the same kind of ground in the next succeeding +spurs of the streaky red-clay sandstone hills, we put up at the +residence of Isamgevi, a Mkungu or district officer of +Rumanika's. His residence was as well kept as Mtesa's uncle's; +but instead of a baraza fronting his house, he had a small +enclosure, with three small huts in it, kept apart for devotional +purposes, or to propitiate the evil spirits--in short, according +to the notions of the place, a church. This officer gave me a +cow and some plantains, and I in return gave him a wire and some +beads. Many mendicant women, called by some Wichwezi, by others +Mabandwa, all wearing the most fantastic dresses of mbugu, +covered with beads, shells, and sticks, danced before us, singing +a comic song, the chorus of which was a long shrill rolling Coo- +roo-coo-roo, coo-roo-coo-roo, delivered as they came to a +standstill. Their true functions were just as obscure as the +religion of the negroes generally; some called them devil- +drivers, other evil-eye averters; but, whatever it was for, they +imposed a tax on the people, whose minds being governed by a +necessity for making some self-sacrifice to propitiate something, +they could not tell what, for their welfare in the world, they +always gave them a trifle in the same way as the East Indians do +their fakirs. + +After crossing another low swampy flat, we reached a much larger +group, or rather ramification, of hill-spurs pointing to the +N'yanza, called Kisuere, and commanded by M'yombo, Rumanika's +frontier officer. Immediately behind this, to the northward, +commenced the kingdom of Unyoro; and here it was, they said, +Baraka would branch off my line on his way to Kamrasi. Maula's +home was one march distant from this, so the scoundrel now left +me to enjoy himself there, giving as his pretext for doing so, +that Mtesa required him, as soon as I arrived here, to send on a +messenger that order might be taken for my proper protection on +the line of march; for the Waganda were a turbulent set of +people, who could only be kept in order by the executioner; and +doubtless many, as was customary on such occasions, would be +beheaded, as soon as Mtesa heard of my coming, to put the rest in +a fright. I knew this was all humbug, of course, and I told him +so; but it was of no use, and I was compelled to halt. + +On the 23d another officer, named Maribu, came to me and said, +Mtesa, having heard that Grant was left sick behind at Karague, +had given him orders to go there and fetch him, whether sick or +well, for Mtesa was most anxious to see white men. Hearing this +I at once wrote to Grant, begging him to come on if he could do +so, and to bring with him all the best of my property, or as much +as he could of it, as I now saw there was more cunning humbug +than honesty in what Rumanika had told me about the impossibility +of our going north from Uganda, as well as in his saying sick men +could not go into Uganda, and donkeys without trousers would not +be admitted there, because they were considered indecent. If he +was not well enough to move, I advised him to wait there until I +reached Mtesa's, when I would either go up the lake and Kitangule +to fetch him away, or would make the king send boats for him, +which I more expressly wished, as it would tend to give us a much +better knowledge of the lake. + +Maula now came again, after receiving repeated and angry +messages, and I forced him to make a move. He led me straight up +to his home, a very nice place, in which he gave me a very large, +clean, and comfortable hut--had no end of plantains brought for +me and my men--and said, "Now you have really entered the kingdom +of Uganda, for the future you must buy no more food. At every +place that you stop for the day, the officer in charge will bring +you plantains, otherwise your men can help themselves in the +gardens, for such are the laws of the land when a king's guest +travels in it. Any one found selling anything to either yourself +or your men would be punished." Accordingly, I stopped the daily +issue of beads; but no sooner had I done so, than all my men +declared they could not eat plantains. It was all very well, +they said, for the Waganda to do so, because they were used to +it, but it did not satisfy their hunger. + +Maula, all smirks and smiles, on seeing me order the things out +for the march, begged I would have patience, and wait till the +messenger returned from the king; it would not take more than ten +days at the most. Much annoyed at this nonsense, I ordered my +tent to be pitched. I refused all Maula's plantains, and gave my +men beads to buy grain with; and, finding it necessary to get up +some indignation, said I would not stand being chained like a +dog; if he would not go on ahead, I should go without him. Maula +then said he would go to a friend's and come back again. I said, +if he did not, I should go off; and so the conversation ended. + +26th.--Drumming, singing, screaming, yelling, and dancing had +been going on these last two days and two nights to drive the +Phepo or devil out of a village. The whole of the ceremonies +were most ludicrous. An old man and woman, smeared with white +mud, and holding pots of pombe in their laps, sat in front of a +hut, whilst other people kept constantly bringing them baskets +full of plantain-squash, and more pots of pombe. In the +courtyard fronting them, were hundreds of men and women dressed +in smart mbugus-- the males wearing for turbans, strings of +abrus-seeds wound round their heads, with polished boars' tusks +stuck in in a jaunty manner. These were the people who, drunk as +fifers, were keeping up such a continual row to frighten the +devil away. In the midst of this assembly I now found Kachuchu, +Rumanika's representative, who went on ahead from Karague palace +to tell Mtesa that I wished to see him. With him, he said, were +two other Wakungu of Mtesa's, who had orders to bring on my party +and Dr K'yengo's. Mtesa, he said, was so mad to see us, that the +instant he arrived at the palace and told him we wished to visit +him, the king caused "fifty big men and four hundred small ones" +to be executed, because, he said, his subjects were so bumptious +they would not allow any visitors to come near him, else he would +have had white men before. + +27th.--N'yamgundu, my old friend at Usui, then came to me, and +said he was the first man to tell Mtesa of our arrival in Usui, +and wish to visit him. The handkerchief I had given Irungu at +Usui to present as a letter to Mtesa he had snatched away from +him, and given, himself, to his king, who no sooner received it +than he bound it round his head, and said, in ecstasies of +delight, "Oh, the Mzungu, the Mzungu! he does indeed want to see +me." Then giving him four cows as a return letter to take to me, +he said, "Hurry off as quickly as possible and bring him here." +"The cows," said N'yamgundu, "have gone on to Kisuere by another +route, but I will bring them here; and then, as Maula is taking +you, I will go and fetch Grant." I then told him not to be in +such a hurry. I had turned off Maula for treating me like a dog, +and I would not be escorted by him again. He replied that his +orders would not be fully accomplished as long as any part of my +establishment was behind; so he would, if I wished it, leave part +of his "children" to guide me on to Mtesa's, whilst he went to +fetch Grant. An officer, I assured him, had just gone on to fetch +Grant, so he need not trouble his head on that score; at any +rate, he might reverse his plan, and send his children for Grant, +whilst he went on with me, by which means he would fully +accomplish his mission. Long arguments ensued, and I at length +turned the tables by asking who was the greatest--myself or my +children; when he said, "As I see you are the greatest, I will do +as you wish; and after fetching the cows from Kisuere, we will +march to-morrow at sunrise." + +The sun rose, but N'yamgundu did not appear. I was greatly +annoyed lest Maula should come and try to drive him away. I +waited, restraining my impatience until noon, when, as I could +stand it no longer, I ordered Bombay to strike my tent, and +commence the march. A scene followed, which brought out my +commander-in-chief's temper in a rather surprising shape. "How +can we go in?" said Bombay. "Strike the tent," said I. "Who will +guide us?" said Bombay. "Strike the tent," I said again. "But +Rumanika's men have all gone away, and there is no one to show us +the way." "Never mind; obey my orders, and strike the tent." +Then, as Bombay would not do it, I commenced myself, assisted by +some of my other men, and pulled it down over his head, all the +women who were assembled under it, and all the property. On +this, Bombay flew into a passion, abusing the men who were +helping me, as there were fires and powder-boxes under the tent. +I of course had to fly into a passion and abuse Bombay. He, in a +still greater rage, said he would pitch into the men, for the +whole place would be blown up. "That is no reason why you should +abuse my men," I said, "who are better than you by obeying my +orders. If I choose to blow up my property, that is my look-out; +and if you don't do your duty, I will blow you up also." Foaming +and roaring with rage, Bombay said he would not stand being thus +insulted. I then gave him a dig on the head with my fist. He +squared up, and pouted like an enraged chameleon, looking +savagely at me. I gave him another dig, which sent him +staggering. He squared again: I gave him another; till at last, +as the claret was flowing, he sulked off, and said he would not +serve me any more. I then gave Nasib orders to take Bombay's +post, and commence the march; but the good old man made Bombay +give in, and off we went, amidst crowds of Waganda, who had +collected to witness with comedy, and were all digging at one +another's heads, showing off in pantomime the strange ways of the +white man. N'yamgundu then jointed us, and begged us to halt +only one more day, as some of his women were still at Kisuere; +but Bombay, showing his nozzle rather flatter than usual, said, +"No; I got this on account of your lies. I won't tell Bana any +more of your excuses for stopping; you may tell him yourself if +you like." N'yamgundu, however, did not think this advisable, +and so we went on as we were doing. It was the first and last +time I had ever occasion to lose my dignity by striking a blow +with my own hands; but I could not help it on this occasion +without losing command and respect; for although I often had +occasion to award 100 and even 150 lashes to my men for stealing, +I could not, for the sake of due subordination, allow any +inferior officer to strike Bombay, and therefore had to do the +work myself. + +Skirting the hills on the left, with a large low plain to the +right we soon came on one of those numerous rush-drains that +appear to me to be the last waters left of the old bed of the +N'yanza. This one in particular was rather large, being 150 +yards wide. It was sunk where I crossed it, like a canal, 14 +feet below the plain; and what with mire and water combined, so +deep, I was obliged to take off my trousers whilst fording it. +Once across, we sought for and put up in a village beneath a +small hill, from the top of which I saw the Victoria N'yanza for +the first time on this march. N'yamgundu delighted me much: +treating me as king, he always fell down on his knees to address +me, and made all his "children" look after my comfort in camp. + +We marched on again over the same kind of ground, alternately +crossing rush-drains of minor importance, though provokingly +frequent, and rich gardens, from which, as we passed, all the +inhabitants bolted at the sound of our drums, knowing well that +they would be seized and punished if found gazing at the king's +visitors. Even on our arrival at Ukara not one soul was visible. +The huts of the villagers were shown to myself and my men without +any ceremony. The Wanyambo escort stole what they liked out of +them, and I got into no end of troubles trying to stop the +practice; for they said the Waganda served them the same way when +they went to Karague, and they had a right to retaliate now. To +obviate this distressing sort of plundering, I still served out +beads to my men, and so kept them in hand a little; but they were +fearfully unruly, and did not like my interference with what by +the laws of the country they considered their right. + +Here I had to stop a day for some of N'yamgundu's women, who, in +my hurry at leaving Maula's, were left behind. A letter from +Grant was now brought to me by a very nice-looking young man, who +had the skin of a leopard-cat (F. Serval) tied round his neck--a +badge which royal personages only were entitled to wear. +N'yamgundu seeing this, as he knew the young man was not entitled +to wear it, immediately ordered his "children" to wrench it from +him. Two ruffianly fellows then seized him by his hands, and +twisted his arms round and round until I thought they would come +out of their sockets. Without uttering a sound the young man +resisted, until N'yamgundu told them to be quiet, for he would +hold a court on the subject, and see if the young man could +defend himself. The ruffians then sat on the ground, but still +holding on to him; whilst N'yamgundu took up a long stick, and +breaking it into sundry bits of equal length, placed one by one +in front of him, each of which was supposed to represent one +number in line of succession to his forefathers. By this it was +proved he did not branch in any way from the royal stock. +N'yamgundu then turning to the company, said, What would he do +now to expiate his folly? If the matter was taken before Mtesa +he would lose his head; was it not better he should pay one +hundred cows All agreeing to this, the young man said he would +do so, and quietly allowed the skin to be untied and taken off by +the ruffians. + +Next day, after crossing more of those abominable rush-drains, +whilst in sight of the Victoria N'yanza, we ascended the most +beautiful hills, covered with verdure of all descriptions. At +Meruka, where I put up, there resided some grandees, the chief of +whom was the king's aunt. She sent me a goat, a hen, a basket of +eggs, and some plantains, in return for which I sent her a wire +and some beads. I felt inclined to stop here a month, everything +was so very pleasant. The temperature was perfect. The roads, +as indeed they were everywhere, were as broad as our coach-roads, +cut through the long grasses, straight over the hills and down +through the woods in the dells--a strange contrast to the +wretched tracks in all the adjacent countries. The huts were +kept so clean and so neat, not a fault could be found with them-- +the gardens the same. Wherever I strolled I saw nothing but +richness, and what ought to be wealth. The whole land was a +picture of quiescent beauty, with a boundless sea in the +background. Looking over the hills, it struck the fancy at once +that at one period the whole land must have been at a uniform +level with their present tops, but that by the constant +denudation it was subjected to by frequent rains, it had been cut +down and sloped into those beautiful hills and dales which now so +much pleased the eye; for there were none of those quartz dykes I +had seen protruding through the same kink of aqueous formations +in Usui and Karague; nor were there any other sorts of volcanic +disturbance to distort the calm quiet aspect of the scene. + +From this, the country being all hill and dale, with miry rush- +drains in the bottoms, I walked, carrying my shoes and stockings +in my hands, nearly all the way. Rozaro's "children" became more +and more troublesome, stealing everything they could lay their +hands upon out of the village huts we passed on the way. On +arrival at Sangua, I found many of them had been seized by some +men who, bolder than the rest, had overtaken them whilst gutting +their huts, and made them prisoners, demanding of me two slaves +and one load of beads for their restitution. I sent my men back +to see what had happened, and ordered them to bring all the men +on to me, that I might see fair play. They, however, took the +law into their own hands, drove off the Waganda villagers by +firing their muskets, and relieved the thieves. A complaint was +then laid against Nyamgundu by the chief officer of the village, +and I was requested to halt. That I would not do, leaving the +matter in the hands of the governor-general, Mr Pokino, whom I +heard we should find at the next station, Masaka. + +On arrival there at the government establishment--a large +collection of grass huts, separated one from the other within +large enclosures, which overspread the whole top of a low hill--I +was requested to withdraw and put up in some huts a short +distance off, and wait until his excellency, who was from home, +could come and see me; which the next day he did, coming in state +with a large number of officers, who brought with them a cow, +sundry pots of pombe, enormous sticks of sugar-cane, and a large +bundle of country coffee. This grows in great profusion all over +this land in large bushy trees, the berries sticking on the +branches like clusters of hollyberries. + +I was then introduced, and told that his excellency was the +appointed governor of all the land lying between the Katonga and +the Kitangule rivers. After the first formalities were over, the +complaint about the officers at Sangua was preferred for +decision, on which Pokino at once gave it against the villagers, +as they had no right, by the laws of the land, to lay hands on a +king's guest. Just then Maula arrived, and began to abuse +N'yamgundu. Of course I would not stand this; and, after telling +all the facts of the case, I begged Pokino to send Maula away out +of my camp. Pokino said he could not do this, as it was by the +king's order he was appointed; but he put Maula in the +background, laughing at the way he had "let the bird fly out of +his hands," and settled that N'yamgundu should be my guide. I +then gave him a wire, and he gave me three large sheets of mbugu, +which he said I should require, as there were so many water- +courses to cross on the road I was going. A second day's halt +was necessitated by many of my men catching fever, probably owing +to the constant crossing of those abominable rush-drains. There +was no want of food here, for I never saw such a profusion of +plantains anywhere. They were literally lying in heaps on the +ground, though the people were brewing pombe all day, and cooking +them for dinner every evening. + +After crossing many more hills and miry bottoms, constantly +coming in view of the lake, we reached Ugonzi, and after another +march of the same description, came to Kituntu, the last +officer's residence in Uddu. Formerly it was the property of a +Beluch named Eseau, who came to this country with merchandise, +trading on account of Said Said, late Sultan of Zanzibar; but +having lost it all on his way here, paying mahongo, or taxes, and +so forth he feared returning, and instead made great friends with +the late king Sunna, who took an especial fancy to him because he +had a very large beard, and raised him to the rank of Mkungu. A +few years ago, however, Eseau died, and left all his family and +property to a slave named Uledi, who now, in consequence, is the +border officer. + +I became now quite puzzled whilst thinking which was the finest +spot I had seen in Uddu, so many were exceedingly beautiful; but +I think I gave the preference to this, both for its own immediate +neighbourhood and the long range of view it afforded of Uganda +proper, the lake, and the large island, or group of islands, +called Sese where the king of Uganda keeps one of his fleets of +boats. + +Some little boys came here who had all their hair shaved off +excepting two round tufts on either side of the head. They were +the king's pages; and, producing three sticks, said they had +brought them to me from their king, who wanted three charms or +medicines. Then placing one stick on the ground before me, they +said, "This one is a head which, being affected by dreams of a +deceased relative, requires relief"; the second symbolised the +king's desire for the accomplishment of a phenomenon to which the +old phalic worship was devoted; "and this third one," they said, +"is a sign that the king wants a charm to keep all his subjects +in awe of him." I then promised I would do what I could when I +reached the palace, but feared to do anything in the distance. I +wished to go on with the march, but was dissuaded by N'yamgundu, +who said he had received orders to find me some cows here, as his +king was most anxious I should be well fed. Next day, however, +we descended into the Katonga valley, where, instead of finding a +magnificent broad sheet of water, as I had been led to expect by +the Arabs' account of it, I found I had to wade through a +succession of rush-drains divided one from the other by islands. +It took me two hours, with my clothes tucked up under my arms, to +get through them all; and many of them were so matted with weeds, +that my feet sank down as though I trod in a bog. + +The Waganda all said that at certain times in the year no one +could ford these drains, as they all flooded; but, strangely +enough, they were always lowest when most rain fell in Uganda. +No one, however, could account for this singular fact. No one +knew of a lake to supply the waters, nor where they came from. +That they flowed into the lake there was no doubt--as I could see +by the trickling waters in some few places--and they lay exactly +on the equator. Rising out of the valley, I found all the +country just as hilly as before, but many of the rush-drains +going to northward; and in the dells were such magnificent trees, +they quite took me by surprise. Clean-trunked, they towered up +just as so many great pillars, and then spread out their high +branches like a canopy over us. I thought of the blue gums of +Australia, and believed these would beat them. At the village of +Mbule we were gracefully received by the local officer, who +brought a small present, and assured me that the king was in a +nervous state of excitement, always asking after me. Whilst +speaking he trembled, and he was so restless he could never sit +still. + +Up and down we went on again through this wonderful country, +surprisingly rich in grass, cultivation, and trees. Watercourses +were as frequent as ever, though not quite so troublesome to the +traveller, as they were more frequently bridged with poles or +palm-tree trunks. + +This, the next place we arrived at, was N'yamgundu's own +residence, where I stopped a day to try and shoot buffaloes. +Maula here had the coolness to tell me he must inspect all the +things I had brought for presentation to the king, as he said it +was the custom; after which he would hurry on and inform his +majesty. Of course I refused, saying it was uncourteous to both +the king and myself. Still he persisted, until, finding it +hopeless, he spitefully told N'yamgundu to keep me here at least +two days. N'yamgundu, however, very prudently told him he should +obey his orders, which were to take me on as fast as he could. I +then gave N'yamgundu wires and beads for himself and all his +family round, which made Maula slink further away from me than +ever. + +The buffaloes were very numerous in the tall grasses that lined +the sides and bottoms of the hills; but although I saw some, I +could not get a shot, for the grasses being double the height of +myself, afforded them means of dashing out of view as soon as +seen, and the rustling noise made whilst I followed them kept +them on the alert. At night a hyena came into my hut, and carried +off one of my goats that was tied to a log between two of my +sleeping men. + +During the next march, after passing some of the most +beautifully- wooded dells, in which lay small rush-lakes on the +right of the road, draining, as I fancied, into the Victoria +Lake, I met with a party of the king's gamekeepers, staking their +nets all along the side of a hill, hoping to catch antelopes by +driving the covers with dogs and men. Farther on, also, I came +on a party driving one hundred cows, as a present from Mtesa to +Rumanika, which the officers in charge said was their king's +return for the favour Rumanika had done him in sending me on to +him. It was in this way that great kings sent "letters" to one +another. + +Next day, after going a short distance, we came on the Mwarango +river, a broad rush-drain of three hundred yards' span, two- +thirds of which was bridged over. Until now I did not feel sure +where the various rush-drains I had been crossing since leaving +the Katonga valley all went to, but here my mind was made up, for +I found a large volume of water going to the northwards. I took +off my clothes at the end of the bridge and jumped into the +stream, which I found was twelve yards or so broad, and deeper +than my height. I was delighted beyond measure at this very +surprising fact, that I was indeed on the northern slopes of the +continent, and had, to all appearance, found one of the branches +of the Nile's exit from the N'yanza. I drew Bombay's attention +to the current; and, collecting all the men of the country, +inquired of them where the river sprang from. Some of them said, +in the hills to the southward; but most of them said, from the +lake. I argued the point with them; for I felt quite sure so +large a body of flowing water could not be collected together in +any place but the lake. They then all agreed to this view, and +further assured me it went to Kamrasi's palace in Unyoro, where +it joined the N'yanza, meaning the Nile. + +Pushing on again we arrived at N'yama Goma, where I found Irungu- +- the great ambassador I had first met in Usui, with all his +"children"--my enemy Makinga, and Suwarora's deputation with +wire,-- altogether, a collection of one hundred souls. They had +been here a month waiting for leave to approach the king's +palace. Not a villager was to be seen for miles round; not a +plantain remained on the trees, nor was there even a sweet potato +to be found in the ground. The whole of the provisions of this +beautiful place had been devoured by the king's guests, simply +because he had been too proud to see them in a hurry. This was +alarming, for I feared I should be served the same trick, +especially as all the people said this kind of treatment was a +mere matter of custom which those great kings demanded as a +respect due to their dignity; and Bombay added, with laughter, +they make all manner of fuss to entice one to come when in the +distance, but when they have got you in their power they become +haughty about it, and think only of how they can best impose on +your mind the great consequence which they affect before their +own people. + +Here I was also brought to a standstill, for N'yamgundu said I +must wait for leave to approach the palace. He wished to have a +look at the presents I had brought for Mtesa. I declined to +gratify it, taking my stand on my dignity; there was no occasion +for any distrust on such a trifling matter as that, for I was not +a merchant who sought for gain, but had come, at great expense, +to see the king of this region. I begged, however, he would go +as fast as possible to announce my arrival, explain my motive for +coming here, and ask for an early interview, as I had left my +brother Grant behind at Karague, and found my position, for want +of a friend to talk to, almost intolerable. It was not the +custom of my country for great men to consort with servants, and +until I saw him, and made friends, I should not be happy. I had +a great deal to tell him about, as he was the father of the Nile, +which river drained the N'yanza down to my country to the +northward. With this message N'yamgundu hurried off as fast as +possible. + +Next day (15th) I gave each of my men a fez cap, and a piece of +red blanket to make up military jackets. I then instructed them +how to form a guard of honour when I went to the palace, and +taught Bombay the way Nazirs was presented at courts in India. +Altogether we made a good show. When this was concluded I went +with Nasib up a hill, from which we could see the lake on one +side, and on the other a large range of huts said to belong to +the king's uncle, the second of the late king Sunna's brothers, +who was not burnt to death when he ascended the throne. + +I then (16th) very much wished to go and see the escape of the +Mwerango river, as I still felt a little sceptical as to its +origin, whether or not it came off those smaller lakes I had seen +on the road the day before I crossed the river; but no one would +listen to my project. They all said I must have the king's +sanction first, else people, from not knowing my object, would +accuse me of practising witchcraft, and would tell their king so. +They still all maintained that the river did come out of the +lake, and said, if I liked to ask the king's leave to visit the +spot, then they would go and show it me. I gave way, thinking it +prudent to do so, but resolved in my mind I would get Grant to +see it in boats on his voyage from Karague. There were not +guinea-fowls to be found here, nor a fowl, in any of the huts, so +I requested Rozaro to hurry off to Mtesa, and ask him to send me +something to eat. He simply laughed at my request, and said I +did not know what I was doing. It would be as much as his life +was worth to go one yard in advance of this until the king's +leave was obtained. I said, rather than be starved to death in +this ignominious manner, I would return to Karague; to which he +replied, laughing, "Whose leave have you got to do that? Do you +suppose you can do as you like in this country?" + +Next day (17th), in the evening, N'yamgundu returned full of +smirks and smiles, dropped on his knees at my feet, and, in +company with his "children," set to n'yanzigging, according to +the form of that state ceremonial already described.[FN#17] In +his excitement he was hardly able to say all he had to +communicate. Bit by bit, however, I learned that he first went +to the palace, and, finding the king had gone off yachting to the +Murchison Creek, he followed him there. The king for a long +while would not believe his tale that I had come, but, being +assured, he danced with delight, and swore he would not taste +food until he had seen me. "Oh," he said, over and over again +and again, according to my informer, "can this be true? Can the +white man have come all this way to see me? What a strong man he +must be too, to come so quickly! Here are seven cows, four of +them milch ones, as you say he likes milk, which you will give +him; and there are three for yourself for having brought him so +quickly. Now, hurry off as fast as you can, and tell him I am +more delighted at the prospect of seeing him than he can be to +see me. There is no place here fit for his reception. I was on +a pilgrimage which would have kept me here seven days longer but +as I am so impatient to see him, I will go off to my palace at +once, and will send word for him to advance as soon as I arrive +there." + +About noon the succeeding day, some pages ran in to say we were +to come along without a moment's delay, as their king had ordered +it. He would not taste food until he saw me, so that everybody +might know what great respect he felt for me. In the meanwhile, +however, he wished for some gunpowder. I packed the pages off as +fast as I could with some, and tried myself to follow, but my men +were all either sick or out foraging, and therefore we could not +get under way until the evening. After going a certain distance, +we came on a rush-drain, of much greater breadth even than the +Mwerango, called the Moga (or river) Myanza, which was so deep I +had to take off my trousers and tuck my clothes under my arms. +It flowed into the Mwerango, but with scarcely any current at +all. This rush-drain, all the natives assured me, rose in the +hills to the southward-- not in the lake, as the Mwerango did-- +and it was never bridged over like that river, because it was +always fordable. This account seemed to me reasonable; for +though so much broader in its bed than the Mwerango, it had no +central, deep-flowing current. + + + + + Chapter XI + + + + Palace, Uganda + +Preparations for the Reception at the Court of Mtesa, King of +Uganda--The Ceremonial--African Diplomacy and Dignity--Feats with +the Rifle--Cruelty, and Wastefulness of Life--The Pages--The +Queen- Dowager of Uganda--Her Court Reception--I negotiate for a +Palace-- Conversations with the King and Queen--The Queen's grand +Entertainment--Royal Dissipation. + +To-day the king sent his pages to announce his intention of +holding a levee in my honour. I prepared for my first +presentation at court, attired in my best, though in it I cut a +poor figure in comparison with the display of the dressy Waganda. +They wore neat bark cloaks resembling the best yellow corduroy +cloth, crimp and well set, as if stiffened with starch, and over +that, as upper-cloaks, a patchwork of small antelope skins, which +I observed were sewn together as well as any English glovers +could have pieced them; whilst their head-dresses, generally, +were abrus turbans, set off with highly-polished boar-tusks, +stick-charms, seeds, beads, or shells; and on their necks, arms, +and ankles they wore other charms of wood, or small horns stuffed +with magic powder, and fastened on by strings generally covered +with snake-skin. N'yamgundu and Maula demanded, as their official +privilege, a first peep; and this being refused, they tried to +persuade me that the articles comprising the present required to +be covered with chintz, for it was considered indecorous to offer +anything to his majesty in a naked state. This little +interruption over, the articles enumerated below[FN#18] were +conveyed to the palace in solemn procession thus:--With +N'yamgundu, Maula, the pages, and myself on the flanks, the +Union-Jack carried by the kirangozi guide led the way, followed +by twelve men as a guard of honour, dressed in red flannel +cloaks, and carrying their arms sloped, with fixed bayonets; +whilst in their rear were the rest of my men, each carrying some +article as a present. + +On the march towards the palace, the admiring courtiers, wonder- +struck at such an unusual display, exclaimed, in raptures of +astonishment, some with both hands at their mouths, and others +clasping their heads with their hands, "Irungi! irungi!" which +may be translated "Beautiful! beautiful!" I thought myself +everything was going on as well as could be wished; but before +entering the royal enclosures, I found, to my disagreeable +surprise, that the men with Suwarora's hongo or offering, which +consisted of more than a hundred coils of wire, were ordered to +lead the procession, and take precedence of me. There was +something specially aggravating in this precedence; for it will +be remembered that these very brass wires which they saw, I had +myself intended for Mtesa, that they were taken from me by +Suwarora as far back as Usui, and it would never do, without +remonstrance, to have them boastfully paraded before my eyes in +this fashion. My protests, however, had no effect upon the +escorting Wakungu. Resolving to make them catch it, I walked +along as if ruminating in anger up the broad high road into a +cleared square, which divides Mtesa's domain on the south from +his Kamraviona's, or commander-in-chief, on the north, and then +turned into the court. The palace or entrance quite surprised me +by its extraordinary dimensions, and the neatness with which it +was kept. The whole brow and sides of the hill on which we stood +were covered with gigantic grass huts, thatched as neatly as so +many heads dressed by a London barber, and fenced all round with +the tall yellow reeds of the common Uganda tiger-grass; whilst +within the enclosure, the lines of huts were joined together, or +partitioned off into courts, with walls of the same grass. It is +here most of Mtesa's three or four hundred women are kept, the +rest being quartered chiefly with his mother, known by the title +of N'yamasore, or queen-dowager. They stood in little groups at +the doors, looking at us, and evidently passing their own +remarks, and enjoying their own jokes, on the triumphal +procession. At each gate as we passed, officers on duty opened +and shut it for us, jingling the big bells which are hung upon +them, as they sometimes are at shop-doors, to prevent silent, +stealthy entrance. + +The first court passed, I was even more surprised to find the +unusual ceremonies that awaited me. There courtiers of high +dignity stepped forward to greet me, dressed in the most +scrupulously neat fashions. Men, women, bulls, dogs, and goats, +were led about by strings; cocks and hens were carried in men's +arms; and little pages, with rope-turbans, rushed about, +conveying messages, as if their lives depended on their +swiftness, every one holding his skin-cloak tightly round him +lest his naked legs might by accident be shown. + +This, then, was the ante-reception court; and I might have taken +possession of the hut, in which musicians were playing and +singing on large nine-stringed harps, like the Nubian tambira, +accompanied by harmonicons. By the chief officers in waiting, +however, who thought fit to treat us like Arab merchants, I was +requested to sit on the ground outside in the sun with my +servants. Now, I had made up my mind never to sit upon the +ground as the natives and Arabs are obliged to do, nor to make my +obeisance in any other manner than is customary in England, +though the Arabs had told me that from fear they had always +complied with the manners of the court. I felt that if I did not +stand up for my social position at once, I should be treated with +contempt during the remainder of my visit, and thus lose the +vantage-ground I had assumed of appearing rather as a prince than +a trader, for the purpose of better gaining the confidence of the +king. To avert over-hastiness, however--for my servants began to +be alarmed as I demurred against doing as I was bid--I allowed +five minutes to the court to give me a proper reception, saying, +if it were not conceded I would then walk away. + +Nothing, however, was done. My own men, knowing me, feared for +me, as they did not know what a "savage" king would do in case I +carried out my threat; whilst the Waganda, lost in amazement at +what seemed little less than blasphemy, stood still as posts. +The affair ended by my walking straight away home, giving Bombay +orders to leave the present on the ground, and to follow me. + +Although the king is said to be unapproachable, excepting when he +chooses to attend court--a ceremony which rarely happens-- +intelligence of my hot wrath and hasty departure reached him in +an instant. He first, it seems, thought of leaving his toilet- +room to follow me, but, finding I was walking fast, and had gone +far, changed his mind, and sent Wakungu running after me. Poor +creatures! they caught me up, fell upon their knees, and implored +I would return at once, for the king had not tasted food, and +would not until he saw me. I felt grieved at their touching +appeals; but, as I did not understand all they said, I simply +replied by patting my heart and shaking my head, walking if +anything all the faster. + +On my arrival at my hut, Bombay and others came in, wet through +with perspiration, saying the king had heard of all my +grievances. Suwarora's hongo was turned out of court, and, if I +desired it, I might bring my own chair with me, for he was very +anxious to show me great respect--although such a seat was +exclusively the attribute of the king, no one else in Uganda +daring to sit on an artificial seat. + +My point was gained, so I cooled myself with coffee and a pipe, +and returned rejoicing in my victory, especially over Suwarora. +After returning to the second tier of huts from which I had +retired, everybody appeared to be in a hurried, confused state of +excitement, not knowing what to make out of so unprecedented an +exhibition of temper. In the most polite manner, the officers in +waiting begged me to be seated on my iron stool, which I had +brought with me, whilst others hurried in to announce my arrival. +But for a few minutes only I was kept in suspense, when a band of +music, the musicians wearing on their backs long-haired goat- +skins, passed me, dancing as they went along, like bears in a +fair, and playing on reed instruments worked over with pretty +beads in various patters, from which depended leopard-cat skins-- +the time being regulated by the beating of long hand-drums. + +The mighty king was now reported to be sitting on his throne in +the statehut of the third tier. I advanced, hat in hand, with my +guard of honour following, formed in "open ranks," who in their +turn were followed by the bearers carrying the present. I did +not walk straight up to him as if to shake hands, but went +outside the ranks of a three-sided square of squatting Wakungu, +all inhabited in skins, mostly cow-skins; some few of whom had, +in addition, leopard-cat skins girt round the waist, the sign of +royal blood. Here I was desired to halt and sit in the glaring +sun; so I donned my hat, mounted my umbrella, a phenomenon which +set them all a-wondering and laughing, ordered the guard to close +ranks, and sat gazing at the novel spectacle! A more theatrical +sight I never saw. The king, a good-looking, well-figured, tall +young man of twenty-five, was sitting on a red blanket spread +upon a square platform of royal grass, encased in tiger-grass +reeds, scrupulously well dressed in a new mbugu. The hair of his +head was cut short, excepting on the top, where it was combed up +into a high ridge, running from stem to stern like a cockscomb. +On his neck was a very neat ornament--a large ring, of +beautifully-worked small beads, forming elegant patterns by their +various colours. On one arm was another bead ornament, prettily +devised; and on the other a wooden charm, tied by a string +covered with snakeskin. On every finger and every toe, he had +alternate brass and copper rings; and above the ankles, halfway +up to the calf, a stocking of very pretty beads. Everything was +light, neat, and elegant in its way; not a fault could be found +with the taste of his "getting up." For a handkerchief he held a +well-folded piece of bark, and a piece of gold-embroidered silk, +which he constantly employed to hide his large mouth when +laughing, or to wipe it after a drink of plantain-wine, of which +he took constant and copious draughts from neat little gourd- +cups, administered by his ladies-in-waiting, who were at once his +sisters and wives. A white dog, spear, shield, and woman--the +Uganda cognisance--were by his side, as also a knot of staff +officers, with whom he kept up a brisk conversation on one side; +and on the other was a band of Wichezi, or lady-sorcerers, such +as I have already described. + +I was now asked to draw nearer within the hollow square of +squatters, where leopard-skins were strewed upon the ground, and +a large copper kettledrum, surmounted with brass bells on arching +wires, along with two other smaller drums covered with cowrie- +shells, and beads of colour worked into patterns, were placed. I +now longed to open conversation, but knew not the language, and +no one near me dared speak, or even lift his head from fear of +being accused of eyeing the women; so the king and myself sat +staring at one another for full an hour--I mute, but he pointing +and remarking with those around him on the novelty of my guard +and general appearance, and even requiring to see my hat lifted, +the umbrella shut and opened, and the guards face about and show +off their red cloaks--for such wonders had never been seen in +Uganda. + +Then, finding the day waning, he sent Maula on an embassy to ask +me if I had seen him; and on receiving my reply, "Yes, for full +one hour," I was glad to find him rise, spear in hand, lead his +dog, and walk unceremoniously away through the enclosure into the +fourth tier of huts; for this being a pure levee day, no business +was transacted. The king's gait in retiring was intended to be +very majestic, but did not succeed in conveying to me that +impression. It was the traditional walk of his race, founded on +the step of the lion; but the outward sweep of the legs, intended +to represent the stride of the noble beast, appeared to me only +to realise a very ludicrous kind of waddle, which made me ask +Bombay if anything serious was the matter with the royal person. + +I had now to wait for some time, almost as an act of humanity; +for I was told the state secret, that the king had retired to +break his fast and eat for the first time since hearing of my +arrival; but the repast was no sooner over than he prepared for +the second act, to show off his splendour, and I was invited in, +with all my men, to the exclusion of all his own officers save my +two guides. Entering as before, I found him standing on a red +blanket, leaning against the right portal of the hut, talking and +laughing, handkerchief in hand, to a hundred or more of his +admiring wives, who, all squatting on the ground outside, in two +groups, were dressed in mew mbugus. My men dared not advance +upright, nor look upon the women, but, stooping, with lowered +heads and averted eyes, came cringing after me. Unconscious +myself, I gave loud and impatient orders to my guard, rebuking +them for moving like frightened geese, and, with hat in hand, +stood gazing on the fair sex till directed to sit and cap. + +Mtesa then inquired what messages were brought from Rumanika; to +which Maula, delighted with the favour of speaking to royalty, +replied by saying, Rumanika had gained intelligence of Englishmen +coming up the Nile to Gani and Kidi. The king acknowledged the +truthfulness of their story, saying he had heard the same +himself; and both Wakungu, as is the custom in Uganda, thanked +their lord in a very enthusiastic manner, kneeling on the ground- +-for no one can stand in the presence of his majesty--in an +attitude of prayer, and throwing out their hands as they repeated +the words N'yanzig, N'yanzig, ai N'yanzig Mkahma wangi, etc., +etc., for a considerable time; when, thinking they had done +enough of this, and heated with the exertion, they threw +themselves flat upon their stomachs, and, floundering about like +fish on land, repeated the same words over again and again, and +rose doing the same, with their faces covered with earth; for +majesty in Uganda is never satisfied till subjects have grovelled +before it like the most abject worms. This conversation over, +after gazing at me, and chatting with his women for a +considerable time, the second scene ended. The third scene was +more easily arranged, for the day was fast declining. He simply +moved his train of women to another hut, where, after seating +himself upon his throne, with his women around him, he invited me +to approach the nearest limits of propriety, and to sit as +before. Again he asked me if I had seen him--evidently desirous +of indulging in his regal pride; so I made the most of the +opportunity thus afforded me of opening a conversation by telling +him of those grand reports I had formerly heard about him, which +induced me to come all his way to see him, and the trouble it had +cost me to reach the object of my desire; at the same time taking +a gold ring from off my finger, and presenting it to him, I said, +"This is a small token of friendship; if you will inspect it, it +is made after the fashion of a dog-collar, and, being the king of +metals, gold, is in every respect appropriate to your illustrious +race." + +He said, in return, "If friendship is your desire, what would you +say if I showed you a road by which you might reach your home in +one month?" Now everything had to be told to Bombay, then to +Nasib, my Kiganda interpreter, and then to either Maula or +N'yamgundu, before it was delivered to the king, for it was +considered indecorous to transmit any message to his majesty +excepting through the medium of one of his officers. Hence I +could not get an answer put in; for as all Waganda are rapid and +impetuous in their conversation, the king, probably forgetting he +had put a question, hastily changed the conversation and said, +"What guns have you got? Let me see the one you shoot with." I +wished still to answer the first question first, as I knew he +referred to the direct line to Zanzibar across the Masai, and was +anxious, without delay, to open the subject of Petherick and +Grant; but no one dared to deliver my statement. Much +disappointed, I then said, "I had brought the best shooting-gun +in the world--Whitworth's rifle--which I begged he would accept, +with a few other trifles; and, with his permission, I would lay +them upon a carpet at his feet, as is the custom of my country +when visiting sultans." He assented, sent all his women away, +and had an mbugu spread for the purpose, on which Bombay, obeying +my order, first spread a red blanket, and then opened each +article one after the other, when Nasib, according to the usage +already mentioned, smoothed them down with his dirty hands, or +rubbed them against his sooty face, and handed them to the king +to show there was no poison or witchcraft in them. Mtesa +appeared quite confused with the various wonders as he handled +them, made silly remarks, and pondered over them like a perfect +child, until it was quite dark. Torches were then lit, and guns, +pistols, powder, boxes, tools, beads--the whole collection, in +short--were tossed together topsy-turvy, bundled into mbugus, and +carried away by the pages. Mtesa now said, "It is late, and time +to break up; what provisions would you wish to have?" I said, "A +little of everything, but no one thing constantly." "And would +you like to see me to-morrow?" "Yes, every day." "Then you +can't to-morrow, for I have business; but the next day come if +you like. You can now go away, and here are six pots of +plantain-wine for you; my men will search for food to-morrow." + +21st.--In the morning, whilst it rained, some pages drove in +twenty cows and ten goats, with a polite metaphorical message +from their king, to the effect that I had pleased him much, and +he hoped I would accept these few "chickens" until he could send +more, --when both Maula and N'yamgundu, charmed with their +success in having brought a welcome guest to Uganda, never ceased +showering eulogiums on me for my fortune in having gained the +countenance of their king. The rain falling was considered at +court a good omen, and everybody declared the king mad with +delight. Wishing to have a talk with him about Petherick and +Grant, I at once started off the Wakungu to thank him for the +present, and to beg pardon for my apparent rudeness of yesterday, +at the same time requesting I might have an early interview with +his majesty, as I had much of importance to communicate; but the +solemn court formalities which these African kings affect as much +as Oriental emperors, precluded my message from reaching the +king. I heard, however, that he had spent the day receiving +Suwarora's hongo of wire, and that the officer who brought them +was made to sit in an empty court, whilst the king sat behind a +screen, never deigning to show his majestic person. I was told, +too, that he opened conversation by demanding to know how it +happened that Suwarora became possessed of the wires, for they +were made by the white men to be given to himself, and Suwarora +must therefore have robbed me of them; and it was by such +practices he, Mtesa, never could see any visitors. The officer's +reply was, Suwarora would not show the white men any respect, +because they were wizards would did not sleep in houses at night, +but flew up to the tops of hills, and practised sorcery of every +abominable kind. The king to this retorted, in a truly African +fashion, "That's a lie; I can see no harm in this white man; and +if he had been a bad man, Rumanika would not have sent him on to +me." At night, when in bed, the king sent his pages to say, if I +desired his friendship I would lend him one musket to make up six +with what I had given him, for he intended visiting his relations +the following morning. I sent three, feeling that nothing would +be lost by being "open-handed." + +22d.--To-day the king went the round of his relations, showing +the beautiful things given him by the white man--a clear proof +that he was much favoured by the "spirits," for neither his +father nor any of his forefathers had been so recognised and +distinguished by any "sign" as a rightful inheritor to the Uganda +throne: an anti-Christian interpretation of omens, as rife in +these dark regions now as it was in the time of King +Nebuchadnezzar. At midnight the three muskets were returned, and +I was so pleased with the young king's promptitude and honesty, I +begged he would accept them. + +23d.--At noon Mtesa sent his pages to invite me to his palace. I +went, with my guard of honour and my stool, but found I had to +sit waiting in an ante-hut three hours with his commander-in- +chief and other high officers before he was ready to see me. +During this time Wasoga minstrels, playing on tambira, and +accompanied by boys playing on a harmonicon, kept us amused; and +a small page, with a large bundle of grass, came to me and said, +"The king hopes you won't be offended if required to sit on it +before him; for no person in Uganda, however high in office, is +ever allowed to sit upon anything raised above the ground, nor +can anybody but himself sit upon such grass as this; it is all +that his throne is made of. The first day he only allowed you to +sit on your stool to appease your wrath." + +On consenting to do in "Rome as the Romans do," when my position +was so handsomely acknowledged, I was called in, and found the +court sitting much as it was on the first day's interview, only +that the number of squatting Wakungu was much diminished; and the +king, instead of wearing his ten brass and copper rings, had my +gold one on his third finger. This day, however, was cut out for +business, as, in addition to the assemblage of officers, there +were women, cows, goats, fowls, confiscations, baskets of fish, +baskets of small antelopes, porcupines, and curious rats caught +by his gamekeepers, bundles of mbugu, etc., etc., made by his +linen-drapers, coloured earths and sticks by his magician, all +ready for presentation; but, as rain fell, the court broke up, +and I had nothing for it but to walk about under my umbrella, +indulging in angry reflections against the haughty king for not +inviting me into his hut. + +When the rain had ceased, and we were again called in, he was +found sitting in state as before, but this time with the head of +a black bull placed before him, one horn of which, knocked off, +was placed alongside, whilst four living cows walked about the +court. + +I was now requested to shoot the four cows as quickly as +possible; but having no bullets for my gun, I borrowed the +revolving pistol I had given him, and shot all four in a second +of time; but as the last one, only wounded, turned sharply upon +me, I gave him the fifth and settled him. Great applause +followed this wonderful feat, and the cows were given to my men. +The king now loaded one of the carbines I had given him with his +own hands, and giving it full-cock to a page, told him to go out +and shoot a man in the outer court; which was no sooner +accomplished than the little urchin returned to announce his +success, with a look of glee such as one would see in the face of +a boy who had robbed a bird's nest, caught a trout, or done any +other boyish trick. The king said to him, "And did you do it +well?" "Oh, yes, capitally." He spoke the truth, no doubt, for +he dared not have trifled with the king; but the affair created +hardly any interest. I never heard, and there appeared no +curiosity to know, what individual human being the urchin had +deprived of life. + +The Wakungu were not dismissed, and I asked to draw near, when +the king showed me a book I had given to Rumanika, and begged for +the inspiring medicine which he had before applied for through +the mystic stick. The day was now gone, so torches were lit, and +we were ordered to go, though as yet I had not been able to speak +one word I wished to impart about Petherick and Grant; for my +interpreters were so afraid of the king they dared not open their +mouths until they were spoken to. The king was now rising to go, +when, in great fear and anxiety that the day would be lost, I +said, in Kisuahili, "I wish you would send a letter by post to +Grant, and also send a boat up the Kitangule, as far as +Rumanika's palace, for him, for he is totally unable to walk." I +thus attracted his notice, though he did not understand one word +I uttered. The result was, that he waited for the +interpretation, and replied that a post would be no use, for no +one would be responsible for the safe delivery of the message; he +would send N'yamgundu to fetch him, but he thought Rumanika would +not consent to his sending boats up the Kitangule as far as the +Little Windermere; and then, turning round with true Mganda +impetuosity, he walked away without taking a word from me in +exchange. + +24th.--Early this morning the pages came to say Mtesa desired I +would send him three of my Wanguaga to shoot cows before him. +This was just what I wanted. It had struck me that personal +conferences with me so roused the excitable king, that there was +no bringing plain matters of business home to him; so, detaching +seven men with Bombay, I told him, before shooting, to be sure +and elicit the matter I wanted--which was, to excite the king's +cupidity by telling him I had a boat full of stores with two +white men at Gani, whom I wished to call to me if he would +furnish some guides to accompany my men; and further, as Grant +could not walk, I wished boats sent for him, at least as far as +the ferry on the Kitangule, to which place Rumanika, at any rate, +would slip him down in canoes. At once, on arriving, Mtesa +admitted the men, and ordered them to shoot at some cows; but +Bombay, obeying my orders to first have his talk out, said, No-- +before he could shoot he must obey master and deliver his +message; which no sooner was told than the king, in a hurry, +excited by the prospects of sport, impatiently said, "Very good; +I will send men either by water or overland through Kidi,[FN#19] +just as your master likes; only some of his men had better go +with mine: but now shoot cows, shoot cows; for I want to see how +the Waguana shoot." They shot seven, and all were given to them +when they were dismissed. In the evening the pages came to ask +me if I would like to shoot kites in the palace with their king; +but I declined shooting anything less than elephants, rhinoceros, +or buffaloes; and even for these I would not go out unless the +king went with me; --a dodge I conceived would tend more than any +other to bring us together, and so break through those ceremonial +restraints of the court, which at present were stopping all pans +of progression. + +25th.--The king invited me to shoot with him--really buffaloes-- +close to the palace; but as the pages had been sent off in a +hurry, without being fully instructed, I declined, on the plea +that I had always been gulled and kept waiting or treated with +incivility, for hours before I obtained an interview; and as I +did not wish to have any more ruptures in the palace, I proposed +Bombay should go to make proper arrangements for my reception on +the morrow--as anyhow, at present I felt indisposed. The pages +dreaded their master's wrath, departed for a while, and then sent +another lad to tell me he was sorry to hear I felt unwell, but he +hoped I would come if only for a minute, bringing my medicines +with me, for he himself felt pain. That this second message was +a forged one I had no doubt, for the boys had not been long +enough gone; still, I packed up my medicines and went, leaving +the onus, should any accident happen, upon the mischievous story- +bearers. + +As I anticipated, on arrival at the palace I found the king was +not ready to receive me, and the pages desired me to sit with the +officers in waiting until he might appear. I found it necessary +to fly at once into a rage, called the pages a set of deceiving +young blackguards, turned upon my heel, and walked straight back +through the courts, intending to leave the palace. Everybody was +alarmed; information of my retreat at once reached the king, and +he sent his Wakungu to prevent my egress. These officers passed +me, as I was walking hurriedly along under my umbrella, in the +last court, and shut the entrance-gate in front of me. This was +too much, so I stamped, and, pointing my finger, swore in every +language I knew, that if they did not open the gate again, as +they had shut it at once, and that, too, before my face, I would +never leave the spot I stood upon alive. Terror-stricken, the +Wakungu fell on their knees before me, doing as they were bid; +and, to please them, I returned at once, and went up to the king, +who, now sitting on his throne, asked the officers how they had +managed to entice me back; to which they all replied in a breath, +n'yanzigging heartily, "Oh, we were so afraid--he was so +terrible! but he turned at once as soon as we opened the gate." +"How? what gate? tell us all about it." And when the whole story +was fully narrated, the matter was thought a good joke. After +pausing a little, I asked the king what ailed him, for I was +sorry to hear he had been sick; but instead of replying, he shook +his head, as much as to say, I had put a very uncouth question to +his majesty--and ordered some men to shoot cows. + +Instead of admiring this childish pastime, which in Uganda is +considered royal sport, I rather looked disdainful, until, +apparently disappointed at my indifference, he asked what the box +I had brought contained. On being told it was the medicine he +desired, he asked me to draw near, and sent his courtiers away. +When only the interpreters and one confidential officer were +left, besides myself, he wished to know if I could apply the +medicine without its touching the afflicted part. To give him +confidence in my surgical skill, I moved my finger, and asked him +if he knew what gave it action; and on his replying in the +negative, I have him an anatomical lecture, which so pleased him, +he at once consented to be operated on, and I applied a blister +accordingly. The whole operation was rather ridiculous; for the +blister, after being applied, had to be rubbed in turn on the +hands and faces of both Bombay and Nasib, to show there was no +evil spirit in the "doctor." Now, thought I to myself, is the +right time for business; for I had the king all to myself, then +considered a most fortunate occurrence in Uganda, where every man +courts the favour of a word with his king, and adores him as a +deity, and he in turn makes himself as distance as he can, to +give greater effect to his exalted position. The matter, however, +was merely deferred: for I no sooner told him my plans for +communicating quickly with Petherick and Grant, than, after +saying he desired their coming even more than myself, he promised +to arrange everything on the morrow. + +26th.--In the morning, as agreed, I called on the king, and found +the blister had drawn nicely; so I let off the water, which +Bombay called the malady, and so delighted the king amazingly. A +basket of fruit, like Indian loquots, was then ordered in, and we +ate them together, holding a discussion about Grant and +Petherick, which ended by the king promising to send an officer +by water to Kitangule, and another with two of my men, via Usoga +and Kidi, to Gani; but as it was necessary my men should go in +disguise, I asked the king to send me four mbugu and two spears; +when, with the liberality of a great king, he sent me twenty +sheets of the former, four spears, and a load of sun-dried fish +strung on a stick in shape of a shield. + +27th.--At last something was done. One Uganda officer and one +Kidi guide were sent to my hut by the king, as agreed upon +yesterday, when I detached Mabruki and Bilal from my men, gave +them letters and maps addressed to Petherick; and giving the +officers a load of Mtende to pay their hotel bills on the way, I +gave them, at the same time, strict orders to keep by the Nile; +then, having dismissed them, I called on the king to make +arrangements for Grant, and to complain that my residence in +Uganda was anything but cheerful, as my hut was a mile from the +palace, in an unhealthy place, where he kept his Arab visitors. +It did not become my dignity to live in houses appropriated to +persons in the rank of servants, which I considered the ivory +merchants to be; and as I had come only to see him and the high +officers of Uganda, not seeking for ivory or slaves, I begged he +would change my place of residence to the west end, when I also +trusted his officers would not be ashamed to visit me, as +appeared to be the case at present. Silence being the provoking +resort of the king, when he did not know exactly what to say, he +made no answer to my appeal, but instead, he began a discourse on +geography, and then desired me to call upon his mother, +N'yamasore, at her palace Masorisori, vulgarly called Soli Soli, +for she also required medicine; and, moreover, I was cautioned +that for the future the Uganda court etiquette required I should +attend on the king two days in succession, and every third day on +his mother the queen-dowager, as such were their respective +rights. + +Till now, owing to the strict laws of the country, I had not been +able to call upon anybody but the king himself. I had not been +able to send presents or bribes to any one, nor had any one, +except the cockaded pages, by the king's order, visited me; +neither was anybody permitted to sell me provisions, so that my +men had to feed themselves by taking anything they chose from +certain gardens pointed out by the king's officers, or by seizing +pombe or plantains which they might find Waganda carrying towards +the palace. This non-interventive order was part of the royal +policy, in order that the king might have the full fleecing of +his visitors. + +To call upon the queen-mother respectfully, as it was the opening +visit, I too, besides the medicine-chest, a present of eight +brass and copper wire, thirty blue-egg beads, one bundle of +diminutive beads, and sixteen cubits of chintz, a small guard, +and my throne of royal grass. The palace to be visited lay half +a mile beyond the king's, but the highroad to it was forbidden +me, as it is considered uncourteous to pass the king's gate +without going in. So after winding through back-gardens, the +slums of Bandowaroga, I struck upon the highroad close to her +majesty's, where everything looked like the royal palace on a +miniature scale. A large cleared space divided the queen's +residence from her Kamraviona's. The outer enclosures and courts +were fenced with tiger-grass; and the huts, though neither so +numerous nor so large, were constructed after the same fashion as +the king's. Guards also kept the doors, on which large bells +were hung to give alarm, and officers in waiting watched the +throne-rooms. All the huts were full of women, save those kept +as waiting-rooms; where drums and harmonicons were played for +amusement. On first entering, I was required to sit in a +waiting-hut till my arrival was announced; but that did not take +long, as the queen was prepared to receive me; and being of a +more affable disposition than her son, she held rather a levee of +amusement than a stiff court of show. I entered the throne-hut +as the gate of that court was thrown open, with my hat off, but +umbrella held over my head, and walked straight towards her till +ordered to sit upon my bundle of grass. + +Her majesty--fat, fair, and forty-five--was sitting, plainly +garbed in mbugu, upon a carpet spread upon the ground within a +curtain of mbugu, her elbow resting on a pillow of the same bark +material; the only ornaments on her person being an abrus +necklace, and a piece of mbugu tied round her head, whilst a +folding looking-glass, much the worse for wear, stood open by her +side. An iron rod like a spit, with a cup on the top, charged +with magic powder, and other magic wands, were placed before the +entrance; and within the room, four Mabandwa sorceresses or +devil-drivers, fantastically dressed, as before described, and a +mass of other women, formed the company. For a short while we sat +at a distance, exchanging inquiring glances at one another, when +the women were dismissed, and a band of music, with a court full +of Wakungu, was ordered in to change the scene. I also got orders +to draw near and sit fronting her within the hut. Pombe, the best +in Uganda, was then drunk by the queen, and handed to me and to +all the high officers about her, when she smoked her pipe, and +bade me smoke mine. The musicians, dressed in long-haired Usoga +goat-skins, were now ordered to strike up, which they did, with +their bodies swaying or dancing like bears in a fair. Different +drums were then beat, and I was asked if I could distinguish +their different tones. + +The queen, full of mirth, now suddenly rose, leaving me sitting, +whilst she went to another hut, changed her mbugu for a deole, +and came back again for us to admire her, which was no sooner +done to her heart's content, than a second time, by her order, +the court was cleared, and, when only three or four confidential +Wakungu were left, she took up a small faggot of well-trimmed +sticks, and, selecting three, told me she had three complains. +"This stick," she says, "represents my stomach, which gives me +much uneasiness; this second stick my liver, which causes +shooting pains all over my body; and this third one my heart, for +I get constant dreams at night about Sunna, my late husband, and +they are not pleasant." The dreams and sleeplessness I told her +was a common widow's complaint, and could only be cured by her +majesty making up her mind to marry a second time; but before I +could advise for the bodily complaints, it would be necessary for +me to see her tongue, feel her pulse, and perhaps, also, her +sides. Hearing this, the Wakungu said, "Oh, that can never be +allowed without the sanction of the king"; but the queen, rising +in her seat, expressed her scorn at the idea to taking advice +from a mere stripling, and submitted herself for examination. + +I then took out two pills, the powder of which was tasted by the +Wakungu to prove that there was no devilry in "the doctor," and +gave orders for them to be eaten at night, restricting her pombe +and food until I saw her again. My game was now advancing, for I +found through her I should get the key to an influence that might +bear on the king, and was much pleased to hear her express +herself delighted with me for everything I had done except +stopping her grog, which, naturally enough in this great pombe- +drinking country, she said would be a very trying abstinence. + +The doctoring over, her majesty expressed herself ready to +inspect the honorarium I had brought for her, and the articles +were no sooner presented by Bombay and Nasib, with the usual +formalities of stroking to insure their purity, than she, boiling +with pleasure, showed them all to her officers, who declared, +with a voice of most exquisite triumph, that she was indeed the +most favoured of queens. Then, in excellent good taste, after +saying that nobody had ever given her such treasures, she gave +me, in return, a beautifully- worked pombe sucking-pipe, which +was acknowledged by every one to be the greatest honour she could +pay me. + +Not satisfied with this, she made me select, though against my +desire, a number of sambo, called here gundu, rings of giraffe +hair wound round with thin iron or copper wire, and worn as +anklets; and crowned with all sundry pots of pombe, a cow, and a +bundle of dried fish, of the description given in the woodcut, +called by my men Samaki Kambari. This business over, she begged +me to show her my picture-books, and was so amused with them that +she ordered her sorceresses and all the other women in again to +inspect them with her. Then began a warm and complimentary +conversation, which ended by an inspection of my rings and al the +contents of my pockets, as well as of my watch, which she called +Lubari--a term equivalent to a place of worship, the object of +worship itself, or the iron horn or magic pan. Still she said I +had not yet satisfied her; I must return again two days hence, +for she like me much-- excessively--she could not say how much; +but now the day was gone, I might go. With this queer kind of +adieu she rose and walked away, leaving me with my servants to +carry the royal present home. + +28th.--My whole thoughts were now occupied in devising some +scheme to obtain a hut in the palace, not only the better to +maintain my dignity, and so gain superior influence in the court, +but also that I might have a better insight into the manners and +customs of these strange people. I was not sorry to find the +king attempting to draw me to court, daily to sit in attendance +on him as his officers were obliged to do all day long, in order +that he might always have a full court or escort whenever by +chance he might emerge from his palace, for it gave me an opening +for asserting my proper position. + +Instead, therefore, of going at the call of his pages this +morning I sent Bombay with some men to say that although I was +desirous of seeing him daily, I could not so expose myself to the +sun. In all other countries I received, as my right, a palace to +live in when I called on the king of my country, and unless he +gave one now I should feel slighted; moreover, I should like a +hut in the same enclosure as himself, when I could sit and +converse with him constantly, and teach him the use of the things +I had given him. By Bombay's account, the king was much struck +with the force of my humble request, and replied that he should +like to have Bana, meaning myself, ever by his side, but his huts +were all full of women, and therefore it could not be managed; +if, however, Bana would but have patience for a while, a hut +should be built for him in the environs, which would be a mark of +distinction he had never paid to any visitor before. Then +changing the subject by inspecting my men, he fell so much in +love with their little red "fez" caps, that he sent off his pages +to beg me for a specimen, and, on finding them sent by the boys, +he remarked, with warm approbation, how generous I was in +supplying his wishes, and then, turning to Bombay, wished to know +what sort of return-presents would please me best. Bombay, +already primed, instantly said, "Oh, Bana, being a great man in +his own country, and not thirsting for gain in ivory or slaves, +would only accept such things as a spear, shield, or drum, which +he could take to his own country as a specimen of the +manufactures of Uganda, and a pleasing recollection of his visit +to the king." + +"Ah," says Mtesa, "if that is all he wants, then indeed will I +satisfy him, for I will give him the two spears with which I took +all this country, and, when engaged in so doing, pierced three +men with one stab. + +"But, for the present, is it true what I have heard, that Bana +would like to go out with me shooting?" "Oh yes, he is a most +wonderful sportsman--shoots elephants and buffaloes, and birds on +the wing. He would like to go out on a shooting excursion and +teach you the way." + +Then turning the subject, in the highest good-humour the king +made centurions of N'yamgundu and Maula, my two Wakungu, for +their good service, he said, in bringing him such a valuable +guest. This delighted them so much that as soon as they could +they came back to my camp, threw themselves at my feet, and +n'yanzigging incessantly, narrated their fortunes, and begged, as +a great man, I would lend them some cows to present to the king +as an acknowledgement for the favour he had shown them. The +cows, I then told them, had come from the king, and could not go +back again, for it was not the habit of white men to part with +their presents; but as I felt their promotion redounded on +myself, and was certainly the highest compliment their king could +have paid me, I would give them each a wire to make their salaam +good. + +This was enough; both officers got drunk, and, beating their +drums, serenaded the camp until the evening set in, when, to my +utter surprise, an elderly Mganda woman was brought into camp +with the commander-in-chief's metaphorical compliments, hoping I +would accept her "to carry my water"; with this trifling +addition, that in case I did not think her pretty enough, he +hoped I would not hesitate to select which I liked from ten +others, of "all colours," Wahuma included, who, for that purpose, +were then waiting in his palace. + +Unprepared for this social addition in my camp, I must now +confess I felt in a fix, knowing full well that nothing so +offends as rejecting an offer at once, so I kept her for the time +being, intending in the morning to send her back with a string of +blue beads on her neck; but during the night she relieved me of +my anxieties by running away, which Bombay said was no wonder, +for she had obviously been seized as part of some confiscated +estate, and without doubt knew where to find some of her friends. + +To-day, for the first time since I have been here, I received a +quantity of plantains. This was in consequence of my complaining +that the king's orders to my men to feed themselves at others' +expense was virtually making them a pack of thieves. + +1st.--I received a letter from Grant, dated 10th February, +reporting Baraka's departure for Unyoro on the 30th January, +escorted by Kamrasi's men on their return, and a large party of +Rumanika's bearing presents as a letter from their king; whilst +Grant himself hoped to leave Karague before the end of the month. +I then sent Bombay to see the queen, to ask after her health, beg +for a hut in the palace enclosures, and say I should have gone +myself, only I feared her gate might be shut, and I cannot go +backwards and forwards so far in the sun without a horse or an +elephant to ride upon. She begged I would come next morning. A +wonderful report came that the king put two tops of powder into +his Whitworth rifle to shoot a cow, and the bullet not only +passed through the cow, but through the court fence, then through +the centre of a woman, and, after passing the outer fence, flew +whizzing along no one knew where. + +2d.--Calling on the queen early, she admitted me at once, +scolding me severely for not having come or sent my men to see +her after she had taken the pills. She said they did her no +good, and prevailed on me to give her another prescription. Then +sending her servant for a bag full of drinking-gourds, she made +me select six of the best, and begged for my watch. That, of +course, I could not part with; but I took the opportunity of +telling her I did not like my residence; it was not only far away +from everybody, but it was unworthy of my dignity. I came to +Uganda to see the king and queen, because the Arabs said they +were always treated with great respect; but now I could perceive +those Arabs did not know what true respect means. Being poor +men, they thought much of a cow or goat given gratis, and were +content to live in any hovels. Such, I must inform her, was not +my case. I could neither sit in the sun nor live in a poor man's +hut. When I rose to leave for breakfast, she requested me to +stop, but I declined, and walked away. I saw, however, there was +something wrong; for Maula, always ordered to be in attendance +when anybody visits, was retained by her order to answer why I +would not stay with her longer. If I wanted food or pombe, there +was plenty of it in her palace, and her cooks were the cleverest +in the world; she hoped I would return to see her in the morning. + +3d.--Our cross purposes seemed to increase; for, while I could +not get a satisfactory interview, the king sent for N'yamgundu to +ascertain why I had given him good guns and many pretty things +which he did not know the use of, and yet I would not visit him +to explain their several uses. N'yamgundu told him I lived too +far off, and wanted a palace. After this I walked off to see +N'yamasore, taking my blankets, a pillow, and some cooking-pots +to make a day of it, and try to win the affections of the queen +with sixteen cubits bindera, three pints peke, and three pints +mtende beads, which, as Waganda are all fond of figurative +language, I called a trifle for her servants. + +I was shown in at once, and found her majesty sitting on an +Indian carpet, dressed in a red linen wrapper with a gold border, +and a box, in shape of a lady's work-box, prettily coloured in +divers patters with minute beads, by her side. Her councillors +were in attendance; and in the yard a band of music, with many +minor Wakungu squatting in a semicircle, completed her levee. +Maula on my behalf opened conversation, in allusion to her +yesterday's question, by saying I had applied to Mtesa for a +palace, that I might be near enough both their majesties to pay +them constant visits. She replied, in a good hearty manner, that +indeed was a very proper request, which showed my good sense, and +ought to have been complied with at once; but Mtesa was only a +Kijana or stripling, and as she influenced all the government of +the country, she would have it carried into effect. Compliments +were now passed, my presents given and approved of; and the +queen, thinking I must be hungry, for she wanted to eat herself, +requested me to refresh myself in another hut. I complied, +spread my bedding, and ordered in my breakfast; but as the hut +was full of men, I suspended a Scotch plain, and quite eclipsed +her mbugu curtain. + +Reports of this magnificence at once flew to the queen, who sent +to know how many more blankets I had in my possession, and +whether, if she asked for one, she would get it. She also +desired to see my spoons, fork, and pipe--an English meerschaum, +mounted with silver; so, after breakfast, I returned to see her, +showed her the spoons and forks, and smoked my pipe, but told her +I had no blankets left but what formed my bed. She appeared very +happy and very well, did not say another word about the blankets, +but ordered a pipe for herself, and sat chatting, laughing, and +smoking in concert with me. + +I told her I had visited all the four quarters of the globe, and +had seen all colours of people, but wondered where she got her +pipe from, for it was much after the Rumish (Turkish) fashion, +with a long stick. Greatly tickled at the flattery, she said, +"We hear men like yourself come to Amara from the other side, and +drive cattle away." "The Gallas, or Abyssinians, who are tall +and fair, like Rumanika," I said, "might do so, for they live not +far off on the other side of Amara, but we never fight for such +paltry objects. If cows fall into our hands when fighting, we +allow our soldiers to eat them, while we take the government of +the country into our hands." She then said, "We hear you don't +like the Unyamuezi route, we will open the Ukori one for you." +"Thank your majesty," said I, in a figurative kind of speech to +please Waganda ears; and turning the advantage of the project on +her side, "You have indeed hit the right nail on the head. I do +not like the Unyamuezi route, as you may imagine when I tell you +I have lost so much property there by mere robbery of the people +and their kings. The Waganda do not see me in a true light; but +if they have patience for a year or two, until the Ukori road is +open, and trade between our respective countries shall commence, +they will then see the fruits of my advent; so much so, that +every Mganda will say the first Uganda year dates from the +arrival of the first Mzundu (white) visitor. As one coffee-seed +sown brings forth fruit in plenty, so my coming here may be +considered." All appreciated this speech, saying, "The white +man, he even speaks beautifully! beautifully! beautifully! +beautifully!" and, putting their hands to their mouths, they +looked askance at me, nodding their admiring approval. + +The queen and her ministers then plunged into pombe and became +uproarious, laughing with all their might and main. Small bugu +cups were not enough to keep up the excitement of the time, so a +large wooden trough was placed before the queen and filled with +liquor. If any was spilt, the Wakungu instantly fought over it, +dabbing their noses on the ground, or grabbing it with their +hands, that not one atom of the queen's favour might be lost; for +everything must be adored that comes from royalty, whether by +design or accident. The queen put her head to the trough and +drank like a pig from it, and was followed by her ministers. The +band, by order, then struck up a tune called the Milele, playing +on a dozen reeds, ornamented with beads and cow-tips, and five +drums, of various tones and sizes, keeping time. The musicians +dancing with zest, were led by four bandmasters, also dancing, +but with their backs turned to the company to show off their +long, shaggy, goat-skin jackets, sometimes upright, at other +times bending and on their heels, like the hornpipe-dancers or +western countries. + +It was a merry scene, but soon became tiresome; when Bombay, by +way of flattery, and wishing to see what the queen's wardrobe +embraced, told her, Any woman, however ugly, would assume a +goodly appearance if prettily dressed; upon which her gracious +majesty immediately rose, retired to her toilet-hut, and soon +returned attired in a common check cloth, and abrus tiara, a bead +necklace, and with a folding looking-glass, when she sat, as +before, and was handed a blown-glass cup of pombe, with a cork +floating on the liquor, and a napkin mbugu covering the top, by a +naked virgin. For her kind condescension in assuming plain +raiment, everybody, of course, n'yanzigged. Next she ordered her +slave girls to bring a large number of sambo (anklets), and +begged me to select the best, for she liked me much. In vain I +tried to refuse them: she had given more than enough for a +keepsake before, and I was not hungry for property; still I had +to choose some, or I would give offence. She then gave me a +basket of tobacco, and a nest of hen eggs for her "son's" +breakfast. When this was over, the Mukonderi, another dancing- +tune, with instruments something like clarionets, was ordered; +but it had scarcely been struck up, before a drenching rain, with +strong wind, set in and spoilt the music, though not the playing- +-for none dared stop without an order; and the queen, instead of +taking pity, laughed most boisterously over the exercise of her +savage power as the unfortunate musicians were nearly beaten down +by the violence of the weather. + +When the rain ceased, her majesty retired a second time to her +toilet-hut, and changed her dress for a puce-coloured wrapper, +when I, ashamed of having robbed her of so many sambo, asked her +if she would allow me to present her with a little English "wool" +to hang up instead of her mbugu curtain on cold days like this. +Of course she could not decline, and a large double scarlet +blanket was placed before her. "Oh, wonder of wonders!" +exclaimed all the spectators, holding their mouths in both hands +at a time--such a "pattern" had never been seen here before. It +stretched across the hut, was higher than the men could reach-- +indeed it was a perfect marvel; and the man must be a good one +who brought such a treasure as this to Uddu. "And why not say +Uganda?" I asked. "Because all this country is called Uddu. +Uganda is personified by Mtesa; and no one can say he has seen +Uganda until he has been presented to the king." + +As I had them all in a good humour now, I complained I did not +see enough of the Waganda--and as every one dressed so remarkably +well, I could not discern the big men from the small; could she +not issue some order by which they might call on me, as they did +not dare do so without instruction, and then I, in turn, would +call on them? Hearing this, she introduced me to her prime +minister, chancellor of exchequer, women-keepers, hangmen, and +cooks, as the first nobles in the land, that I might recognise +them again if I met them on the road. All n'yanzigged for this +great condescension, and said they were delighted with their +guest; then producing a strip of common joho to compare it with +my blanket, they asked if I could recognise it. Of course, said +I, it is made in my country, of the same material, only of +coarser quality, and everything of the same sort is made in +Uzungu. Then, indeed, said the whole company, in one voice, we +do like you, and your cloth too--but you most. I modestly bowed +my head, and said their friendship was my chief desire. + +This speech also created great hilarity; the queen and +councillors all became uproarious. The queen began to sing, and +the councillors to join in chorus; then all sang and all drank, +and drank and sang, till, in their heated excitement, they turned +the palace into a pandemonium; still there was not noise enough, +so the band and drums were called again, and tomfool--for Uganda, +like the old European monarchies, always keeps a jester--was made +to sing in the gruff, hoarse, unnatural voice which he ever +affects to maintain his character, and furnished with pombe when +his throat was dry. + +Now all of a sudden, as if a devil had taken possession of the +company, the prime minister with all the courtiers jumped upon +their legs, seized their sticks, for nobody can carry a spear +when visiting, swore the queen had lost her heart to me, and +running into the yard, returned, charging and jabbering at the +queen; retreated and returned again, as if they were going to put +an end to her for the guilt of loving me, but really to show +their devotion and true love to her. The queen professed to take +this ceremony with calm indifference, but her face showed that +she enjoyed it. I was not getting very tired of sitting on my +low stool, and begged for leave to depart, but N'yamasore would +not hear of it; she loved me a great deal too much to let me go +away at this time of day, and forthwith ordered in more pombe. +The same roystering scene was repeated; cups were too small, so +the trough was employed; and the queen graced it by drinking, +pig-fashion, first, and then handing it round to the company. + +Now, hoping to produce gravity and then to slip away, I asked if +my medicines had given her any relief, that I might give her more +to strengthen her. She said she could not answer that question +just yet; for though the medicine had moved her copiously, as yet +she had seen no snake depart from her. I told her I would give +her some strengthening medicine in the morning: for the present, +however, I would take my leave, as the day was far gone, and the +distance home very great; but though I dragged my body away, my +heart would still remain here, for I loved her much. + +This announcement took all by surprise; they looked at me and +then at her, and looked again and laughed, whilst I rose, waved +my hat, and said, "Kua heri, Bibi" (good-bye, madam). On +reaching home I found Maribu, a Mkungu, with a gang of men sent +by Mtesa to fetch Grant from Kitangule by water. He would not +take any of my men with him to fetch the kit from Karague, as +Mtesa, he said, had given him orders to find all the means of +transport; so I gave him a letter to Grant, and told him to look +sharp, else Grant would have passed the Kitangule before he +arrived there. "Never mind," says Maribu, "I shall walk to the +mouth of the Katonga, boat it to Sese island, where Mtesa keeps +all his large vessels, and I shall be at Kitangule in a very +short time." + +4th.--I sent Bombay off to administer quinine to the queen; but +the king's pages, who watched him making for her gateway, hurried +up to him, and turned him back by force. He pleaded earnestly +that I would flog him if he disobeyed my orders, but they would +take all the responsibility--the king had ordered it; and then +they, forging a lie, bade him run back as fast as he could, +saying I wanted to see the king, but could not till his return. +In this way poor Bombay returned to me half-drowned in +perspiration. Just then another page hurried in with orders to +bring me to the palace at once, for I had not been there these +four days; and while I was preparing to express the proper amount +of indignation at this unceremonious message, the last impudent +page began rolling like a pig upon my mbugued or carpeted floor, +till I stormed and swore I would turn him out unless he chose to +behave more respectfully before my majesty, for I was no peddling +merchant, as he had been accustomed to see, and would not stand +it; moreover, I would not leave my hut at the summons of the king +or anybody else, until I chose to do so. + +This expression of becoming wrath brought every one to a sense of +his duty; and I then told them all I was excessively angry with +Mtesa for turning back my messenger; nobody had ever dared do +such a thing before, and I would never forgive the king until my +medicines had been given to the queen. As for my going to the +palace, it was out of the question, as I had been repeatedly +before told the king, unless it pleased him to give me a fitting +residence near himself. In order now that full weight should be +given to my expressions, I sent Bombay with the quinine to the +king, in company with the boys, to give an account of all that +had happened; and further, to say I felt exceedingly distressed I +could not go to see him constantly--that I was ashamed of my +domicile--the sun was hot to walk in; and when I went to the +palace, his officers in waiting always kept me waiting like a +servant--a matter hurtful to my honour and dignity. It now +rested with himself to remove these obstacles. Everybody +concerned in this matter left for the palace but Maula, who said +he must stop in camp to look after Bana. Bombay no sooner +arrived in the palace, and saw the king upon his throne, than +Mtesa asked him why he came? "By the instructions of Bana," was +his reply--"for Bana cannot walk in the sun; no white man of the +sultan's breed can do so." + +Hearing this, the king rose in a huff, without deigning to reply, +and busied himself in another court. Bombay, still sitting, +waited for hours till quite tired, when he sent a boy in to say +he had not delivered half my message; he had brought medicine for +the queen, and as yet he had no reply for Bana. Either with +haughty indifference, or else with injured pride at his not being +able to command me at his pleasure, the king sent word, if +medicine is brought for the queen, then let it be taken to her; +and so Bombay walked off to the queen's palace. Arrived there, +he sent in to say he had brought medicine, and waited without a +reply till nightfall, when, tired of his charge, he gave the +quinine into N'yamgundu's hands for delivery, and returned h +home. Soon after, however, N'yamgundu also returned to say the +queen would not take the dose to-day, but hoped I would +administer it personally in the morning. + +Whilst all this vexations business had been going on in court-- +evidently dictated by extreme jealousy because I showed, as they +all thought, a preference for the queen--Maula, more than tipsy, +brought a Mkungu of some standing at court before me, contrary to +all law-- for as yet no Mganda, save the king's pages, had ever +dared enter even the precincts of my camp. With a scowling, +determined, hang-dog-looking countenance, he walked impudently +into my hut, and taking down the pombe-suckers the queen had +given me, showed them with many queer gesticulations, intended to +insinuate there was something between the queen and me. Among +his jokes were, that I must never drink pombe excepting with +these sticks; if I wanted any when I leave Uganda, to show my +friends, she would give me twenty more sticks of that sort if I +liked them; and, turning from verbal to practical jocularity, the +dirty fellow took my common sucker out of the pot, inserted one +of the queen's, and sucked at it himself, when I snatched and +threw it away. + +Maula's friend, who, I imagined, was a spy, then asked me whom I +liked most--the mother or the son; but, without waiting to hear +me, Maula hastily said, "The mother, the mother of course! he +does not care for Mtesa, and won't go to see him." The friend +coaxingly responded, "Oh no; he likes Mtesa, and will go and see +him too; won't you?" I declined, however, to answer from fear of +mistake, as both interpreters were away. Still the two went on +talking to themselves, Maula swearing that I loved the mother +most, whilst the friend said, No, he loves the son, and asking me +with anxious looks, till they found I was not to be caught by +chaff, and then, both tired, walked away--the friend advising me, +next time I went to court, to put on an Arab's gown, as trousers +are indecent in the estimation of every Mganda. + +5th.--Alarmed at having got involved in something that looked +like court intrigues, I called up N'yamgundu; told him all that +happened yesterday, both at the two courts and with Maula at +home; and begged him to apply to the king for a meeting of five +elders, that a proper understanding might be arrived at; but +instead of doing as I desired, he got into a terrible fright, +calling Maula, and told me if I pressed the matter in this way +men would lose their lives. Meanwhile the cunning blackguard +Maula begged for pardon; said I quite misunderstood his meaning; +all he had said was that I was very fortunate, being in such +favour at court, for the king and queen both equally loved me. + +N'yamgundu now got orders to go to Karague overland for Dr +K'yengo; but, dreading to tell me of it, as I had been so kind to +him, he forged a falsehood, said he had leave to visit his home +for six days, and begged for a wire to sacrifice to his church. +I gave him what he wanted, and away he went. I then heard his +servants had received orders to go overland for Grant and +K'yengo; so I wrote another note to Grant, telling him to come +sharp, and bring all the property by boat that he could carry, +leaving what he could not behind in charge of Rumanika. + +At noon, the plaguy little imps of pages hurried in to order the +attendance of all my men fully armed before the king, as he +wished to seize some refractory officer. I declined this abuse +of my arms, and said I should first go and speak to the king on +the subject myself, ordering the men on no account to go on such +an errand; and saying this, I proceeded towards the palace, +leaving instructions for those men who were not ready to follow. +As the court messengers, however, objected to our going in +detachments, I told Bombay to wait for the rest, and hurry on to +overtake me. Whilst lingering on the way, every minute expecting +to see my men, the Wazinza, who had also received orders to seize +the same officer, passed me, going to the place of attack, and, +at the same time, I heard my men firing in a direction exactly +opposite to the palace. I now saw I had been duped, and returned +to my hut to see the issue. The boys had deceived us all. +Bombay, tricked on the plea of their taking him by a short cut to +the palace, suddenly found himself with all the men opposite the +fenced gardens that had to be taken-- the establishment of the +recusant officer,--and the boys, knowing how eager all blacks are +to loot, said, "Now, then, at the houses; seize all you can, +sparing nothing--men, women, or children, mbugus or cowries, all +alike--for it is the order of the king;" and in an instant my men +surrounded the place, fired their guns, and rushed upon the +inmates. One was speared forcing his way through the fence, but +the rest were taken and brought triumphantly into my camp. It +formed a strange sight in the establishment of an English +gentleman, to see my men flushed with the excitement of their +spoils, staggering under loads of mbugu, or leading children, +mothers, goats, and dogs off in triumph to their respective huts. +Bombay alone, of all my men, obeyed my orders, touching nothing; +and when remonstrated with for having lead the men, he said he +could not help it--the boys had deceived him in the same way as +they had tricked me. + +It was now necessary that I should take some critical step in +African diplomacy; so, after ordering all the seizures to be +given up to Maula on behalf of the king, and threatening to +discharge any of my men who dared retain one item of the +property, I shut the door of my hut to do penance for two days, +giving orders that nobody but my cook Ilmas, not even Bombay, +should come near me; for the king had caused my men to sin--had +disgraced their red cloth--and had inflicted on me a greater +insult than I could bear. I was ashamed to show my face. Just +as the door was closed, other pages from the king brought the +Whitworth rifle to be cleaned, and demanded an admittance; but no +one dared approach me, and they went on their way again. + +6th.--I still continued to do penance. Bombay, by my orders, +issued from within, prepared for a visit to the king, to tell him +all that had happened yesterday, and also to ascertain if the +orders for sending my men on a plundering mission had really +emanated from himself, when the bothering pages came again, +bringing a gun and knife to be mended. My door was found shut, +so they went to Bombay, asked him to do it, and told him the king +desired to know if I would go shooting with him in the morning. +The reply was, "No; Bana is praying to-day that Mtesa's sins +might be forgiven him for having committed such an injury to him, +sending his soldiers on a mission that did not become them, and +without his sanction too. He is very angry about it, and wished +to know if it was done by the king's orders." The boys said, +"Nothing can be done without the king's orders." After further +discussion, Bombay intimated that I wished the king to send me a +party of five elderly officers to counsel with, and set all +disagreeables to rights, or I would not go to the palace again; +but the boys said there were no elderly gentlemen at court, only +boys such as themselves. Bombay now wished to go with them +before the king, to explain matters to him, and to give him all +the red cloths of my men, which I took from them, because they +defiled their uniform when plundering women and children; but the +boys said the king was unapproachable just them, being engaged +shooting cows before his women. He then wished the boys to carry +the cloth; but they declined, saying it was contrary to orders +for anybody to handle cloth, and they could not do it. + + + + + Chapter XII + + + + Palace, Uganda--Continued + +Continued Diplomatic Difficulties--Negro Chaffing--The King in a +New Costume--Adjutant and Heron Shooting at Court--My Residence +Changed --Scenes at Court--The Kamraviona, or Commander-in-Chief- +-Quarrels-- Confidential Communications with the King--Court +Executions and Executioners--Another Day with the Queen. + +7th.--The farce continued, and how to manage these haughty +capricious blacks puzzled my brains considerably; but I felt that +if I did not stand up now, no one would ever be treated better +hereafter. I sent Nasib to the queen, to explain why I had not +been to see her. I desired to do so, because I admired her +wisdom; but before I went I must first see the king, to provide +against any insult being offered to me, such as befell Bombay +when I sent him with medicine. Having despatched him, I repaired +again to the palace. In the antechamber I found a number of +Wakungu, as usual, lounging about on the ground, smoking, +chatting, and drinking pombe, whilst Wasoga amused them singing +and playing on lap-harps, and little boys kept time on the +harmonicon. + +These Wakungu are naturally patient attendants, being well +trained to the duty; but their very lives depend upon their +presenting themselves at court a certain number of months every +year, no matter from what distant part of the country they have +to come. If they failed, their estates would be confiscated, and +their lives taken unless they could escape. I found a messenger +who consented to tell the king of my desire to see him. He +returned to say that the king was sleeping--a palpable falsehood. +In a huff, I walked home to breakfast, leaving my attendants, +Maula and Uledi, behind to make explanations. They saw the king, +who simply asked, "Where is Bana?" And on being told that I came, +but went off again, he said, as I was informed, "That is a lie, +for had he come here to see me he would not have returned"; then +rising, he walked away and left the men to follow me. + +I continued ruminating on these absurd entanglements, and the +best way of dealing with them, when lo! to perplex me still more, +in ran a bevy of the royal pages to ask for mtende beads--a whole +sack of them; for the king wished to go with his women on a +pilgrimage to the N'yanza. Thinking myself very lucky to buy the +king's ear so cheaply, I sent Maula as before, adding that I +considered my luck very bad, as nobody here knew my position in +society, else they would not treat me as they did. My proper +sphere was the palace, and unless I got a hut there, I wished to +leave the country. My first desire had always been to see the +king; and if he went to the N'yanza, I trusted he would allow me +to go there also. The boys replied, "How can you go with his +women? No one ever is permitted to see them." "Well," said I, +"if I cannot go to the N'yanza with him" (thinking only of the +great lake, whereas they probably meant a pond in the palace +enclosures, where Mtesa constantly frolics with his women), "I +wish to go to Usoga and Amara, as far as the Masai; for I have no +companions here but crows and vultures." They promised to take +the message, but its delivery was quite another thing; for no one +can speak at this court till he is spoken to, and a word put in +out of season is a life lost. + +On Maula's return, I was told the king would not believe so +generous a man as Bana could have sent him so few beads; he +believed most of my store must have been stolen on the road, and +would ask me about that to-morrow. He intimated that for the +future I must fire a gun at the waiting-hut whenever I entered +the palace, so that he might hear of my arrival, for he had been +up that morning, and would have been glad to see me, only the +boys, from fear of entering his cabinet, had forged a lie, and +deprived him of any interview with me, which he had long wished +to get. This ready cordiality was as perplexing as all the rest. +Could it be possible, I thought, I had been fighting with a +phantom all this while, and yet the king had not been able to +perceive it? At all events, now, as the key to his door had been +given, I would make good use of it and watch the result. +Meanwhile Nasib returned from the queen-dowager's palace without +having seen her majesty, though he had waited there patiently the +whole day long, for she was engaged in festivities, incessantly +drumming and playing, in consequence of the birth of twins +(Mabassa), which had just taken place in her palace; but he was +advised to return on the morrow. + +8th.--After breakfast I walked to the palace, thinking I had +gained all I wanted; entered, and fired guns, expecting an +instant admittance; but, as usual, I was required to sit and +wait; the king was expected immediately. All the Wagungu talked +in whispers, and nothing was heard but the never-ceasing harps +and harmonicons. In a little while I felt tired of the monotony, +and wished to hang up a curtain, that I might lie down in privacy +and sleep till the king was ready; but the officers in waiting +forbade this, as contrary to law, and left me the only +alternative of walking up and down the court to kill time, +spreading my umbrella against the powerful rays of the sun. A +very little of that made me fidgety and impetuous, which the +Waganda noticed, and, from fear of the consequences, they began +to close the gate to prevent my walking away. I flew out on +them, told Bombay to notice the disrespect, and shamed them into +opening it again. The king immediately, on hearing of this, sent +me pombe to keep me quiet; but as I would not touch it, saying I +was sick at heart, another page rushed out to say the king was +ready to receive me; and, opening a side gate leading into a +small open court without a hut in it, there, to be sure, was his +majesty, sitting on an Arab's donkey run, propped against one +page, and encompassed by four others. + +On confronting him, he motioned me to sit, which I did upon my +bundle of grass, and, finding it warm, asked leave to open my +umbrella. He was much struck at the facility with which I could +make shade, but wondered still more at my requiring it. I +explained to him that my skin was white because I lived in a +colder country than his, and therefore was much more sensitive to +the heat of the sun than his black skin; adding, at the same +time, if it gave no offence, I would prefer sitting in the shade +of the court fence. He had no objection, and opened conversation +by asking who it was that gave me such offence in taking my guard +from me to seize his Wakungu. The boy who had provoked me was +then dragged in, tied by his neck and hands, when the king asked +him by whose orders he had acted in such a manner, knowing that I +objected to it, and wished to speak to him on the subject first. +The poor boy, in a dreadful fright, said he had acted under the +instructions of the Kamraviona: there was no harm done, for +Bana's men were not hurt. "Well, then," said the king, "if they +were not injured, and you only did as you were ordered, no fault +rests with you; but begone out of my sight, for I cannot bear to +see you, and the Kamraviona shall be taught a lesson not to +meddle with my guests again until I give him authority to do so." + +I now hoped, as I had got the king all by himself, and apparently +in a good humour with me, that I might give him a wholesome +lesson on the manners and customs of the English nation, to show +how much I felt the slights I had received since my residence in +Uganda; but he never lost his dignity and fussiness as an Uganda +king. My words must pass through his Mkungu, as well as my +interpreter's, before they reached him; and, as he had no +patience, everything was lost till he suddenly asked Maula, +pretending not to know, where my hut was; why everybody said I +lived so far away; and when told, he said, "Oh! that is very far, +he must come nearer." Still I could not say a word, his +fussiness and self-importance overcoming his inquisitiveness. + +Rain now fell, and the king retired by one gate, whilst I was +shown out of another, until the shower was over. As soon as the +sky was clear again, we returned to the little court, and this +time became more confidential, as he asked many questions about +England-- such as, Whether the Queen knew anything about +medicines? Whether she kept a number of women as he did? and what +her palace was like? --which gave me an opportunity of saying I +would like to see his ships, for I heard they were very numerous- +-and also his menagerie, said to be full of wonderful animals. +He said the vessels were far off, but he would send for them; and +although he once kept a large number of animals, he killed them +all in practising with his guns. The Whitworth rifle was then +brought in for me to take to pieces and teach him the use of; and +then the chronometer. He then inquired if I would like to go +shooting? I said, "Yes, if he would accompany me--not +otherwise." "Hippopotami?" "Yes; there is great fun in that, +for they knock the boats over when they charge from below." "Can +you swim?" "Yes." "So can I. And would you like to shoot +buffalo?" "Yes, if you will go." "At night, then, I will send +my keepers to look out for them. Here is a leopard-car, with +white behind its ears, and a Ndezi porcupine of the short-quilled +kind, which my people eat with great relish; and if you are fond +of animals, I will give you any number of specimens, for my +keepers net and bring in live animals of every kind daily; for +the present, you can take this basket of porcupines home for your +dinner." My men n'yanzigged--the king walked away, giving orders +for another officer to follow up the first who went to Ukori, and +bring Petherick quickly--and I went home. + +This was to be a day of varied success. When I arrived at my hut +I found a messenger sent by the queen, with a present of a goat, +called "fowls for Bana, my son," and a load of plantains, called +potatoes, waiting for me; so I gave the bearer fundo of mtende +beads, and told again the reasons why I had not been able to call +upon the queen, but I hoped to do so shortly, as the king had +promised me a house near at hand. I doubt, however, whether one +word of my message ever reached her. That she wanted me at her +palace was evident by the present, though she was either too +proud or too cautious to say so. + +At night I overheard a chat between Sangizo, a Myamuezi, and +Ntalo, a freed man of Zanzibar, very characteristic of their way +of chaffing. Sangizo opened the battle by saying, "Ntalo, who +are you?" N. "A Mguana" (freed man). S. "A Mguana, indeed! then +where is your mother?" N. "She died at Anguja." S. "Your mother +died at Anguja! then where is your father?" N. "He died at +Anguja likewise." S. "Well, that is strange; and where are your +brothers and sister?" N. "They all died at Anguja." S. (then +changing the word Anguja for Anguza, says to Ntalo) "I think you +said your mother and father both died at Anguza, did you not?" +N. "Yes, at Anguza." S. "Then you had two mothers and two +fathers--one set died at Anguja, and the other set at Anguza; you +are a humbug; I don't believe you; you are no Mguana, but a slave +who has been snatched from his family, and does not know where +any of his family are. Ah! ah! ah!" And all the men of the camp +laugh together at the wretched Ntalo's defeat; but Ntalo won't be +done, so retorts by saying, "Sangizo, you may laugh at me because +I am an orphan, but what are you? you are a savage--a Mshezi; you +come from the Mashenzi, and you wear skins, not cloths, as men +do; so hold your impudent tongue";--and the camp pealed with +merry boisterous laughter again. + +9th.--Early in the morning, and whilst I was in bed, the king +sent his pages to request me to visit his royal mother, with some +specific for the itch, with which her majesty was then afflicted. +I said I could not go so far in the sun; I would wait till I +received the promised palace near her. In the meanwhile I +prepared to call on him. I observed, in fact, that I was an +object of jealousy between the two courts, and that, if I acted +skilfully and decidedly, I might become master of the situation, +and secure my darling object of a passage northwards. The boys +returned, bringing a pistol to be cleaned, and a message to say +it was no use my thinking of calling on the king--that I must go +to the queen immediately, for she was very ill. So far the queen +won the day, but I did not obtain my new residence, which I +considered the first step to accomplishing the greater object; I +therefore put the iron farther in the fire by saying I was no +man's slave, and I should not go until I got a house in the +palace--Bombay could teach the boys the way to clean the pistol. +The perk monkeys, however, turned up their noses at such menial +service, and Uledi was instructed in their stead. + +10th.--To surprise the queen, and try another dodge, I called on +her with all my dining things and bedding, to make a day of it, +and sleep the night. She admitted me at once, when I gave her +quinine, on the proviso that I should stop there all day and +night to repeat the dose, and tell her the reason why I did not +come before. She affected great anger at Mtesa having interfered +with my servants when coming to see her--sympathised with me on +the distance I had to travel--ordered a hut to be cleared for me +ere night--told me to eat my breakfast in the next court--and, +rising abruptly, walked away. At noon we heard the king +approaching with his drums and rattle-traps, but I still waited +on till 5 p.m., when, on summons, I repaired to the throne-hut. +Here I heard, in an adjoining court, the boisterous, explosive +laughs of both mother and son--royal shouts loud enough to be +heard a mile off, and inform the community that their sovereigns +were pleased to indulge in hilarity. Immediately afterwards, the +gate between us being thrown open, the king, like a very child, +stood before us, dressed for the first time, in public, in what +Europeans would call clothes. For a cap he wore a Muscat alfia, +on his neck a silk Arab turban, fastened with a ring. Then for a +coat he had an Indian kizbow, and for trousers a yellow woollen +doti; whilst in his hand, in imitation of myself, he kept running +his ramrod backwards and forwards through his fingers. As I +advanced and doffed my hat, the king, smiling, entered the court, +followed by a budding damsel dressed in red bindera, who carried +the chair I had presented to him, and two new spears. + +He now took his seat for the first time upon the chair, for I had +told him, at my last interview, that all kings were expected to +bring out some new fashion, or else the world would never make +progress; and I was directed to sit before him on my grass +throne. Talking, though I longed to enter into conversation, was +out of the question; for no one dared speak for me, and I could +not talk myself; so we sat and grinned, till in a few minutes the +queen, full of smirks and smiles, joined us, and sat on a mbugu. +I offered the medicine-chest as a seat, but she dared not take +it; in fact, by the constitution of Uganda, no one, however high +in rank, not even his mother, can sit before the king. After +sundry jokes, whilst we were all bursting with laughter at the +theatrical phenomenon, the Wakungu who were present, some twenty +in number, threw themselves in line upon their bellies, and +wriggling like fish, n'yanzigged, n'goned, and demaned, and +uttered other wonderful words of rejoining--as, for instance, +"Hai Minange! Hai Mkama wangi!" (O my chief! O my king!)-- +whilst they continued floundering, kicking about their legs, +rubbing their faces, and patting their hands upon the ground, as +if the king had performed some act of extraordinary munificence +by showing himself to them in that strange and new position--a +thing quite enough to date a new Uganda era from. + +The king, without deigning to look upon his grovelling subjects, +said, "Now, mother, take your medicine"; for he had been called +solemnly to witness the medical treatment she was undergoing at +my hands. When she had swallowed her quinine with a wry face, +two very black virgins appeared on the stage holding up the +double red blanket I had given the queen; for nothing, however +trifling, can be kept secret from the king. The whole court was +in raptures. The king signified his approval by holding his +mouth, putting his head on one side, and looking askance at it. +The queen looked at me, then at the blanket and her son in turn; +whilst my men hung down their heads, fearful lest they should be +accused of looking at the ladies of the court; and the Wakungu +n'yanzigged again, as if they could not contain the gratification +they felt at the favour shown them. Nobody had ever brought such +wonderful things to Uganda before, and all loved Bana. + +Till now I had expected to vent my wrath on both together for all +past grievances, but this childish, merry, homely scene--the +mother holding up her pride, her son, before the state officers-- +melted my heart at once. I laughed as well as they did, and said +it pleased me excessively to see them both so happy together. It +was well the king had broken through the old-fashioned laws of +Uganda, by sitting on an iron chair, and adopting European +dresses; for now he was opening a road to cement his own +dominions with my country. I should know what things to send that +would please him. The king listened, but without replying; and +said, at the conclusion, "It is late, now let us move"; and +walked away, preserving famously the lion's gait. The mother +also vanished, and I was led away to a hut outside, prepared for +my night's residence. It was a small, newly-built hut, just +large enough for my bed, with a corner for one servant; so I +turned all my men away, save one--ate my dinner, and hoped to +have a quiet cool night of it, when suddenly Maula flounced in +with all his boys, lighting a fire, and they spread their mbugus +for the night. In vain I pleaded I could not stand the +suffocation of so many men, especially of Waganda, who eat raw +plantains; and unless they turned out, I should do so, to benefit +by the pure air. Maula said he had the queen's orders to sleep +with Bana, and sleep there he would; so rather than kick him out, +which I felt inclined to do, I smoked my pipe and drank pombe all +night, turning the people out and myself in, in the morning, to +prepare for a small house-fight with the queen. + +11th.--Early in the morning, as I expected, she demanded my +immediate attendance; and so the little diplomatic affair I had +anticipated came on. I began the affair by intimating that I am +in bed, and have not breakfasted. So at 10 a.m. another +messenger arrives, to say her majesty is much surprised at my not +coming. What can such conduct mean, when she arranged everything +so nicely for me after my own desire, that she might drink her +medicine properly? Still I am not up; but nobody will let me +rest for fear of the queen; so, to while away the time, I order +Bombay to call upon her, give the quinine, and tell her all that +has happened; at which she flies into a towering rage, says she +will never touch medicine administered by any other hands but +mine, and will not believe in one word Bombay says, either about +Maula or the hut; for Maula, whose duty necessarily obliged him +to take my servants before her majesty, had primed her with a lot +of falsehoods on the subject; and she had a fondness for Maula, +because he was a clever humbug and exceeding rogue--and sent +Bombay back to fetch me, for nobody had ever dared disobey her +mandates before. + +It had now turned noon, and being ready for the visit, I went to +see the queen. Determined to have her turn, she kept me waiting +for a long time before she would show herself; and at last, when +she came, she flounced up to her curtain, lay down in a huff, and +vented her wrath, holding her head very high, and wishing to know +how I could expect officers, with large establishments, to be +turned out of their homes merely to give me room for one night; I +ought to have been content with my fare; it was no fault of +Maula's. I tried to explain through Nasib, but she called Nasib +a liar, and listened to Maula who told the lies; then asked for +her medicine; drank it, saying it was a small dose; and walked +off in ill humour as she had come. I now made up my mind to sit +till 3 p.m., hoping to see the queen again, whilst talking with +some Kidi officers, who, contrary to the general law of the +country, indulged me with some discourses on geography, from +which I gathered, though their stories were rather confused, that +beyond the Asua river, in the Galla country, there was another +lake which was navigated by the inhabitants in very large +vessels; and somewhere in the same neighbourhood there was an +exceedingly high mountain covered with yellow dust, which the +natives collected, etc., etc. + +Time was drawing on, and as the queen would not appear of her own +accord, I sent to request a friendly conversation with her before +I left, endeavouring, as well as I could, to persuade her that +the want of cordiality between us was owing to the mistakes of +interpreters, who had not conveyed to her my profound sentiments +of devotion. This brought her gracious corpulence out all smirks +and smiles, preceded by a basket of potatoes for "Bana, my son." +I began conversation with a speech of courtesy, explaining how I +had left my brother Grant and my great friend Rumanika at Karague +--hastening, in compliance with the invitation of the king, to +visit him and herself, with the full hope of making friends in +Uganda; but now I had come, I was greatly disappointed; for I +neither saw half enough of their majesties, nor did any of their +officers ever call upon me to converse and pass away the dreary +hours. All seemed highly pleased, and complimented my speech; +while the queen, turning to her officers, said, "If that is the +case, I will send these men to you"; whereupon the officers, +highly delighted at the prospect of coming to see me, and its +consequence a present, n'yanzigged until I thought their hands +would drop off. Then her majesty to my thorough annoyance, and +before I had finished half I had to say, rose from her seat, and, +showing her broad stern to the company, walked straight away. +The officers then drew near me, and begged I would sleep there +another night; but as they had nothing better to offer than the +hut of last night, I declined and went my way, begging them to +call and make friends with me. + +12th.--Immediately after breakfast the king sent his pages in a +great hurry to say he was waiting on the hill for me, and begged +I would bring all my guns immediately. I prepared, thinking, +naturally enough, that some buffaloes had been marked down; for +the boys, as usual, were perfectly ignorant of his designs. To +my surprise, however, when I mounted the hill half-way to the +palace, I found the king standing, dressed in a rich filagreed +waistcoat, trimmed with gold embroidery, tweedling the loading- +rod in his fingers, and an alfia cap on his head, whilst his +pages held his chair and guns, and a number of officers, with +dogs and goats for offerings, squatted before him. + +When I arrived, hat in hand, he smiled, examined my firearms, and +proceeded for sport, leading the way to a high tree, on which +some adjutant birds were nesting, and numerous vultures resting. +This was the sport; Bana must shoot a nundo (adjutant) for the +king's gratification. I begged him to take a shot himself, as I +really could not demean myself by firing at birds sitting on a +tree; but it was all of no use--no one could shoot as I could, +and they must be shot. I proposed frightening them out with +stones, but no stone could reach so high; so, to cut the matter +short, I killed an adjutant on the nest, and, as the vultures +flew away, brought one down on the wing, which fell in a garden +enclosure. + +The Waganda were for a minute all spell-bound with astonishment, +when the king jumped frantically in the air, clapping his hands +above his head, and singing out, "Woh, woh, woh! what wonders! +Oh, Bana, Bana! what miracles he performs!"--and all the Wakungu +followed in chorus. "Now load, Bana--load, and let us see you do +it," cried the excited king; but before I was half loaded, he +said, "Come along, come along, and let us see the bird." Then +directing the officers which way to go--for, by the etiquette of +the court of Uganda, every one must precede the king--he sent +them through a court where his women, afraid of the gun, had been +concealed. Here the rush onward was stopped by newly made fences, +but the king roared to the officers to knock them down. This was +no sooner said than done, by the attendants in a body shoving on +and trampling them under, as an elephant would crush small trees +to keep his course. So pushing, floundering through plaintain and +shrub, pell-mell one upon the other, that the king's pace might +not be checked, or any one come in for a royal kick or blow, they +came upon the prostrate bird. "Woh, woh, woh!" cried the king +again, "there he is, sure enough; come here, women--come and look +what wonders!" And all the women, in the highest excitement, +"woh-wohed" as loud as any of the men. But that was not enough. +"Come along, Bana," said the king, "we must have some more +sport;" and, saying this he directed the way towards the queen's +palace, the attendants leading, followed by the pages, then the +king, next myself--for I never would walk before him--and finally +the women, some forty or fifty, who constantly attended him. + +To make the most of the king's good-humour, while I wanted to +screen myself from the blazing sun, I asked him if he would like +to enjoy the pleasures of an umbrella; and before he had time to +answer, held mine over him as we walked side by side. The +Wakungu were astonished, and the women prattled in great delight; +whilst the king, hardly able to control himself, sidled and spoke +to his flatterers as if he were doubly created monarch of all he +surveyed. He then, growing more familiar, said, "Now, Bana, do +tell me-- did you not shoot that bird with something more than +common ammunition? I am sure you did, now; there was magic in +it." And all I said to the contrary would not convince him. "But +we will see again." "At buffaloes?" I said. "No, the buffaloes +are too far off now; we will wait to go after then until I have +given you a hut close by." Presently, as some herons were flying +overhead, he said, "Now, shoot, shoot!" and I brought a couple +down right and left. He stared, and everybody stared, believing +me to be a magician, when the king said he would like to have +pictures of the birds drawn and hung up in the palace; "but let +us go and shoot some more, for it is truly wonderful." Similar +results followed, for the herons were continually whirling round, +as they had their nests upon a neighbouring tree; and then the +king ordered his pages to carry all the birds, save the vulture-- +which, for some reason, they did not touch--and show them to the +queen. + +He then gave the order to move on, and we all repaired to the +palace. Arrived at the usual throne-room, he took his seat, +dismissed the party of wives who had been following him, as well +as the Wakungu, received pombe from his female evil-eye averters, +and ordered me, with my men, to sit in the sun facing him, till I +complained of the heat, and was allowed to sit by his side. +Kites, crows, and sparrows were flying about in all directions, +and as they came within shot, nothing would satisfy the excited +boy-king but I must shoot them, and his pages take them to the +queen, till my ammunition was totally expended. He then wanted +me to send for more shot; and as I told him he must wait for more +until my brothers come, he contented himself with taking two or +three sample grains and ordering his iron-smiths to make some +like them. + +Cows were now driven in for me to kill two with one bullet; but +as the off one jumped away when the gun fired, the bullet passed +through the near one, then through all the courts and fences, and +away no one knew where. The king was delighted, and said he must +keep the rifle to look at for the night. I now asked permission +to speak with him on some important matters, when he sent his +women away and listened. I said I felt anxious about the road on +which Mabruki was travelling, to which I added that I had ordered +him to tell Petherick to come here or else to send property to +the value of one thousand dollars; and I felt anxious because +some of the queen's officers felt doubtful about Waganda being +able to penetrate Kidi. He said I need not concern myself on +that score; he was much more anxious for the white men to come +here than even I was, and he would not send my men into any +danger; but it was highly improper for any of his people to speak +about such subjects. Then, assembling the women again, he asked +me to load Whitworth for him, when he shot the remaining cow, +holding the rifle in both hands close to his thigh. The feat, of +course, brought forth great and uproarious congratulations from +his women. The day thus ended, and I was dismissed. + +13th.--Mabriki and Bilal come into camp: they returned last +night; but the Waganda escort, afraid of my obtaining information +of them before the king received it, kept them concealed. They +had been defeated in Usoga, two marches each of Kira, at the +residence of Nagozigombi, Mtesa's border officer, who gave them +two bullocks, but advised their returning at once to inform the +king that the independent Wasoga had been fighting with his +dependent Wasoga subjects for some time, and the battle would not +be over for two months or more, unless he sent an army to their +assistance. + +I now sent Bombay to the king to request an interview, as I had +much of importance to tell him; but the could not be seen, as he +was deep in the interior of the palace enjoying the society of +his wives. The Kamraviona, however, was found there waiting, as +usual, on the mere chance of his majesty taking it into his head +to come out. He asked Bombay if it was true the woman he gave me +ran away; and when Bombay told him, he said, "Oh, he should have +chained her for two or three days, until she became accustomed to +her residence; for women often take fright and run away in that +way, believing strangers to be cannibals." But Bombay replied, +"She was not good enough for Bana; he let her go off like a dog; +he wants a young and beautiful Mhuma, or none at all." "Ah, +well, then, if he is so particular, he must wait a bit, for we +have none on hand. What I gave him is the sort of creature we +give all our guests." A Msoga was sent by the king to take the +dead adjutant of yesterday out of the nest--for all Wasoga are +expert climbers, which is not the case with the Waganda; but the +man was attacked half-way up the tree by a swarm of bees, and +driven down again. + +14th.--After all the vexatious haggling for a house, I gained my +object to-day by a judicious piece of bribery which I had +intended to accomplish whenever I could. I now succeeded in +sending--for I could not, under the jealous eyes in Uganda, get +it done earlier-- a present of fifteen pints mixed beads, twenty +blue eggs, and five copper bracelets, to the commander-in-chief, +as a mark of friendship. At the same time I hinted that I should +like him to use his influence in obtaining for me a near and +respectable residence, where I hoped he, as well as all the +Waganda nobility, would call upon me; for my life in Uganda was +utterly miserable, being shut up like a hermit by myself every +day. The result was, that a number of huts in a large plantain +garden were at once assigned to me, on the face of a hill, +immediately overlooking and close to the main road. It was +considered the "West End." It had never before been occupied by +any visitors excepting Wahinda ambassadors; and being near, and +in full view of the palace, was pleasant and advantageous, as I +could both hear the constant music, and see the throngs of people +ever wending their way to and from the royal abodes. I lost no +time in moving all my property, turning out the original +occupants--in selecting the best hut for myself, giving the rest +to my three officers--and ordering my men to build barracks for +themselves, in street form, from my hut to the main road. There +was one thing only left to be done; the sanitary orders of Uganda +required every man to build himself a house of parliament, such +being the neat and cleanly nature of the Waganda--a pattern to +all other negro tribes. + +15th.--As nobody could obtain an interview with the king +yesterday, I went to the palace to-day, and fired three shots--a +signal which was at once answered from within by a double +discharge of a gun I had just lent him on his returning my rifle. +In a little while, as soon as he had time to dress, the king, +walking like a lion, sallied forth, leading his white dog, and +beckoned me to follow him to the state hut, the court of which +was filled with squatting men as usual, well dressed, and keeping +perfect order. He planted himself on his throne, and begged me +to sit by his side. Then took place the usual scene of a court +levee, as described in Chapter X., with the specialty, in this +instance, that the son of the chief executioner--one of the +highest officers of state--was led off for execution, for some +omission or informality in his n'yanzigs, or salutes. + +At this levee sundry Wakungu of rank complained that the Wanyambo +plundered their houses at night, and rough-handled their women, +without any respect for their greatness, and, when caught, said +they were Bana's men. Bombay, who was present, heard the +complaint, and declared these were Suwarora's men, who made use +of the proximity of my camp to cover their own transgressions. +Then Suwarora's deputation, who were also present, cringed +forward, n'yanzigging like Waganda, and denied the accusation, +when the king gave all warning that he would find out the truth +by placing guards on the look-out at night. + +Till this time the king had not heard one word about the defeat +of the party sent for Petherick. His kingdom might have been +lost, and he would have been no wiser; when the officer who led +Mabruki came forward and told him all that had happened, stating, +in addition to what I heard before, that they took eighty men +with them, and went into battle three times successfully. +Dismissing business, however, the king turned to me, and said he +never saw anything so wonderful as my shooting in his life; he +was sure it was done by magic, as my gun never missed, and he +wished I would instruct him in the art. When I denied there was +any art in shooting, further than holding the gun straight, he +shook his head, and getting me to load his revolving pistol for +him, he fired all five barrels into two cows before the +multitude. He then thought of adjutant-shooting with ball, left +the court sitting, desired me to follow him, and leading the way, +went into the interior of the palace, where only a few select +officers were permitted to follow us. The birds were wild, and +as nothing was done, I instructed him in the way to fire from his +shoulder, placing the gun in position. He was shy at first, and +all the people laughed at my handling royalty like a schoolboy; +but he soon took to it very good-naturedly, when I gave him my +silk necktie and gold crest-ring, explaining their value, which +he could not comprehend, and telling him we gentlemen prided +ourselves on never wearing brass or copper. + +He now begged hard for shot; but I told him again his only chance +of getting any lay in opening the road onwards; it was on this +account, I said, I had come to see him to-day. He answered, "I +am going to send an army to Usoga to force the way from where +your men were turned back." But this, I said, would not do for +me, as I saw his people travelled like geese, not knowing the +direction of Gani, or where they were going to when sent. I +proposed that if he would call all his travelling men of +experience together, I would explain matters to them by a map I +had brought; for I should never be content till I saw Petherick. + +The map was then produced. He seemed to comprehend it +immediately, and assembled the desired Wakungu; but, to my +mortification, he kept all the conversation to himself, Waganda +fashion; spoke a lot of nonsense; and then asked his men what +they thought had better be done. The sages replied, "Oh, make +friends, and do the matter gently." But the king proudly raised +his head, laughed them to scorn, and said, "Make friends with men +who have crossed their spears with us already! Nonsense! they +would only laugh at us; the Uganda spear alone shall do it." +Hearing this bravado, the Kamraviona, the pages, and the elders, +all rose to a man, with their sticks, and came charging at their +king, swearing they would carry out his wished with their lives. +The meeting now broke up in the usual unsatisfactory, unfinished +manner, by the king rising and walking away, whilst I returned +with the Kamraviona, who begged for ten more blue eggs in +addition to my present to make a full necklace, and told my men +to call upon him in the morning, when he would give me anything I +wished to eat. Bombay was then ordered to describe what sort of +food I lived on usually; when, Mganda fashion, he broke a stick +into ten bits, each representing a differing article, and said, +"Bana eat mixed food always"; and explained that stick No. 1 +represented beef; No. 2, mutton; No. 3, fowl; No. 4, eggs; No. 5, +fish; No. 6, potatoes; No. 7, plantains; No. 8, pombe; No. 9, +butter; No. 10, flour. + +16th.--To-day the king was amusing himself among his women again, +and not to be seen. I sent Bombay with ten blue eggs as a +present for the Kamraviona, intimating my desire to call upon +him. He sent me a goat and ten fowls' eggs, saying he was not +visible to strangers on business to-day. I inferred that he +required the king's permission to receive me. This double +failure was a more serious affair then a mere slight; for my cows +were eaten up, and my men clamouring incessantly for food; and +though they might by orders help themselves "ku n'yangania"--by +seizing--from the Waganda, it hurt my feelings so much to witness +this, that I tried from the first to dispense with it, telling +the king I had always flogged my men for stealing, and now he +turned them into a pack of thieves. I urged that he should either +allow me to purchase rations, or else feed them from the palace +as Rumanika did; but he always turned a deaf ear, or said that +what Sunna his father had introduced it ill became him to +subvert; and unless my men helped themselves they would die of +starvation. + +On the present emergency I resolved to call upon the queen. On +reaching the palace, I sent an officer in to announce my arrival, +and sat waiting for the reply fully half an hour, smoking my +pipe, and listening to her in the adjoining court, where music +was playing, and her voice occasionally rent the air with merry +boisterous laughing. + +The messenger returned to say no one could approach her sanctuary +or disturb her pleasure at this hour; I must wait and bide my +time, as the Uganda officers do. Whew! Here was another +diplomatic crisis, which had to be dealt with in the usual way. +"I bide my time!" I said, rising in a towering passion, and +thrashing the air with my ramrod walking-stick, before all the +visiting Wakungu, "when the queen has assured me her door would +always be open to me! I shall leave this court at once, and I +solemnly swear I shall never set foot in it again, unless some +apology be made for treating me like a dog." Then, returning +home, I tied up all the presents her majesty had given me in a +bundle, and calling Maula and my men together, told them to take +them where they came from; for it ill became me to keep tokens of +friendship when no friendship existed between us. I came to make +friends with the queen, not to trade or take things from her--and +so forth. The blackguard Maula, laughing, said, "Bana does not +know what he is doing; it is a heinous offence in Uganda sending +presents back; nobody for their lives dare do so to the queen; +her wrath would know no bounds. She will say, "I took a few +trifles from Bana as specimens of his country, but they shall all +go back, and the things the king has received shall go back also, +for we are all of one family'; and then won't Bana be very sorry? +Moreover, Wakungu will be killed by dozens, and lamentations will +reign throughout the court to propitiate the devils who brought +such disasters on them." Bombay, also in a fright, said, "Pray +don't do so; you don't know these savages as we do; there is no +knowing what will happen; it may defeat our journey altogether. +Further, we have had no food these four days, because row +succeeds row. If we steal, you flog us; and if we ask the +Waganda for food, they beat us. We don't know what to do." I +was imperative, however, and said, "Maula must take back these +things in the morning, or stand the consequences." In fact, I +found that, like the organ-grinders in London, to get myself +moved on I must make myself troublesome. + +17th.--The queen's presents were taken back by Maula and Nasib, +whilst I went to see the Kamraviona. Even this gentleman kept me +waiting for some time to show his own importance, and then +admitted me into one of his interior courts, where I found him +sitting on the ground with several elders; whilst Wasoga +minstrels played on their lap-harps, and sang songs in praise of +their king, and the noble stranger who wore fine clothes and +eclipsed all previous visitors. At first, on my approach, the +haughty young chief, very handsome, and twenty years of age, did +not raise his head; then he begged me to be seated, and even +enquired after my health, in a listless, condescending kind of +manner, as if the exertion of talking was too much for his +constitution or his rank; but he soon gave up this nonsense as I +began to talk, inquired, amongst other things, why I did not see +the Waganda at my house, when I said I should so much like to +make acquaintance with them, and begged to be introduced to the +company who were present. + +I was now enabled to enlarge the list of topics on which it is +prohibited to the Waganda to speak or act under pain of death. No +one even dare ever talk about the royal pedigree of the countries +that have been conquered, or even of any neighbouring countries; +no one dare visit the king's guests, or be visited by them, +without leave, else the king, fearing sharers in his plunder, +would say, What are you plucking our goose for? Neither can any +one cast his eye for a moment on the women of the palace, whether +out walking or at home, lest he should be accused of amorous +intentions. Beads and brass wire, exchanged for ivory or slaves, +are the only articles of foreign manufacture any Mganda can hold +in his possession. Should anything else be seen in his house--for +instance, cloth-- his property would be confiscated and his life +taken. + +I was now introduced to the company present, of whom one Mgema, +an elderly gentleman of great dignity, had the honour to carry +Sunna the late king; Mpungu, who cooked for Sunna, also ranks +high in court; then Usungu and Kunza, executioners, rank very +high, enjoying the greatest confidence with the king; and, +finally, Jumba and Natigo, who traced their pedigree to the age +of the first Uganda king. As I took down a note of their several +names, each seemed delighted at finding his name written down by +me; and Kunza, the executioner, begged as a great favour that I +would plead to the king to spare his son's life, who, as I have +mentioned, was ordered out to execution on the last levee day. +At first I thought it necessary, for the sake of maintaining my +dignity, to raise objections, and said it would ill become one of +my rank to make any request that might possibly be rejected; but +as the Kamraviona assured me there would be no chance of failure, +and everybody else agreed with him, I said it would give me +intense satisfaction to serve him; and the old man squeezed my +hand as if overpowered with joy. + +This meeting, as might be imagined, was a very dull one, because +the company, being tongue-tied as regards everything of external +interest, occupied themselves solely on matters of home business, +or indulged their busy tongues, Waganda fashion, in gross +flattery of their "illustrious visitor." In imitation of the +king, the Kamraviona now went from one hut to another, requesting +us to follow that we might see all his greatness, and then took +me alone into a separate court, to show me his women, some five- +and-twenty of the ugliest in Uganda. This, he added, was a mark +of respect he had never conferred on any person before; but, +fearing lest I should misunderstand his meaning and covet any of +them, he said, "Mind they are only to be looked at." + +As we retired to the other visitors, the Kamraviona, in return +for some courteous remarks of mine, said all the Waganda were +immensely pleased with my having come to visit them; and as he +heard my country is governed by a woman, what would I say if he +made the Waganda dethrone her, and create me king instead? +Without specially replying, I showed him a map, marking off the +comparative sizes of British and Waganda possessions, and shut +him up. The great Kamraviona, or commander-in-chief, with all +his wives, has no children, and was eager to know if my skill +could avail to remove this cloud in his fortunes. He generously +gave me a goat and eggs, telling my men they might help +themselves to plantains from any gardens they liked beyond +certain limits, provided they did not enter houses or take +anything else. He then said he was tired and walked away without +another word. + +On returning home I found Nasib and Maula waiting for me, with +all the articles that had been returned to the queen very neatly +tied together. They had seen her majesty, who, on receiving my +message, pretended excessive anger with her doorkeeper for not +announcing my arrival yesterday--flogged him severely--inspected +all the things returned--folded them up again very neatly with +her own hands-- said she felt much hurt at the mistake which had +arisen, and hoped I would forgive and forget it, as her doors +would always be open to me. + +I now had a laugh at my friends Maula and Bombay for their +misgivings of yesterday, telling them I knew more of human nature +than they did; but they shook their heads, and said it was all +very well Bana having done it, but if Arabs or any other person +had tried the same trick, it would have been another affair. +"Just so," said I; "but then, don't you see, I know my value +here, which makes all the difference you speak of." + +18th.--Whilst walking towards the palace to pay the king a +friendly visit, I met two of my men speared on the head, and +streaming with blood; they had been trying to help themselves to +plantains carried on the heads of Waganda; but the latter proving +too strong, my people seized a boy and woman from their party as +witnesses, according to Uganda law, and ran away with them, tied +hand and neck together. With this addition to my attendance I +first called in at the Kamraviona's for justice; but as he was +too proud to appear at once, I went on to the king's fired three +shots as usual, and obtained admittance at once, when I found him +standing in a yard dressed in cloth, with his iron chair behind +him, and my double-gun loaded with half charges of powder and a +few grains of iron shot, looking eagerly about for kites to fly +over. His quick eye, however, readily detected my wounded men +and prisoners, as also some Wazinza prisoners led in by Waganda +police, who had been taken in the act of entering Waganda houses +and assailing their women. Thus my men were cleared of a false +stigma; and the king, whilst praising them, ordered all the +Wazinza to leave his dominions on the morrow. + +The other case was easily settled by my wounded men receiving +orders to keep their prisoners till claimed, when, should any +people come forward, they would be punished, otherwise their loss +in human stock would be enough. The Wanguana had done quite +right to seize on the highway, else they would have starved; such +was the old law, and such is the present one. It was no use our +applying for a change of system. At this stage of the business, +the birds he was watching having appeared, the king, in a great +state of excitement, said, "Shoot that kite," and then "Shoot +that other"; but the charges were too light; and the birds flew +away, kicking with their claws as if merely stung a little. + +Whilst this was going on, the Kamraviona, taking advantage of my +having opened the door with the gun, walked in to make his +salutations. A blacksmith produced two very handsome spears, and +a fisherman a basket of fish, from which two fish were taken out +and given to me. The king then sat on his iron chair, and I on a +wooden box which I had contrived to stuff with the royal grass he +gave me, and so made a complete miniature imitation of his +throne. The folly in now allowing me to sit upon my portable +iron stool, as an ingenious device for carrying out my +determination to sit before him like an Englishman. I wished to +be communicative, and, giving him a purse of money, told him the +use and value of the several coins; but he paid little regard to +them, and soon put them down. The small-talk of Uganda had much +more attractions to his mind than the wonders of the outer world, +and he kept it up with his Kamraviona until rain fell and +dispersed the company. + +19th.--As the queen, to avoid future difficulties, desired my +officers to acquaint her beforehand whenever I wished to call +upon her, I sent Nasib early to say I would call in the +afternoon; but he had to wait till the evening before he could +deliver the message, though she had been drumming and playing all +the day. She then complained against my men for robbing her +gardeners on the highway, wished to know why I didn't call upon +her oftener, appointed the following morning for an interview, +and begged I would bring her some liver medicines, as she +suffered from constant twinges in her right side, sealing her +"letter" with a present of a nest of eggs and one fowl. + +Whilst Nasib was away, I went to the Kamraviona to treat him as I +had the king. He appeared a little more affable to-day, yet +still delighted in nothing but what was frivolous. My beard, for +instance, engrossed the major part of the conversation; all the +Waganda would come out in future with hairy faces; but when I +told them that, to produce such a growth, they must wash their +faces with milk, and allow a cat to lick it off, they turned up +their noses in utter contempt. + +20th.--I became dead tired of living all alone, with nothing else +to occupy my time save making these notes every day in my office +letter-book, as my store of stationery was left at Karague. I +had no chance of seeing any visitors, save the tiresome pages, +who asked me to give or to do something for the king every day; +and my prospect was cheerless, as I had been flatly refused a +visit to Usoga until Grant should come. For want of better +amusement, I made a page of Lugoi, a sharp little lad, son of the +late Beluch, but adopted by Uledi, and treated him as a son, +which he declared he wished to be, for he liked me better than +Uledi as a father. He said he disliked Uganda, where people's +lives are taken like those of fowls; and wished to live at the +coast, the only place he ever heard of, where all the Wanguana +come from--great swells in Lugoi's estimation. Now, with Lugoi +dressed in a new white pillow-case, with holes trimmed with black +tape for his head and arms to go through, a dagger tied with red +bindera round his waist, and a square of red blanket rolled on +his shoulder as a napkin, for my gun to rest on, or in place of a +goat-skin run when he wished to sit down, I walked off to inquire +how the Kamraviona was, and took my pictures with me. + +Lugoi's dress, however, absorbed all their thoughts, and he was +made to take it off and put it on again as often as any fresh +visitor came to call. Hardly a word was said about anything +else; even the pictures, which generally are in such demand, +attracted but little notice. I asked the Kamraviona to allow me +to draw his pet dog; when the king's sister Miengo came in and +sat down, laughing and joking with me immoderately. + +At first there was a demur about my drawing the dog--whether from +fear of bewitching the animal or not, I cannot say; but instead +of producing the pet--a beautifully-formed cream-coloured dog--a +common black one was brought in, which I tied in front of Miengo, +and then drew both woman and dog together. After this unlawful +act was discovered, of drawing the king's sister without his +consent, the whole company roared with laughter, and pretended +nervous excitement lest I should book them likewise. One of my +men, Sangoro, did not return to camp last night from foraging; +and as my men suspect the Waganda must have murdered him, I told +the Kamraviona, requesting him to find out; but he coolly said, +"Look for him yourselves two days more, for Wanguana often make +friends with our people, and so slip away from their masters; but +as they are also often murdered, provided you cannot find him in +that time, we will have the Mganga out." + +21st.--Last night I was turned out of my bed by a terrible hue +and cry from the quarter allotted to Rozaro and his Wanyambo +companions; for the Waganda had threatened to demolish my men, +one by one, for seizing their pombe and plaintains, though done +according to the orders of the king; and now, finding the +Wanyambo nearest to the road, they set on them by moonlight, with +spear and club, maltreating them severely, till, with +reinforcements, the Wanyambo gained the ascendancy, seized two +spears and one shield as a trophy, and drove their enemies off. +In the morning, I sent the Wakungu off with the trophies to the +king, again complaining that he had turned my men into a pack of +highwaymen, and, as I foresaw, had thus created enmity between +the Waganda and them, much to my annoyance. I therefore begged he +would institute some means to prevent any further occurrence of +such scenes, otherwise I would use firearms in self-defence. + +Whilst these men were on this mission, I went on a like errand to +the queen, taking my page Lugoi with the liver medicine. The +first object of remark was Lugoi, as indeed it was everywhere; +for, as I walked along, crowds ran after the little phenomenon. +Then came the liver questions; and, finally what I wanted--her +complaint against my men for robbing on the road, as it gave me +the opportunity of telling her the king was doing what I had been +trying to undo with my stick ever since I left the coast; and I +begged she would use influence to correct these disagreeables. +She told me for the future to send my men to her palace for food, +and rob no more; in the meanwhile, here were some plantains for +them. She then rose and walked away, leaving me extremely +disappointed that I could not make some more tangible arrangement +with her--such as, if my men came and found the gate shut, what +were they to do then? there were forty-five of them; how much +would she allow; etc. etc. But this was a true specimen of the +method of transacting business among the royal family of Uganda. +They gave orders without knowing how they are to be carried out, +and treat all practical arrangements as trifling details not +worth attending to. + +After this unsatisfactory interview, I repaired to the king's, +knowing the power of my gun to obtain an interview, whilst +doubting the ability of the Wakungu to gain an audience for me. +Such was the case. These men had been sitting all day without +seeing the king, and three shots opened his gate immediately to +me. He was sitting on the iron chair in the shade of the court, +attended by some eighty women, tweedling the loading rod in his +fingers; but as my rod appeared a better one than his, they were +exchanged. I then gave him a tortoise-shell comb to comb his +hair straight with, as he invariably remarked on the beautiful +manner in which I dressed my hair, making my uncap to show it to +his women, and afterwards asked my men to bring on the affair of +last night. They feared, they said, to speak on such subjects +whilst the women were present. I begged for a private audience; +still they would not speak until encouraged and urged beyond all +patience. I said, in Kisuahili, "Kbakka" (king), "my men are +afraid to tell you what I want to say"; when Maula, taking +advantage of my having engaged his attention, though the king did +not understand one word I said, said of himself, by way of +currying favour, "I saw a wonderful gun in Rumankika's hands, +with six barrells; not a short one like your fiver" (meaning the +revolving pistol) "but a long one, as long as my arm." "Indeed," +says the king, "we must have that." A page was then sent for by +Maula, who, giving him a bit of stick representing the gun +required, told him to fetch it immediately. + +The king then said to me, "What is powder made of?" I began with +sulphur (kibriti), intending to explain everything; but the word +kibriti was enough for him, and a second stick was sent for +kibriti, the bearer being told to hurry for his life and fetch +it. The king now ordered some high officers who were in waiting +to approach. They come, almost crouching to their knees, with +eyes averted from the women, and n'yanzigged for the favour of +being called, till they streamed with perspiration. Four young +women, virgins, the daughters of these high officers, nicely +dressed, were shown in as brides, and ordered to sit with the +other women. A gamekeeper brought in baskets small antelopes, +called mpeo--with straight horns resembling those of the +saltiana, but with coats like the hog-deer of India--intended for +the royal kitchen. Elderly gentlemen led in goats as commutation +for offences, and went through the ceremonies due for the favour +of being relieved of so much property. Ten cows were then driven +in, plundered from Unyoro, and outside, the voices of the brave +army who captured them were heard n'yanzigging vehemently. +Lastly, some beautifully made shields were presented, and, +because extolled, n'yanzigged over; when the king rose abruptly +and walked straight away, leaving my fools of men no better off +for food, no reparation for their broken heads, than if I had +never gone there. + +22d.--I called on the queen to inquire after her health, and to +know how my men were to be fed; but, without giving me time to +speak, she flew at me again about my men plundering. The old +story was repeated; I had forty-five hungry men, who must have +food, and unless either she or the king would make some proper +provision for them, I could not help it. Again she promised to +feed them, but she objected to them bearing swords, "for of what +use are swords? If the Waganda don't like the Wanguana, can +swords prevail in our country?" And, saying this, she walked +away. I thought to myself that she must have directed the attack +upon my camp last night and is angry at the Wanguana swords +driving her men away. At 3 p.m. I visited the king, to have a +private chat, and state my grievances; but the three shots fired +brought him out to levee, when animals and sundry other things +were presented; and appointments of Wakungu were made for the +late gallant services of some of the men in plundering Unyoro. + +The old executioner, Kunza, being present, I asked the king to +pardon his son. Surprised, at first Mtesa said, "Can it be +possible Bana has asked for this?" And when assured, in great +glee he ordered the lad's release, amidst shouts of laughter from +everybody but the agitated father, who n'yanzigged, cried, and +fell at my feet, making a host of powerful signs as a token of +his gratitude; for his heart was too full of emotion to give +utterance to his feelings. The king them, in high good-humour, +said, "You have called on me many times without broaching the +subject of Usoga, and perhaps you may fancy we are not exerting +ourselves in the matter; but my army is only now returning from +war" (meaning plundering in Unyoro), "and I am collecting another +one, which will open Usoga effectually." Before I could say +anything, the king started up in his usual manner, inviting a +select few to follow him to another court, when my medicine-chest +was inspected, and I was asked to operate for fistula on one of +the royal executioners. I had no opportunity of incurring this +responsibility; for while professing to prepare for the +operation, the king went off it a fling. + +When I got home I found Sangoro, whom we thought lost or +murdered, quietly ensconced in camp. He had been foraging by +himself a long way from camp, in a neighbourhood where many of +the king's women are kept; and it being forbidden ground, he was +taken up by the keepers, placed in the stocks, and fed, until to- +day, when he extricated his legs by means of his sword, and ran +away. My ever-grumbling men mobbed me again, clamouring for +food, saying, as they eyed my goats, I lived at ease and +overlooked their wants. In vain I told them they had fared more +abundantly than I had since we entered Uganda; whilst I spared my +goats to have a little flesh of their cows as rapidly as +possible, selling the skins for pombe, which I seldom tasted; +they robbed me as long as I had cloth or beads, and now they had +all become as fat as hogs by lifting food off the Waganda lands. +As I could not quiet them, I directed that, early next morning, +Maula should go to the king and Nasib to the queen, while I +proposed going to Kamraviona's to work them all three about this +affair of food. + +23d.--According to the plan of last night, I called early on the +Kamraviona. He promised me assistance, but with an air which +seemed to say, What are the sufferings of other men to me? So I +went home to breakfast, doubting if anything ever would be done. +As Kaggo, however, the second officer of importance, had +expressed a wish to see me, I sent Bombay to him for food, and +waited the upshot. Presently the king sent to say he wished to +see me with my compass; for the blackguard Maula had told him I +possessed a wonderful instrument, by looking at which I could +find my way all over the world. I went as requested, and found +the king sitting outside the palace on my chair dressed in +cloths, with my silk neckerchief and crest-ring, playing his +flute in concert with his brothers, some thirty-odd young men and +boys, one half of them manacled, the other half free, with an +officer watching over them to see that they committed no +intrigues. + +We then both sat side by side in the shade of the courtwalls, +conversed and had music by turns; for the king had invited his +brothers here to please me, the first step towards winning the +coveted compass. My hair must now be shown and admired, then my +shoes taken off and inspected, and my trousers tucked up to show +that I am white all over. Just at this time Bombay, who had been +in great request, came before us laden with plantains. This was +most opportune; for the king asked what he had been about, and +then the true state of the case as regards my difficulties in +obtaining food were, I fancy, for the first time, made known to +him. In a great fit of indignation he said, "I once killed a +hundred Wakungu in a single day, and now, if they won't feed my +guests, I will kill a hundred more; for I know the physic for +bumptiousness." Then, sending his brothers away, he asked me to +follow him into the back part of the palace, as he loved me so +much he must show me everything. We walked along under the +umbrella, first looking down one street of huts, then up another, +and, finally, passing the sleeping-chamber, stopped at one +adjoining it. "That hut," said the king, "is the one I sleep in; +no one of my wives dare venture within it unless I call her." He +let me feel immediately that for the distinction conferred on me +in showing me this sacred hut a return was expected. Could I +after that refuse him such a mere trifle as a compass? I told +him he might as well put my eyes out and ask me to walk home, as +take away that little instrument, which could be of no use to +him, as he could not read or understand it. But this only +excited his cupidity; he watched it twirling round and pointing +to the north, and looked and begged again, until, tired of his +importunities, I told him I must wait until the Usoga road was +open before I could part with it, and then the compass would be +nothing to what I would give him. Hearing this, "That is all on +my shoulders; as sure as I live it shall be done; for that +country has no king, and I have long been desirous of taking it." +I declined, however, to give him the instrument on the security +of his promise, and he went to breakfast. + +I walked off to Usungu to see what I could do for him in his +misery. I found that he had a complication of evils entirely +beyond my healing power, and among them inveterate forms of the +diseases which are generally associated with civilisation and its +social evils. I could do nothing to cure him, but promised to do +whatever was in my power to alleviate his sufferings. + +24th.--Before breakfast I called on poor Usungu, prescribing hot +coffee to be drunk with milk every morning, which astonished him +not a little, as the negroes only use coffee for chewing. He +gave my men pombe and plantains. On my return I met a page sent +to invite me to the palace. I found the king sitting with a +number of women. He was dressed in European clothes, part of them +being a pair of trousers he begged for yesterday, that he might +appear like Bana. This was his first appearance in trousers, and +his whole attire, contrasting strangely with his native +habiliments, was in his opinion very becoming, though to me a +little ridiculous; for the legs of the trousers, as well as the +sleeves of the waistcoat, were much too short, so that his black +feet and hands stuck out at the extremities as an organ-player's +monkey's do, whilst the cockscomb on his head prevented a fez +cap, which was part of his special costume for the occasion, from +sitting properly. This display over, the women were sent away, +and I saw shown into a court, where a large number of plantains +were placed in a line upon the ground for my men to take away, +and we were promised the same treat every day. From this we +proceeded to another court, where we sat in the shade together, +when the women returned again, but were all dumb, because my +interpreters dared not for their lives say anything, even on my +account, to the king's women. Getting tired, I took out my +sketch-book and drew Lubuga, the pet, which amused the king +immensely as he recognised her cockscomb. + +Then twenty naked virgins, the daughters of Wakungu, all smeared +and shining with grease, each holding a small square of mbugu for +a fig-leaf, marched in a line before us, as a fresh addition to +the harem, whilst the happy fathers floundered n'yanzigging on +the ground, delighted to find their darlings appreciated by the +king. Seeing this done in such a quiet mild way before all my +men, who dared not lift their heads to see it, made me burst into +a roar of laughter, and the king, catching the infection from me, +laughed as well: but the laughing did not end there--for the +pages, for once giving way to nature, kept bursting--my men +chuckled in sudden gusts--while even the women, holding their +mouths for fear of detection, responded--and we all laughed +together. Then a sedate old dame rose from the squatting mass, +ordered the virgins to right-about, and marched them off, showing +their still more naked reverses. I now obtained permission for +the Wakungu to call upon me, and fancied I only required my +interpreters to speak out like men when I had anything to say, to +make my residence in Uganda both amusing and instructive; but +though the king, carried off by the prevailing good-humour of the +scene we had both witnessed, supported me, I found that he had +counter-ordered what he had said as soon as I had gone, and, in +fact, no Mkungu ever dared come near me. + +25th.--To-day I visited Usungu again, and found him better. He +gave pombe and plantains for my people, but would not talk to me, +though I told him he had permission to call on me. + +I have now been for some time within the court precincts, and +have consequently had an opportunity of witnessing court customs. +Among these, nearly every day since I have changed my residence, +incredible as it may appear to be, I have seen one, two, or three +of the wretched palace women led away to execution, tied by the +hand, and dragged along by one of the body-guard, crying out, as +she went to premature death, "Hai Minange!" (O my lord!) +"Kbakka!" (My king!) "Hai N'yawo!" (My mother!) at the top of her +voice, in the utmost despair and lamentation; and yet there was +not a soul who dared lift hand to save any of them, though many +might be heard privately commenting on their beauty. + +26th.--To-day, to amuse the king, I drew a picture of himself +holding a levee, and proceeded to visit him. On the way I found +the highroad thronged with cattle captured in Unyoro; and on +arrival at the ante-chamber, amongst the officers in waiting, +Masimbi (Mr Cowries or Shells), the queen's uncle, and Congow, a +young general, who once led an army into Unyoro, past Kamrasi's +palace. They said they had obtained leave for me to visit them, +and were eagerly looking out for the happy event. At once, on +firing, I was admitted to the king's favourite place, which, now +that the king had a movable chair to sit upon, was the shade of +the court screen. We had a chat; the picture was shown to the +women; the king would like to have some more, and gave me leave +to draw in the palace any time I liked. At the same time he +asked for my paint-box, merely to look at it. Though I +repeatedly dunned him for it, I could never get it back from him +until I was preparing to leave Uganda. + +27th.--After breakfast I started on a visit to Congow; but +finding he had gone to the king as usual, called at Masimbi's and +he being absent also, I took advantage of my proximity to the +queen's palace to call on her majesty. For hours I was kept +waiting; firstly, because she was at breakfast; secondly, because +she was "putting on medicine"; and, thirdly, because the sun was +too powerful for her complexion; when I became tired of her +nonsense, and said, "If she does not wish to see me, she had +better say so at once, else I shall walk away; for the last time +I came I saw her but for a minute, when she rudely turned her +back upon me, and left me sitting by myself." I was told not to +be in a hurry--she would see me in the evening. This promise +might probably be fulfilled six blessed hours from the time when +it was made; but I thought to myself, every place in Uganda is +alike when there is no company at home, and so I resolved to sit +the time out, like Patience on a monument, hoping something funny +might turn up after all. + +At last her majesty stumps out, squats behind my red blanket, +which is converted into a permanent screen, and says hastily, or +rather testily, "Can't Bana perceive the angry state of the +weather?--clouds flying about, and the wind blowing half a gale? +Whenever that is the case, I cannot venture out." Taking her lie +without an answer, I said, I had now been fifty days or so doing +nothing in Uganda--not one single visitor of my own rank ever +came near me, and I could not associated with people far below +her condition and mine--in fact, all I had to amuse me at home +now was watching a hen lay her eggs upon my spare bed. Her +majesty became genial, as she had been before, and promised to +provide me with suitable society. I then told her I had desired +my officers several times to ask the king how marriages were +conducted in this country, as they appeared so different from +ours, but they always said they dared not put such a question to +him, and now I hoped she would explain it to me. To tell her I +could not get anything from the king, I knew would be the surest +way of eliciting what I wanted from her, because of the jealousy +between the two courts; and in this instance it was fully proved, +for she brightened up at once, and, when I got her to understand +something of what I meant by a marriage ceremony, in high good +humour entered on a long explanation, to the following effect:-- + +There are no such things as marriages in Uganda; there are no +ceremonies attached to it. If any Mkungu possessed of a pretty +daughter committed an offence, he might give her to the king as a +peace-offering; if any neighbouring king had a pretty daughter, +and the king of Uganda wanted her, she might be demanded as a +fitting tribute. The Wakungu in Uganda are supplied with women +by the king, according to their merits, from seizures in battle +abroad, or seizures from refractory officers at home. The women +are not regarded as property according to the Wanyamuezi +practice, though many exchange their daughters; and some women, +for misdemeanours, are sold into slavery; whilst others are +flogged, or are degraded to do all the menial services of the +house. + +The Wakungu then changed the subject by asking, if I married a +black woman, would there be any offspring, and what would be +their colour? The company now became jovial, when the queen +improved it by making a significant gesture, and with roars of +laughter asking me if I would like to be her son-in-law, for she +had some beautiful daughters, either of the Wahuma, or Waganda +breed. Rather staggered at first by this awful proposal, I +consulted Bombay what I should do with one if I got her. He, +looking more to number one than my convenience, said, "By all +means accept the offer, for if YOU don't like her, WE should, and +it would be a good means of getting her out of this land of +death, for all black people love Zanzibar." The rest need not be +told; as a matter of course I had to appear very much gratified, +and as the bowl went round, all became uproarious. I must wait a +day or two, however, that a proper selection might be made; and +when the marriage came off, I was to chain the fair one two or +three days, until she became used to me, else, from mere fright, +she might run away. + +To keep up the spirits of the queen, though her frequent potions +of pombe had wellnigh done enough, I admired her neck-ring, +composed of copper wire, with a running inlaid twist of iron, and +asked her why she wore such a wreath of vine-leaves, as I had +often seen on some of the Wakungu. On this she produced a number +of rings similar to the one she wore, and taking off her own, +placed it round my neck. Then, pointing to her wreath, she said, +"This is the badge of a kidnapper's office--whoever wears it, +catches little children." I inferred that its possession, as an +insignia of royalty, conferred on the bearer the power of +seizure, as the great seal in this country confers power on +public officers. + +The queen's dinner was now announced; and, desiring me to remain +where I was for a short time, she went to it. She sent me +several dishes (plantain-leaves), with well-cooked beef and +mutton, and a variety of vegetables, from her table, as well as a +number of round moist napkins, made in the shape of wafers, from +the freshly-drawn plantain fibres, to wash the hands and face +with. There was no doubt now about her culinary accomplishments. +I told her so when she returned, and that I enjoyed her parties +all the more because they ended with a dinner. "More pombe, more +pombe," cried the queen, full of mirth and glee, helping +everybody round in turn, and shouting and laughing at their +Kiganda witticisms--making, though I knew not a word said, an +amusing scene to behold--till the sun sank; and her majesty +remarking it, turned to her court and said, "If I get up, will +Bana also rise, and not accuse me of deserting him?" With this +speech a general rising took place, and, watching the queen's +retiring, I stood with my hat in hand, whilst all the Wakungu +fell upon their knees, and then all separated. + +28th.--I went to the palace, and found, as usual, a large levee +waiting the king's pleasure to appear; amongst whom were the +Kamraviona, Masimbi, and the king's sister Miengo. I fired my +gun, and admitted at once, but none of the others could follow me +save Miengo. The king, sitting on the chair with his women by +his side, ordered twelve cloths, the presents of former Arab +visitors, to be brought before him; and all of these I was +desired to turn into European garments, like my own coats, +trousers, and waistcoats. It was no use saying I had no tailors-- +the thing must be done somehow; for he admired my costume +exceedingly, and wished to imitate it now he had cloth enough for +ever to dispense with the mbugu. + +As I had often begged the king to induce his men, who are all +wonderfully clever artisans, to imitate the chair and other +things I gave him, I now told him if he would order some of his +sempsters, who are far cleverer with the needle than my men, to +my camp, I would cut up some old clothes, and so teach them how +to work. This was agreed to, and five cows were offered as a +reward; but as his men never came, mine had to do the job. + +Maula then engaged the king's attention for fully an hour, +relating what wonderful things Bana kept in his house, if his +majesty would only deign to see them; and for this humbug got +rewarded by a present of three women. Just at this juncture an +adjutant flew overhead, and, by way of fun, I presented my gun, +when the excited king, like a boy from school, jumped up, +forgetting his company, and cried, "Come, Bana, and shoot the +nundo; I know where he has gone--follow me." And away we went, +first through one court, then through another, till we found the +nundo perched on a tree, looking like a sedate old gentleman with +a bald head, and very sharp, long nose. Politeness lost the +bird; for whilst I wished the king to shoot, he wished me to do +so, from fear of missing it himself. He did not care about +vultures--he could practise at them at any time; but he wanted a +nundo above all things. The bird, however, took the hint, and +flew away. + + + + + Chapter XIII + + + + Palace, Uganda--Continued + +A Visit to a Distinguished Statesman--A Visit from the King-- +Royal Sport--The Queen's Present of Wives--The Court Beauties and +their Reverses--Judicial Procedure in Uganda--Buffalo-Hunting--A +Musical Party--My Medical Practice--A Royal Excursion on the +N'yanza-- The Canoes of Uganda--A Regatta--Rifle Practice-- +Domestic Difficulties--Interference of a Magician--The King's +Brothers. + +29th.--According to appointment I went early this morning to +visit Congow. He kept me some time waiting in his outer hut, and +then called me in to where I found him sitting with his women--a +large group, by no means pretty. His huts are numerous, the +gardens and courts all very neat and well kept. He was much +delighted with my coming, produced pombe, and asked me what I +thought of his women, stripping them to the waist. He assured me +that he had thus paid me such a compliment as nobody else had +ever obtained, since the Waganda are very jealous of one another- +-so much so, that any one would be killed if found starring upon +a woman even in the highways. I asked him what use he had for so +many women? To which he replied, "None whatever; the king gives +them to us to keep up our rank, sometimes as many as one hundred +together, and we either turn them into wives, or make servants of +them, as we please." Just then I heard that Mkuenda, the queen's +woman-keeper, was outside waiting for me, but dared not come in, +because Congow's women were all out; so I asked leave to go home +to breakfast, much to the surprise of Congow, who thought I was +his guest for the whole day. It is considered very indecorous in +Uganda to call upon two persons in one day, though even the king +or the queen should be one of them. Then, as there was no help +for it--Congow could not detain me when hungry--he showed me a +little boy, the only child he had, and said, with much fatherly +pride, "Both the king and queen have called on me to see this +fine little fellow"; and we parted to meet again some other day. +Outside his gate I found Mkuenda, who said the queen had sent him +to invite "her son" to bring her some stomach medicine in the +morning, and come to have a chat with her. With Mkuenda I walked +home; but he was so awed by the splendour of my hut, with its few +blankets and bit of chintz, that he would not even sit upon a +cow-skin, but asked if any Waganda dared venture in there. He +was either too dazzled or too timid to answer any questions, and +in a few minutes walked away again. + +After this, I had scarcely swallowed by breakfast before I +received a summons from the king to meet him out shooting, with +all the Wanguana armed, and my guns; and going towards the +palace, found him with a large staff, pages and officers as well +as women, in a plantain garden, looking eagerly out for birds, +whilst his band was playing. In addition to his English dress, +he wore a turban, and pretended that the glare of the sun was +distressing his eyes--for, in fact, he wanted me to give him a +wideawake like my own. Then, as if a sudden freak had seized +him, though I knew it was on account of Maula's having excited +his curiosity, he said, "Where does Bana live? lead away." +Bounding and scrambling, the Wakungu, the women and all, went +pell-mell through everything towards my hut. If the Kamraviona +or any of the boys could not move fast enough, on account of the +crops on the fields, they were piked in the back till half +knocked over; but, instead of minding, they trotted on, +n'yanzigging as if honoured by a kingly poke, though treated like +so many dogs. + +Arrived at the hut, the king took off his turban as I took off my +hat, and seated himself on my stool; whilst the Kamraviona, with +much difficulty, was induced to sit upon a cowskin, and the women +at first were ordered to squat outside. Everything that struck +the eye was much admired and begged for, though nothing so much +as my wideawake and mosquito-curtains; then, as the women were +allowed to have a peep in and see Bana in his den, I gave them +two sacks of beads, to make the visit profitable, the only +alternative left me from being forced into inhospitality, for no +one would drink from my cup. Moreover, a present was demanded by +the laws of the country. + +The king, excitedly impatient, now led the way again, shooting +hurry-scurry through my men's lines, which were much commented on +as being different from Waganda hutting, on to the tall tree with +the adjutant's nest. One young bird was still living in it. +There was no shot, so bullets must be fired; and the cunning +king, wishing to show off, desired me to fire simultaneously with +himself. We fired, but my bullet struck the bough the nest was +resting on; we fired again, and the bullet passed through the +nest without touching the bird. I then asked the king to allow +me to try his Whitworth, to which a little bit of stick, as a +charm to secure a correct aim, had been tied below the trigger- +guard. This time I broke the bird's leg, and knocked him half +out of the nest; so, running up to the king, I pointed to the +charm, saying, That has done it--hoping to laugh him out of the +folly; but he took my joke in earnest, and he turned to his men, +commenting on the potency of the charm. Whilst thus engaged, I +took another rifle and brought the bird down altogether. "Woh, +woh, woh!" shouted the king; "Bana, Mzungu, Mzungu!" he repeated, +leaping and clapping his hands, as he ran full speed to the +prostrate bird, whilst the drums beat, and the Wakungu followed +him: "Now, is not this a wonder? but we must go and shoot +another." "Where?" I said; "we may walk a long way without +finding, if we have nothing but our eyes to see with. Just send +for your telescope, and then I will show you how to look for +birds." Surprised at this announcement, the king sent his pages +flying for the instrument, and when it came I instructed him how +to use it; when he could see with it, and understand its powers, +his astonishment knew no bounds; and, turning to his Wakungu, he +said, laughing, "Now I do see the use of this thing I have been +shutting up in the palace. On that distant tree I can see three +vultures. To its right there is a hut, with a woman sitting +inside the portal, and many goats are feeding all about the +palace, just as large and distinct as if I was close by them." + +The day was now far spent, and all proceeded towards the palace. +On the way a mistletoe was pointed out as a rain-producing tree, +probably because, on a former occasion, I had advised the king to +grow groves of coffee-trees about his palace to improve its +appearance, and supply the court with wholesome food--at the same +time informing him that trees increase the falls of rain in a +country, though very high ones would be dangerous, because they +attract lightning. Next the guns must be fired off; and, as it +would be a pity to waste lead, the king, amidst thunders of +applause, shot five cows, presenting his gun from the shoulder. + +So ended the day's work in the field, but not at home; for I had +hardly arrived there before the pages hurried in to beg for +powder and shot, then caps, then cloth, and, everything else +failing, a load of beads. Such are the persecutions of this +negro land-- the host every day must beg something in the most +shameless manner from his guest, on the mere chance of gaining +something gratis, though I generally gave the king some trifle +when he least expected it, and made an excuse that he must wait +for the arrival of fresh stores from Gani when he asked. + +30th.--To fulfil my engagement with the queen, I walked off to +her palace with stomach medicine, thinking we were now such warm +friends, all pride and distant ceremonies would be dispensed +with; but, on the contrary, I was kept waiting for hours till I +sent in word to say, if she did not want medicine, I wished to go +home, for I was tired of Uganda and everything belonging to it. +This message brought her to her gate, where she stood laughing +till the Wahuma girls she had promised me, one of twelve and the +other a little older, were brought in and made to squat in front +of us. The elder, who was in the prime of youth and beauty, very +large of limb, dark in colour, cried considerably; whilst the +younger one, though very fair, had a snubby nose and everted +lips, and laughed as if she thought the change in her destiny +very good fun. I had now to make my selection, and took the +smaller one, promising her to Bombay as soon as we arrived on the +coast, where, he said, she would be considered a Hubshi or +Abyssinian. But when the queen saw what I had done, she gave me +the other as well, saying the little one was too young to go +alone, and, if separated, she would take fright and run away. +Then with a gracious bow I walked of with my two fine specimens +of natural history, though I would rather have had princes, that +I might have taken them home to be instructed in England; but the +queen, as soon as we had cleared the palace, sent word to say she +must have another parting look at her son with his wives. Still +laughing, she said, "That will do; you look beautiful; now go +away home"; and off we trotted, the elder sobbing bitterly, the +younger laughing. + +As soon as we reached home, my first inquiry was concerning their +histories, of which they appeared to know but very little. The +elder, whom I named Meri (plantains), was obtained by Sunna, the +late king, as a wife, from Nkole; and though she was a mere +Kahala, or girl, when the old king died, he was so attached to +her he gave her twenty cows, in order that she might fatten up on +milk after her native fashion; but on Sunna's death, when the +establishment of women was divided, Meri fell to N'yamasore's +(the queen's) lot. The lesser one, who still retains the name of +Kahala, said she was seized in Unyoro by the Waganda, who took +her to N'yamasore, but what became of her father and mother she +could not say. + +It was now dinner-time, and as the usual sweet potatoes and +goat's flesh were put upon my box-table, I asked them to dine +with me, and we became great friends, for they were assured they +would finally get good houses and gardens at Zanzibar; but +nothing would induce either of them to touch food that had been +cooked with butter. A dish of plantains and goat-flesh was then +prepared; but though Kahala wished to eat it, Meri rejected the +goat's flesh, and would not allow Kahala to taste it either; and +thus began a series of domestic difficulties. On inquiring how I +could best deal with my difficult charge, I was told the Wahuma +pride was so great, and their tempers so strong, they were more +difficult to break in than a phunda, or donkey, though when once +tamed, they became the best of wives. + +31st.--I wished to call upon the queen and thank her for her +charming present, but my hungry men drove me to the king's palace +in search of food. The gun firing brought Mtesa out, prepared +for a shooting trip, with his Wakungu leading, the pages carrying +his rifle and ammunition, and a train of women behind. The first +thing seen outside the palace gate was a herd of cows, from which +four were selected and shot at fifty paces by the king, firing +from his shoulder, amidst thunders of applause and hand-shakings +of the elders. I never saw them dare touch the king's hand +before. Then Mtesa, turning kindly to me, said, "Pray take a +shot"; but I waived the offer off, saying he could kill better +himself. Ambitious of a cut above cows, the king tried his hand +at some herons perched on a tree, and, after five or six +attempts, hit one in the eye. Hardly able to believe in his own +skill, he stood petrified at first, and then ran madly to the +fallen bird, crying, "Woh, woh, woh! can this be?--is it true? +Woh, woh!" He jumped in the air, and all his men and women +shouted in concert with him. Then he rushes at me, takes both my +hands--shakes, shakes--woh, woh!--then runs to his women, then to +his men; shakes them all, woh-wohing, but yet not shaking or +wohing half enough for his satisfaction, for he is mad with joy +at his own exploit. + +The bird is then sent immediately to his mother, whilst he +retires to his palace, woh-wohing, and taking "ten to the dozen" +all the way and boasting of his prowess. "Now, Bana, tell me--do +you not think, if two such shots as you and I were opposed to an +elephant, would he have any chance before us? I know I can +shoot--I am certain of it now. You have often asked me to go +hippopotamus-shooting with you, but I staved it off until I +learnt the way to shoot. Now, however, I can shoot--and that +remarkably well too, I flatter myself. I will have at them, and +both of us will go on the lake together." The palace was now +reached; musicians were ordered to play before the king, and +Wakungu appointments were made to celebrate the feats of the day. +Then the royal cutler brought in dinner-knives made of iron, +inlaid with squares of copper and brass, and goats and vegetables +were presented as usual, when by torchlight we were dismissed, my +men taking with them as many plantains as they could carry. + +1st.--I stayed at home all this day, because the king and queen +had set it apart for looking at and arranging their horns-- +mapembe, or fetishes, as the learned call such things--to see +that there are no imperfections in the Uganga. This was +something like an inquiry into the ecclesiastical condition of +the country, while, at the same time, it was a religious +ceremony, and, as such, was appropriate to the first day after +the new moon appears. This being the third moon by account, in +pursuance of ancient customs, all the people about court, +including the king, shaved their heads--the king, however, +retaining his cockscomb, the pages their double cockades, and the +other officers their single cockades on the back of the head, or +either side, according to the official rank of each. My men were +occupied making trousers for the king all day; whilst the pages, +and those sent to learn the art of tailoring, instead of doing +their duty, kept continually begging for something to present the +king. + +2d.--The queen now taking a sporting fit into her head, sent for +me early in the morning, with all my men, armed, to shoot a +crested crane in her palace; but though we were there as +required, we were kept waiting till late in the afternoon, when, +instead of talking about shooting, as her Wakungu had forbidden +her doing it, she asked after her two daughters--whether they had +run away, or if they liked their new abode? I replied I was +sorry circumstances did not permit my coming to thank her sooner, +for I felt grateful beyond measure to her for having charmed my +house with such beautiful society. I did not follow her advice +to chain either of them with iron, for I found cords of love, the +only instrument white men know the use of, quite strong enough. +Fascinated with this speech, she said she would give me another +of a middle age between the two, expecting, as I thought, that +she would thus induce me to visit her more frequently than I did +her son; but, though I thanked her, it frightened me from +visiting her for ages after. + +She then said, with glowing pride, casting a sneer on the king's +hospitality, "In the days of yore, Sunna, whenever visitors came +to see him, immediately presented them with women, and, secondly, +with food; for he was very particular in looking after his +guests' welfare, which is not exactly what you find the case now, +I presume." The rest of the business of the day consisted in +applications for medicine and medical treatment, which it was +difficult satisfactorily to meet. + +3d.--To-day Katumba, the king's head page, was sent to me with +deoles to be made into trousers and waistcoats, and a large +sixty-dollar silk I had given him to cover the chair with. The +king likes rich colours, and I was solemnly informed that he will +never wear anything but clothes like Bana. + +4th.--By invitation I went to the palace at noon, with guns, and +found the king holding a levee, the first since the new moon, +with all heads shaved in the manner I have mentioned. Soon +rising, he showed the way through the palace to a pond, which is +described as his bathing N'yanza, his women attending, and pages +leading the way with his guns. From this we passed on to a +jungle lying between the palace hill and another situated at the +northern end of the lake, where wild buffaloes frequently lie +concealed in the huge papyrus rushes of a miry drain; but as none +could be seen at that moment, we returned again to the palace. +He showed me large mounds of earth, in the shape of cocked hats, +which are private observatories, from which the surrounding +country can be seen. By the side of these observatories are huts, +smaller than the ordinary ones used for residing in, where the +king, after the exertion of "looking out," takes his repose. +Here he ordered fruit to be brought--the Matunguru, a crimson pod +filled with acid seeds, which has only been observed growing by +the rivers or waters of Uganda--and Kasori, a sort of liquorice- +root. He then commenced eating with us, and begging again, +unsuccessfully, for my compass. I tried again to make him see the +absurdity of tying a charm on Whitworth's rifle, but without the +least effect. In fact he mistook all my answers for admiration, +and asked me, in the simplest manner possible, if I would like to +possess a charm; and even when I said "No, I should be afraid of +provoking Lubari's" (God's) "anger if I did so," he only wondered +at my obstinacy, so thoroughly was he wedded to his belief. He +then called for his wideawake, and walked with us into another +quarter of his palace, when he entered a dressing-hut, followed +by a number of full-grown, stark-naked women, his valets; at the +same time ordering a large body of women to sit on one side the +entrance, whilst I, with Bombay, were directed to sit on the +other, waiting till he was ready to hold another levee. From +this, we repaired to the great throne-hut, where all his Wakungu +at once formed court, and business was commenced. Amongst other +things, an officer, by name Mbogo, or the Buffalo, who had been +sent on a wild-goose chase to look after Mr Petherick, described +a journey he had made, following down the morning sun. After he +had passed the limits of plantain-eating men, he came upon men +who lived upon meat alone, who never wore mbugus, but either +cloth or skins, and instead of the spear they used the double- +edged sime. He called the people Wasewe, and their chief Kisawa; +but the company pronounced them to be Masawa (Masai). + +After this, about eighty men were marched into the court, with +their faces blackened, and strips of plantain-bark tied on their +heads, each holding up a stick in his hand in place of a spear, +under the regulation that no person is permitted to carry weapons +of any sort in the palace. They were led by an officer, who, +standing like a captain before his company, ordered them to jump +and praise the king, acting the part of fugleman himself. Then +said the king, turning to me, "Did I not tell you I had sent many +men to fight? These are some of my army returned; the rest are +coming, and will eventually, when all are collected, go in a body +to fight in Usoga." Goats and other peace-offerings were then +presented; and, finally a large body of officers came in with an +old man, with his two ears shorn off for having been too handsome +in his youth, and a young woman who, after four days' search, had +been discovered in his house. They were brought for judgment +before the king. + +Nothing was listened to but the plaintiff's statement, who said +he had lost the woman four days, and, after considerable search, +had found her concealed by the old man, who was indeed old enough +to be her grandfather. From all appearances one would have said +the wretched girl had run away from the plaintiff's house in +consequence of ill treatment, and had harboured herself on this +decrepid old man without asking his leave; but their voices in +defence were never heard, for the king instantly sentenced both +to death, to prevent the occurrence of such impropriety again; +and, to make the example more severe, decreed that their lives +should not be taken at once, but, being fed to preserve life as +long as possible, they were to be dismembered bit by bit, as +rations for the vultures, every day, until life was extinct. The +dismayed criminals, struggling to be heard, in utter despair, +were dragged away boisterously in the most barbarous manner, to +the drowning music of the milele and drums. + +The king, in total unconcern about the tragedy he had thus +enacted, immediately on their departure said, "Now, then, for +shooting, Bana; let us look at your gun." It happened to be +loaded, but fortunately only with powder, to fire my announcement +at the palace; for he instantly placed caps on the nipples, and +let off one barrel by accident, the contents of which stuck in +the thatch. This created a momentary alarm, for it was supposed +the thatch had taken fire; but it was no sooner suppressed than +the childish king, still sitting on his throne, to astonish his +officers still more, levelled the gun from his shoulder, fired +the contents of the second barrel into the faces of his squatting +Wakungu, and then laughed at his own trick. In the meanwhile +cows were driven in, which the king ordered his Wakungu to shoot +with carbines; and as they missed them, he showed them the way to +shoot with the Whitworth, never missing. The company now broke +up, but I still clung to the king, begging him to allow me to +purchase food with beads, as I wanted it, for my establishment +was always more or less in a starving state; but he only said, +"Let us know what you want and you shall always have it"; which, +in Uganda, I knew from experience only meant, Don't bother me any +more, but give me your spare money, and help yourself from my +spacious gardens--Uganda is before you. + +5th--To-day the king went on a visit with his mother, and +therefore neither of them could be seen by visitors. I took a +stroll towards the N'yanza, passing through the plantain-groves +occupied by the king's women, where my man Sangoro had been twice +taken up by the Mgemma and put in the stocks. The plantain +gardens were beautifully kept by numerous women, who all ran away +from fright at seeing me, save one who, taken by surprise, threw +herself flat on the ground, rolled herself up in her mbugu, and, +kicking with her naked heels, roared murder and help, until I +poked her up, and reproached her for her folly. This little +incident made my fairies bolder, and, sidling up to me one by +one, they sat in a knot with me upon the ground; then clasping +their heads with their hands, they woh-wohed in admiration of the +white man; they never in all their lives saw anything so +wonderful; his wife and children must be like him; what would not +Sunna have given for such a treat?--but it was destined to +Mtesa's lot. What is the interpretation of this sign, if it does +not point to the favour in which Mtesa is upheld by the spirits? +I wished to go, but no: "Stop a little more," they said, all in a +breath, or rather out of breath in their excitement; "remove the +hat and show the hair; take off the shoes and tuck up the +trousers; what on earth is kept in the pockets? Oh, wonder of +wonders!--and the iron!" As I put the watch close to the ear of +one of them, "Tick, tick, ticks--woh, woh, woh"--everybody must +hear it; and then the works had to be seen. "Oh, fearful!" said +one, "hide your faces: it is the Lubari. Shut it up, Bana, shut +it up; we have seen enough; but you will come again and bring us +beads." So ended the day's work. + +6th.--To-day I sent Bombay to the palace for food. Though rain +fell in torrents, he found the king holding a levee, giving +appointments, plantations, and women, according to merit, to his +officers. As one officer, to whom only one woman was given, +asked for more, the king called him an ingrate, and ordered him +to be cut to pieces on the spot; and the sentence was, as Bombay +told me, carried into effect-- not with knives, for they are +prohibited, but with strips of sharp-edged grass, after the +executioners had first dislocated his neck by a blow delivered +behind the head, with a sharp, heavy-headed club. + +No food, however, was given to my men, though the king, +anticipating Bombay's coming, sent me one load of tobacco, one of +butter, and one of coffee. My residence in Uganda became much +more merry now, for all the women of the camp came daily to call +on my two little girls; during which time they smoked my tobacco, +chewed my coffee, drank my pombe, and used to amuse me with queer +stories of their native land. Rozaro's sister also came, and +proposed to marry me, for Maula, she said, was a brutal man; he +killed one of his women because he did not like her, and now he +had clipped one of this poor creature's ears off for trying to +run away from him; and when abused for his brutality, he only +replied, "It was no fault of his, as the king set the example in +the country." + +In the evening I took a walk with Kahala, dressed in a red scarf, +and in company with Lugoi, to show my children off in the gardens +to my fair friends of yesterday. Everybody was surprised. The +Mgemma begged us to sit with him and drink pombe, which he +generously supplied to our heart's content; wondered at the +beauty of Kahala, wished I would give him a wife like her, and +lamented that the king would not allow his to wear such pretty +clothes. We passed on a little farther, and were invited to sit +with another man, Lukanikka, to drink pombe and chew coffee-- +which we did as before, meeting with the same remarks; for all +Waganda, instructed by the court, know the art of flattery better +than any people in the world, even including the French. + +7th.--In the morning, whilst it rained hard, the king sent to say +that he had started buffalo-shooting, and expected me to join +him. After walking a mile beyond the palace, we found him in a +plantain garden, dressed in imitation of myself, wideawake and +all, the perfect picture of a snob. He sent me a pot of pombe, +which I sent home to the women, and walked off for the shooting- +ground, two miles further on, the band playing in the front, +followed by some hundred Wakungu--then the pages, then the king, +next myself, and finally the women--the best in front, the worst +bringing up the rear, with the king's spears and shield, as also +pots of pombe, a luxury the king never moves without. It was +easy to see there would be no sport, still more useless of offer +any remarks, therefore all did as they were bid. The broad road, +like all in Uganda, went straight over hill and dale, the heights +covered with high grass or plantain groves, and the valleys with +dense masses of magnificent forest-trees surrounding swamps +covered with tall rushes half bridged. Proceeding on, as we came +to the first water, I commenced flirtations with Mtesa's women, +much to the surprise of the king and every one. The bridge was +broken, as a matter of course; and the logs which composed it, +lying concealed beneath the water, were toed successively by the +leading men, that those who followed should not be tripped up by +them. This favour the king did for me, and I in return for the +women behind; they had never been favoured in their lives with +such gallantry, and therefore could not refrain from laughing, +which attracted the king's notice and set everybody in a giggle; +for till now no mortal man had ever dared communicate with his +women. + +Shortly after this we left the highway, and, turning westwards, +passed through a dense jungle towards the eastern shores of the +Murchison Creek, cut by runnels and rivulets, where on one +occasion I offered, by dumb signs to carry the fair ones pick-a- +back over, and after crossing a second myself by a floating log, +offered my hand. The leading wife first fears to take it, then +grows bold and accepts it; when the prime beauty, Lubuga, +following in her wake, and anxious to feel, I fancy, what the +white man is like, with an imploring face holds out both her +hands in such a captivating manner, that though I feared to draw +attention by waiting any longer, I could not resist compliance. +The king noticed it; but instead of upbraiding me, passed it off +as a joke, and running up to the Kamraviona, gave him a poke in +the ribs, and whispered what he had seen, as if it had been a +secret. "Woh, woh!" says the Kamraviona, "what wonders will +happen next?" + +We were now on the buffalo ground; but nothing could be seen save +some old footprints of buffaloes, and a pitfall made for catching +them. By this time the king was tired; and as he saw me +searching for a log to sit upon, he made one of his pages kneel +upon all fours and sat upon his back, acting the monkey in aping +myself; for otherwise he would have sat on a mbugu, in his +customary manner, spread on the ground. We returned, pushing +along, up one way, then another, without a word, in thorough +confusion, for the king delights in boyish tricks, which he has +learned to play successfully. Leaving the road and plunging into +thickets of tall grass, the band and Wakungu must run for their +lives, to maintain the order of march, by heading him at some +distant point of exit from the jungle; whilst the Kamraviona, +leading the pages and my men, must push head first, like a herd +of buffaloes, through the sharp-cutting grass, at a sufficient +rate to prevent the royal walk from being impeded; and the poor +women, ready to sink with exhaustion, can only be kept in their +places by fear of losing their lives. + +We had been out the whole day; still he did not tire of these +tricks, and played them incessantly till near sundown, when we +entered the palace. Then the women and Wakungu separating from +us, we--that is, the king, the Kamraviona, pages, and myself--sat +down to a warm feast of sweet potatoes and plantains, ending with +pombe and fruit, whilst moist circular napkins, made in the shape +of magnificent wafers out of plantain fibre, acted at once both +the part of water and towel. This over, as the guns had to be +emptied, and it was thought sinful to waste the bullets, four +cows were ordered in and shot by the king. Thus ended the day, +my men receiving one of the cows. + +8th.--As Mtesa was tired with his yesterday's work, and would not +see anybody, I took Lugoi and Kahala, with a bundle of beads, to +give a return to the Mgemma for his late treat of pombe. His +household men and women were immensely delighted with us, but +more so, they said, for the honour of the visit. They gave us +more pombe, and introduced us to one of N'yamasore's numerous +sisters, who was equally charmed with myself and my children. The +Mgemma did not know how he could treat us properly, he said, for +he was only a poor man; but he would order some fowls, that I +might carry them away. When I refused this offer, because we +came to see him, and not to rob him, he thought it the most +beautiful language, and said he would bring them to the house +himself. I added, I hoped he would do so in company with his +wife, which he promised, though he never dared fulfil the +promise; and, on our leaving, set all his servants to escort us +beyond the premises. In the evening, as the king's musicians +passed the camp, I ordered them in to play the milele, and give +my men and children a treat of dancing. The performers received +a bundle of beads and went away happy. + +9th.--I called on Congow, but found him absent, waiting on the +king, as usual; and the king sent for my big rifle to shoot birds +with. + +10th.--In consequence of my having explained to the king the +effect of the process of distilling, and the way of doing it, he +sent a number of earthen pots and bugus of pombe that I might +produce some spirits for him; but as the pots sent were not made +after the proper fashion, I called at the palace and waited all +day in the hope of seeing him. No one, however, dared enter his +cabinet, where he had been practising "Uganga" all day, and so +the pombe turned sour and useless. Such are the ways of Uganda +all over. + +11th.--The king was out shooting; and as nothing else could be +done, I invited Uledi's pretty wife Guriku to eat a mutton +breakfast, and teach my child Meri not to be so proud. In this +we were successful; but whether her head had been turned, as +Bombay thought, or what else, we know not; but she would neither +walk, nor talk, nor do anything but lie at full length all day +long, smoking and lounging in thorough indolence. + +12th.--I distilled some fresh pombe for the king; and taking it +to him in the afternoon, fired guns to announce arrival. He was +not visible, while fearful shrieks were heard from within, and +presently a beautiful woman, one of the king's sisters, with +cockscomb erect, was dragged out to execution, bewailing and +calling on her king, the Kamraviona, and Mzungu, by turns, to +save her life. Would to God I could have done it! but I did not +know her crime, if crime she had committed, and therefore had to +hold my tongue, whilst the Kamraviona, and other Wakungu present, +looked on with utter unconcern, not daring to make the slightest +remark. It happened that Irungu was present in the ante-chamber +at this time; and as Maula came with my party, they had a fight +in respect to their merits for having brought welcome guests to +their king. Mtesa, it was argued, had given N'yamgundu more +women and men than he did to Maula, because he was the first to +bring intelligence of our coming, as well as that of K'yengo, and +Suworora's hongo to his king; whilst, finally, he superseded +Maula by taking me out of his charge, and had done a further good +service by sending men on to Karague to fetch both Grant and +K'yengo. + +Maula, although he had received the second reward, had literally +done nothing, whilst Irungu had been years absent at Usui, and +finally had brought a valuable hongo, yet he got less than Maula. +This, Irungu said, was an injustice he would not stand; +N'yamgundu fairly earned his reward, but Maula must have been +tricking to get more than himself. He would get a suitable +offering of wire, and lay his complaint in court the first +opportunity. "Pooh, pooh! nonsense!" says Maula, laughing; "I +will give him more wires than you, and then let us see who will +win the king's ear." Upon this the two great children began +collecting wire and quarrelling until the sun went down, and I +went home. I did not return to a quiet dinner, as I had hoped, +but to meet the summons of the king. Thinking it policy to obey, +I found him waiting my coming in the palace. He made apologies +for not answering my gun, and tasted some spirits resembling +toddy, which I had succeeded in distilling. He imbibed it with +great surprise; it was wonderful tipple; he must have some more; +and, for the purpose of brewing better, would send the barrel of +an old Brown Bess musket, as well as more pombe and wood in the +morning. + +13th.--As nothing was done all day, I took the usual promenade in +the Seraglio Park, and was accosted by a very pretty little +woman, Kariana, wife of Dumba, who, very neatly dressed, was +returning from a visit. At first she came trotting after me, +then timidly paused, then advanced, and, as I approached, stood +spellbound at my remarkable appearance. At last recovering +herself, she woh-wohed with all the coquetry of a Mganda woman, +and a flirtation followed; she must see my hair, my watch, the +contents of my pockets-- everything; but that was not enough. I +waved adieu, but still she followed. I offered my arm, showing +her how to take it in European fashion, and we walked along to +the surprise of everybody, as if we had been in Hyde Park rather +than in Central Africa, flirting and coquetting all the way. I +was surprised that no one came to prevent her forwardness; but +not till I almost reached home did any one appear; and then, with +great scolding, she was ordered to return-- not, however, without +her begging I would call in and see her on some future occasion, +when she would like to give me some pombe. + +14th.--As conflicting reports came about Grant, the king very +courteously, at my request, forwarded letters to him. I passed +the day in distilling pombe, and the evening in calling on Mrs +Dumba, with Meri, Kahala, Lugoi, and a troop of Wanyamuezi women. +She was very agreeable; but as her husband was attending the +palace, could not give pombe, and instead gave my female escort +sundry baskets of plaintains and potatoes, signifying a dinner, +and walked half-way home, flirting with me as before. + +15th--I called on the king with all the spirits I had made, as +well as the saccharine residue. We found him holding a levee, +and receiving his offerings of a batch of girls, cows, goats, and +other things of an ordinary nature. One of the goats presented +gave me an opportunity of hearing one of the strangest stories I +had yet heard in this strange country: it was a fine for +attempted regicide, which happened yesterday, when a boy, finding +the king alone, which is very unusual, walked up to him and +threatened to kill him, because, he said, he took the lives of +men unjustly. The king explained by description and pantomime +how the affair passed. When the youth attacked him he had in his +hand the revolving pistol I had given him, and showed us, holding +the pistol to his cheek, how he had presented the muzzle to the +boy, which, though it was unloaded, so frightened him that he ran +away. All the courtiers n'yanzigged vigorously for the +condescension of the king in telling the story. There must have +been some special reason why, in a court where trifling breaches +of etiquette were punished with a cruel death, so grave a crime +should have been so leniently dealt with; but I could not get at +the bottom of the affair. The culprit, a good-looking young +fellow of sixteen or seventeen, who brought in the goat, made his +n'yanzigs, stroked the goat and his own face with his hands, +n'yanzigged again with prostrations, and retired. + +After this scene, officers announced the startling fact that two +white men had been seen at Kamrasi's, one with a beard like +myself, the other smooth-faced. I jumped at this news, and said, +"Of course, they are there; do let me send a letter to them." I +believed it to be Petherick and a companion whom I knew he was to +bring with him. The king, however, damped my ardour by saying +the information was not perfect, and we must wait until certain +Wakungu, whom he sent to search in Unyoro, returned. + +16th.--The regions about the palace were all in a state of +commotion to-day, men and women running for their lives in all +directions, followed by Wakungu and their retainers. The cause +of all this commotion was a royal order to seize sundry +refractory Wakungu, with their property, wives, concubines--if +such a distinction can be made in this country--and families all +together. At the palace Mtesa had a musical party, playing the +flute occasionally himself. After this he called me aside, and +said, "Now, Bana, I wish you would instruct me, as you have often +proposed doing, for I wish to learn everything, though I have +little opportunity for doing so." Not knowing what was uppermost +in his mind, I begged him to put whatever questions he liked, and +he should be answered seriatim-- hoping to find him inquisitive +on foreign matters; but nothing was more foreign to his mind: +none of his countrymen ever seemed to think beyond the sphere of +Uganda. + +The whole conversation turned on medicines, or the cause and +effects of diseases. Cholera, for instance, very much affected +the land at certain seasons, creating much mortality, and +vanishing again as mysteriously as it came. What brought this +scourge? and what would cure it? Supposing a man had a headache, +what should he take for it? or a leg ache, or a stomach-ache, or +itch; in fact, going the rounds of every disease he knew, until, +exhausting the ordinary complaints, he went into particulars in +which he was personally much interested; but I was unfortunately +unable to prescribe medicines which produce the physical +phenomenon next to his heart. + +17th.--I called upon the king by appointment, and found a large +court, where the Wakungu caught yesterday, and sentenced to +execution, received their reprieve on paying fines of cattle and +young damsels--their daughters. A variety of charms, amongst +which were some bits of stick strung on leather and covered with +serpent-skin, were presented and approved of. Kaggao, a large +district officer, considered the second in rank here, received +permission for me to call upon him with my medicines. I pressed +the king again to send men with mine to Kamrasi's to call +Petherick. At first he objected that they would be killed, but +finally he yielded, and appointed Budja, his Unyoro ambassador, +for the service. Then, breaking up the court, he retired with a +select party of Wakungu, headed by the Kamraviona, and opened a +conversation on the subject which is ever uppermost with the king +and his courtiers. + +18th.--To-day I visited Kaggao with my medicine-chest. He had a +local disease, which he said came to him by magic, though a +different cause was sufficiently obvious, and wanted medicine +such as I gave Mkuenda, who reported that I gave him a most +wonderful draught. Unfortunately I had nothing suitable to give +my new patient, but cautioned him to have a care lest contagion +should run throughout his immense establishment, and explained +the whole of the circumstances to him. Still he was not +satisfied; he would give me slaves, cows, or ivory, if I would +only cure him. He was a very great man, as I could see, with +numerous houses, numerous wives, and plenty of everything, so +that it was ill-becoming of him to be without his usual habits. +Rejecting his munificent offers, I gave him a cooling dose of +calomel and jalap, which he drank like pombe, and pronounced +beautiful--holding up his hands, and repeating the words +"Beautiful, beautiful! they are all beautiful together! There is +Bana beautiful! his box is beautiful! and his medicine +beautiful!"--and, saying this, led us in to see his women, who at +my request were grouped in war apparel--viz., a dirk fastened to +the waist by many strings of coloured beads. There were from +fifty to sixty women present, all very lady-like, but none of +them pretty. Kaggao then informed me the king had told all his +Wakungu he would keep me as his guest four months longer to see +if Petherick came; and should he not by that time, he would give +me an estate, stocked with men, women, and cattle, in perpetuity, +so that, if I ever wished to leave Uganda, I should always have +something to come back to; so I might now know what my fate was +to be. Before leaving, Kaggao presented us with two cows and ten +baskets of potatoes. + +19th.--I sent a return present of two wires and twelve fundo of +beads of sorts to Kaggao, and heard that the king had gone to +show himself off to his mother dressed Bana fashion. In the +evening Katunzi, N'yamasore's brother, just returned from the +Unyoro plunder, called on me whilst I was at dinner. Not knowing +who he was, and surprised at such audacity in Uganda, for he was +the first officer who ever ventured to come near me in this +manner, I offered him a knife and fork, and a share in the +repast, which rather abashed him; for, taking it as a rebuff, he +apologised immediately for the liberty he had taken, contrary to +the etiquette of Uganda society, in coming to a house when the +master was at dinner; and he would have left again had I not +pressed him to remain. Katunzi then told me the whole army had +returned from Unyoro, with immense numbers of cows, women, and +children, but not men, for those who did not run away were killed +fighting. He offered me a present of a woman, and pressed me to +call on him. + +20th.--Still I found that the king would not send his Wakungu for +the Unyoro expedition, so I called on him about it. Fortunately +he asked me to speak a sentence in English, that he might hear +how it sounds; and this gave me an opportunity of saying, if he +had kept his promise by sending Budja to me, I should have +despatched letters to Petherick. This was no sooner interpreted +than he said, if I would send my men to him with letters in the +morning he would forward them on, accompanied with an army. On +my asking if the army was intended to fight, he replied, in +short, "First to feel the way." On hearing this, I strongly +advised him, if he wished the road to be kept permanently open, +to try conciliation with Kamrasi, and send him some trifling +present. + +Now were brought in some thirty-odd women for punishment and +execution, which the king, who of late had been trying to learn +Kisuahili, in order that we might be able to converse together, +asked me, in that language, if I would like to have some of these +women; and if so, how many? On my replying "One," he begged me +to have my choice, and a very pretty one was selected. God only +knows what became of the rest; but the one I selected, on +reaching home, I gave to Ilmas, my valet, for a wife. He and all +the other household servants were much delighted with this +charming acquisition; but the poor girl, from the time she had +been selected, had flattered herself she was to be Bana's wife, +and became immensely indignant at the supposed transfer, though +from the first I had intended her for Ilmas, not only to favour +him for his past good services, but as an example to my other +men, as I had promised to give them all, provided they behaved +well upon the journey, a "free-man's garden," with one wife each +and a purse of money, to begin a new life upon, as soon as they +reached Zanzibar. The temper of Meri and Kahala was shown in a +very forcible manner: they wanted this maid as an addition to my +family, called her into the hut and chatted till midnight, +instructing her not to wed with Ilmas; and then, instead of +turning into bed as usual, they all three slept upon the ground. +My patience could stand this phase of henpecking no longer, so I +called in Manamaka, the head Myamuezi woman, whom I had selected +for their governess, and directed her to assist Ilmas, and put +them to bed "bundling." + +21st.--In the morning, before I had time to write letters, the +king invited me to join him at some new tank he was making +between his palace and the residence of his brothers. I found +him sitting with his brothers, all playing in concert on flutes. +I asked him, in Kisuahili, if he knew where Grant was? On +replying in the negative, I proposed sending a letter, which he +approved of; and Budja was again ordered to go with an army for +Petherick. + +22d.--Mabruki and Bilal, with Budja, started to meet Petherick, +and three more men, with another letter to Grant. I called on +the king, who appointed the 24th instant for an excursion of +three days' hippopotamus-shooting on the N'yanza. + +23d.--To-day occurred a brilliant instance of the capricious +restlessness and self-willedness of this despotic king. At noon, +pages hurried in to say that he had started for the N'yanza, and +wished me to follow him without delay. N'yanza, as I have +mentioned, merely means a piece of water, whether a pond, river, +or lake; and as no one knew which N'yanza he meant, or what +project was on foot, I started off in a hurry, leaving everything +behind, and walked rapidly through gardens, over hills, and +across rushy swamps, down the west flank of the Murchison Creek, +till 3 p.m., when I found the king dressed in red, with his +Wakungu in front and women behind, travelling along in the +confused manner of a pack of hounds, occasionally firing his +rifle that I might know his whereabouts. He had just, it seems, +mingled a little business with pleasure; for noticing, as he +passed, a woman tied by the hands to be punished for some +offence, the nature of which I did not learn, he took the +executioner's duty on himself, fired at her, and killed her +outright. + +On this occasion, to test all his followers, and prove their +readiness to serve him, he had started on a sudden freak for the +three days' excursion on the lake one day before the appointed +time, expecting everybody to fall into place by magic, without +the smallest regard to each one's property, feelings, or comfort. +The home must be forsaken without a last adieu, the dinner +untasted, and no provision made for the coming night, in order +that his impetuous majesty should not suffer one moment's +disappointment. The result was natural; many who would have come +were nowhere to be found; my guns, bed, bedding, and note-books, +as well as cooking utensils, were all left behind, and, though +sent for, did not arrive till the following day. + +On arriving at the mooring station, not one boat was to be found, +nor did any arrive until after dark, when, on the beating of +drums and firing of guns, some fifty large ones appeared. They +were all painted with red clay, and averaged from ten to thirty +paddles, with long prows standing out like the neck of a syphon +or swan, decorated on the head with the horns of the Nsunnu +(lencotis) antelope, between which was stuck upright a tuft of +feathers exactly like a grenadier's plume. These arrived to +convey us across the mouth of a deep rushy swamp to the royal +yachting establishment, the Cowes of Uganda, distant five hours' +travelling from the palace. We reached the Cowes by torchlight +at 9 p.m., when the king had a picnic dinner with me, turned in +with his women in great comfort, and sent me off to a dreary hut, +where I had to sleep upon a grass-strew floor. I was surprised we +had to walk so far, when, by appearance, we might have boated it +from the head of the creek all the way down; but, on inquiry, was +informed of the swampy nature of the ground at the head of the +creek precluded any approach to the clear water there, and hence +the long overland journey, which, though fatiguing to the +unfortunate women, who had to trot the whole way behind Mtesa's +four-mile-an-hour strides, was very amusing. The whole of the +scenery--hill, dale, and lake--was extremely beautiful. The +Wanguana in my escort compared the view to their own beautiful +Poani (coast); but in my opinion it far surpassed anything I ever +saw, either from the sea or upon the coast of Zanzibar. + +The king rose betimes in the morning and called me, unwashed and +very uncomfortable, to picnic with him, during the collection of +the boats. The breakfast, eaten in the open court, consisted of +sundry baskets of roast-beef and plantain-squash, folded in +plantain-leaves. He sometimes ate with a copper knife and +picker, not forked--but more usually like a dog, with both hands. +The bits too tough for his mastication he would take from his +mouth and give as a treat to the pages, who n'yanzigged, and +swallowed them with much seeming relish. Whatever remained over +was then divided by the boys, and the baskets taken to the cooks. +Pombe served as tea, coffee, and beer for the king; but his +guests might think themselves very lucky if they ever got a drop +of it. + +Now for the lake. Everybody in a hurry falls into his place the +best way he can--Wakungu leading, and women behind. They rattle +along, through plantains and shrubs, under large trees, seven, +eight, and nine feet in diameter, till the beautiful waters are +reached--a picture of the Rio scenery, barring that of the higher +mountains in the background of that lovely place, which are here +represented by the most beautiful little hills. A band of +fifteen drums of all sizes, called the Mazaguzo, playing with the +regularity of a lot of factory engines at work, announced the +king's arrival, and brought all the boats to the shore--but not +as in England, where Jack, with all the consequence of a lord at +home, invites the ladies to be seated, and enjoys the sight of so +many pretty faces. Here every poor fellow, with his apprehensions +written in his face, leaps over the gunwale into the water-- +ducking his head for fear of being accused of gazing on the fair +sex, which is death--and bides patiently his time. They were +dressed in plantain leaves, looking like grotesque Neptunes. The +king, in his red coat and wideawake, conducted the arrangements, +ordering all to their proper places-- the women, in certain +boats, the Wakungu and Wanguana in others, whilst I sat in the +same boat with him at his feet, three women holding mbugus of +pombe behind. The king's Kisuahali now came into play, and he +was prompt in carrying out the directions he got from myself to +approach the hippopotami. But the waters were too large and the +animals too shy, so we toiled all the day without any effect, +going only once ashore to picnic; not for the women to eat-- for +they, poor things, got nothing--but the king, myself, the pages, +and the principal Wakungu. As a wind-up to the day's amusement, +the king led the band of drums, changed the men according to +their powers, put them into concert pitch, and readily detected +every slight irregularity, showing himself a thorough musician. + +This day requires no remark, everything done being the +counterpart of yesterday, excepting that the king, growing bolder +with me in consequence of our talking together, became more +playful and familiar--amusing himself, for instance, sometimes by +catching hold of my beard as the rolling of the boat unsteadied +him. + +We started early in the usual manner; but after working up and +down the creek, inspecting the inlets for hippopotami, and tiring +from want of sport, the king changed his tactics, and, paddling +and steering himself with a pair of new white paddles, finally +directing the boats to an island occupied by the Mgussa, or +Neptune of the N'yanza, not in person--for Mgussa is a spirit-- +but by his familiar or deputy, the great medium who communicates +the secrets of the deep to the king of Uganda. In another sense, +he might be said to be the presiding priest of the source of the +mighty Nile, and as such was, of course, an interesting person +for me to meet. The first operation on shore was picnicking, +when many large bugus of pombe were brought for the king; next, +the whole party took a walk, winking through the trees, and +picking fruit, enjoying themselves amazingly, till, by some +unlucky chance, one of the royal wives, a most charming creature, +and truly one of the best of the lot, plucked a fruit and offered +it to the king, thinking, doubtless, to please him greatly; but +he, like a madman, flew into a towering passion, said it was the +first time a woman ever had the impudence to offer him anything, +and ordered the pages to seize, bind, and lead her off to +execution. + +These words were no sooner uttered by the king than the whole +bevy of pages slipped their cord turbans from their heads, and +rushed, like a pack of cupid beagles upon the fairy queen, who, +indignant at the little urchins daring to touch her majesty, +remonstrated with the king, and tried to beat them off like +flies, but was soon captured, overcome, and dragged away, crying, +in the names of the Kamraviona and Mzungu (myself), for help and +protection; whilst Lubuga, the pet sister, and all the other +women, clasped the king by his legs, and, kneeling, implored +forgiveness for their sister. The more they craved for mercy, the +more brutal he became, till at last he took a heavy stick and +began to belabour the poor victim on the head. + +Hitherto I had been extremely careful not to interfere with any +of the king's acts of arbitrary cruelty, knowing that such +interference, at an early stage, would produce more harm than +good. This last act of barbarism, however, was too much for my +English blood to stand; and as I heard my name, Mzungu, +imploringly pronounced, I rushed at the king, and, staying his +uplifted arm, demanded from him the woman's life. Of course I +ran imminent risk of losing my own in thus thwarting the +capricious tyrant; but his caprice proved the friend of both. +The novelty of interference even made him smile, and the woman +was instantly released. + +Proceeding on through the trees of this beautiful island, we next +turned into the hut of the Mgussa's familiar, which at the +farther end was decorated with many mystic symbols amongst others +a paddle, the badge of his high office--and for some time we sat +chatting, when pombe was brought, and the spiritual medium +arrived. He was dressed Wichwezi fashion, with a little white +goat-skin apron, adorned with numerous charms, and used a paddle +for a mace or walking stick. He was not an old man, though he +affected to be so-- walking very slowly and deliberately, +coughing asthmatically, glimmering with his eyes, and mumbling +like a witch. With much affected difficulty he sat at the end of +the hut beside the symbols alluded to, and continued his coughing +full half an hour, when his wife came in in the same manner, +without saying a word, and assumed the same affected style. The +king jokingly looked at me and laughed, and then at these strange +creatures, by turn, as much as to say, What do you think of them? +but no voice was heard save that of the old wife, who croaked +like a frog for water, and, when some was brought, croaked again +because it was not the purest of the lake's produce--had the +first cup changed, wetted her lips with the second, and hobbled +away in the same manner as she came. + +At this juncture the Mgussa's familiar motioned the Kamraviona +and several officers to draw around him, when, in a very low +tone, he gave them all the orders of the deep, and walked away. +His revelations seemed unpropitious, for we immediately repaired +to our boats and returned to our quarters. Here we no sooner +arrived than a host of Wakungu, lately returned from the Unyoro +war, came to pay their respects to the king: they had returned +six days or more, but etiquette had forbidden their approaching +majesty sooner. Their successes had been great, their losses, +nil, for not one man had lost his life fighting. To these men +the king narrated all the adventures of the day; dwelling more +particularly on my defending his wife's life, whom he had +destined for execution. This was highly approved of by all; and +they unanimously said Bana knew what he was about, because he +dispenses justice like a king in his own country. + +Early in the morning a great hue and cry was made because the +Wanguana had been seen bathing in the N'yanza naked, without the +slightest regard to decency. We went boating as usual all day +long, sometimes after hippopotami, at others racing up and down +the lake, the king and Wakungu paddling and steering by turns, +the only break to this fatigue being when we went ashore to +picnic, or the king took a turn at the drums. During the evening +some of the principal Wakungu were collected to listen to an +intellectual discourse on the peculiarities of the different +women in the royal establishment, and the king in good-honour +described the benefits he had derived from this pleasant tour on +the water. + +Whilst I was preparing my Massey's log to show the use of it to +the king, he went off boating without me; and as the few +remaining boats would not take me off because they had received +no orders to do so, I fired guns, but, getting no reply, went +into the country hoping to find game; but, disappointed in that +also, I spent the first half of the day with a hospitable old +lady, who treated us to the last drop of pombe in her house--for +the king's servants had robbed her of nearly everything--smoked +her pipe with me, and chatted incessantly on the honour paid her +by the white king's visit, as well as of the horrors of Uganda +punishment, when my servants told her I saved the life of one +queen. Returning homewards, the afternoon was spent at a +hospitable officer's, who would not allow us to depart until my +men were all fuddled with pombe, and the evening setting in +warned us to wend our way. On arrival at camp, the king, quite +shocked with himself for having deserted me, asked me if I did +not hear his guns fire. He had sent twenty officers to scour the +country, looking for me everywhere. He had been on the lake the +whole day himself, and was now amusing his officers with a little +archery practice, even using the bow himself, and making them +shoot by turns. A lucky shot brought forth immense applause, all +jumping and n'yanzigging with delight, whether it was done by +their own bows or the king's. + +A shield was the mark, stuck up at only thirty paces; still they +were such bad shots that they hardly ever hit it. Now tired of +this slow sport, and to show his superior prowess, the king +ordered sixteen shields to be placed before him, one in front of +the other, and with one shot from Whitworth pierced the whole of +them, the bullet passing through the bosses of nearly every one. +"Ah!" says the king, strutting about with gigantic strides, and +brandishing the rifle over his head before all his men, "what is +the use of spears and bows? I shall never fight with anything +but guns in the future." These Wakungu, having only just then +returned from plundering Unyoro, had never before seen their king +in a chair, or anybody sitting, as I was, by his side; and it +being foreign to their notions, as well as, perhaps, unpleasant +to their feelings, to find a stranger sitting higher than +themselves, they complained against this outrage to custom, and +induced the king to order my dethronement. The result was, as my +iron stool was objectionable, I stood for a moment to see that I +thoroughly understood their meaning; and then showing them my +back, walked straightway home to make a grass throne, and dodge +them that way. + +There was nothing for dinner last night, nothing again this +morning, yet no one would go in to report this fact, as rain was +falling, and the king was shut up with his women. Presently the +thought struck me that the rifle, which was always infallible in +gaining me admittance at the palace, might be of the same service +now. I therefore shot a dove close to the royal abode, and, as I +expected, roused the king at once, who sent his pages to know +what the firing was about. When told the truth--that I had been +trying to shoot a dish of doves for breakfast, as I could get +neither meat nor drink from his kitchen--the head boy, rather +guessing than understanding what was told him, distorted my +message, and said to the king, as I could not obtain a regular +supply of food from his house, I did not wish to accept anything +further at his hands, but intended foraging for the future in the +jungles. The king, as might be imagined, did not believe the +boy's story, and sent other pages to ascertain the truth of the +case, bidding them listen well, and beware of what they were +about. This second lot of boys conveyed the story rightly, when +the king sent me a cow. As I afterwards heard, he cut off the +ears of the unfortunate little mischief-maker for not making a +proper use of those organs; and then, as the lad was the son of +one of his own officers he was sent home to have the sores +healed. After breakfast the king called me to go boating, when I +used my grass throne, to the annoyance of the attendants. This +induced the king to say before them, laughing, "Bana, you see, is +not to be done; he is accustomed to sit before kings, and sit he +will." Then by way of a change, he ordered all the drums to +embark and play upon the waters; whilst he and his attendants +paddled and steered by turns, first up the creek, and then down +nearly to the broad waters of the lake. + +There was a passage this way, it was said, leading up to Usoga, +but very circuitous, on account of reefs or shoals, and on the +way the Kitiri island was passed; but no other Kitiri was known +to the Waganda, though boats went sometimes coasting down the +western side of the lake to Ukerewe. The largest island on the +lake is the Sese,[FN#20] off the mouth of the Katonga river, +where another of the high priests of the Neptune of the N'yanza +resides. The king's largest vessels are kept there, and it is +famous for its supply of mbugu barks. We next went on shore to +picnic, when a young hippopotamus, speared by harpoon, one pig, +and a pongo or bush-boc, were presented to the king. I now +advised boat-racing, which was duly ordered, and afforded much +amusement as the whole fifty boats formed in line, and paddle +furiously to the beat of drum to the goal which I indicated. + +The day was done. In great glee the king, ever much attached to +the blackguard Maula, in consequence of his amusing stories, +appointed him to the office of seizer, or chief kidnapper of +Wakungu; observing that, after the return of so many officers +from war, much business in that line would naturally have to be +done, and there was none so trustworthy now at court to carry out +the king's orders. All now went to the camp; but what was my +astonishment on reaching the hut to find every servant gone, +along with the pots, pans, meat, everything; and all in +consequence of the king's having taken the drums on board, which, +being unusual, was regarded as one of his delusive tricks, and a +sign of immediate departure. He had told no one he was going to +the N'yanza, and now it was thought he would return in the same +way. I fired for my supper, but fired in vain. Boys came out, +by the king's order to inquire what I wanted, but left again +without doing anything further. + +At my request the king sent off boats to inquire after the one +that left, or was supposed to have left, for Grant on the 3d of +March, and he then ordered the return home, much to my delight; +for, beautiful as the N'yanza was, the want of consideration for +other people's comfort, the tiring, incessant boating, all day +long and every day, in the sun, as well as the king's hurry- +scurry about everything he undertook to do, without the smallest +forethought, preparation, or warning, made me dream of my +children, and look forward with pleasure to rejoining them. +Strange as it may appear to Englishmen, I had a sort of paternal +love for those little blackamoors as if they had been my +offspring; and I enjoyed the simple stories that their sable +visitors told me every day they came over to smoke their pipes, +which they did with the utmost familiarity, helping themselves +from my stores just as they liked. + +Without any breakfast, we returned by the same route by which we +had come, at four miles an hour, till half the way was cleared, +when the king said, laughing, "Bana, are you hungry?"--a +ridiculous question after twenty-four hours of starvation, which +he knew full well-- and led the way into a plantain-grove, where +the first hut that was found was turned inside out for the king's +accommodation, and picnic was prepared. As, however, he ordered +my portion to be given outside with the pages', and allowed +neither pombe or water, I gave him the slip, and walked hurriedly +home, where I found Kahala smirking, and apparently glad to see +us, but Meri shamming ill in bed, whilst Manamaka, the governess, +was full of smiles and conversation. She declared Meri had +neither tasted food or slept since my departure, but had been +retching all the time. Dreadfully concerned at the doleful story +I immediately thought of giving relief with medicines, but +neither pulse, tongue, nor anything else indicated the slightest +disorder; and to add to these troubles, Ilmas's woman had tried +during my absence to hang herself, because she would not serve as +servant but wished to be my wife; and Bombay's wife, after taking +a doze of quinine, was delivered of a still-born child. + +1st.--I visited the king, at his request, with the medicine- +chest. He had caught a cold. He showed me several of his women +grievously affected with boils, and expected me to cure them at +once. I then went home, and found twenty men who had passed +Grant, coming on a stretcher from Karague, without any of the +rear property. Meri, still persistent, rejected strengthening +medicines, but said, in a confidential manner, if I would give +her a goat to sacrifice to the Uganga she would recover in no +time. There was something in her manner when she said this that +I did not like--it looked suspicious; and I contented myself by +saying, "No, I am a wiser doctor than any in these lands; if +anybody could cure you, that person is myself: and further, if I +gave you a goat to sacrifice, God would be angry with both of us +for our superstitious credulity; you must therefore say no more +about it." + +2d.--The whole country around the palace was in a state of +commotion to-day, from Maula and his children hunting down those +officers who had returned from the war, yet had not paid their +respects to the king at the N'yanza, because they thought they +would not be justified in calling on him so quickly after their +arrival. Maula's house, in consequence of this, was full of beef +and pombe; whilst, in his courtyard, men, women, and children, +with feet in stocks, very like the old parish stocks in England, +waited his pleasure, to see what demands he would make upon them +as the price of their release. After anxiously watching, I found +out that Meri was angry with me for not allowing Ilmas's woman to +live in my house; and, to conquer my resolution against it-- +although I ordered it with a view to please Ilmas, for he was +desperately in love with her--she made herself sick by putting +her finger down her throat. I scolded her for her obstinacy. She +said she was ill--it was not feigned; and if I would give her a +goat to sacrifice she would be well at once; for she had looked +into the magic horn already, and discovered that if I have her a +goat for that purpose it would prove that I loved her, and her +health would be restored to her at once. Hallo! Here was a +transformation from the paternal position into that of a +henpecked husband! Somebody, I smelt at once, had been tampering +with my household whilst I was away. I commenced investigations, +and after a while found out that Rozaro's sister had brought a +magician belonging to her family into the hut during my absence, +who had put Meri up to this trick of extorting a goat from me, in +order that he might benefit by it himself, for the magician eats +the sacrifice, and keeps the skin. + +I immediately ordered him to be seized and bound to the flag- +staff, whilst Maula, Uledi, Rozaro, and Bombay were summoned to +witness the process of investigation. Rozaro flew into a +passion, and tried to release the magician as soon as he saw him, +affecting intense indignation that I should take the law into my +own hands when one of Rumanika's subjects was accused; but only +lost his dignity still more on being told he had acknowledged his +inability to control his men so often when they had misbehaved, +that I scorned to ask his assistance any longer. He took huff at +this, and, as he could not help himself, walked away, leaving us +to do as we liked. The charge was fully proved. The impudent +magician, without leave, and contrary to all the usages of the +country, had entered and set my house against itself during my +absence, and had schemed to rob me of a goat. I therefore +sentenced him to fifty lashes--twenty-five for the injury he had +inflicted on my by working up a rebellion in my house, and the +remaining twenty-five for attempting larceny-- saying, as he had +wanted my goat and its skin, so now in return I wanted his skin. +These words were no sooner pronounced than the wretched Meri +cried out against it, saying all the fault was hers: "Let the +stick skin my back, but spare my doctor; it would kill me to see +him touched." + +This appeal let me see that there was something in the whole +matter too deep and intricate to be remedied by my skill. I +therefore dismissed her on the spot, and gave her, as a sister +and free woman, to Uledi and his pretty Mhmula wife, giving +Bombay orders to carry the sentences into execution. After +walking about till after dark, on returning to the empty house, I +had some misgivings as to the apparent cruelty of abandoning one +so helpless to the uncertainties of this wicked world. Ilmas's +woman also ran away, doubtless at the instigation of Rozaro's +sister, for she had been denied any further access to the house +as being at the bottom of all this mischief. + +3d.--I was haunted all night by my fancied cruelty, and in the +morning sent its victim, after Uganda fashion, some symbolical +presents, including a goat, in token of esteem; a black blanket, +as a sign of mourning; a bundle of gundu anklets; and a packet of +tobacco, in proof of my forgiveness. + + + + + Chapter XIV + + + + Palace, Uganda--Continued + +Reception of a Victorious Army at Court--Royal Sport--A Review of +the Troops--Negotiations for the Opening of the Road along the +Nile --Grant's Return--Pillagings--Court Marriages--The King's +Brothers-- Divinations and Sacrifices--The Road granted at last-- +The Preparations for continuing the Expedition--The Departure. + +I now received a letter from Grant to say he was coming by boat +from Kitangule, and at once went to the palace to give the +welcome news to the king. The road to the palace I found +thronged with people; and in the square outside the entrance +there squatted a multitude of attendants, headed by the king, +sitting on a cloth, dressed in his national costume, with two +spears and a shield by his side. On his right hand the pages sat +waiting for orders, while on his left there was a small squatting +cluster of women, headed by Wichwezis, or attendant sorceresses, +offering pombe. In front of the king, in form of a hollow +square, many ranks deep, sat the victorious officers, lately +returned from the war, variously dressed; the nobles +distinguished by their leopard-cat skins and dirks, the commoners +by coloured mbugu and cow or antelope skin cloaks; but all their +faces and arms were painted red, black, or smoke-colour. Within +the square of men, immediately fronting the king, the war-arms of +Uganda were arranged in three ranks; the great war-drum, covered +with a leopard-skin, and standing on a large carpeting of them, +was placed in advance; behind this, propped or hung on a rack of +iron, were a variety of the implements of war in common use, +offensive and defensive, as spears--of which two were of copper, +the rest iron--and shields of wood and leather; whilst in the +last row or lot were arranged systematically, with great taste +and powerful effect, the supernatural arms, the god of Uganda, +consisting of charms of various descriptions and in great +numbers. Outside the square again, in a line with the king, were +the household arms, a very handsome copper kettledrum, of French +manufacture, surmounted on the outer edge with pretty little +brass bells depending from swan-neck-shaped copper wire, two new +spears, a painted leather shield, and magic wands of various +devices, deposited on a carpet of leopard-skins--the whole scene +giving the effect of true barbarous royalty in its uttermost +magnificence. + +Approaching, as usual, to take my seat beside the king, some +slight sensation was perceptible, and I was directed to sit +beyond the women. The whole ceremonies of this grand assemblage +were now obvious. Each regimental commandant in turn narrated +the whole services of his party, distinguishing those subs who +executed his orders well and successfully from those who either +deserted before the enemy or feared to follow up their success. +The king listened attentively, making, let us suppose, very +shrewd remarks concerning them; when to the worthy he awarded +pombe, helped with gourd-cups from large earthen jars, which has +n'yanzigged for vehemently; and to the unworthy execution. When +the fatal sentence was pronounced, a terrible bustle ensued, the +convict wrestling and defying, whilst the other men seized, +pulled and tore the struggling wretch from the crowd, bound him +hands and head together, and led or rather tumbled him away. + +After a while, and when all business was over, the king begged me +to follow him into the palace. He asked again for stimulants--a +matter ever uppermost in his mind--and would not be convinced +that such things can do him no possible good, but would in the +end be deleterious. Grant's letter was then read to him before +his women, and I asked for the dismissal of all the Wanyambo, for +they had not only destroyed my peace and home, but were always +getting me into disrepute by plundering the Waganda in the +highways. No answer was given to this; and on walking home, I +found one of the king's women at my hut, imploring protection +against the Wanyambo, who had robbed and bruised her so often, +she could not stand such abuse any longer. + +4th.--I sent Maula, early in the morning, with the plundered +woman, and desired him to request that the Wanyambo might be +dismissed. He returned, saying he delivered my message, but no +reply was given. I then searched for the king, and found him at +his brothers' suite of huts playing the flute before them. On +taking my seat, he proudly pointed to two vultures which he had +shot with bullet, saying to his brothers, "There, do you see +these birds? Bana shoots with shot, but I kill with bullets." +To try him, I then asked for leave to go to Usoga, as Grant was +so far off; but he said, "No, wait until he comes, and you shall +both go together then; you fancy he is far off, but I know +better. One of my men saw him coming along carried on a +stretcher." I said, "No; that must be a mistake, for he told me +by letter he would come by water." + +Heavy rain now set in, and we got under cover; but the brothers +never moved, some even sitting in the streaming gutter, and +n'yanzigging whenever noticed. The eldest brother offered me his +cup of pombe, thinking I would not drink it; but when he saw its +contents vanishing fast, he cried "lekerow!" (hold fast!) and as +I pretended not to understand him, continuing to drink, he rudely +snatched the cup from my lips. Alternate concerts with the +brothers, and conversation about hunting, in consequence of a +bump caused by a fall with steeple-chasing, which as discovered +on my forehead, ended this day's entertainment. + +5th.--As all the Wanguana went foraging, I was compelled to stop +at home. The king, however, sent an officer for Grant, because I +would not believe in his statement yesterday that he was coming +by land; and I also sent a lot of men with a litter to help him +on, and bring me an answer. + +6th.--I went to the palace at the king's command. He kept us +waiting an hour, and then passing out by a side gate, beckoned us +to follow. He was dressed in European clothes, with his guns and +tin box of clothes leading the way. His first question was, +"Well, Bana, where are your guns? for I have called you to go +shooting." "The pages never said anything about shooting, and +therefore the guns were left behind." Totally unconcerned, the +king walked on to his brothers, headed by a band and attendants, +who were much lauded for being ready at a moment's notice. A +grand flute concert was then played, one of the younger brothers +keeping time with a long hand-drum; then the band played; and +dancing and duets and singing followed. After the usual +presentations, fines, and n'yanziggings, I asked for leave to go +and meet Grant by water, but was hastily told that two boats had +been sent for him when we returned from the N'yanza, and that two +runners, just returned from Karague, said he was on the way not +far off. The child-king then changed his dress for another suit +of clothes for his brothers to admire, and I retired, much +annoyed, as he would neither give pombe for myself, nor plantains +for my men: and I was further annoyed on my arrival at home, to +find the Wanguana mobbing my hut and clamouring for food, and +calling for an order to plunder if I did not give them beads, +which, as the stock had run short, I could only do by their +returning to Karague for the beads stored there; and, even if +they were obtained, it was questionable if the king would revoke +his order prohibiting the sale of provisions to us. + +7th.--To-day I called at the queen's, but had to wait five hours +in company with some attendants, to whom she sent pombe +occasionally; but after waiting for her nearly all day, they were +dismissed, because excess of business prevented her seeing them, +though I was desired to remain. I asked these attendants to sell +me food for beads, but they declared they could not without +obtaining permission. In the evening the queen stumped out of +her chambers and walked to the other end of her palace, where the +head or queen of the Wichwezi women lived, to whom everybody paid +the profoundest respect. On the way I joined her, she saying, in +a state of high anger, "You won't call on me, now I have given +you such a charming damsel: you have quite forgotten us in your +love of home." Of course Meri's misdemeanour had to be explained, +when she said, "As that is the case, I will give you another; but +you must take Meri out of the country, else she will bring +trouble on us; for, you know, I never gave girls who lived in the +palace to any one in my life before, because they would tell +domestic affairs not proper for common people to know." I then +said my reason for not seeing her before was, that the four times +I had sent messengers to make an appointment for the following +day, they had been repulsed from her doors. This she would not +believe, but called me a story-teller in very coarse language, +until the men who had been sent were pointed out to her, and they +corroborated me. + +The Wichwezi queen met her majesty with her head held very high, +and instead of permitting me to sit on my box of grass, threw out +a bundle of grass for that purpose. All conversation was kept +between the two queens; but her Wichwezi majesty had a platter of +clay-stone brought, which she ate with great relish, making a +noise of satisfaction like a happy guinea-pig. She threw me a +bit, which to the surprise of everybody, I caught and threw it +into my mouth, thinking it was some confection; but the harsh +taste soon made me spit it out again, to the amusement of the +company. On returning home I found the king had requested me to +call on him as soon as possible with the medicine-chest. + +8th.--Without a morsel to eat for dinner last night, or anything +this morning, we proceeded early to the palace, in great +expectation that the medicines in request would bring us +something; but after waiting all day till 4 p.m., as the king did +not appear, leaving Bombay behind, I walked away to shoot a +guinea-fowl within earshot of the palace. The scheme was +successful, for the report of the gun which killed the bird +reached the king's ear, and induced him to say that if Bana was +present he would be glad to see him. This gave Bombay an +opportunity of telling all the facts of the case; which were no +sooner heard than the king gave his starving guests a number of +plantains, and vanished at once, taking my page Lugoi with him, +to instruct him in Kisuahili (Zanzibar language). + +9th.--As the fruit of last night's scheme, the king sent us four +goats and two cows. In great good-humour I now called on him, +and found him walking about the palace environs with a carbine, +looking eagerly for sport, whilst his pages dragged about five +half-dead vultures tied in a bundle by their legs to a string. +"These birds," said he, tossing his head proudly, "were all shot +flying, with iron slugs, as the boys will tell you. I like the +carbine very well, but you must give me a double smooth gun." +This I promised to give when Grant arrived, for his good-nature +in sending so many officers to fetch him. + +We next tried for guinea-fowl, as I tell him they are the game +the English delight in; but the day was far spent, and none could +be found. A boy then in attendance was pointed out, as having +seen Grant in Uddu ten days ago. If the statement were true, he +must have crossed the Katonga. But though told with great +apparent circumspection, I did not credit it, because my men sent +on the 15th ultimo for a letter to ascertain his whereabouts had +not returned, and they certainly would have done so had he been +so near. To make sure, the king then proposed sending the boy +again with some of my men; but this I objected to as useless, +considering the boy had spoken falsely. Hearing this, the king +looked at the boy and then at the women in turn, to ascertain +what they thought of my opinion, whereupon the boy cried. Late +in the evening the sly little girl Kahala changed her cloth +wrapper for a mbugu, and slipped quietly away. I did not suspect +her intention, because of late she had appeared much more than +ordinary happy, behaving to me in every respect like a dutiful +child to a parent. A search was made, and guns fired, in the +hopes of frightening her back again, but without effect. + +10th.--I had promised that this morning I would teach the king +the art of guinea-fowl shooting, and when I reached the palace at +6 a.m., I found him already on the ground. He listened to the +tale of the missing girl, and sent orders for her apprehension at +once; then proceeding with the gun, fired eight shots +successively at guinea-birds sitting on trees, but missed them +all. After this, as the birds were scared away, and both iron +shot and bullets were expended, he took us to his dressing-hut, +went inside himself, attended by full-grown naked women, and +ordered a breakfast of pork, beef, fish, and plantains to be +served me outside on the left of the entrance; whilst a large +batch of his women sat on the right side, silently coquetting, +and amusing themselves by mimicking the white man eating. Poor +little Lugoi joined in the repast, and said he longed to return +to my hut, for he was half starved here, and no one took any +notice of him; but he was destined to be a royal page, for the +king would not part with him. A cold fit then seized me, and as +I asked for leave to go, the king gave orders for one of his +wives to be flogged. The reason for this act of brutality I did +not discover; but the moment the order was issued, the victim +begged the pages to do it quickly, that the king's wrath might be +appeased; and in an instant I saw a dozen boys tear their cord- +turbans from their heads pull her roughly into the middle of the +court, and belabour her with sticks, whilst she lay floundering +about, screeching to me for protection. All I did was to turn my +head away and walk rapidly out of sight, thinking it better not +to interfere again with the discipline of the palace; indeed, I +thought it not improbable that the king did these things +sometimes merely that his guests might see his savage power. On +reaching home I found Kahala standing like a culprit before my +door. She would not admit, what I suspected, that Meri had +induced her to run away; but said she was very happy in my house +until yester-evening, when Rozaro's sister told her she was very +stupid living with the Mzungu all alone, and told her to run +away; which she did, taking the direction of N'yamasore's, until +some officers finding her, and noticing beads on her neck, and +her hair cut, according to the common court fashion, in slopes +from a point in the forehead to the breadth of her ears, +suspected her to be one of the king's women, and kept her in +confinement all night, till Mtesa's men came this morning and +brought her back again. As a punishment, I ordered her to live +with Bombay; but my house was so dull again from want of some one +to eat dinner with me, that I remitted the punishment, to her +great delight. + +11th.--To-day I received letters from Grant, dated 22d., 25th, +28th April and 2d May. They were brought by my three men, with +Karague pease, flour, and ammunition. He was at Maula's house, +which proved the king's boy to be correct; for the convoy, afraid +of encountering the voyage on the lake, had deceived my companion +and brought him on by land, like true negroes. + +12th.--I sent the three men who had returned from Grant to lay a +complaint against the convoy, who had tricked him out of a +pleasant voyage, and myself out of the long-wished-for survey of +the lake. They carried at the same time a present of a canister +of shot from me to the king. Delighted with this unexpected +prize, he immediately shot fifteen birds flying, and ordered the +men to acquaint me with his prowess. + +13th.--To-day the king sent me four cows and a load of butter as +a return-present for the shot, and allowed one of his officers, +at my solicitation, to go with ten of my men to help Grant on. +He also sent a message that he had just shot thirteen birds +flying. + +14th.--Mabuki and Bilal returned with Budja and his ten children +from Unyoro, attended by a deputation of four men sent by +Kamrasi, who were headed by Kidgwiga. Mtesa, it now transpired, +had followed my advice of making friendship with Kamrasi by +sending two brass wires as a hongo instead of an army, and +Kamrasi in return, sent him two elephant-tusks. Kidgwiga said +Petherick's party was not in Unyoro--they had never reached +there, but were lying at anchor off Gani. Two white men only had +been seen--one, they said, a hairy man, the other smooth-faced; +they were as anxiously inquiring after us as we were after them: +they sat on chairs, dressed like myself, and had guns and +everything precisely like those in my hut. On one occasion they +sent up a necklace of beads to Kamrasi, and he, in return, gave +them a number of women and tusks. If I wished to go that way, +Kamrasi would forward me on to their position in boats; for the +land route, leading through Kidi, was a jungle of ten days, +tenanted by a savage set of people, who hunt everybody, and seize +everything they see. + +This tract is sometimes, however, traversed by the Wanyoro and +Gani people, who are traders in cows and tippet monkey-skins, +stealthily travelling at night; but they seldom attempt it from +fear of being murdered. Baraka and Uledi, sent from Karague on +the 30th January, had been at Kamrasi's palace upwards of a +month, applying for the road to Gani, and as they could not get +that, wished to come with Mabruki to me; but this Kamrasi also +refused, on the plea that, as they had come from Karague, so they +must return there. Kamrasi had heard of my shooting with Mtesa, +as also of the attempt made by Mabruki and Uledi to reach Gani +via Usoga. He had received my present of beads from Baraka, and, +in addition, took Uledi's sword, saying, "If you do not wish to +part with it, you must remain a prisoner in my country all your +life, for you have not paid your footing." Mabruki then told me +he was kept waiting at a village, one hour's walk from Kamrasi's +palace, five days before they were allowed to approach his +majesty; but when they were seen, and the presents exchanged, +they were ordered to pack off the following morning, as Kamrasi +said the Waganda were a set of plundering blackguards. + +This information, to say the least of it, was very embarrassing-- +a mixture of good and bad. Petherick, I now felt certain, was on +the look-out for us; but his men had reached Kamrasi's, and +returned again before Baraka's arrival. Baraka was not allowed +to go on to him and acquaint him of our proximity, and the +Waganda were so much disliked in Unyoro, that there seemed no +hopes of our ever being able to communicate by letter. To add to +my embarrassments, Grant had not been able to survey the lake +from Kitangule, nor had Usoga and the eastern side of the lake +been seen. + +15th.--I was still laid up with the cold fit of the 10th, which +turned into a low kind of fever. I sent Bombay to the king to +tell him the news, and ask him what he thought of doing next. He +replied that he would push for Gani direct; and sent back a pot +of pombe for the sick man. + +16th.--The king to-day inquired after my health, and, strange to +say, did not accompany his message with a begging request. + +17th.--My respite, however, was not long. At the earliest +possible hour in the morning the king sent begging for things one +hundred times refused, supposing, apparently, that I had some +little reserve store which I wished to conceal from him. + +18th and 19th.--I sent Bombay to the palace to beg for pombe, as +it was the only thing I had an appetite for, but the king would +see no person but myself. He had broken his rifle washing-rod, +and this must be mended, the pages who brought it saying that no +one dared take it back to him until it was repaired. A guinea- +fowl was sent after dark for me to see, as a proof that the king +was a sportsman complete. + +20th.--The king going out shooting borrowed my powder-horn. The +Wanguana mobbed the hut and bullied me for food, merely because +they did not like the trouble of helping themselves from the +king's garden, though they knew I had purchased their privilege +to do so at the price of a gold chronometer and the best guns +England could produce. + +21st.--I now, for the first time, saw the way in which the king +collected his army together. The highroads were all thronged +with Waganda warriors, painted in divers colours, with plantain- +leaf bands round their heads, scanty goat-skin fastened to their +loins, and spears and shield in their hands, singing the tambure +or march, ending with a repetition of the word Mkavia, or +Monarch. They surpassed in number, according to Bombay, the +troops and ragamuffins enlisted by Sultain Majid when Sayyid +Sweni threatened to attack Zanzibar; in fact, he never saw such a +large army collected anywhere. + +Bombay, on going to the palace, hoping to obtain plantains for +the men, found the king holding a levee, for the purpose of +despatching this said army somewhere, but where no one would +pronounce. The king, then, observing my men who had gone to +Unyoro together with Kamrasi's, questioned them on their mission; +and when told that no white men were there, he waxed wrathful, +and said it was a falsehood, for his men had seen them, and could +not be mistaken. Kamrasi, he said, must have hidden them +somewhere, fearful of the number of guns which now surrounded +him; and, for the same reason, he told lies, yes, lies--but no +man living shall dare tell himself lies; and now, as he could not +obtain his object by fair means, he would use arms and force it +out. Then, turning to Bombay, he said, "What does your master +think of this business?" upon which Bombay replied, according to +his instructions, "Bana wishes nothing done until Grant arrives, +when all will go together." On this the king turned his back and +walked away. + +22d.--Kitunzi called on me early, because he heard I was sick. I +asked him why the Waganda objected to my sitting on a chair; but, +to avoid the inconvenience of answering a troublesome question, +without replying, he walked off, saying he heard a noise in the +neighbourhood of the palace which must be caused by the king +ordering some persons to be seized, and his presence was so +necessary he could not wait another moment. My men went for +plantains to the palace and for pombe on my behalf; but the king, +instead of giving them anything, took two fez caps off their +heads, keeping them to himself, and ordered them to tell Bana all +his beer was done. + +23d.--Kidgwiga called on me to say Kamrasi so very much wanted +the white men at Gani to visit him, he had sent a hongo of thirty +tusks to the chief of that country in hopes that it would insure +their coming to see him. He also felt sure if I went there his +king would treat me with the greatest respect. This afforded an +opportunity for putting in a word of reconciliation. I said that +it was at my request that Mtesa sent Kamrasi a present; and so +now, if Kamrasi made friends with the Waganda, there would be no +difficulty about the matter. + +24th.--The army still thronged the highways, some going, others +coming, like a swarm of ants, the whole day long. Kidgwiga paid +another visit, and I went to the palace without my gun, wishing +the king to fancy all my powder was done, as he had nearly +consumed all my store; but the consequence was that, after +waiting the whole day, I never saw him at all. In the evening +pages informed me that Grant had arrived at N'yama Goma, one +march distant. + +25th.--I prepared twenty men, with a quarter of mutton for Grant +to help him on the way, but they could not go without a native +officer, lest they should be seized, and no officer would lead +the way. The king came shooting close to my hut and ordered me +out. I found him marching Rozaro about in custody with four +other Wanyambo, who, detected plundering by Kitunzi, had set upon +and beaten him severely. The king, pointing them out to me, +said, he did not like the system of plundering, and wished to +know if it was the practice in Karague. Of course I took the +opportunity to renew my protest against the plundering system; +but the king, changing the subject, told me the Wazungu were at +Gani inquiring after us, and wishing to come here. To this I +proposed fetching them myself in boats, but he objected, saying +he would send men first, for they were not farther off to the +northward than the place he sent boats to, to bring Grant. He +said he did not like Unyoro, because Kamrasi hides himself like a +Neptune in the Nile, whenever his men go on a visit there, and +instead of treating his guests with respect, he keeps them beyond +the river. For this reason he had himself determined on adopting +the passage by Kidi. + +I was anxious, of course, to go on with the subject thus +unexpectedly opened, but, as ill-luck would have it, an adjutant +was espied sitting on a tree, when a terrible fuss and excitement +ensued. The women were ordered one way and the attendants +another, whilst I had to load the gun on the best way I could +with the last charge and a half left in the king's pouch. Ten +grains were all he would have allowed himself, reserving the +residue, without reflecting that a large bird required much shot; +and he was shocked to find me lavishly use the whole, and still +say it was not enough. + +The bird was then at a great height, so that the first shot +merely tickled him, and drove him to another tree. "Woh! woh!" +cried the king, "I am sure he is hit; look there, look there;" +and away he rushed after the bird; down with one fence, then with +another, in the utmost confusion, everybody trying to keep his +proper place, till at last the tree to which the bird had flown +was reached, and then, with the last charge of shot, the king +killed his first nundo. The bird, however, did not fall, but lay +like a spread eagle in the upper branches. Wasoga were called to +climb the tree and pull it down; whilst the king, in ecstasies of +joy and excitement, rushed up and down the potato-field like a +mad bull, jumping and plunging, waving and brandishing the gun +above his head; whilst the drums beat, the attendants all woh- +wohed, and the women, joining with their lord, rushed about +lullalooing and dancing like insane creatures. Then began +congratulations and hand-shakings, and, finally, the inspection +of the bird, which, by this time, the Wasoga had thrown down. +Oh! oh! what a wonder! Its wings outspread reached further than +the height of a man; we must go and show it to the brothers. +Even that was not enough--we must show it to the mother; and away +we all rattled as fast as our legs could carry us. + +Arrived at the queen's palace, out of respect to his mother, the +king changed his European clothes for a white kid-skin wrapper, +and then walked in to see her, leaving us waiting outside. By +this time Colonel Congow, in his full-dress uniform, had arrived +in the square outside, with his regiment drawn up in review +order. The king, hearing the announcement, at once came out with +spears and shield, preceded by the bird, and took post, standing +armed, by the entrance, encircled by his staff, all squatting, +when the adjutant was placed in the middle of the company. +Before us was a large open square, with the huts of the queen's +Kamraviona or commander-in- chief beyond. The battalion, +consisting of what might be termed three companies, each +containing 200 men, being drawn up on the left extremity of the +parade-ground, received orders to march past in single file from +the right of companies, at a long trot, and re-form again at the +other end of the square. + +Nothing conceivable could be more wild or fantastic than the +sight which ensued--the men all nearly naked, with goat or cat +skins depending from their girdles, and smeared with war colours +according to the taste of each individual; one-half of the body +red or black, the other blue, not in regular order--as, for +instance, one stocking would be red, the other black, whilst the +breeches above would be the opposite colours, and so with the +sleeves and waistcoat. Every man carried the same arms--two +spears and one shield--held as if approaching an enemy, and they +thus moved in three lines of single rank and file, at fifteen to +twenty paces asunder, with the same high action and elongated +step, the ground leg only being bent, to give their strides the +greater force. After the men had all started, the captains of +companies followed, even more fantastically dressed; and last of +all came the great Colonel Congow, a perfect Robinson Crusoe, +with his long white-haired goat-skins, a fiddle-shaped leather +shield, tufted with white hair at all six extremities, bands of +long hair tied below the knees, and a magnificent helmet, covered +with rich beads of every colour, in excellent taste, surmounted +with a plume of crimson feathers, from the centre of which rose a +bent stem, tufted with goat-hair. Next they charged in companies +to and fro; and, finally, the senior officers came charging at +their king, making violent professions of faith and honesty, for +which they were applauded. The parade then broke up, and all went +home. + +26th.--One of king Mtesa's officers now consenting to go to +N'yama Goma with some of my men, I sent Grant a quarter of goat. +The reply brought to me was, that he was very thankful for it; +that he cooked it and ate it on the spot; and begged I would see +the king, to get him released from that starving place. Rozaro +was given over to the custody of Kitunzi for punishment. At the +same time, the queen, having heard of the outrages committed +against her brother and women, commanded that neither my men nor +any of Rozaro's should get any more food at the palace; for as we +all came to Uganda in one body, so all alike were, by her logic, +answerable for the offence. I called at the palace for +explanation but could not obtain admittance because I would not +fire the gun. + +27th.--The king sent to say he wanted medicine to propitiate +lightning. I called and described the effects of a lightning- +rod, and tried to enter into the Unyoro business, wishing to go +there at once myself. He objected, because he had not seen +Grant, but appointed an officer to go through Unyoro on to Gani, +and begged I would also send men with letters. Our talk was +agreeably interrupted by guns in the distance announcing Grant's +arrival, and I took my leave to welcome my friend. How we +enjoyed ourselves after so much anxiety and want of one another's +company, I need not describe. For my part, I was only too +rejoiced to see Grant could limp about a bit, and was able to +laugh over the picturesque and amusing account he gave me of his +own rough travels. + +28th.--The king in the morning sent Budja, his ambassador, with +Kamrasi's Kidgwiga, over to me for my men and letters, to go to +Kamrasi's again and ask for the road to Gani. I wished to speak +to the king first, but they said they had no orders to stop for +that, and walked straight away. I sent the king a present of a +double-barrelled gun and ammunition, and received in answer a +request that both Grant and myself would attend a levee, which he +was to hold in state, accompanied by his bodyguard, as when I was +first presented to him. In the afternoon we proceeded to court +accordingly, but found it scantily attended; and after the first +sitting, which was speedily over, retired to another court, and +saw the women. Of this dumb show the king soon got tired; he +therefore called for his iron chair, and entered into +conversation, at first about the ever-engrossing subject of +stimulants, till we changed it by asking him how he liked the +gun? He pronounced it a famous weapon, which he would use +intensely. We then began to talk in a general way about Suwarora +and Rumanika, as well as the road through Unyamuezi, which we +hoped would soon cease to exist, and be superseded by one through +Unyoro. + +It will be kept in view that the hanging about at this court, and +all the perplexing and irritating negotiations here described, +had always one end in view--that of reaching the Nile where it +pours out of the N'yanza, as I was long certain that it did. +Without the consent and even the aid of this capricious barbarian +I was now talking to, such a project was hopeless. I naturally +seized every opportunity for putting in a word in the direction +of my great object, and here seemed to be an opportunity. We now +ventured on a plump application for boats that we might feel our +way to Gani by water, supposing the lake and river to be +navigable all the way; and begged Kitunzi might be appointed to +accompany us, in order that whatever was done might be done all +with good effect in opening up a new line of commerce, by which +articles of European manufacture might find a permanent route to +Uganda. It was "no go," however. The appeal, though listened to, +and commented on, showing that it was well understood, got no +direct reply. It was not my policy to make our object appear too +important to ourselves, so I had to appear tolerably indifferent, +and took the opportunity to ask for my paint-box, which he had +borrowed for a day and had kept in his possession for months. I +got no answer to that request either, but was immediately dunned +for the compass, which had been promised on Grant's arrival. +Now, with a promise that the compass would be sent him in the +morning, he said he would see what pombe his women could spare +us; and, bidding good evening, walked away. + +29th.--I sent Bombay with the compass, much to the delight of the +king, who no sooner saw it than he jumped and woh-wohed with +intense excitement at the treasure he had gained, said it was the +greatest present Bana had ever given him, for it was the thing by +which he found out all the roads and countries--it was, in fact, +half his knowledge; and the parting with it showed plainly that +Bana entertained an everlasting friendship for him. The king +then called Maula, and said, "Maula, indeed you have spoken the +truth; there is nothing like this instrument," etc., etc., +repeating what he had already told Bombay. In the evening, the +king, accompanied by all his brothers, with iron chair and box, +came to visit us, and inspected all Grant's recently brought +pictures of the natives, with great acclamation. We did not give +him anything this time, but, instead, dunned him for the paint- +box, and afterwards took a walk to my observatory hill, where I +acted as guide. On the summit of this hill the king instructed +his brothers on the extent of his dominions; and as I asked where +Lubari or God resides, he pointed to the skies. + +30th.--The king at last sent the paint-box, with some birds of +his own shooting, which he wished painted. He also wanted +himself drawn, and all Grant's pictures copied. Then, to wind up +these mild requests, a demand was made for more powder, and that +all our guns be sent to the palace for inspection. + +31st.--I drew a large white and black hornbill and a green pigeon +sent by himself; but he was not satisfied; he sent more birds, +and wanted to see my shoes. The pages who came with the second +message, however, proving impertinent, got a book flung at their +heads, and a warning to be off, as I intended to see the king +myself, and ask for food to keep my ever-complaining Wanguana +quiet. Proceeding to the palace, as I found Mtesa had gone out +shooting, I called on the Kamraviona, complained that my camp was +starving, and as I had nothing left to give the king said I +wished to leave the country. Ashamed of its being supposed that +his king would not give me any food because I had no more +presents to give him, the Kamraviona, from his own stores, gave +me a goat and pombe, and said he would speak to the king on the +subject. + +1st.--I drew for the king a picture of a guinea-fowl which he +shot in the early morning, and proceeded on a visit with Grant to +the queen's, accompanied only by seven men, as the rest preferred +foraging for themselves, to the chance of picking up a few +plantains at her majesty's. After an hour's waiting, the queen +received us with smiles, and gave pombe and plantains to her new +visitor, stating pointedly she had none for me. There was deep +Uganda policy in this: it was for the purpose of treating Grant +as a separate, independent person, and so obtaining a fresh hongo +or tax. Laughing at the trick, I thanked her for the beer, +taking it personally on my household, and told her when my +property arrived from Karague, she should have a few more things +as I promised her; but the men sent had neither brought my +brother in a vessel, as they were ordered, not did they bring my +property from Karague. + +Still the queen was not content: she certainly expected something +from Grant, if it was ever so little, for she was entitled to it, +and would not listen to our being one house. Turning the +subject, to put in a word for my great object, I asked her to use +her influence in opening the road to Gani, as, after all, that +was the best way to get new things into Uganda. Cunning as a +fox, the queen agreed to this project, provided Grant remained +behind, for she had not seen enough of him yet, and she would +speak to her son about the matter in the morning. + +This was really the first gleam of hope, and I set to putting our +future operations into a shape that might lead to practical +results without alarming our capricious host. I thought that +whilst I could be employed in inspecting the river, and in +feeling the route by water to Gani, Grant could return to Karague +by water, bringing up our rear traps, and, in navigating the +lake, obtain the information he had been frustrated in getting by +the machinations of his attendant Maribu. It was agreed to, and +all seemed well; for there was much left to be done in Uganda and +Usoga, if we could only make sure of communicating once with +Petherick. Before going home we had some more polite +conversation, during which the queen played with a toy in the +shape of a cocoa du mer, studded all over with cowries: this was +a sort of doll, or symbol of a baby and her dandling it was held +to indicate that she would ever remain a widow. In the evening +the king returned all our rifles and guns, with a request for one +of them; as also for the iron chair he sat upon when calling on +us, an iron bedstead, and the Union Jack, for he did not honour +us with a visit for nothing; and the head page was sent to +witness the transfer of the goods, and see there was no humbug +about it. It was absolutely necessary to get into a rage, and +tell the head page we did not come to Uganda to be swindled in +that manner, and he might tell the king I would not part with one +of them. + +2d.--K'yengo, who came with Grant, now tried to obtain an +interview with the king, but could not get admission. I had some +further trouble about the disposal of the child Meri, who said +she never before had lived in a poor man's house since she was +born. I thought to content her by offering to marry her to one of +Rumanika's sons, a prince of her own breed, but she would not +listen to the proposal. + +3d.--For days past, streams of men have been carrying faggots of +firewood, clean-cut timber, into the palaces of the king, queen, +and the Kamraviona; and to-day, on calling on the king, I found +him engaged having these faggots removed by Colonel Mkavia's +regiment from one court into another, this being his way of +ascertaining their quantity, instead of counting them. About +1600 men were engaged on this service, when the king, standing on +a carpet in front of the middle hut of the first court, with two +spears in his hand and his dog by his side, surrounded by his +brothers and a large staff of officers, gave orders for the +regiment to run to and fro in column, that he might see them +well; then turning to his staff, ordered them to run up and down +the regiment, and see what they thought of it. This ridiculous +order set them all flying, and soon they returned, charging at +the king with their sticks, dancing and jabbering that their +numbers were many, he was the greatest king on earth, and their +lives and services were his for ever. The regiment now received +orders to put down their faggots, and, taking up their own sticks +in imitation of spears, followed the antics of their officers in +charging and vociferating. Next, Mkavia presented five hairy +Usoga goats, n'yanzigging and performing the other appropriate +ceremonies. On asking the king if he had any knowledge of the +extent of his army, he merely said, "How can I, when these you +see are a portion of them just ordered here to carry wood?" + +The regiment was now dismissed; but the officers were invited to +follow the king into another court, when he complimented them on +assembling so many men; they, instead of leaving well alone, +foolishly replied they were sorry they were not more numerous, as +some of the men lived so far away they shirked the summons; +Maula, then, ever forward in mischief, put a cap on it by saying, +if he could only impress upon the Waganda to listen to his +orders, there would never be a deficiency. Upon which the king +said, "If they fail to obey you, they disobey me; for I have +appointed you as my orderly, and thereby you personify the orders +of the king." Up jumped Maula in a moment as soon as these words +were uttered, charging with his stick, then floundering and +n'yanzigging as if he had been signally rewarded. I expected +some piece of cruel mischief to come of all this, but the king, +in his usual capricious way, suddenly rising, walked off to a +third court, followed only by a select few. + +Here, turning to me, he said, "Bana, I love you, because you have +come so far to see me, and have taught me so many things since +you have been here." Rising, with my hand to my heart, and +gracefully bowing at this strange announcement--for at that +moment I was full of hunger and wrath--I intimated I was much +flattered at hearing it, but as my house was in a state of +starvation, I trusted he would consider it. "What!" said he, "do +you want goats?" "Yes, very much." The pages then received +orders to furnish me with ten that moment, as the king's farmyard +was empty, and he would reimburse them as soon as more +confiscations took place. But this, I said, was not enough; the +Wanguana wanted plantains, for they had received none these +fifteen days. "What!" said the king, turning to his pages again, +"have you given these men no plantains, as I ordered? Go and +fetch them this moment, and pombe too, for Bana." + +The subject then turned on the plan I had formed of going to Gani +by water, and of sending Grant to Karague by the lake; but the +king's mind was fully occupied with the compass I had given him. +He required me to explain its use, and then broke up the meeting. + +4th.--Viarungi, an officer sent by Rumanika to escort Grant to +Uganda, as well as to apply to king Mtesa for a force to fight +his brother Rogero, called on me with Rozaro, and said he had +received instructions from his king to apply to me for forty cows +and two slave-boys, because the Arabs who pass through his +country to Uganda always make him a present of that sort after +receiving them from Mtesa. After telling him we English never +give the presents they have received away to any one, and never +make slaves, but free them, I laid a complaint against Rozaro for +having brought much trouble and disgrace upon my camp, as well as +much trouble on myself, and begged that he might be removed from +my camp. Rozaro then attempted to excuse himself, but without +success, and said he had already detached his residence from my +camp, and taken up a separate residence with Viarungi, his +superior officer. + +I called on the king in the afternoon, and found the pages had +already issued plantains for my men and pombe for myself. The +king addressed me with great cordiality, and asked if I wished to +go to Gani. I answered him with all promptitude,--Yes, at once, +with some of his officers competent to judge of the value of all +I point out to them for future purposes in keeping the road +permanently open. His provoking capriciousness, however, again +broke in, and he put me off till his messengers should return +from Unyoro. I told him his men had gone in vain, for Budja left +without my letter or my men; and further, that the river route is +the only one that will ever be of advantage to Uganda, and the +sooner it was opened up the better. I entreated him to listen to +my advice, and send some of my men to Kamrasi direct, to acquaint +him with my intention to go down the river in boats to him; but I +could get no answer to this. Bombay then asked for cows for the +Wanguana, getting laughed at for his audacity, and the king broke +up the court and walked away. + +5th.--I started on a visit to the queen, but half-way met Congow, +who informed me he had just escorted her majesty from his house, +where she was visiting, to her palace. By way of a joke and +feeler, I took it in my head to try, by taking a harmless rise +out of Congow, whether the Nile is understood by the natives to +be navigable near its exit from the N'yanza. I told him he had +been appointed by the king to escort us down the river to Gani. +He took the affair very seriously, delivering himself to the +following purport: "Well, then, my days are numbered; for if I +refuse compliance I shall lose my head; and if I attempt to pass +Kamrasi's, which is on the river, I shall lose my life; for I am +a marked man there, having once led an army past his palace and +back again. It would be no use calling it a peaceful mission, as +you propose; for the Wanyoro distrust the Waganda to such an +extent, they would fly to arms at once." + +Proceeding to the queen's palace, we met Murondo, who had once +travelled to the Masai frontier. He said it would take a month +to go in boats from Kira, the most easterly district in Uganda, +to Masai, where there is another N'yanza, joined by a strait to +the big N'yanza, which king Mtesa's boats frequent for salt; but +the same distance could be accomplished in four days overland, +and three days afterwards by boat. The queen, after keeping us +all day waiting, sent three bunches of plantains and a pot of +pombe, with a message that she was too tired to receive visitors, +and hoped we would call another day. + +6th.--I met Pokino, the governor-general of Uddu, in the +morning's walk, who came here at the same time as Grant to visit +the king, and was invited into his house to drink pombe. His +badge of office is an iron hatchet, inlaid with copper and +handled with ivory. He wished to give us a cow, but put it off +for another day, and was surprised we dared venture into his +premises without permission from the king. After this, we called +at the palace, just as the king was returning from a walk with +his brothers. He saw us, and sent for Bana. We entered, and +presented him with some pictures, which he greatly admired, +looked at close and far, showed to the brothers, and inspected +again. Pokino at this time came in with a number of well-made +shields, and presented them grovelling and n'yanzigging; but +though the governor of an important province, who had not been +seen by the king for years, he was taken no more notice of than +any common Mkungu. A plan of the lake and Nile, which I brought +with me to explain our projects for reaching Karague and Gani, +engaged the king's attention for a while; but still he would not +agree to let anything be done until the messenger returned from +Unyoro. Finding him inflexible, I proposed sending a letter, +arranging that his men should be under the guidance of my men +after they pass Unyoro on the way to Gani; and this was acceded +to, provided I should write a letter to Petherick by the morrow. +I then tried to teach the king the use of the compass. To make a +stand for it, I turned a drum on its head, when all the courtiers +flew at me as if to prevent an outrage, and the king laughed. I +found that, as the instrument was supposed to be a magic charm of +very wonderful powers, my meddling with it and treating it as an +ordinary movable was considered a kind of sacrilege. + +7th.--I wrote a letter to Petherick, but the promised Wakungu +never came for it. As K'yengo was ordered to attend court with +Rumanika's hongo, consisting of a few wires, small beads, and a +cloth I gave him, as well as a trifle from Nnanji, I sent Bombay, +in place of going myself, to remind the king of his promises for +the Wakungu to Gani, as well as for boats to Karague, but a grunt +was the only reply which my messenger said he obtained. + +8th.--Calling at the palace, I found the king issuing for a walk, +and joined him, when he suddenly turned round in the rudest +manner, re-entered his palace, and left me to go home without +speaking a word. The capricious creature then reissued, and, +finding me gone, inquired after me, presuming I ought to have +waited for him. + +9th.--During the night, when sleeping profoundly, some person +stealthily entered my hut and ran off with a box of bullets +towards the palace, but on the way dropped his burden. Maula, on +the way home, happening to see it, and knowing it to be mine, +brought it back again. I stayed at home, not feeling well. + +10th.--K'yengo paid his hongo in wire to the king, and received a +return of six cows. Still at home, an invalid, I received a +visit from Meri, who seemed to have quite recovered herself. +Speaking of her present quarters, she said she loved Uledi's wife +very much, thinking birds of a feather ought to live together. +She helped herself to a quarter of mutton, and said she would +come again. + +11th.--To-day Viarungi, finding Rozaro's men had stolen thirty +cows, twelve slaves, and a load of mbugu from the Waganda, laid +hands on them himself for Rumanika, instead of giving them to +King Mtesa. Such are the daily incidents among our neighbours. + +12th.--At night a box of ammunition and a bag of shot, which were +placed out as a reserve present for the king, to be given on our +departure, were stolen, obviously by the king's boys, and most +likely by the king's orders; for he is the only person who could +have made any use of them, and his boys alone know the way into +the hut; besides which, the previous box of bullets was found on +the direct road to the palace, while it was well known that no +one dared to touch an article of European manufacture without the +consent of the king. + +13th.--I sent a message to the king about the theft, requiring +him, if an honest man, to set his detectives to work, and ferret +it out; his boys, at the same time, to show our suspicions, were +peremptorily forbidden ever to enter the hut again. Twice the +king sent down a hasty message to say he was collecting all his +men to make a search, and, if they do not succeed, the Mganga +would be sent; but nothing was done. The Kamraviona was sharply +rebuked by the king for allowing K'yengo to visit him before +permission was given, and thus defrauding the royal exchequer of +many pretty things, which were brought for majesty alone. At +night the rascally boys returned again to plunder, but Kahala, +more wakeful than myself, heard them trying to untie the door- +handle, and frightened them away in endeavouring to awaken me. + +14th and 15th.--Grant, doing duty for me, tried a day's penance +at the palace, but though he sat all day in the ante-chamber, and +musicians were ordered into the presence, nobody called for him. +K'yengo was sent with all his men on a Wakungu-seizing +expedition, --a good job for him, as it was his perquisite to +receive the major part of the plunder himself. + +16th.--I sent Kahala out of the house, giving her finally over to +Bombay as a wife, because she preferred playing with dirty little +children to behaving like a young lady, and had caught the itch. +This was much against her wish, and the child vowed she would not +leave me until force compelled her; but I had really no other way +of dealing with the remnant of the awkward burden which the +queen's generosity had thrown on me. K'yengo went to the palace +with fifty prisoners; but as the king had taken his women to the +small pond, where he has recently placed a tub canoe for purposes +of amusement, they did no business. + +17th.--I took a first convalescent walk. The king, who was out +shooting all day, begged for powder in the evening. Uledi +returned from his expedition against a recusant officer at +Kituntu, bringing with him a spoil of ten women. It appeared +that the officer himself had bolted from his landed possessions, +and as they belonged to "the church," or were in some way or +other sacred from civil execution, they could not be touched, so +that Uledi lost an estate which the king had promised him. We +heard that Ilmas, wife of Majanja, who, as I already mentioned, +had achieved an illustrious position by services at the birth of +the king, had been sent to visit the late king Sunna's tomb, +whence, after observing certain trees which were planted, and +divining by mystic arts what the future state of Uganda required, +she would return at a specific time, to order the king at the +time of his coronation either to take the field with an army, to +make a pilgrimage, or to live a life of ease at home; whichever +of these courses the influence of the ordeal at the grave might +prompt her to order, must be complied with by the king. + +18th.--I called at the palace with Grant, taking with us some +pictures of soldiers, horses, elephants, etc. We found the guard +fighting over their beef and plantain dinner. Bombay remarked +that this daily feeding on beef would be the lot of the Wanguana +if they had no religious scruples about the throat-cutting of +animals for food. This, I told him, was all their own fault, for +they have really no religion or opinions of their own; and had +they been brought up in England instead of Africa, it would have +been all the other way with them as a matter of course; but +Bombay replied, "We could no more throw off the Mussulman faith +than you could yours." A man with a maniacal voice sang and +whistled by turns. Katumba, the officer of the guards, saw our +pictures, and being a favourite, acquainted the king, which +gained us an admittance. + +We found his majesty sitting on the ground, within a hut, behind +a portal, encompassed by his women, and took our seats outside. +At first all was silence, till one told the king we had some +wonderful pictures to show him; in an instant he grew lively, +crying out, "Oh, let us see them!" and they were shown, Bombay +explaining. Three of the king's wives then came in, and offered +him their two virgin sisters, n'yanzigging incessantly, and +beseeching their acceptance, as by that means they themselves +would become doubly related to him. Nothing, however, seemed to +be done to promote the union, until one old lady, sitting by the +king's side, who was evidently learned in the etiquette and +traditions of the court, said, "Wait and see if he embraces, +otherwise you may know he is not pleased." At this announcement +the girls received a hint to pass on, and the king commenced +bestowing on them a series of huggings, first sitting on the lap +of one, whom he clasped to his bosom, crossing his neck with hers +to the right, then to the left, and, having finished with her, +took post in the second one's lap, then on that of the third, +performing on each of them the same evolutions. He then retired +to his original position, and the marriage ceremony was supposed +to be concluded, and the settlements adjusted, when all went on +as before. + +The pictures were again looked at, and again admired, when we +asked for a private interview on business, and drew the king +outside. I then begged he would allow me, whilst his men were +absent at Unyoro, to go to the Masai country, and see the Salt +Lake at the north-east corner of the N'yanza, and to lend me some +of his boats for Grant to fetch powder and beads from Karague. +This important arrangement being conceded by the king more +promptly than we expected, a cow, plantains, and pombe were +requested; but the cow only was given, though our men were said +to be feeding on grass. Taking the king, as it appeared, in a +good humour, to show him the abuses arising from the system of +allowing his guests to help themselves by force upon the +highways, I reported the late seizures made of thirty cows and +twelve slaves by the Wanyambo; but, though surprised to hear the +news, he merely remarked that there were indeed a great number of +visitors in Uganda. During this one day we heard the sad voice +of no less than four women, dragged from the palace to the +slaughter-house. + +19th.--To follow up our success in the marching question and keep +the king to his promise, I called at his palace, but found he had +gone out shooting. To push my object further, I then marched off +to the queen's to bid her good-bye, as if we were certain to +leave the next day; but as no one would dare to approach her +cabinet to apprise her of our arrival, we returned home tired and +annoyed. + +20th.--The king sent for us at noon; but when we reached the +palace we found he had started on a shooting tour; so, to make +the best of our time, we called again upon the queen for the same +purpose as yesterday, as also to get my books of birds and +animals, which, taken merely to look at for a day or so, had been +kept for months. After hours of waiting, her majesty appeared +standing in an open gateway; beckoned us to advance, and offered +pombe; then, as two or three drops of rain fell, she said she +could not stand the violence of the weather, and forthwith +retired without one word being obtained. An officer, however, +venturing in for the books, at length I got them. + +21st.--To-day I went to the palace, but found no one; the king +was out shooting again. + +22d.--We resolved to-day to try on a new political influence at +the court. Grant had taken to the court of Karague a jumping- +jack, to amuse the young princes; but it had a higher destiny, +for it so fascinated the king Rumanika himself that he would not +part with it --unless, indeed, Grant would make him a big one out +of a tree which was handed to him for the purpose. We resolved +to try the influence of such a toy on king Mtesa, and brought +with us, in addition, a mask and some pictures. But although the +king took a visiting card, the gate was never opened to us. +Finding this, and the day closing, we deposited the mask and +pictures on a throne, and walked away. We found that we had thus +committed a serious breach of state etiquette; for the guard, as +soon as they saw what we had done, seized the Wanguana for our +offences in defiling the royal seat, and would have bound them, +had they not offered to return the articles to us. + +23d.--Early in the morning, hearing the royal procession marching +off on a shooting excursion, we sent Bombay running after it with +the mask and pictures, to aquaint the king with our desire to see +him, and explain that we had been four days successively foiled +in attempts to find him in his palace, our object being an eager +wish to come to some speedy understanding about the appointed +journeys to the Salt Lake and Karague. The toys produced the +desired effect; for the king stopped and played with them, making +Bombay and the pages don the masks by turns. He appointed the +morrow for an interview, at the same time excusing himself for +not having seen us yesterday on the plea of illness. In the +evening Kahala absconded with another little girl of the camp in +an opposite direction from the one she took last time; but as +both of them wandered about not knowing where to go to, and as +they omitted to take off all their finery, they were soon +recognised as in some way connected with my party, taken up, and +brought into camp, where they were well laughed at for their +folly, and laughed in turn at the absurdity of their futile +venture. + +24th.--Hoping to keep the king to his promise, I went to the +palace early, but found he had already gone to see his brothers, +so followed him down, and found him engaged playing on a +harmonicon with them. Surprised at my intrusion, he first asked +how I managed to find him out; then went on playing for a while; +but suddenly stopping to talk with me, he gave me an opportunity +of telling him I wished to send Grant off to Karague, and start +myself for Usoga and the Salt Lake in the morning. "What! going +away?" said the king, as if he had never heard a word about it +before; and then, after talking the whole subject over again, +especially dwelling on the quantity of powder I had in store at +Karague, he promised to send the necessary officers for escorting +us on our respective journeys in the morning. + +The brothers' wives then wished to see me, and came before us, +when I had to take off my hat and shoes as usual, my ready +compliance inducing the princes to pass various compliments of my +person and disposition. The brothers then showed me a stool made +of wood after the fashion of our sketching-stool, and a gun-cover +of leather, made by themselves, of as good workmanship as is to +be found in India. The king then rose, followed by his brothers, +and we all walked off to the pond. The effect of stimulants was +mooted, as well as other physiological phenomena, when a second +move took us to the palace by torchlight, and the king showed a +number of new huts just finished and beautifully made. Finally, +he settled down to a musical concert, in which he took the lead +himself. At eight o'clock, being tired and hungry, I reminded +the king of his promises, and he appointed the morning to call on +him for the Wakungu, and took leave. + +25th.--Makinga, hearing of the intended march through Usoga, was +pleased to say he would like to join my camp and spend his time +in buying slaves and ivory there. I went to the palace for the +promised escort, but was no sooner announced by the pages than +the king walked off into the interior of his harem, and left me +no alternative but to try my luck with the Kamraviona, who, +equally proud with his master, would not answer my call,--and so +another day was lost. + +26th.--This morning we had the assuring intelligence from Kaddu +that he had received orders to hold himself in readiness for a +voyage to Karague in twenty boats with Grant, but the date of +departure was not fixed. The passage was expected to be rough, +as the water off the mouth of the Kitangule Kagera (river) always +runs high, so that no boats can go there except at night, when +the winds of day subside, and are replaced by the calms of night. +I called at the palace, but saw nothing of the king, though the +court was full of officials; and there were no less than 150 +women, besides girls, goats, and various other things, seizures +from refractory state officers, who, it was said, had been too +proud to present themselves at court for a period exceeding +propriety. + +All these creatures, I was assured, would afterwards be given +away as return-presents for the hongos or presents received from +the king's visitors. No wonder the tribes of Africa are mixed +breeds. Amongst the officers in waiting was my friend Budja, the +ambassador that had been sent to Unyoro with Kidgwiga, Kamrasi's +deputy. He had returned three days before, but had not yet seen +the king. As might have been expected, he said he had been +anything but welcomed in Unyoro. Kamrasi, after keeping him +half-starved and in suspense eight days, sent a message--for he +would not see him--that he did not desire any communication with +blackguard Waganda thieves, and therefore advised him, if he +valued his life, to return by the road by which he came as +speedily as possible. Turning to Congow, I playfully told him +that, as the road through Unyoro was closed, he would have to go +with me through Usoga and Kidi; but the gallant colonel merely +shuddered, and said that would be a terrible undertaking. + +27th.--The king would not show, for some reason or other, and we +still feared to fire guns lest he should think our store of +powder inexhaustible, and so keep us here until he had extorted +the last of it. I found that the Waganda have the same absurd +notion here as the Wanyambo have in Karague, of Kamrasi's +supernatural power in being able to divide the waters of the Nile +in the same manner as Moses did the Red Sea. + +28th.--The king sent a messenger-boy to inform us that he had +just heard from Unyoro that the white men were still at Gani +inquiring after us; but nothing was said of Budja's defeat. I +sent Bombay immediately off to tell him we had changed our plans, +and now simply required a large escort to accompany us through +Usoga and Kidi to Gani, as further delay in communicating with +Petherick might frustrate all chance of opening the Nile trade +with Uganda. He answered that he would assemble all his officers +in the morning to consult with them on the subject, when he hoped +we would attend, as he wished to further our views. A herd of +cows, about eighty in number, were driven in from Unyoro, showing +that the silly king was actually robbing Kamrasi at the same time +that he was trying to treat with him. K'yengo informed us that +the king, considering the surprising events which had lately +occurred at his court, being very anxious to pry into the future, +had resolved to take a very strong measure for accomplishing that +end. This was the sacrifice of a child by cooking, as described +in the introduction--a ceremony which it fell to K'yengo to carry +out. + +29th.--To have two strings to my bow, and press our departure as +hotly as possible, I sent first Frij off with Nasib to the queen, +conveying, as a parting present, a block-tin brush-box, a watch +without a key, two sixpenny pocket-handkerchiefs, and a white +towel, with an intimation that we were going, as the king had +expressed his desire of sending us to Gani. Her majesty accepted +the present, finding fault with the watch for not ticking like +the king's, and would not believe her son Mtesa had been so hasty +in giving us leave to depart, as she had not been consulted on +the subject yet. Setting off to attend the king at his appointed +time, I found the Kamraviona already there, with a large court +attendance, patiently awaiting his majesty's advent. As we were +all waiting on, I took a rise out of the Kamraviona by telling +him I wanted a thousand men to march with me through Kidi to +Gani. Surprised at the extent of my requisition, he wished to +know if my purpose was fighting. I made him a present of the +great principle that power commands respect, and it was to +prevent any chance of fighting that we required so formidable an +escort. His reply was that he would tell the king; and he +immediately rose and walked away home. + +K'yengo and the representatives of Usui and Karague now arrived +by order of the king to bid farewell, and received the slaves and +cattle lately captured. As I was very hungry, I set off home to +breakfast. Just as I had gone, the provoking king inquired after +me, and so brought me back again, though I never saw him the +whole day. K'yengo, however, was very communicative. He said he +was present when Sunna, with all the forces he could muster, +tried to take the very countries I now proposed to travel +through; but, though in person exciting his army to victory, he +could make nothing of it. He advised my returning to Karague, +when Rumanika would give me an escort through Nkole to Unyoro; +but finding that did not suit my views, as I swore I would never +retrace one step, he proposed my going by boat to Unyoro, +following down the Nile. + +This, of course, was exactly what I wanted; but how could king +Mtesa, after the rebuff he had received from Kamrasi be induced +to consent to it? My intention, I said, was to try the king on +the Usoga and Kidi route first, then on the Masai route to +Zanzibar, affecting perfect indifference about Kamrasi; and all +those failing--which, of course, they would--I would ask for +Unyoro as a last and only resource. Still I could not see the +king to open my heart to him, and therefore felt quite +nonplussed. "Oh," says K'yengo, "the reason why you do not see +him is merely because he is Ashamed to show his face, having made +so many fair promises to you which he knows he can never carry +out: bide your time, and all will be well." At 4 p.m., as no +hope of seeing the king was left, all retired. + +30th.--Unexpectedly, and for reasons only known to himself, the +king sent us a cow and load of butter, which had been asked for +many days ago. The new moon seen last night kept the king +engaged at home, paying his devotions with his magic horns or +fetishes in the manner already described. The spirit of this +religion--if such it can be called--is not so much adoration of a +Being supreme and beneficent, as a tax to certain malignant +furies--a propitiation, in fact, to prevent them bringing evil on +the land, and to insure a fruitful harvest. It was rather +ominous that hail fell with violence, and lightning burnt down +one of the palace huts, while the king was in the midst of his +propitiatory devotions. + +1st.--As Bombay was ordered to the palace to instruct the king in +the art of casting bullets, I primed him well to plead for the +road, and he reported to me the results, thus: First, he asked +one thousand men to go through Kidi. This the king said was +impracticable, as the Waganda had tried it so often before +without success. Then, as that could not be managed, what would +the king devise himself? Bana only proposed the Usoga and Kidi +route, because he thought it would be to the advantage of Uganda. +"Oh," says the king, cunningly, "if Bana merely wishes to see +Usoga, he can do so, and I will send a suitable escort, but no +more." To this Bombay replied, "Bana never could return; he would +sooner do anything than return--even penetrate the Masai to +Zanzibar, or go through Unyoro"; to which the king, ashamed of +his impotence, hung down his head and walked away. + +In the meanwhile, and whilst this was going on at the king's +palace, I went with Grant, by appointment, to see the queen. As +usual, she kept us waiting some time, then appeared sitting by an +open gate, and invited us, together with many Wakungu and +Wasumbua to approach. Very lavish with stale sour pombe, she +gave us all some, saving the Wasumbua, whom she addressed very +angrily, asking what they wanted, as they have been months in the +country. These poor creatures, in a desponding mood, defended +themselves by saying, which was quite true, that they had left +their homes in Sorombo to visit her, and to trade. They had, +since their arrival in the country, been daily in attendance at +her palace, but never had the good fortune to see her excepting +on such lucky occasions as brought the Wazungu (white men) here, +when she opened her gates to them, but otherwise kept them shut. +The queen retorted, "And what have you brought me, pray? where is +it? Until I touch it you will neither see me nor obtain +permission to trade. Uganda is no place for idle vagabonds." We +then asked for a private interview, when, a few drops of rain +falling, the queen walked away, and we had orders to wait a +little. During this time two boys were birched by the queen's +orders, and an officer was sent out to inquire why the watch he +had given her did not go. This was easily explained. It had no +key; and, never losing sight of the main object, we took +advantage of the opportunity to add, that if she did not approve +of it, we could easily exchange it for another on arrival at +Gani, provided she would send an officer with us. + +The queen, squatting within her hut, now ordered both Grant and +myself to sit outside and receive a present of five eggs and one +cock each, saying coaxingly, "These are for my children." Then +taking out the presents, she learned the way of wearing her watch +with a tape guard round her neck, reposing the instrument in her +bare bosom, and of opening and shutting it, which so pleased her, +that she declared it quite satisfactory. The key was quite a +minor consideration, for she could show it to her attendants just +as well without one. The towel and handkerchiefs were also very +beautiful, but what use could they be put to? "Oh, your majesty, +to wipe the mouth after drinking pombe." "Of course," is the +reply --"excellent; I won't use a mbugu napkin any more, but have +one of these placed on my cup when it is brought to drink, and +wipe my mouth with it afterwards. But what does Bana want?" +"The road to Gani," says Bombay for me. "The king won't see him +when he goes to The palace, so now he comes here, trusting your +superior influence and good-nature will be more practicable." +"Oh!" says her majesty, "Bana does not know the facts of the +case. My son has tried all the roads without success, and now he +is ashamed to meet Bana face to face." "Then what is to be done, +your majesty?" "Bana must go back to Karague and wait for a +year, until my son is crowned, when he will make friends with the +surrounding chiefs, and the roads will be opened." "But Bana +says he will not retrace one step; he would sooner lose his +life." "Oh, that's nonsense! he must not be headstrong; but +before anything more can be said, I will send a message to my +son, and Bana can then go with Kaddu, K'yengo, and Viarungi, and +tell all they have to say to Mtesa to-morrow, and the following +day return to me, when everything will be concluded." We all now +left but Kaddu and some of the queen's officers, who waited for +the message to her son about us. To judge from Kaddu, it must +have been very different from what she led us to expect, as, on +joining us, he said there was not the smallest chance of our +getting the road we required, for the queen was so decided about +it no further argument would be listened to. + +2d.--Three goats were stolen, and suspicion falling on the king's +cooks, who are expert foragers, we sent to the Kamraviona, and +asked him to order out the Mganga; but his only reply was, that +he often loses goats in the same way. He sent us one of his own +for present purposes, and gave thirty baskets of potatoes to my +men. As the king held a court, and broke it up before 8 a.m., +and no one would go there for fear of his not appearing again, I +waited, till the evening for Bombay, Kaddu, K'yengo, and +Viarungi, when, finding them drunk, I went by myself, fired a +gun, and was admitted to where the king was hunting guinea-fowl. +On seeing me, he took me affectionately by the hand, and, as we +walked along together, he asked me what I wanted, showed me the +house which was burnt down, and promised to settle the road +question in the morning. + +3d.--With Kaddu, K'yengo, and Viarungi all in attendance, we went +to the palace, where there was a large assemblage prepared for a +levee, and fired a gun, which brought the king out in state. The +Sakibobo, or provincial governor, arrived with a body of soldiers +armed with sticks, made a speech, and danced at the head of his +men, all pointing sticks upwards, and singing fidelity to their +king. + +The king then turned to me, and said, "I have come out to listen +to your request of last night. What is it you do want?" I said, +"To open the country to the north, that an uninterrupted line of +commerce might exist between England and this country by means of +the Nile. I might go round by Nkole" (K'yengo looked daggers at +me); "but that is out of the way, and not suitable to the +purpose." The queen's deputation was now ordered to draw near, +and questioned in a whisper. As K'yengo was supposed to know all +about me, and spoke fluently both in Kiganda and Kisuahili, he +had to speak first; but K'yengo, to everybody's surprise, said, +"One white man wishes to go to Kamrasi's, whilst the other wishes +to return through Unyamuezi." This announcement made the king +reflect; for he had been privately primed by his mother's +attendants, that we both wished to go to Gani, and therefore +shrewdly inquired if Rumanika knew we wished to visit Kamrasi, +and whether he was aware we should attempt the passage north from +Uganda. "Oh yes! of course Bana wrote to Bana Mdogo" (the little +master) "as soon as he arrived in Uganda and told him and +Rumanika all about it." "Wrote! what does that mean?" and I was +called upon to explain. Mtesa, then seeing a flaw in K'yengo's +statements, called him a story-teller; ordered him and his party +away, and bade me draw near. + +The moment of triumph had come at last, and suddenly the road was +granted! The king presently let us see the motive by which he +had been influenced. He said he did not like having to send to +Rumanika for everything: he wanted his visitors to come to him +direct; moreover, Rumanika had sent him a message to the effect +that we were not to be shown anything out of Uganda, and when we +had done with it, were to be returned to him. Rumanika, indeed! +who cared about Rumanika? Was not Mtesa the king of the country, +to do as he liked? and we all laughed. Then the king, swelling +with pride, asked me whom I liked best--Rumanika or himself,--an +awkward question, which I disposed of by saying I liked Rumanika +very much because he spoke well, and was very communicative; but +I also liked Mtesa, because his habits were much like my own-- +fond of shooting and roaming about; whilst he had learned so many +things from my teaching, I must ever feel a yearning towards him. + +With much satisfaction I felt that my business was now done; for +Budja was appointed to escort us to Unyoro, and Jumba to prepare +us boats, that we might go all the way to Kamrasi's by water. +Viarungi made a petition, on Rumanika's behalf, for an army of +Waganda to go to Karague, and fight the refractory brother, +Rogero; but this was refused, on the plea that the whole army was +out fighting at the present moment. The court then broke up and +we went home. + +To keep the king up to the mark, and seal our passage, in the +evening I took a Lancaster rifle, with ammunition, and the iron +chair he formerly asked for, as a parting present, to the palace, +but did not find him, as he had gone out shooting with his +brothers. + +4th.--Grant and I now called together on the king to present the +rifle, chair, and ammunition, as we could not thank him in words +sufficiently for the favour he had done us in granting the road +through Unyoro. I said the parting gift was not half as much as +I should like to have been able to give; but we hoped, on +reaching Gani, to send Petherick up to him with everything that +he could desire. We regretted we had no more powder or shot, as +what was intended, and actually placed out expressly to be +presented on this occasion, was stolen. The king looked hard at +his head page, who was once sent to get these very things now +given, and then turning the subject adroitly, asked me how many +cows and women I would like, holding his hand up with spread +fingers, and desiring me to count by hundreds; but the reply was, +Five cows and goats would be enough, for we wished to travel +lightly in boats, starting from the Murchison Creek. Women were +declined on such grounds as would seem rational to him. But if +the king would clothe my naked men with one mbugu (bark cloth) +each, and give a small tusk each to nine Wanyamuezi porters, who +desired to return to their home, the obligation would be great. + +Everything was granted without the slightest hesitation; and then +the king, turning to me, said, "Well, Bana, so you really wish to +go?" "Yes, for I have not seen my home for four years and +upwards" --reckoning five months to the year, Uganda fashion. +"And you can give no stimulants?" "No." "Then you will send me +some from Gani-- brandy if you like; it makes people sleep sound, +and gives them strength." Next we went to the queen to bid her +farewell, but did not see her. + +On returning home I found half my men in a state of mutiny. They +had been on their own account to beg for the women and cows which +had been refused, saying, If Bana does not want them we do, for +we have been starved here ever since we came, and when we go for +food get broken heads; we will not serve with Bana any longer; +but as he goes north, we will return to Karague and Unyanyembe. +Bombay, however, told them they never had fed so well in all +their lives as they had in Uganda, counting from fifty to sixty +cows killed, and pombe and plantains every day, whenever they +took the trouble to forage; and for their broken heads they +invariably received a compensation in women; so that Bana had +reason to regret every day spent in asking for food for them at +the palace--a favour which none but his men received, but which +they had not, as they might have done, turned to good effect by +changing the system of plundering for food in Uganda. + +5th.--By the king's order we attended at the palace early. The +gun obtained us all a speedy admittance, when the king opened +conversation by saying, "Well, Bana, so you really are going?" +"Yes; I have enjoyed your hospitality for a long time, and now +wish to return to my home." "What provision do you want?" I +said, Five cows and five goats, as we shan't be long in Uganda; +and it is not the custom of our country, when we go visiting, to +carry anything away with us. The king then said, "Well, I wish +to give you much, but you won't have it"; when Budja spoke out, +saying, "Bana does not know the country he had to travel through; +there is nothing but jungle and famine on the way, and he must +have cows"; on which the king ordered us sixty cows, fourteen +goats, ten loads of butter, a load of coffee and tobacco, one +hundred sheets of mbugu, as clothes for my men, at a suggestion +of Bombay's, as all my cloth had been expended even before I left +Karague. + +This magnificent order created a pause, which K'yengo took +advantage of by producing a little bundle of peculiarly-shaped +sticks and a lump of earth--all of which have their own +particular magical powers, as K'yengo described to the king's +satisfaction. After this, Viarungi pleaded the cause of my +mutinous followers, till I shook my finger angrily at him before +the king, rebuked him for intermeddling in other people's +affairs, and told my own story, which gained the sympathy of the +king, and induced him to say, "Supposing they desert Bana, what +road do they expect to get?" Maula was now appointed to go with +Rozaro to Karague for the powder and other things promised +yesterday, whilst Viarungi and all his party, though exceedingly +anxious to get away, had orders to remain here prisoners as a +surety for the things arriving. Further, Kaddu and two other +Wakungu received orders to go to Usui with two tusks of ivory to +purchase gunpowder, caps, and flints, failing which they would +proceed to Unyanyembe, and even to Zanzibar, for the king must +not be disappointed, and failure would cost them their lives. + +Not another word was said, and away the two parties went, with no +more arrangement than a set of geese--Maula without a letter, and +Kaddu without any provision for the way, as if all the world +belonged to Mtesa, and he could help himself from any man's +garden that he liked, no matter where he was. In the evening my +men made a humble petition for their discharge, even if I did not +pay them, producing a hundred reasons for wishing to leave me, +but none which would stand a moment's argument: the fact was, +they were afraid of the road to Unyoro, thinking I had not +sufficient ammunition. + +6th.--I visited the king, and asked leave for boats to go at +once; but the fleet admiral put a veto on this by making out that +dangerous shallows exist between the Murchison Creek and the Kira +district station, so that the boats of one place never visit the +other; and further, if we went to Kira, we should find +impracticable cataracts to the Urondogani boat-station; our +better plan would therefore be, to deposit our property at the +Urondogani station, and walk by land up the river, if a sight of +the falls at the mouth of the lake was of such material +consequence to us. + +Of course this man carried everything his own way, for there was +nobody able to contradict him, and we could not afford time to +visit Usoga first, lest by the delay we might lose an opportunity +of communicating with Petherick. Grant now took a portrait of +Mtesa by royal permission, the king sitting as quietly as his +impatient nature would permit. Then at home the Wanyamuezi +porters received their tusks of ivory, weighing from 16 to 50 lb. +each, and took a note besides on Rumanika each for twenty fundo +of beads, barring one Bogue man, who, having lent a cloth to the +expedition some months previously, thought it would not be paid +him, and therefore seized a sword as security; the consequence +was, his tusk was seized until the sword was returned, and he was +dismissed minus his beads, for having so misconducted himself. +The impudent fellow then said, "It will be well for Bana if he +succeeds in getting the road through Unyoro; for, should he fail, +I will stand in his path at Bogue." Kitunzi offered an ivory for +beads, and when told we were not merchants, and advised to try +K'yengo, he said he dared not even approach K'yengo's camp lest +people should tell the king of it, and accuse him of seeking for +magical powers against his sovereign. Old Nasib begged for his +discharge. It was granted, and he took a $50 letter on the +coast, and a letter of emancipation for himself and family, +besides an order, written in Kisuahili, for ten fundo of beads on +Rumanika, which made him very happy. + +In the evening we called again at the palace with pictures of the +things the king required from Rumanika, and a letter informing +Rumanika what we wished done with them, in order that there might +be no mistake, requesting the king to forward them after Mula. +Just then Kaddu's men returned to say they wanted provisions for +the way, as the Wazinza, hearing of their mission, asked them if +they knew what they were about, going to a strange country +without any means of paying their way. But the king instead of +listening to reason, impetuously said, "If you do not pack off at +once, and bring me the things I want, every man of you shall lose +his head; and as for the Wazinza, for interfering with my orders, +they shall be kept here prisoners until you return." + +On the way home, one of the king's favourite women overtook us, +walking, with her hands clasped at the back of her head, to +execution, crying, "N'uawo!" in the most pitiful manner. A man +was preceding her, but did not touch her; for she loved to obey +the orders of her king voluntarily, and in consequence of +previous attachment, was permitted, as a mark of distinction, to +walk free. Wondrous world! it was not ten minutes since we parted +from the king, yet he had found time to transact this bloody +piece of business. + +7th.--Early in the morning the king bade us come to him to say +farewell. Wishing to leave behind a favourable impression, I +instantly complied. On the breast of my coat I suspended the +necklace the queen had given me, as well as his knife, and my +medals. I talked with him in as friendly and flattering a manner +as I could, dwelling on his shooting, the pleasant cruising on +the lake, and our sundry picnics, as well as the grand prospect +there was now of opening the country to trade, by which his guns, +the best in the world, would be fed with powder--and other small +matters of a like nature,--to which he replied with great feeling +and good taste. We then all rose with an English bow, placing the +hand on the heart whilst saying adieu; and there was a complete +uniformity in the ceremonial, for whatever I did, Mtesa, in an +instant, mimicked with the instinct of a monkey. + +We had, however, scarcely quitted the palace gate before the king +issued himself, with his attendants and his brothers leading, and +women bringing up the rear; here K'yengo and all the Wazinza +joined in the procession with ourselves, they kneeling and +clapping their hands after the fashion of their own country. +Budja just then made me feel very anxious, by pointing out the +position of Urondogani, as I thought, too far north. I called +the king's attention to it, and in a moment he said he would +speak to Budja in such a manner that would leave no doubts in my +mind, for he liked me much, and desired to please me in all +things. As the procession now drew to our camp, and Mtesa +expressed a wish to have a final look at my men, I ordered them +to turn out with their arms and n'yanzig for the many favours +they had received. Mtesa, much pleased, complimented them on +their goodly appearance, remarking that with such a force I would +have no difficulty in reaching Gani, and exhorted them to follow +me through fire and water; then exchanging adieus again he walked +ahead in gigantic strides up the hill, the pretty favourite of +his harem, Lubuga--beckoning and waving with her little hands, +and crying, "Bana! Bana!"--trotting after him conspicuous amongst +the rest, though all showed a little feeling at the severance. +We saw them no more. + + + + + Chapter XV + + + + March Down the Northern Slopes of Africa + +Kari--Tragic Incident there--Renewals of Troubles--Quarrels with +the Natives--Reach the Nile--Description of the Scene there-- +Sport-- Church Estate--Ascend the River to the Junction with the +Lake--Ripon Falls--General Account of the Source of the Nile-- +Descend again to Urondogani--The Truculent Sakibobo. + +7th to 11th.--With Budja appointed as the general director, a +lieutenant of the Sakibobo's to furnish us with sixty cows in his +division at the first halting-place, and Kasoro (Mr Cat), a +lieutenant of Jumba's, to provide the boats at Urondogani, we +started at 1 p.m., on the journey northwards. The Wanguana still +grumbled, swearing they would carry no loads, as they got no +rations, and threatening to shoot us if we pressed them, +forgetting that their food had been paid for to the king in +rifles, chronometers, and other articles, costing about 2000 +dollars, and, what was more to the point, that all the ammunition +was in our hands. A judicious threat of the stick, however, put +things right, and on we marched five successive days to Kari--as +the place was afterwards named, in consequence of the tragedy +mentioned below-- the whole distance accomplished being thirty +miles from the capital, through a fine hilly country, with +jungles and rich cultivation alternating. The second march, +after crossing the Katawana river with its many branches flowing +north-east into the huge rush-drain of Luajerri, carried us +beyond the influence of the higher hills, and away from the huge +grasses which characterise the southern boundary of Uganda +bordering on the lake. + +Each day's march to Kari was directed much in the same manner. +After a certain number of hours' travelling, Budja appointed some +village of residence for the night, avoiding those which belonged +to the queen, lest any rows should take place in them, which +would create disagreeable consequences with the king, and +preferring those the heads of which had been lately seized by the +orders of the king. Nevertheless, wherever we went, all the +villagers forsook their homes, and left their houses, property, +and gardens an easy prey to the thieving propensities of the +escort. To put a stop to this vile practice was now beyond my +power; the king allowed it, and his men were the first in every +house, taking goats, fowls, skins, mbugus, cowries, beads, drums, +spears, tobacco, pombe,--in short, everything they could lay +their hands on--in the most ruthless manner. It was a perfect +marauding campaign for them all, and all alike were soon laden +with as much as they could carry. + +A halt of some days had become necessary at Kari to collect the +cows given by the king; and, as it is one of the most extensive +pasture- grounds, I strolled with my rifle (11th) to see what new +animals could be found; but no sooner did I wound a zebra than +messengers came running after me to say Kari, one of my men, had +been murdered by the villagers three miles off; and such was the +fact. He, with others of my men, had been induced to go +plundering, with a few boys of the Waganda escort, to a certain +village of potters, as pots were required by Budja for making +plantain-wine, the first thing ever thought of when a camp is +formed. On nearing the place, however, the women of the village, +who were the only people visible, instead of running away, as our +braves expected, commenced hullalooing, and brought out their +husbands. Flight was now the only thought of our men, and all +would have escaped had Kari not been slow and his musket empty. +The potters overtook him, and, as he pointed his gun, which they +considered a magic-horn, they speared him to death, and then fled +at once. Our survivors were not long in bringing the news into +camp, when a party went out, and in the evening brought in the +man's corpse and everything belonging to him, for nothing had +been taken. + +12th.--To enable me at my leisure to trace up the Nile to its +exit from the lake, and then go on with the journey as quickly as +possible, I wished the cattle to be collected and taken by Budja +and some of my men with the heavy baggage overland to Kamrasi's. +Another reason for doing so was, that I thought it advisable +Kamrasi should be forewarned that we were coming by the water +route, lest we should be suspected and stopped as spies by his +officers on the river, or regarded as enemies, which would +provoke a fight. Budja, however, objected to move until a report +of Kari's murder had been forwarded to the king, lest the people, +getting bumptious, should try the same trick again; and Kasoro +said he would not go up the river, as he had received no orders +to do so. + +In this fix I ordered a march back to the palace, mentioning the +king's last words, and should have gone, had not Budja ordered +Kasoro to go with me. A page then arrived from the king to ask +after Bana's health, carrying the Whitworth rifle as his master's +card, and begging for a heavy double-barrelled gun to be sent him +from Gani. I called this lad to witness the agreement I had made +with Budja, and told him, if Kasoro satisfied me, I would return +by him, in addition to the heavy gun, a Massey's patent log. I +had taken it for the navigation of the lake, and it was now of no +further use to me, but, being an instrument of complicated +structure, it would be a valuable addition to the king's museum +of magic charms. I added I should like the king to send me the +robes of honour and spears he had once promised me, in order that +I might, on reaching England, be able to show my countrymen a +specimen of the manufactures of his country. The men who were +with Kari were now sent to the palace, under accusation of having +led him into ambush, and a complaint was made against the +villagers, which we waited the reply to. As Budja forbade it, no +men would follow me out shooting, saying the villagers were out +surrounding our camp, and threatening destruction on any one who +dared show his face; for this was not the highroad to Uganda, and +therefore no one had a right to turn them out of their houses and +pillage their gardens. + +13th.--Budja lost two cows given to his party last night, and +seeing ours securely tied by their legs to trees, asked by what +spells we had secured them; and would not believe our assurance +that the ropes that bound them were all the medicines we knew of. +One of the Queen's sisters, hearing of Kari's murder, came on a +visit to condole with us, bringing a pot of pombe, for which she +received some beads. On being asked how many sisters the queen +had, for we could not help suspecting some imposition, she +replied she was the only one, till assured ten other ladies had +presented themselves as the queen's sisters before, when she +changed her tone, and said, "That is true, I am not the only one; +but if I had told you the truth I might have lost my head." This +was a significant expression of the danger to telling court +secrets. + +I suspected that there must be a considerable quantity of game in +this district, as stake-nets and other traps were found in all +the huts, as well as numbers of small antelope hoofs spitted on +pipe-sticks--an ornament which is counted the special badge of +the sportsman in this part of Africa. Despite, therefore, of the +warnings of Budja, I strolled again with my rifle, and saw +pallah, small plovers, and green antelopes with straight horns, +called mpeo, the skin of which makes a favourite apron for the +Mabandwa. + +14th.--I met to-day a Mhuma cowherd in my strolls with the rifle, +and asked him if he knew where the game lay. The unmannerly +creature, standing among a thousand of the sleekest cattle, +gruffishly replied, "What can I know of any other animals than +cows?" and went on with his work, as if nothing in the world +could interest him but his cattle-tending. I shot a doe, +leucotis, called here nsunnu, the first one seen upon the +journey. + +15th.--In the morning, when our men went for water to the +springs, some Waganda in ambush threw a spear at them, and this +time caught a Tartar, for the "horns," as they called their guns, +were loaded, and two of them received shot-wounds. In the +evening, whilst we were returning from shooting, a party of +Waganda, also lying in the bush, called out to know what we were +about; saying, "Is it not enough that you have turned us out of +our homes and plantations, leaving us to live like animals in the +wilderness?" and when told we were only searching for sport, +would not believe that our motive was any other than hostility to +themselves. + +At night one of Budja's men returned from the palace, to say the +king was highly pleased with the measures adopted by his Wakungu, +in prosecution of Kari's affair. He hoped now as we had cows to +eat, there would be no necessity for wandering for food, but all +would keep together "in one garden." At present no notice would +be taken of the murderers, as all the culprits would have fled +far away in their fright to escape chastisement. But when a +little time had elapsed, and all would appear to have been +forgotten, officers would be sent and the miscreants apprehended, +for it was impossible to suppose anybody could be ignorant of the +white men being the guests of the king, considering they had +lived at the palace for so long. The king took this opportunity +again to remind me that he wanted a heavy solid double gun, such +as would last him all his life; and intimated that in a few days +the arms and robes of honour were to be sent. + +16th.--Most of the cows for ourselves and the guides--for the +king gave them also a present, ten each--were driven into camp. +We also got 50 lb. of butter, the remainder to be picked up on +the way. I strolled with the gun, and shot two zebras, to be sent +to the king, as, by the constitution of Uganda, he alone can keep +their royal skins. + +17th.--We had to halt again, as the guides had lost most of their +cows, so I strolled with my rifle and shot a ndjezza doe, the +first I had ever seen. It is a brown animal, a little smaller +than leucotis, and frequents much the same kind of ground. + +18th.--We had still to wait another day for Budja's cows, when, +as it appeared all-important to communicate quickly with +Petherick, and as Grant's leg was considered too weak for +travelling fast, we took counsel together, and altered our plans. +I arranged that Grant should go to Kamrasi's direct with the +property, cattle, and women, taking my letters and a map for +immediate despatch to Petherick at Gani, whilst I should go up +the river to its source or exit from the lake, and come down +again navigating as far as practicable. + +At night the Waganda startled us by setting fire to the huts our +men were sleeping in, but providentially did more damage to +themselves than to us, for one sword only was buried in the fire, +whilst their own huts, intended to be vacated in the morning, +were burnt to the ground. To fortify ourselves against another +invasion, we cut down all their plaintains to make a boma or +fence. + +We started all together on our respective journeys; but, after +the third mile, Grant turned west, to join the highroad to +Kamrasi's, whilst I went east for Urondogani, crossing the +Luajerri, a huge rush-drain three miles broad, fordable nearly to +the right bank, where we had to ferry in boats, and the cows to +be swum over with men holding on to their tails. It was larger +than the Katonga, and more tedious to cross, for it took no less +than four hours mosquitoes in myriads biting our bare backs and +legs all the while. The Luajerri is said to rise in the lake and +fall into the Nile, due south of our crossing-point. On the +right bank wild buffalo are described to be as numerous as cows, +but we did not see any, though the country is covered with a most +inviting jungle for sport, which intermediate lays of fine +grazing grass. Such is the nature of the country all the way to +Urondogani, except in some favoured spots, kept as tidily as in +any part of Uganda, where plantains grow in the utmost +luxuriance. From want of guides, and misguided by the exclusive +ill-natured Wahuma who were here in great numbers tending their +king's cattle, we lost our way continually, so that we did not +reach the boat-station until the morning of the 21st. + +Here at last I stood on the brink of the Nile; most beautiful was +the scene, nothing could surpass it! It was the very perfection +of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly kept park; with a +magnificent stream from 600 to 700 yards wide, dotted with islets +and rocks, the former occupied by fishermen's huts, the latter by +sterns and crocodiles basking in the sun,--flowing between the +fine high grassy banks, with rich trees and plantains in the +background, where herds of the nsunnu and hartebeest could be +seen grazing, while the hippopotami were snorting in the water, +and florikan and guinea-fowl rising at our feet. Unfortunately, +the chief district officer, Mlondo, was from home, but we took +possession of his huts-- clean, extensive, and tidily kept-- +facing the river, and felt as if a residence here would do one +good. Delays and subterfuges, however, soon came to damp our +spirits. The acting officer was sent for, and asked for the +boats; they were all scattered, and could not be collected for a +day or two; but, even if they were at hand, no boat ever went up +or down the river. The chief was away and would be sent for, as +the king often changed his orders, and, after all, might not mean +what had been said. The district belonged to the Sakibobo, and +no representative of his had come here. These excuses, of course, +would not satisfy us. The boats must be collected, seven, if +there are not ten, for we must try them, and come to some +understanding about them, before we march up stream, when, if the +officer values his life, he will let us have them, and +acknowledge Karoso as the king's representative, otherwise a +complaint will be sent to the palace, for we won't stand +trifling. + +We were now confronting Usoga, a country which may be said to be +the very counterpart of Uganda in its richness and beauty. Here +the people use such huge iron-headed spears with short handles, +that, on seeing one to-day, my people remarked that they were +better fitted for digging potatoes than piercing men. Elephants, +as we had seen by their devastations during the last two marches, +were very numerous in this neighbourhood. Till lately, a party +from Unyoro, ivory-hunting, had driven them away. Lions were +also described as very numerous and destructive to human life. +Antelopes were common in the jungle, and the hippopotami, though +frequenters of the plantain-garden and constantly heard, were +seldom seen on land in consequence of their unsteady habits. + +The king's page again came, begging I would not forget the gun +and stimulants, and bringing with him the things I asked for-- +two spears, one shield, one dirk, two leopard-cat skins, and two +sheets of small antelope skins. I told my men they ought to +shave their heads and bathe in the holy river, the cradle of +Moses-- the waters of which, sweetened with sugar, men carry all +the way from Egypt to Mecca, and sell to the pilgrims. But +Bombay, who is a philosopher of the Epicurean school, said, "We +don't look on those things in the same fanciful manner that you +do; we are contented with all the common-places of life, and look +for nothing beyond the present. If things don't go well, it is +God's will; and if they do go well, that is His will also." + +22d.--The acting chief brought a present of one cow, one goat, +and pombe, with a mob of his courtiers to pay his respects. He +promised that the seven boats, which are all the station he could +muster, would be ready next day, and in the meanwhile a number of +men would conduct me to the shooting-ground. He asked to be +shown the books of birds and animals, and no sooner saw some +specimens of Wolf's handiwork, than, in utter surprise, he +exclaimed, "I know how these are done; a bird was caught and +stamped upon the paper," using action to his words, and showing +what he meant, while all his followers n'yanzigged for the favour +of the exhibition. + +In the evening I strolled in the antelope parks, enjoying the +scenery and sport excessively. A noble buck nsunnu, standing by +himself, was the first thing seen on this side, though a herd of +hertebeests were grazing on the Usoga banks. One bullet rolled +my fine friend over, but the rabble looking on no sooner saw the +hit than they rushed upon him and drove him off, for he was only +wounded. A chase ensued, and he was tracked by his blood when a +pongo (bush box) was started and divided the party. It also +brought me to another single buck nsunnu, which was floored at +once, and left to be carried home by some of my men in company +with Waganda, whilst I went on, shot a third nsunnu buck, and +tracked him by his blood till dark, for the bullet had pierced +his lungs and passed out on the other side. Failing to find him +on the way home, I shot, besides florikan and guinea-chicks, a +wonderful goatsucker, remarkable for the exceeding length of some +of its feathers floating out far beyond the rest in both +wings.[FN#21] Returning home, I found the men who had charge of +the dead buck all in a state of excitement; they no sooner +removed his carcass, than two lions came out of the jungle and +lapped his blood. All the Waganda ran away at once; but my +braves feared my answer more than the lions, and came off safely +with the buck on their shoulders. + +23d.--Three boats arrived, like those used on the Murchison +Creek, and when I demanded the rest, as well as a decisive answer +about going to Kamrasi's, the acting Mkungu said he was afraid +accidents might happen, and he would not take me. Nothing would +frighten this pig-headed creature into compliance, though I told +him I had arranged with the king to make the Nile the channel of +communication with England. I therefore applied to him for +guides to conduct me up the river, and ordered Bombay and Kasoro +to obtain fresh orders from the king, as all future Wazungu, +coming to Uganda to visit or trade, would prefer the passage by +the river. I shot another buck in the evening, as the Waganda +love their skins, and also a load of guinea-fowl--three, four, +and five at a shot--as Kasoro and his boys prefer them to +anything. + +24th.--The acting officer absconded, but another man came in his +place, and offered to take us on the way up the river to-morrow, +humbugging Kasoro into the belief that his road to the palace +would branch off from the first state, though in reality it was +here. The Mkungu's women brought pombe, and spent the day gazing +at us, till, in the evening, when I took up my rifle, one ran +after Bana to see him shoot, and followed like a man; but the +only sport she got was on an ant-hill, where she fixed herself +some time, popping into her mouth and devouring the white ants as +fast as they emanated from their cells--for, disdaining does, I +missed the only pongo buck I got a shot at in my anxiety to show +the fair one what she came for. + +Reports came to-day of new cruelties at the palace. Kasoro +improved on their off-hand manslaughter by saying that two +Kamravionas and two Sakibobos, as well as all the old Wakungu of +Sunna's time, had been executed by the orders of king Mtesa. He +told us, moreover, that if Mtesa ever has a dream that his father +directs him to kill anybody as being dangerous to his person, the +order is religiously kept. I wished to send a message to Mtesa +by an officer who is starting at once to pay his respects at +court; but although he received it, and promised to deliver it, +Kasoro laughed at me for expecting that one word of it would ever +reach the king; for, however, appropriate or important the matter +might be, it was more than anybody dare do to tell the king, as +it would be an infringement of the rule that no one is to speak +to him unless in answer to a question. My second buck of the +first day was brought in by the natives, but they would not allow +it to approach the hut until it had been skinned; and I found +their reason to be a superstition that otherwise no others would +ever be killed by the inmates of that establishment. + +I marched up the left bank of the Nile at a considerable distance +from the water, to the Isamba rapids, passing through rich jungle +and plantain-gardens. Nango, an old friend, and district officer +of the place, first refreshed us with a dish of plantain-squash +and dried fish, with pombe. He told us he is often threatened by +elephants, but he sedulously keeps them off with charms; for if +they ever tasted a plantain they would never leave the garden +until they had cleared it out. He then took us to see the +nearest falls of the Nile--extremely beautiful, but very +confined. The water ran deep between its banks, which were +covered with fine grass, soft cloudy acacias, and festoons of +lilac convolvuli; whilst here and there, where the land had +slipped above the rapids, bared places of red earth could be +seen, like that of Devonshire; there, too, the waters, impeded by +a natural dam, looked like a huge mill-pond, sullen and dark, in +which two crocodiles, laving about, were looking out for prey. +From the high banks we looked down upon a line of sloping wooded +islets lying across the stream, which divide its waters, and, by +interrupting them, cause at once both dam and rapids. The whole +was more fairy-like, wild, and romantic than-- I must confess +that my thoughts took that shape--anything I ever saw outside of +a theatre. It was exactly the sort of place, in fact, where, +bridged across from one side-slip to the other, on a moonlight +night, brigands would assemble to enact some dreadful tragedy. +Even the Wanguana seemed spellbound at the novel beauty of the +sight, and no one thought of moving till hunger warned us night +was setting in, and we had better look out for lodgings. + +Start again, and after drinking pombe with Nango, when we heard +that three Wakungu had been seized at Kari, in consequence of the +murder, the march was commenced, but soon after stopped by the +mischievous machinations of our guide, who pretended it was too +late in the day to cross the jungles on ahead, either by the road +to the source or the palace, and therefore would not move till +the morning; then, leaving us, on the pretext of business, he +vanished, and was never seen again. A small black fly, with +thick shoulders and bullet-head, infests the place, and torments +the naked arms and legs of the people with its sharp stings to an +extent that must render life miserable to them. + +After a long struggling march, plodding through huge grasses and +jungle, we reached a district which I cannot otherwise describe +than by calling it a "Church Estate." It is dedicated in some +mysterious manner to Lubari (Almighty), and although the king +appeared to have authority over some of the inhabitants of it, +yet others had apparently a sacred character, exempting them from +the civil power, and he had no right to dispose of the land +itself. In this territory there are small villages only at every +fifth mile, for there is no road, and the lands run high again, +whilst, from want of a guide, we often lost the track. It now +transpired that Budja, when he told at the palace that there was +no road down the banks of the Nile, did so in consequence of his +fear that if he sent my whole party here they would rob these +church lands, and so bring him into a scrape with the wizards or +ecclesiastical authorities. Had my party not been under control, +we could not have put up here; but on my being answerable that no +thefts should take place, the people kindly consented to provide +us with board and lodgings, and we found them very obliging. One +elderly man, half-witted-- they said the king had driven his +senses from him by seizing his house and family--came at once on +hearing of our arrival, laughing and singing in a loose jaunty +maniacal manner, carrying odd sticks, shells, and a bundle of +mbugu rags, which he deposited before me, dancing and singing +again, then retreating and bringing some more, with a few +plantains from a garden, when I was to eat, as kings lived upon +flesh, and "poor Tom" wanted some, for he lived with lions and +elephants in a hovel beyond the gardens, and his belly was empty. +He was precisely a black specimen of the English parish idiot. + +At last, with a good push for it, crossing hills and threading +huge grasses, as well as extensive village plantations lately +devastated by elephants--they had eaten all that was eatable, and +what would not serve for food they had destroyed with their +trunks, not one plantain or one hut being left entire--we arrived +at the extreme end of the journey, the farthest point ever +visited by the expedition on the same parallel of latitude as +king Mtesa's palace, and just forty miles east of it. + +We were well rewarded; for the "stones," as the Waganda call the +falls, was by far the most interesting sight I had seen in +Africa. Everybody ran to see them at once, though the march had +been long and fatiguing, and even my sketch-block was called into +play. Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I +expected; for the broad surface of the lake was shut out from +view by a spur of hill, and the falls, about 12 feet deep, and +400 to 500 feet broad, were broken by rocks. Still it was a +sight that attracted one to it for hours--the roar of the waters, +the thousands of passenger-fish, leaping at the falls with all +their might; the Wasoga and Waganda fisherman coming out in boats +and taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami +and crocodiles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work +above the falls, and cattle driven down to drink at the margin of +the lake,--made, in all, with the pretty nature of the country-- +small hills, grassy-topped, with trees in the folds, and gardens +on the lower slopes--as interesting a picture as one could wish +to see. + +The expedition had now performed its functions. I saw that old +father Nile without any doubt rises in the Victoria N'yanza, and, +as I had foretold, that lake is the great source of the holy +river which cradled the first expounder of our religious belief. +I mourned, however, when I thought how much I had lost by the +delays in the journey having deprived me of the pleasure of going +to look at the north-east corner of the N'yanza to see what +connection there was, by the strait so often spoken of, with it +and the other lake where the Waganda went to get their salt, and +from which another river flowed to the north, making "Usoga an +island." But I felt I ought to be content with what I had been +spared to accomplish; for I had seen full half of the lake, and +had information given me of the other half, by means of which I +knew all about the lake, as far, at least, as the chief objects +of geographical importance were concerned. + +Let us now sum up the whole and see what it is worth. +Comparative information assured me that there was as much water +on the eastern side of the lake as there is on the western--if +anything, rather more. The most remote waters, or top head of +the Nile, is the southern end of the lake, situated close on the +third degree of south latitude, which gives to the Nile the +surprising length, in direct measurement, rolling over thirty- +four degrees of latitude, of above 2300 miles, or more than one- +eleventh of the circumference of our globe. Now from this +southern point, round by the west, to where the great Nile stream +issues, there is only one feeder of any importance, and that is +the Kitangule river; whilst from the southernmost point, round by +the east, to the strait, there are no rivers at all of any +importance; for the travelled Arabs one and all aver, that from +the west of the snow-clad Kilimandjaro to the lake where it is +cut by the second degree, and also the first degree of south +latitude, there are salt lakes and salt plains, and the country +is hilly, not unlike Unyamuezi; but they said there were no great +rivers, and the country was so scantily watered, having only +occasional runnels and rivulets, that they always had to make +long marches in order to find water when they went on their +trading journeys: and further, those Arabs who crossed the strait +when they reached Usoga, as mentioned before, during the late +interregnum, crossed no river either. + +There remains to be disposed of the "salt lake," which I believe +is not a salt, but a fresh-water lake; and my reasons are, as +before stated, that the natives call all lakes salt, if they find +salt beds or salt islands in such places. Dr Krapf, when he +obtained a sight of the Kenia mountain, heard from the natives +there that there was a salt lake to its northward, and he also +heard that a river ran from Kenia towards the Nile. If his +information was true on this latter point, then, without doubt, +there must exist some connection between his river and the salt +lake I have heard of, and this in all probability would also +establish a connection between my salt lake and his salt lake +which he heard was called Baringo.[FN#22] In no view that can be +taken of it, however, does this unsettled matter touch the +established fact that the head of the Nile is in 3§ south +latitude, where in the year 1858, I discovered the head of the +Victoria N'yanza to be. + +I now christened the "stones" Ripon Falls, after the nobleman who +presided over the Royal Geographical Society when my expedition +was got up; and the arm of water from which the Nile issued, +Napoleon Channel, in token of respect to the French Geographical +Society, for the honour they had done me, just before leaving +England, in presenting me with their gold medal for the discovery +of the Victoria N'yanza. One thing seemed at first perplexing-- +the volume of water in the Kitangule looked as large as that of +the Nile; but then the one was a slow river and the other swift, +and on this account I could form no adequate judgment of their +relative values. + +Not satisfied with my first sketch of the falls, I could not +resist sketching them again; and then, as the cloudy state of the +weather prevented my observing for latitude, and the officer of +the place said a magnificent view of the lake could be obtained +from the hill alluded to as intercepting the view from the falls, +we proposed going there; but Kasoro, who had been indulged with +nsunnu antelope skins, and with guinea-fowl for dinner, resisted +this, on the plea that I never should be satisfied. There were +orders given only to see the "stones," and if he took me to one +hill I should wish to see another and another, and so on. It +made me laugh, for that had been my nature all my life; but, +vexed at heart, and wishing to trick the young tyrant, I asked +for boats to shoot hippopotami, in the hope of reaching the hills +to picnic; but boating had never been ordered, and he would not +listen to it. "Then bring fish," I said, that I might draw them: +no, that was not ordered. "Then go you to the palace, and leave +me to go to Urondogani to-morrow, after I have taken a latitude;" +but the wilful creature would not go until he saw me under way. +And as nobody would do anything for me without Kasoro's orders, I +amused the people by firing at the ferry-boat upon the Usoga +side, which they defied me to hit, the distance being 500 yards; +but nevertheless a bullet went through her, and was afterwards +brought by the Wasoga nicely folded up in a piece of mbugu. +Bombay then shot a sleeping crocodile with his carbine, whilst I +spent the day out watching the falls. + +This day also I spent watching the fish flying at the falls, and +felt as if I only wanted a wife and family, garden and yacht, +rifle and rod, to make me happy here for life, so charming was +the place. What a place, I thought to myself, this would be for +missionaries! They never could fear starvation, the land is so +rich; and, if farming were introduced by them, they might have +hundreds of pupils. I need say no more. + +In addition to the rod-and-line fishing, a number of men, armed +with long heavy poles with two iron spikes, tied prong-fashion to +one end, rushed to a place over a break in the falls, which tired +fish seemed to use as a baiting-room, dashed in their forks, +holding on by the shaft, and sent men down to disengaged the +pined fish and relieve their spears. The shot they made in this +manner is a blind one--only on the chance of fish being there-- +and therefore always doubtful in its result. + +Church Estate again. As the clouds and Kasoro's wilfulness were +still against me, and the weather did not give hopes of a change, +I sacrificed the taking of the latitude to gain time. I sent +Bombay with Kasoro to the palace, asking for the Sakibobo himself +to be sent with an order for five boats, five cows, and five +goats, and also for a general order to go where I like, and do +what I like, and have fish supplied me; "for, though I know the +king likes me, his officers do not;" and then on separating I +retraced my steps to the Church Estate. + +1st.--To-day, after marching an hour, as there was now no need +for hurrying, and a fine pongo buck, the Ngubbi of Uganda, +offered a tempting shot, I proposed to shoot it for the men, and +breakfast in a neighbouring village. This being agreed to, the +animal was despatched, and we no sooner entered the village than +we heard that nsamma, a magnificent description of antelope, +abound in the long grasses close by, and that a rogue elephant +frequents the plantains every night. This tempting news created +a halt. In the evening I killed a nsamma doe, an animal very +much like the Kobus Ellipsiprymnus, but without the lunated mark +over the rump; and at night, about 1 a.m., turned out to shoot an +elephant, which we distinctly heard feasting on plantains; but +rain was falling, and the night so dark, he was left till the +morning. + +2d.--I followed up the elephant some way, till a pongo offering +an irresistible shot I sent a bullet through him, but he was lost +after hours' tracking in the interminable large grasses. An +enormous snake, with fearful mouth and fangs, was speared by the +men. In the evening I wounded a buck nsamma, which, after +tracking till dark, was left to stiffen ere the following +morning; and just after this on the way home, we heard the rogue +elephant crunching the branches not far off from the track; but +as no one would dare follow me against the monster at this late +hour, he was reluctantly left to do more injury to the gardens. + +3d.--After a warm search in the morning we found the nsamma buck +lying in some water; the men tried to spear him, but he stood at +bay, and took another bullet. This was all we wanted, affording +one good specimen; so, after breakfast, we marched to Kirindi, +where the villagers, hearing of the sport we had had, and excited +with the hopes of getting flesh, begged us to halt a day. + +4th.--Not crediting the stories told by the people about the +sport here, we packed to leave, but were no sooner ready than +several men ran hastily in to say some fine bucks were waiting to +be shot close by. This was too powerful a temptation to be +withstood, so, shouldering the rifle, and followed by half the +village, if not more, women included, we went to the place, but, +instead of finding a buck--for the men had stretched a point to +keep me at their village--we found a herd of does, and shot one +at the people's urgent request. + +We reached this in one stretch, and put up in our old quarters, +where the women of Mlondo provided pombe, plantains, and +potatoes, as before, with occasional fish, and we lived very +happily till the 10th, shooting buck, guinea-fowl, and florikan, +when, Bombay and Kasoro arriving, my work began again. These two +worthies reached the palace, after crossing twelve considerable +streams, of which one was the Luajerri, rising in the lake. The +evening of the next day after leaving me at Kira, they obtained +an interview with the king immediately; for the thought flashed +across his mind that Bombay had come to report our death, the +Waganda having been too much for the party. He was speedily +undeceived by the announcement that nothing was the matter, +excepting the inability to procure boats, because the officers at +Urondogani denied all authority but the Sakibobo's, and no one +would show Bana anything, however trifling, without an express +order for it. + +Irate at this announcement, the king ordered the Sakibobo, who +happened to be present, to be seized and bound at once, and said +warmly, "Pray, who is the king, that the Sakibobo's orders should +be preferred to mine?" and then turning to the Sakibobo himself, +asked what he would pay to be released? The Sakibobo, alive to +his danger, replied at once, and without the slightest +hesitation, Eighty cows, eighty goats, eighty slaves, eighty +mbugu, eighty butter, eighty coffee, eighty tobacco, eighty +jowari, and eighty of all the produce of Uganda. He was then +released. Bombay said Bana wished the Sakibobo to come to +Urondogani, and gave him a start with five boats, five cows, and +five goats; to which the king replied, "Bana shall have all he +wants, nothing shall be denied him, not even fish; but it is not +necessary to send the Sakibobo, as boys carry all my orders to +kings as well as subjects. Kasoro will return again with you, +fully instructed in everything, and, moreover, both he and Budja +will follow Bana to Gani." Four days, however, my men were kept +at the palace ere the king gave them the cattle and leave to join +me, accompanied with one more officer, who had orders to find the +boats at once, see us off, and report the circumstance at court. +Just as at the last interview, the king had four women, lately +seized and condemned to execution, squatting in his court. He +wished to send them to Bana, and when Bombay demurred, saying he +had no authority to take women in that way, the king gave him +one, and asked him if he would like to see some sport, as he +would have the remaining women cut to pieces before him. Bombay, +by his own account, behaved with great propriety, saying Bana +never wished to see sport of that cruel kind, and it would ill +become him to see sights which his master had not. Viarungi sent +me some tobacco, with kind regards, and said he and the Wazina +had just obtained leave to return to their homes, K'yengo alone, +of all the guests, remaining behind as a hostage until Mtesa's +powder-seeking Wakungu returned. Finally, the little boy Lugoi +had been sent to his home. Such was the tenor of Bombay's report. + +11th.--The officer sent to procure boats, impudently saying there +were none, was put in the stocks by Kasoro, whilst other men went +to Kirindi for sailors, and down the stream for boats. On +hearing the king's order that I was to be supplied with fish, the +fishermen ran away, and pombe was no longer brewed for fear of +Kasoro. + +12th.--To-day we slaughtered and cooked two cows for the journey- +- the remaining three and one goat having been lost in the +Luajerri-- and gave the women of the place beads in return for +their hospitality. They are nearly all Wanyoro, having been +captured in that country by king Mtesa and given to Mlondo. They +said their teeth were extracted, four to six lower incisors, when +they were young, because no Myoro would allow a person to drink +from his cup unless he conformed to that custom. The same law +exists in Usoga. + + + + + Chapter XVI + + + + Bahr El Abiad + +First Voyage on the Nile--The Starting--Description of the River +and the Country--Meet a Hostile Vessel--A Naval Engagement-- +Difficulties and Dangers--Judicial Procedure--Messages from the +King of Uganda-- His Efforts to get us back--Desertion--The +Wanyoro Troops--Kamrasi-- Elephant-Stalking--Diabolical +Possessions. + +In five boats of five planks each, tied together and caulked with +mbugu rags, I started with twelve Wanguana, Kasoro and his page- +followers, and a small crew, to reach Kamrasi's palace in Unyoro- +-goats, dogs, and kit, besides grain and dried meat, filling up +the complement--but how many days it would take nobody knew. +Paddles propelled these vessels, but the lazy crew were slow in +the use of them, indulging sometimes in racing spurts, then +composedly resting on their paddles whilst the gentle current +drifted us along. The river, very unlike what it was from the +Ripon Falls downward, bore at once the character of river and +lake--clear in the centre, but fringed in most places with tall +rush, above which the green banks sloped back like park lands. +It was all very pretty and very interesting, and would have +continued so, had not Kasoro disgraced the Union Jack, turning it +to piratical purposes in less than one hour. + +A party of Wanyoro, in twelve or fifteen canoes, made of single +tree trunks, had come up the river to trade with the Wasoga, and +having stored their vessels with mbugu, dried fish, plantains +cooked and raw, pombe, and other things, were taking their last +meal on shore before they returned to their homes. Kasoro seeing +this, and bent on a boyish spree, quite forgetting we were bound +for the very ports they were bound for, ordered our sailors to +drive in amongst them, landed himself, and sent the Wanyoro +flying before I knew what game was up, and then set to pillaging +and feasting on the property of those very men whom it was our +interest to propitiate, as we expected them shortly to be our +hosts. + +The ground we were on belonged to king Mtesa, being a dependency +of Uganda, and it struck me as singular that Wanyoro should be +found here; but I no sooner discovered the truth than I made our +boatmen disgorge everything they had taken, called back the +Wanyoro to take care of their things, and extracted a promise +from Kasoro that he would not practise such wicked tricks again, +otherwise we could not travel together. Getting to boat again, +after a very little paddling we pulled in to shore, on the Uganda +side, to stop for the night, and thus allowed the injured Wanyoro +to go down the river before us. I was much annoyed by this +interruption, but no argument would prevail on Kasoro to go on. +This was the last village on the Uganda frontier, and before we +could go any farther on boats it would be necessary to ask leave +of Kamrasi's frontier officer, N'yamyonjo, to enter Unyoro. The +Wanguana demanded ammunition in the most imperious manner, whilst +I, in the same tone, refused to issue any lest a row should take +place and they then would desert, alluding to their dastardly +desertion in Msalala, when Grant was attacked. If a fight should +take place, I said they must flock to me at once, and ammunition, +which was always ready, would be served out to them. They +laughed at this, and asked, Who would stop with me when the fight +began? This was making a jest of what I was most afraid of--that +they would all run away. + +I held a levee to decide on the best manner of proceeding. The +Waganda wanted us to stop for the day and feel the way gently, +arguing that etiquette demands it. Then, trying to terrify me, +they said, N'yamyonjo had a hundred boats, and would drive us +back to a certainty if we tried to force past them, if he were +not first spoken with, as the Waganda had often tried the passage +and been repulsed. On the other hand, I argued that Grant must +have arrived long ago at Kamrasi's, and removed all these +difficulties for us; but, I said, if they would send men, let +Bombay start at once by land, and we will follow in boats, after +giving him time to say we are coming. This point gained after a +hot debate, Bombay started at 10 a.m., and we not till 5 p.m., it +being but one hour's journey by water. The frontier line was +soon crossed; and then both sides of the river, Usoga as well as +Unyoro, belong to Kamrasi. + +I flattered myself all my walking this journey was over, and +there was nothing left but to float quietly down the Nile, for +Kidgwiga had promised boats, on Kamrasi's account, from Unyoro to +Gani, where Petherick's vessels were said to be stationed; but +this hope shared the fate of so many others in Africa. In a +little while an enormous canoe, full of well-dressed and well- +armed men, was seen approaching us. We worked on, and found they +turned, as if afraid. Our men paddled faster, they did the same, +the pages keeping time playfully by beat of drum, until at last +it became an exciting chase, won by the Wanyoro by their superior +numbers. The sun was now setting as we approached N'yamyongo's. +On a rock by the river stood a number of armed men, jumping, +jabbering, and thrusting with their spears, just as the Waganda +do. I thought, indeed, they were Waganda doing this to welcome +us; but a glance at Kasoro's glassy eyes told me such was not the +case, but, on the contrary, their language and gestures were +threats, defying us to land. + +The bank of the river, as we advanced, then rose higher, and was +crowned with huts and plantations, before which stood groups and +lines of men, all fully armed. Further, at this juncture, the +canoe we had chased turned broadside on us, and joined in the +threatening demonstrations of the people on shore. I could not +believe them to be serious--thought they had mistaken us--and +stood up in the boat to show myself, hat in hand. I said I was +an Englishman going to Kamrasi's, and did all I could, but +without creating the slightest impression. They had heard a drum +beat, they said, and that was a signal of war, so war it should +be; and Kamrasi's drums rattled up both sides the river, +preparing everybody to arm. This was serious. Further, a second +canoe full of armed men issued out from the rushes behind us, as +if with a view to cut off our retreat, and the one in front +advanced upon us, hemming us in. To retreat together seemed our +only chance, but it was getting dark, and my boats were badly +manned. I gave the order to close together and retire, offering +ammunition as an incentive, and all came to me but one boat, +which seemed so paralysed with fright, it kept spinning round and +round like a crippled duck. + +The Wanyoro, as they saw us retreating, were now heard to say, +"They are women, they are running, let us at them;" whilst I kept +roaring to my men, "Keep together--come for powder;" and myself +loaded with small shot, which even made Kasoro laugh and inquire +if it was intended for the Wanyoro. "Yes, to shoot them like +guinea-fowl;" and he laughed again. But confound my men! they +would not keep together, and retreat with me. One of those +served with ammunition went as hard as he could go up stream to +be out of harm's way, and another preferred hugging the dark +shade of the rushes to keeping the clear open, which I desired +for the benefit of our guns. It was not getting painfully dark, +and the Wanyoro were stealing on us, as we could hear, though +nothing could be seen. Presently the shade-seeking boat was +attacked, spears were thrown, fortunately into the river instead +of into our men, and grappling-hooks were used to link the boats +together. My men cried, "Help, Bana! they are killing us;" +whilst I roared to my crew, "Go in, go in, and the victory will +be ours;" but not a soul would--they were spell-bound to the +place; we might have been cut up in detail, it was all the same +to those cowardly Waganda, whose only action consisted in crying, +"N'yawo! n'yawo!"--mother, mother, help us! + +Three shots from the hooked boat now finished the action. The +Wanyoro had caught a Tartar. Two of their men fell--one killed, +one wounded. They were heard saying their opponents were not +Waganda, it were better to leave them alone; and retreated, +leaving us, totally uninjured, a clear passage up the river. But +where was Bombay all this while! He did not return till after +us, and then, in considerable excitement, he told his tale. He +reached N'yamyongo's village before noon, asked for the officer, +but was desired to wait in a hut until the chief should arrive, +as he had gone out on business; the villagers inquired, however, +why we had robbed the Wanyoro yesterday, for they had laid a +complaint against us. Bombay replied it was no fault of Bana's, +he did everything he could to prevent it, and returned all that +the boatmen took. + +These men then departed, and did not return until evening, when +they asked Bombay, impudently, why he was sitting there, as he +had received no invitation to spend the night; and unless he +walked off soon they would set fire to his hut. Bombay, without +the smallest intention of moving, said he had orders to see +N'yamyonjo, and until he did so he would not budge. "Well," said +the people, "you have got your warning, now look our for +yourselves;" and Bombay, with his Waganda escort, was left again. +Drums then began to beat, and men to hurry to and fro with spears +and shields, until at last our guns were heard, and, guessing the +cause, Bombay with his Waganda escort rushed out of the hut into +the jungle, and, without daring to venture on the beaten track, +through thorns and thicket worked his way back to me, lame, and +scratched all over with thorns. + +Crowds of Waganda, all armed as if for war, came to congratulate +us in the morning, jumping, jabbering, and shaking their spears +at us, denoting a victory gained--for we had shot Wanyoro and no +harm had befallen us. "But the road," I cried, "has that been +gained? I am not going to show my back. We must go again, for +there is some mistake; Grant is with Kamrasi, and N'yamyongo +cannot stop us. If you won't go in boats, let us go by land to +N'yamyongo's, and the boats will follow after." Not a soul, +however, would stir. N'yamyongo was described as an independent +chief, who listened to Kamrasi only when he liked. He did not +like strange eyes to see his secret lodges on the N'yanza; and if +he did not wish us to go down the river, Kamrasi's orders would +go for nothing. His men had now been shot; to go within his +reach would be certain death. Argument was useless, boating +slow, to send messages worse; so I gave in, turned my back on the +Nile, and the following day (16th) came on the Luajerri. + +Here, to my intense surprise, I heard that Grant's camp was not +far off, on its return from Kamrasi's. I could not, rather would +not, believe it, suspicious as it now appeared after my reverse. +The men, however, were positive, and advised my going to king +Mtesa's--a ridiculous proposition, at once rejected; for I had +yet to receive Kamrasi's answer to our Queen, about opening a +trade with England. I must ascertain why he despised Englishmen +without speaking with them, and I could not believe Kamrasi would +prove less avaricious than either Rumanika or Mtesa, especially +as Rumanika had made himself responsible for our actions. We +slept that night near Kari, the Waganda eating two goats which +had been drowned in the Luajerri; and the messenger-page, having +been a third time to the palace and back again, called to ask +after our welfare, on behalf of his king, and remind us about the +gun and brandy promised. + +17th and 18th.--The two following days were spent wandering about +without guides, trying to keep the track Grant had taken after +leaving us, crossing at first a line of small hills, then +traversing grass and jungle, like the dak of India. Plantain- +gardens were frequently met, and the people seemed very +hospitably inclined, though they complained sadly of the pages +rudely rushing into every hut, seizing everything they could lay +their hands on, and even eating the food which they had just +prepared for their own dinners, saying, in a mournful manner, "If +it were not out of respect for you we should fight those little +rascals, for it is not the king's guest nor his men who do us +injury, but the king's own servants, without leave or licence." +I observed that special bomas or fences were erected to protect +these villages against the incursions of lions. Buffaloes were +about, but the villagers cautioned us not to shoot them, holding +them as sacred animals; and, to judge from the appearance of the +country, wild animals should abound, were it not for the fact +that every Mganda seems by instinct to be a sportsman. + +At last, after numerous and various reports about Grant, we heard +his drums last night, but we arrived this morning just in time to +be too late. He was on his march back to the capital of Uganda, +as the people had told us, and passed through N'yakinyama just +before I reached it. What had really happened I knew not, and +was puzzled to think. To insist on a treaty, demanding an +answer, to the Queen, seemed the only chance left; so I wrote to +Grant to let me know all about it, and waited the result. He +very obligingly came himself, said he left Unyoro after stopping +there an age asking for the road without effect, and left by the +orders of Kamrasi, thinking obedience the better policy to obtain +our ends. Two great objections had been raised against us; one +was that we were reported to be cannibals, and the other that our +advancing by two roads at once was suspicious, the more +especially so as the Waganda were his enemies; had we come from +Rumanika direct, there would have been no objection to us. + +When all was duly considered, it appeared evident to me that the +great king of Unyoro, "the father of all the kings," was merely a +nervous, fidgety creature, half afraid of us because we were +attempting his country by the unusual mode of taking two routes +at once, but wholly so of the Waganda, who had never ceased +plundering his country for years. As it appeared that he would +have accepted us had we come by the friendly route of Kisuere, a +further parley was absolutely necessary, and the more especially +so, as now we were all together and in Uganda, which, in +consequence, must relieve him from the fear of our harbouring +evil designs against him. No one present, however, could be +prevailed on to go to him in the capacity of ambassador, as the +frontier officer had warned the Wageni or guests that, if they +ever attempted to cross the border again, he was bound in duty, +agreeably to the orders of his king, to expel them by force; +therefore, should the Wageni attempt it after this warning, their +first appearance would be considered a casus belli; and so the +matter rested for the day. + +To make the best of a bad bargain, and as N'yakinyama was "eaten +up," we repaired to Grant's camp to consult with Budja; but Budja +was found firm and inflexible against sending men up to Unyoro. +His pride had been injured by the rebuffs we had sustained. He +would wait here three or four days as I proposed, to see what +fortune sent us, if I would not be convinced that Kamrasi wished +to reject us, and he would communicate with his king in the +meantime, but nothing more. Here was altogether a staggerer: I +would stop for three or four days, but if Kamrasi would not have +us by that time, what was to be done? Would it be prudent to try +Kisuere now Baraka had been refused the Gani route? or would it +not be better still for me to sell Kamrasi altogether, by +offering Mtesa five hundred loads of ammunition, cloth and beads, +if he would give us a thousand Waganda as a force to pass through +the Masai to Zanzibar, this property to be sent back by the +escort from the coast? Kamrasi would no doubt catch it if we +took this course, but it was expensive. + +Thus were we ruminating, when lo, to our delight, as if they had +been listening to us, up came Kidgwiga, my old friend, who, at +Mtesa'a place, had said Kamrasi would be very glad to see me, and +Vittagura, Kamrasi's commander-in-chief, to say their king was +very anxious to see us, and the Waganda might come or not as they +liked. Until now, the deputation said, Kamrasi had doubted +Budja's word about our friendly intentions, but since he saw us +withdrawing from his country, those doubts were removed. The +N'yamswenge, they said--meaning, I thought, Petherick--was still +at Gani; no English or others on the Nile ever expressed a wish +to enter Unyoro, otherwise they might have done so; and Baraka +had left for Karague, carrying off an ivory as a present from +Kamrasi. + +21st.--I ordered the march to Unyoro; Budja, however, kept +brooding over the message sent to the Waganda, to the effect that +they might come or not as they liked, and considering us with +himself to have all been treated "like dogs," begged me to give +him my opinion as to what course he had better pursue; for he +must, in the first instance, report the whole circumstances to +the king, and could not march at once. This was a blight on our +prospects, and appeared very vexatious, in the event of Budja +waiting for an answer, which, considering Mtesa had ordered his +Wakungu to accompany us all the way to Gani, might stop our march +altogether. + +I therefore argued that Kamrasi's treatment of us was easily +accounted for: he heard of us coming by two routes from an +enemy's country, and was naturally suspicious of us; that had now +been changed by our withdrawing, and he invited us to him. +Without doubt, his commander-in-chief was never very far away, +and followed on our heels. Such precaution was only natural and +reasonable on Kamrasi's part, and what had been done need not +alarm any one. "If you do your duty properly, you will take us at +once into Unyoro, make your charge over to these men, and return +or not as you like; for in doing so you will have fulfilled both +Mtesa's, and Kamrasi's orders at once." "Very good," says Budja, +"let it be so; for there is great wisdom in your words: but I +must first send to my king, for the Waganda villagers have struck +two of your men with weapons" (this had happened just before my +arrival here), "and this is a most heinous offence in Uganda, +which cannot be overlooked. Had it been done with a common +stick, it could have been overlooked; but the use of weapons is +an offence, and both parties must go before the king." This, of +course, was objected to on the plea that it was my own affair. I +was king of the Wanguana, and might choose to dispense with the +attendance. The matter was compromised, however, on the +condition that Budja should march across the border to-morrow, +and wait for the return of these men and for further orders on +the Unyoro side. + +The bait took. Budja lost sight of the necessity there was for +his going to Gani to bring back a gun, ammunition, and some +medicine-- that is to say, brandy--for his king; and sent his men +off with mine to tell Mtesa all our adventures--our double +repulse, the intention to wait on the Unyoro side for further +orders, and the account of some Waganda having wounded my men. I +added my excuses for Kamrasi, and laid a complaint against +Mtesa's officers for having defrauded us out of ten cows, five +goats, six butter, and sixty mbugu. It was not that we required +these things, but I knew that the king had ordered them to be +given to us, and I thought it right we should show that his +officers, if they professed to obey his orders, had peculated. +After these men had started, some friends of the villager who had +been apprehended on the charge of assailing my men, came and +offered Budja five cows to overlook the charge; and Budja, though +he could not overlook it when I pleaded for the man, asked me to +recall my men. Discovering that the culprit was a queen's man, +and that the affair would cause bad blood at court should the +king order the man's life to be taken, I tried to do so, but +things had gone too far. + +Again the expedition marched on in the right direction. We +reached the last village on the Uganda frontier, and there spent +the night. Here Grant shot a nsunnu buck. The Wanguana mutinied +for ammunition, and would not lift a load until they got it, +saying, "Unyoro is a dangerous country," though they had been +there before without any more than they now had in pouch. The +fact was, my men, in consequence of the late issues on the river, +happened to have more than Grant's men, and every man must have +alike. The ringleader, unfortunately for himself, had lately +fired at a dead lion, to astonish the Unyoro, and his chum had +fired a salute, which was contrary to orders; for ammunition was +at a low ebb, and I had done everything in my power to nurse it. +Therefore, as a warning to the others, the guns of these two were +confiscated, and a caution given that any gun in future let off, +either by design or accident, would be taken. + +To-day I felt very thankful to get across the much-vexed +boundary-line, and enter Unyoro, guided by Kamrasi's deputation +of officers, and so shake off the apprehensions which had teased +us for so many days. This first march was a picture of all the +country to its capital: an interminable forest of small trees, +bush, and tall grass, with scanty villages, low huts, and dirty- +looking people clad in skins; the plantain, sweet potato, +sesamum, and ulezi (millet) forming the chief edibles, besides +goats and fowls; whilst the cows, which are reported to be +numerous, being kept, as everywhere else where pasture-lands are +good, by the wandering, unsociable Wahuma are seldom seen. No +hills, except a few scattered cones, disturb the level surface of +the land, and no pretty views ever cheer the eye. Uganda is now +entirely left behind; we shall not see its like again; for the +further one leaves the equator, and the rain-attracting +influences of the Mountains of the Moon, vegetation decreases +proportionately with the distance. + +Fortunately the frontier-village could not feed so large a party +as ours, and therefore we were compelled to move farther on, to +our great delight, through the same style of forest acacia, +cactus, and tall grass, to Kidgwiga's gardens, where we no sooner +arrived than Mtesa's messenger-page, with a party of fifty +Waganda, dropped in, in the most unexpected manner, to inquire +after "his royal master's friend, Bana." The king had heard of +the fight upon the river, and thought the Wanguana must be very +good shots. He still trusted we would not forget the gun and +ammunition, but, above all, the load of stimulants, for he +desired that above all things on earth. This was the fourth +message to remind us of these important matters which we had +received since leaving his gracious presence, and each time +brought by the same page. While the purpose of the boy's coming +with so many men was not distinctly known, the whole village and +camp were in a state of great agitation, Budja fearing lest the +king had some fault to find with his work, and the Wanyoro +deeming it a menace of war, whilst I was afraid they might take +fright and stop our progress. + +But all went well in the end; Massey's log, which I have +mentioned as a present I intended for Mtesa, was packed up, and +the page departed with it. Some of Rumanika's men, who came into +Unyoro with Baraka, with four of K'yengo's, were sent to call us +by Kamrasi. Through Rumanika's men it transpired that he had +stood security for our actions, else, with the many evil reports +of our being cannibals and such-like, which had preceded our +coming here, we never should have gained admittance to the +country. The Wanyoro, who are as squalid-looking as the +Wanyamuezi, and almost as badly dressed, now came about us to +hawk ivory ornaments, brass and copper twisted wristlets, +tobacco, and salt, which they exchanged for cowries, with which +they purchase cows from the Waganda. As in Uganda, all the +villagers forsook their huts as soon as they heard the Wageni +(guests) were coming; and no one paid the least attention to the +traveller, save the few head-men attached to the escort, or some +professional traders. + +25th to 28th.--I had no sooner ordered the march than Vittagura +counter-ordered it, and held a levee to ascertain, as he said, if +the Waganda were to go back; for though Kamrasi wished to see us, +he did not want the Waganda. It was Kamrasi's orders that Budja +should tell this to his "child the Mkavia," meaning Mtesa; for +when the Waganda came the first time to see him, three of his +family died; and when they came the second time, three more died; +and as this rate of mortality was quite unusual in his family +circle, he could only attribute it to foul magic. The presence +of people who brought such results was of course by no means +desirable. This neat message elicited with a declaration of the +necessity of Budja's going to Gani with us, and a response from +the commander-in-chief, probably to terrify the Waganda, that +although Gani was only nine days' journey distant from Kamrasi's +palace, the Gani people were such barbarians, they would call a +straight-haired man a magician, and any person who tied his mbugu +in a knot upon his shoulder, or had a full set of teeth as the +Waganda have, would be surely killed by them. Finally, we must +wait two days, to see if Kamrasi would see us or not. Such was +Unyoro diplomacy. + +An announcement of a different kind immediately followed. The +king had heard that I gave a cow to Vittagura and Kidgwiga when +they first came to me in Uganda, and wished the Wanyamuezi to +ascertain if this was true. Of course, I said they were my +guests in Uganda, and if they had been wise they would have eaten +their cow on the spot; what was that to Kamrasi? It was a pity +he did not treat us as well who have come into his country at his +own invitation, instead of keeping us starving in this gloomy +wilderness, without a drop of pombe to cheer the day;--why could +not he let us go on? He wanted first to hear if the big Mzungu, +meaning myself, had really come yet. All fudge! + +Three days were spent in simply waiting for return messages on +both sides, and more might have been lost in the same way, only +we amused Vittagura and gave him confidence by showing our +pictures, looking-glass, scissors, knives, etc., when he promised +a march in the morning, leaving a man behind to bring on the +Wanguana sent to Mtesa's, it being the only alternative which +would please Budja; for he said there was no security for life in +Unyoro, where every Mkungu calls himself the biggest man, and no +true hospitality is to be found. + +The next two days took us through Chagamoyo to Kiratosi, by the +aid of the compass; for the route Kamrasi's men took differed +from the one which Budja knew, and he declared the Wanyoro were +leading us into a trap, and would not be convinced we were going +on all right till I pulled out the compass and confirmed the +Wanyoro. We were anything but welcomed at Kiratosi, the people +asking by what bad luck we had come there to eat up their crops; +but in a little while they flocked to our doors and admired our +traps, remarking that they believed each iron box contained a +couple of white dwarfs, which we carry on our shoulders, sitting +straddle-legs, back to back, and they fly off to eat people +whenever they get the order. One of these visitors happened to +be the sister of one of my men, named Baruti, who no sooner +recognised her brother, than, without saying a word, she clasped +her head with her hands, and ran off, crying, to tell her husband +what she had seen. A spy of Kamrasi dropped the report that the +Wanguana were returning from Mtesa's, and hurried on to tell the +king. + +31st.--Some Waganda hurrying in, confirmed the report of last +night, and said the Wanguana, footsore, had been left at the +Uganda frontier, expecting us to return, as Mtesa, at the same +time that he approved highly of my having sent men back to inform +him of Kamrasi's conduct, begged we would instantly return, even +if found within one march of Kamrasi's, for he had much of +importance to tell his friend Bana. The message continued to +this effect: I need be under no apprehensions about the road to +the coast, for he would give me as many men as I liked; and, +fearing I might be short of powder, he had sent some with the +Wanguana. Both Wanguana were by the king given women for their +services, and an old tin cartridge-box represented Mtesa's card, +it being an article of European manufacture, which, if found in +the possession of any Mganda, would be certain death to him. +Finally, all the houses and plantains where my men were wounded +had been confiscated. + +When this message was fully delivered, Budja said we must return +without a day's delay. I, on the contrary, called up Kidgwiga. I +did not like my men having been kept prisoners in Uganda, and +pronounced in public that I would not return. It would be an +insult to Kamrasi my doing so, for I was now in his "house" at +his own invitation. I wished Bombay would go with him (Kidgwiga) +at once to his king, to say I had hoped, when I sent Budja with +Mabruki, in the first instance, conveying a friendly present from +Mtesa, which was done at my instigation, and I found Kamrasi +acknowledged it by a return-present, that there would be no more +fighting between them. I said I had left England to visit these +countries for the purpose of opening up a trade, and I had no +orders to fight my way except with the force of friendship. That +Rumanika had accepted my views Kamrasi must be fully aware by +Baraka's having visited him; and that Mtesa did the same must +also be evident, else he would never have ordered his men to +accompany me to Gani; and I now fondly trusted that these Waganda +would be allowed to go with me, when, by the influence of trade, +all animosity would cease, and friendly relations be restored +between the two countries. + +This speech was hardly pronounced when Kajunju, a fine athletic +man, dropped suddenly in, nodded a friendly recognition to Budja, +and wished to know what the Waganda meant by taking us back, for +the king had heard of their intention last night; and when told +by Budja his story, and by Kidgwiga mine, he vanished like a +shadow. Budja, now turning to me, said, "If you won't go back, I +shall; for the orders of Mtesa must always be obeyed, else lives +will be lost; and I shall tell him that you, since leaving his +country, and getting your road, have quite forgotten him." "If +you give such a message as that," I said, "you will tell a +falsehood. Mtesa has no right to order me out of another man's +house, to be an enemy with one whose friendship I desire. I am +not only in honour bound to speak with Kamrasi, but I am also +bound to carry out the orders of my country just as much as you +are yours; moreover, I have invited Petherick to come to +Kamrasi's by a letter from Karague, and it would be ill-becoming +in me to desert him in the hands of an enemy, as he would then +certainly find Kamrasi to be if I went back now." Budja then +tried the coaxing dodge, saying, "There is much reason in your +words, but I am sorry you do not listen to the king, for he loves +you as a brother. Did you not go about like two brothers-- +walking, talking, shooting, and even eating together? It was the +remark of all the Waganda, and the king will be so vexed when he +finds you have thrown him over. I did not tell you before, but +the king says, 'How can I answer Rumanika if Kamrasi injures +Bana? Had I known Kamrasi was such a savage, I would not have let +Bana go there; and I should now have sent a forge to take him +away, only that some accident might arise from it by Kamrasi's +taking fright; the road even to Gani shall be got by force if +necessary.'" Then, finding me still persistent, Budja turned +again and threatened us with the king's power, saying, "If you +choose to disobey, we will see whether you ever get the road to +Gani or not; for Kamrasi is at war on all sides with his +brothers, and Mtesa will ally himself with them at any moment +that he wishes, and where will you be then?" + +Saying this, Budja walked off, muttering that our being here +would much embarrass Mtesa's actions; whilst my Wanguana, who had +been attentively listening, like timid hares, made up their minds +to leave me, and tried, through Bombay, to obtain a final +interview with me, saying they knew Mtesa's power, and +disobedience to him would only end in taking away all chance of +escape. In reply, I said I would not listen to them, as I had +seen enough of them to know it was no use speaking to a pack of +unreasonable cowards, having tried it so often before; but I sent +a message requesting them, if they did desert me at last, to +leave my guns; and, further, added an intimation that, as soon as +they reached the coast, they would be put into prison for three +years. The scoundrels insolently said "tuende setu" (let's be +off), rushed to the Waganda drums, and beat the march. + +1st.--Early in the morning, as Budja drummed the home march, I +called him up, gave him a glass rain-gauge as a letter for Mtesa, +and instructed him to say I would send a man to Mtesa as soon as +I had seen Kamrasi about opening the road; that I trusted he +would take all the guns from the deserters and keep them for me, +but the men themselves I wished transported to an island on the +N'yanza, for I could never allow such scoundrels again to enter +my camp. It was the effect of desertions like these that +prevented any white men visiting these countries. This said, the +Waganda all left us, taking with them twenty-eight Wanguana, +armed with twenty-two carbines. Amongst them was the wretched +governess, Manamaka, who had always thought me a wonderful +magician, because I possessed, in her belief, an extraordinary +power in inclining all the black kings' hearts to me, and induced +them to give the roads no one before of my colour had ever +attempted to use. + +With a following reduced to twenty men, armed with fourteen +carbines, I now wished to start for Kamrasi's, but had not even +sufficient force to lift the loads. A little while elapsed, and +a party of fifty Wanyoro rushed wildly into camp, with their +spears uplifted, and looked for the Waganda, but found them gone. +The athletic Kajunju, it transpired, had returned to Kamrasi's, +told him our story, and received orders to snatch us away from +the Waganda by force, for the great Mkamma, or king, was most +anxious to see his white visitors; such men had never entered +Unyoro before, and neither his father nor his father's fathers +had ever been treated with such a visitation; therefore he had +sent on these fifty men to fall by surprise on the Waganda, and +secure us. But again, in a little while, about 10 a.m., Kajunju, +in the same wild manner, at the head of 150 warriors, with the +soldier's badge--a piece of mbugu or plantain-leaf tied round +their heads, and a leather sheath on their spear-heads, tufted +with cow's-tail--rushed in exultingly, having found, to their +delight, that there was no one left to fight with, and that they +had gained an easy victory. They were certainly a wild set of +ragamuffins--as different as possible from the smart, well- +dressed, quick-of-speech Waganda as could be, and anything but +prepossessing to our eyes. However, they had done their work, +and I offered them a cow, wishing to have it shot before them; +but the chief men, probably wishing the whole animal to +themselves, took it alive, saying the men were all the king's +servants, and therefore could not touch a morsel. + +Kamrasi expected us to advance next day, when some men would go +on ahead to announce our arrival, and bring a letter which was +brought with beads by Gani before Baraka's arrival here. It was +shown to Baraka in the hope that we would come by the Karague +route, but not to Mabruki, because he came from Uganda. Kidgwiga +informed us that Kamrasi never retaliated on Mtesa when he lifted +Unyoro cows, though the Waganda keep their cattle on the border-- +which simply meant that he had not the power of doing so. The +twenty remaining Wanguana, conversing over the sudden scheme of +the deserters, proposed, on one side, sending for them, as, had +they seen the Wanyoro arrive, they would have changed their +minds; but the other side said, "What! those brutes who said we +should all die here if we stayed, and yet dared not face the +danger with us, should we now give them a helping hand? Never! +We told them we would share our fate with Bana, and share it we +will, for God rules everything: every man must die when his time +comes." + +We marched for the first time without music, as the drum is never +allowed to be beaten in Unyoro except when the necessities of war +demand it, or for a dance. Wanyamuezi and Wanyoro, in addition +to our own twenty men, carried the luggage, though no one carried +more than the smallest article he could find. It was a pattern +Unyoro march, of only two hours' duration. On arrival at the end +we heard that elephants had been seen close by. Grant and I then +prepared our guns, and found a herd of about a hundred feeding on +a plain of long grass, dotted here and there by small mounds +crowned with shrub. The animals appeared to be all females, much +smaller than the Indian breed; yet though ten were fired at, none +were killed, and only one made an attempt to charge. I was with +the little twin Manua at the time, when, stealing along under +cover of the high grass, I got close to the batch and fired at +the larges, which sent her round roaring. The whole of them +then, greatly alarmed, packed together and began sniffing the air +with their uplifted trunks, till, ascertaining by the smell of +the powder that their enemy was in front of them, they rolled up +their trunks and came close to the spot where I was lying under a +mound. My scent then striking across them, they pulled up short, +lifted their heads high, and looked down sideways on us. This +was a bad job. I could not get a proper front shot at the boss +of any of them, and if I had waited an instant we should both +have been picked up or trodden to death; so I let fly at their +temples, and instead of killing, sent the whole of them rushing +away at a much faster pace than they came. After this I gave up, +because I never could separate the ones I had wounded from the +rest, and thought it cruel to go on damaging more. Thinking over +it afterwards, I came to the conclusion I ought to have put in +more powder; for I had, owing to their inferior size to the +Indian ones, rather despised them, and fired at them with the +same charge and in the same manner as I always did at rhinoceros. +Though puzzled at the strange sound of the rifle, the elephants +seldom ran far, packed in herd, and began to graze again. Frij, +who was always ready at spinning a yarn, told us with much +gravity that two of my men, Uledi and Wadi Hamadi, deserters, +were possessed of devils (Phepo) at Zanzibar. Uledi, not wishing +to be plagued by his Satanic majesty's angels on the march, +sacrificed a cow and fed the poor, according to the great Phepo's +orders, and had been exempted from it; but Wadi Hamadi, who +preferred taking his chance, had been visited several times: once +at Usui, when he was told the journey would be prosperous, only +the devil wanted one man's life, and one man would fall sick; +which proved true, for Hassani was murdered, and Grant fell sick +in Karague. The second time Wadi Hamadi saw the devil in +Karague, and was told one man's life would be required in Uganda, +and such also was the case by Kari's murder; and a third time, in +Unyoro, he was possessed, when it was said that the journey would +be prosperous but protracted. + +3d.--Though we stormed every day at being so shamefully neglected +and kept in the jungles, we could not get on, nor find out the +truth of our position. I asked if Kamrasi was afraid of us, and +looking into his magic horn; and was answered, "No; he is very +anxious to see you, or he would not have sent six of his highest +officers to look after you, and prevent the unruly peasantry from +molesting you." "Then by whose orders are we kept here?" "By +Kamrasi's." "Why does Kamrasi keep us here?" "He thinks you are +not so near, and men have gone to tell him." "How did we come +here from the last ground?" "By Kamrasi's orders; for nothing +can be done excepting by his orders." "Then he must know we are +here?" "He may not have seen the men we sent to him; for unless +he shows in public no one can see him." The whole affair gave us +such an opinion of Kamrasi as induced us to think it would have +served him right had we joined Mtesa and given him a thrashing. +This, I said, was put in our power by an alliance with his +refractory brothers; but Kidgwiga only laughed and said, +"Nonsense! Kamrasi is the chief of all the countries round here-- +Usoga, Kidi, Chopi, Gani, Ulega, everywhere; he has only to hold +up his hand and thousands would come to his assistance." +Kwibeya, the officer of the place, presented us with five fowls +on the part of the king, and some baskets of potatoes. + +4th.--We halted again, it was said, in order that Kwibeya might +give us all the king had desired him to present. I sent Bombay +off with a message to Kamrasi explaining everything, and begging +for an early interview, as I had much of importance to +communicate, and wished, of all things, to see the letter he had +from Gani, as it must have come from our dear friends at home. +Seven goats, flour, and plantains, were now brought to us; and as +Kidgwiga begged for the flour without success, he flew into a fit +of high indignation because these things were given and received +without his having first been consulted. He was the big man and +appointed go-between, and no one could dispute it. This was +rather startling news to us, for Vittagura said he was commander- +in-chief; Kajunju thought himself biggest, so did Kwibeya, and +even Dr K'yengo's men justified Budja's speech. + +5th and 6th.--Still another halt, with all sorts of excuses. +Frij, it appeared, dreamt last night that the king of Uganda came +to fight us for not complying with his orders, and that all my +men ran away except Uledi and himself. This, according to the +interpretation of the coast, would turn out the reverse, +otherwise his head must be wrong, and, according to local +science, should be set right again by actual cautery of the +temples; and as Grant dreamt a letter came from Gani which I +opened and ran away with, he thought it would turn out no letter +at all, and therefore Kamrasi had been humbugging us. We heard +that Bombay had shot a cow before Kamrasi and would not be +allowed to return until he had eaten it. + +At last we made a move, but only of two hours' duration, through +the usual forest, in which elephants walked about as if it were +their park. We hoped at starting to reach the palace, but found +we must stop here until the king should send for us. We were +informed that doubtless he was looking into his Uganga, or magic +horn, to discover what he had to expect from us; and he seemed as +yet to have found no ground for being afraid of us. Moreover, it +is his custom to keep visitors waiting on him in this way, for is +he not the king of kings, the king of Kittara, which includes all +the countries surrounding Unyoro? + + + + + Chapter XVII + + + + Unyoro + +Invitation to the Palace at last--Journey to it--Bombay's Visit +to King Kamrasi--Our Reputation as Cannibals--Reception at Court- +- Acting the Physician again--Royal Mendicancy. + +We halted again, but in the evening one of Dr K'yengo's men came +to invite us to the palace. He explained that Kamrasi was in a +great rage because we only received seven goats instead of +thirty, the number he had ordered Kwibeya to give us, besides +pombe and plantains without limitation. I complained that Bombay +had been shown more respect than myself, obtaining an immediate +admittance to the king's presence. To this he gave two ready +answers--that every distinction shown my subordinate was a +distinction to myself, and that we must not expect court +etiquette from savages. + +9th.--We set off for the palace. This last march differed but +little from the others. Putting Dr K'yengo's men in front, and +going on despite all entreaties to stop, we passed the last bit +of jungle, sighted the Kidi hills, and, in a sea of swampy grass, +at last we stood in front of and overlooked the great king's +palace, situated N. lat. 1§ 37' 43", and E. long. 32§ 19' 49", on +a low tongue of land between the Kafu and Nile rivers. It was a +dumpy, large hut, surrounded by a host of smaller ones, and the +worst royal residence we had seen since leaving Uzinza. Here +Kajunju, coming from behind, overtook us, and breathless with +running, in the most excited manner, abused Dr K'yengo's men for +leading us on, and ordered us to stop until he saw the king, and +ascertained the place his majesty wished us to reside in. +Recollecting Mtesa's words that Kamrasi placed his guest on the +N'yanza, I declined going to any place but the palace, which I +maintained was my right, and waited for the issue, when Kajunju +returned with pombe, and showed us to a small, dirty set of huts +beyond the Kafu river--the trunk of the Mwerango and N'yanza +branches which we crossed in Uganda-- and trusted this would do +for the present, as better quarters in the palace would be looked +for on the morrow. This was a bad beginning, and caused a few of +the usual anathemas in which our countrymen give vent to their +irritation. + +Two loads of flowers, neatly packed in long strips of rushpith, +were sent for us "to consume at once," as more would be given on +the morrow. To keep us amused, Kidgwiga informed us that Kamrasi +and Mtesa--in fact, all the Wahuma--came originally from a stock +of the same tribe dwelling beyond Kidi. All bury their dead in +the same way, under ground; but the kings are toasted first for +months till they are like sun-dried meat, when the lower jaw is +cut out and preserved, covered with beads. The royal tombs are +put under the charge of special officers, who occupy huts erected +over them. The umbilical cords are preserved from birth, and, at +death, those of men are placed within the door-frame, whilst +those of women are buried without--this last act corresponding, +according to Bombay, with the custom of the Wahiyow. On the +death of any of the great officers of state, the finger-bones and +hair are also preserved; or if they have died shaven, as +sometimes occurs, a bit of their mbugu dress will be preserved in +place of the hair. Their families guard their tombs. + +The story we heard at Karague, about dogs with horns in Unyoro, +was confirmed by Kidgwiga, who positively assured us that he once +saw one in the possession of an official person, but it died. The +horn then was stuffed with magic powder, and, whenever an army +was ordered for war, it was placed on the war-track for the +soldiers to step over, in the same way as a child is sacrificed +to insure victory in Unyomuezi. Of the Karague story, according +to which all the Kidi people sleep in trees, Kidgwiga gave me a +modified version. He said the bachelors alone do son, whilst the +married folk dwell in houses. As most of these stories have some +foundation in fact, we presumed that the people of Kidi sometimes +mount a tree to sleep at night when travelling through their +forests, where lions are plentiful--but not otherwise. + +10th.--I sent Kidgwiga with my compliments to the king, and a +request that his majesty would change my residence, which was so +filthy that I found it necessary to pitch a tent, and also that +he would favour me with an interview after breakfast. The return +was a present of twenty cows, ten cocks, two bales of flour, and +two pots of pombe, to be equally divided between Grant and +myself, as Kamrasi recognised in us two distinct camps, because +we approached his country by two different routes--a smart method +for expecting two presents from us, which did not succeed, as I +thanked for all, Grant being "my son" on this occasion. The king +also sent his excuses, and begged pardon for what happened to us +on entering his country, saying it could not have taken place had +we come from Rumanika direct. His fear of the Waganda gave rise +to it, and he trusted we would forget and forgive. To-morrow our +residence should be changed, and an interview follow, for he +desired being friends with us just as much as we did with him. + +At last Bombay came back. He reported that he had not been +allowed to leave the palace earlier, though he pleaded hard that +I expected his return; and the only excuse he could extract from +the king was, that we were coming in charge of many Wakungu, and +he had found it necessary to retard our approach in consequence +of the famine at Chaguzi. His palace proper was not here, but +three marches westward: he had come here and pitched a camp to +watch his brothers, who were at war with him. Bombay, doing his +best to escape, or to hurry my march, replied that he was very +anxious on our account, because the Waganda wished to snatch us +away. + +It was no doubt this hint that brought the messenger to our +relief yesterday; and otherwise we might have been kept in the +jungle longer. When told by Bombay of our treatment on the Nile, +the king first said he did not think we wished to see him, else +we would have come direct from Rumanika; but when asked if +Baraka's coming with Rumanika's officers was not sufficient to +satisfy him on this point, he hung down his head, and evaded the +question, saying he had been the making of Mtesa of Uganda; but +he had turned out a bad fellow, and now robbed him right and +left.[FN#23] The Gani letter, supposed to be from Petherick, was +now asked for, and a suggestion made about opening a trade with +Gani, but all with the provoking result we had been so well +accustomed to. No letter like that referred to had ever been +received, so that Frij's interpretation about Grant's letter- +dream was right; and if we wished to go to Gani, the king would +send men travelling by night, for his brothers at war with him +lay upon the road. As to the Uganda question, and my desiring +him to make friends with Mtesa, in hopes that the influence of +trade would prevent any plundering in future, he merely tossed +his head. He often said he did not know what to think about his +guests, now he had got them; to which Bombay, in rather +successful imitation of what he had heard me say on like +occasions, replied, "If you do not like them after you have seen +them, cut their heads off, for they are all in your hands." + +11th.--With great apparent politeness Kamrasi sent in the morning +to inquire how we had slept. He had "heard our cry"--an +expression of regal condescension--and begged we would not be +alarmed, for next morning he would see us, and after the meeting +change our residence, when, should we not approve of wading to +his palace, he would bridge all the swamps leading up to it; but +for the present he wanted two rounds of ball-cartridge--one to +fire before his women, and the other before his officers and a +large number of Kidi men who were there on a visit. To please +this childish king, Bombay was sent with two other of my men, and +no sooner arrived than a cow was placed before them to be shot. +Bombay, however, thinking easy compliance would only lead to +continued demands on our short store of powder, said he had no +order to shoot cows, and declined. A strong debated ensued, which +Bombay, by his own account, turned to advantage, by saying, "What +use is there in shooting cows? we have lots of meat; what we want +is flour to eat with it." To which the great king retorted, "If +you have not got flour, that is not my fault, for I ordered your +master to come slowly, and to bring provisions along with him." + +Then getting impatient, as all his visitors wanted sport, he +ordered the cow out again, and insisted on my men shooting at it, +saying at the same time to his Kidi visitors, boastfully, "Now I +will show you what devils these Wanguana are: with firearms they +can kill a cow with one bullet; and as they are going to Gani, I +advise you not to meddle with them." The Kidi visitors said, +"Nonsense; we don't believe in their power, but we will see." +Irate at his defeat, Bombay gave orders to the men to fire over +the cow, and told Kamrasi why he had done so--Bana would be angry +with him. "Well," said the king of kings, "if that is true, go +back to your master, tell him you have disappointed me before +these men, and obtain permission to shoot the cow in the morning; +after which, should you succeed, your master can come after +breakfast to see me--but for the present, take him this pot of +pombe." + +12th.--To back Bombay in what he had said, I gave him two more +cartridges to shoot the cow with, and orders as well to keep +Kamrasi to his word about the oft-promised interview and change +of residence. He gave me the following account on his return: -- +Upwards of a thousand spectators were present when he killed the +cow, putting both bullets into her, and all in a voice, as soon +as they saw the effect of the shot, shouted in amazement; the +Kidi visitors, all terror-stricken, crying out, as they clasped +their breasts, "Oh, great king, do allow us to return to our +country, for you have indeed got a new specimen of man with you, +and we are greatly afraid!"--a lot of humbug and affectation to +flatter the king, which pleased him greatly. It was not +sufficient, however, to make him forget his regal pride; for +though Bombay pleaded hard for our going to see him, and for a +change of residence, the immovable king, to maintain the imperial +state he had assumed as "king of kings," only said, "What +difference does it make whether your master sees me to-day or to- +morrow? If he wants to communicate about the road to Gani, his +property at Karague, or the guns at Uganda, he can do so as well +through the medium of my officers as with me direct, and I will +send men whenever he wishes to do so. Perhaps you don't know, but +I expect men from Gani every day, who took a present of slaves, +ivory and monkey-skins to the foreigners residing there, who, in +the first instance sent me a necklace of beads [showing them] by +some men who wore clothes. They said white men were coming from +Karague, and requested the beads might be shown them should they +do so. They left this two moons before Baraka arrived here, and +I told them the white men would not come here, as I heard they +had gone to Uganda." + +Bombay then, finding the king very communicative, went at him for +his inhospitality towards us, his turning us back from his +country twice, and now, after inviting us, treating us as +Suwarora did. On this he gave, by Bombay's account, the following +curious reason for his conduct:--"You don't understand the +matter. At the time the white men were living in Uganda, many of +the people who had seen them there came and described them as +such monsters, they ate up mountains and drank the N'yanza dry; +and although they fed on both beef and mutton, they were not +satisfied until they got a dish of the 'tender parts' of human +beings three times a-day. Now, I was extremely anxious to see +men of such wonderful natures. I could have stood their +mountain-eating and N'yanzi-drinking capacities, but on no +consideration would I submit to sacrifice my subjects to their +appetites, and for this reason I first sent to turn them back; +but afterwards, on hearing from Dr K'yengo's men that, although +the white men had travelled all through their country, and +brought all the pretty and wonderful things of the world there, +they had never heard such monstrous imputations cast upon them, I +sent a second time to call them on: these are the facts of the +case. Now, with regard to your accusation of my treating them +badly, it is all their own fault. I ordered them to advance +slowly and pick up food by the way, as there is a famine here; +but they, instead, hurried on against my wishes. That they want +to see and give me presents you have told me repeatedly--so do I +them; for I want them to teach me the way to shoot, and when that +is accomplished, I will take them to an island near Kidi, where +there are some men [his refractory brothers] whom I wish to +frighten away with guns; but still there is no hurry,--they can +come when I choose to call them, and not before." Bombay to this +said, "I cannot deliver such a message to Bana; I have told so +many falsehoods about your saying you will have an interview to- +morrow, I shall only catch a flogging"; and forthwith departed. + +13th.--More disgusted with Kamrasi than ever, I called Kidgwiga +up, and told him I was led to expect from Rumanika that I should +find his king a good and reasonable man, which I believed, +considering it was said by an unprejudiced person. Mtesa, on the +contrary, told me Kamrasi treated all his guests with disrespect, +sending them to the farther side of the N'yanzi. I now found his +enemy more truthful than his friend, and wished him to be told +so. "For the future, I should never," I said, "mention his name +again, but wait until his fear of me had vanished; for he quite +forgot his true dignity as a host and king in his surprise and +fear, merely because we were in a hurry and desired to see him." +He was reported to-day, by the way, to be drunk. + +As nothing could be done yesterday, in consequence of the king +being in his cups, the Wakungu conveyed my message to-day, but +with the usual effect, till a diplomatic idea struck me, and I +sent another messenger to say, if our residence was not changed +at once, both Grant and myself had made up our minds to cut off +our hair and blacken our faces, so that the king of all kings +should have no more cause to fear us. Ignoring his claims to +imperial rank, I maintained that his reason for ill-treating us +must be fear, --it could be nothing else. This message acted +like magic; for he fully believed we would do as we said, and +disappoint him altogether of the strange sight of us as pure +white men. The reply was, Kamrasi would not have us disfigured +in this way for all the world; men were appointed to convey our +traps to the west end at once; and Kidgwiga, Vittagura, and +Kajunju rushed over to give us the news in all hast lest we +should execute our threat, and they were glad to find us with our +faces unchanged. I now gave one cow to the head of Dr K'yengo's +party, and one to the head of Rumanika's men, because I saw it +was through their instrumentality we gained admittance in the +country; and we changed residence to the west end of Chaguzi, and +found there comfortable huts close to the Kafu, which ran +immediately between us and the palace. + +Still our position in Unyoro was not a pleasant one. In a long +field of grass, as high as the neck, and half under water, so +that no walks could be taken, we had nothing to see but Kamrasi's +miserable huts and a few distant conical hills, of which one +Udongo, we conceive, represents the Padongo of Brun-Bollet, +placed by him in 1§ south latitude, and 35§ east longitude. We +were scarcely inside our new dwelling when Kamrasi sent a cheer +of two pots pombe, five fowls, and two bunches of plantains, +hoping we were now satisfied with his favour; but he damped the +whole in a moment again, by asking for a many-bladed knife which +his officers had seen in Grant's possession. I took what he +sent, from fear of giving offence, but replied that I was +surprised the great king should wish to see my property before +seeing myself, and although I attached no more value to my +property than he did to his, I could not demean myself by sending +him trifles in that way. However, should he, after hearing my +sentiments, still persist in asking for the knife to be sent by +the hands of a black man, I would pack it up with all the things +I had brought for him, and send them by a black man, judging that +he liked black men more than white. + +Dr K'yengo's men then informed us they had been twice sent with +an army of Wanyoro to attack the king's brothers, on a river- +island north of this about three days' journey, but each time it +ended in nothing. You fancy yourself, they said, in a +magnificent army, but the enemy no sooner turn out than the +cowardly Wanyoro fly, and sacrifice their ally as soon as not +into the hands of the opponents. They said Kamrasi would not +expect us to attack them with our guns. Rionga was the head of +the rebels; there were formerly five, but now only two of the +brothers remained. + +15th.--Kamrasi, after inquiring after our health, and how we had +slept, through a large deputation of head men, alluded to the +knife question of yesterday, thinking it very strange that after +giving me such nice food I should deny him the gratification of +simply looking at a knife; he did not intend to keep it if it was +not brought for him, but merely to look at and return it. To my +reply of yesterday I added, I had been led, before entering +Unyoro, to regard Kamrasi as the king of all kings--the greatest +king that ever was, and one worthy to be my father; but now, as +he expected me to amuse him with toys, he had lowered himself in +my estimation to the position of being my child. To this the +sages said, "Bana speaks beautifully, feelingly, and moderately. +Of course he is displeased at seeing his property preferred +before himself; all the right is on his side: we will now return +and see what can be done--though none but white men in their +greatest dare send such messages to our king." + +Dr K'yengo's men were now attacked by Kidgwiga for having taken a +cow from me yesterday, and told they should not eat it, because +both they and myself were the king's guests, and it ill became +one to eat that which was given as a dinner for the other. +Fortunately, foreseeing this kind of policy, as Kamrasi had been +watching our actions, I invariably gave in presents those cows +which came with us from Uganda, and therefore defied any one to +meddle with them. This elicited the true facts of the case. Dr +K'yengo's men had been sent out to our camp to observe if anybody +received presents from us, as Kamrasi feared his subjects would +have the fleecing of us before his turn came; and these men had +reported the two cows given by me as mentioned above. Kamrasi no +sooner heard of this than he took the cows and kept them himself. +In their justification, Dr K'yengo's men said that had they not +been in the country before us, Kamrasi would not have had such +guests at all; for when he asked them if the Waganda reports +about our cannibalism and other monstrosities were true, their +head man denied it all, offered to stand security for our +actions, and told the king if he found us cannibals he might make +a Mohammedan of him, and sealed the statement with his oath by +throwing down his shield and bow and walking over them. To this +Kamrasi was said to have replied, "I will accept your statements, +but you must remain with me until they come." + +Kajunju came with orders to say Kamrasi would seize anybody found +staring at us. I requested a definite answer would be given as +regards Kamrasi's seeing us. Dr K'yengo's men then said they +were kept a week waiting before they could obtain an interview, +whilst Kajunju excused his king by saying, "At present the court +is full of Kidi, Chopi, Gani, and other visitors, who he does not +wish should see you, as some may be enemies in disguise. They +are all now taking presents of cows from Kamrasi, and going to +their homes, and, as soon as they are disposed of, your turn will +come." + +16th.--We kept quiet all day, to see what effect that would have +upon the king. Kidgwiga told us that, when he was a lad, Kamrasi +sent him with a large party of Wanyoro to visit a king who lived +close to a high mountain, two months' journey distant, to the +east or south-east of this, and beg for a magic horn, as that +king's doctor was peculiarly famed for his skill as a magician. +The party carried with them 600 majembe (iron spades), two of +which expended daily paid for their board and lodgings on the +way. The horn applied for was sent by a special messenger to +Kamrasi, who, in return, sent one of his horns; from which date, +the two kings, whenever one of them wishes to communicate with +the other, sends, on the messenger's neck, the horn that had been +given him, which both serves for credentials and security, as no +one dare touch a Mbakka with one of these horns upon his neck. + +A common source of conversation among our men now was the +desertion of their comrades, all fancying how bitterly they would +repent it when they heard how we had succeeded, eating beef every +day; and Uledi now, in a joking manner, abused Mektub for having +urged him to desert. He would not leave Bana, and if he had not +stopped, Mektub would have gone, for they both served one master +at Zanzibar, and therefore were like brothers; whilst Mektub, +laughing over the matter as if it were a good joke, said, "I +packed up my things to go, it is true; but I reflected if I got +back to the coast Said Majid would only make a slave of me +again." M'yinzuggi, the head of Rumanika's party, gave me to-day +a tippet monkey-skin in return for the cow I had given him on the +14th. These men, taking their natures from their king Rumanika, +are by far the most gentle, polite, and attentive of any black +men we have travelled amongst. + +17th.--Tired and out of patience with our prison--a river of +crocodiles on one side, and swamps in every other direction, +while we could not go out shooting without a specific order from +the king--I sent Kidgwiga and Kajunju to inform Kamrasi that we +could bear this life no longer. As he did not wish to see white +men, our residing here could be of no earthly use. I hoped he +would accept our present from Bombay, and give us leave to depart +for Gani. The Wakungu, who thought, as well as ourselves, that +we were in nothing better than a prison, hurried off with the +message, and soon returned with a message from their king that he +was busily engaged decorating his palace to give us a triumphant +reception; for he was anxious to pay us more respect than anybody +who had ever visited him before. We should have seen him +yesterday, only that it rained; and, as a precaution against our +meeting being broken up, a shed was being built. He could not +hear of our leaving the country without seeing him. + +18th.--At last we were summoned to attend the king's levee; but +the suspicious creature wished his officers to inspect the things +we had brought for him before we went there. Here was another +hitch. I could not submit to such disrespectful suspicions, but +if he wished Bombay to convey my present to him, I saw no harm in +the proposition. The king waived the point, and we all started, +carrying as a present the things enumerated in the note.[FN#24] +The Union Jack led the way. At the ferry three shots were fired, +when, stepping into two large canoes, we all went across the Kafu +together, and found, to our surprise, a small hut built for the +reception, low down on the opposite bank, where no strange eyes +could see us. + +Within this, sitting on a low wooden stool placed upon a double +matting of skins--cows' below and leopards' above--on an elevated +platform of grass, was the great king Kamrasi, looking, +enshrouded in his mbugu dress, for all the world like a pope in +state--calm and actionless. One bracelet of fine-twisted brass +wire adorned his left wrist, and his hair, half an inch long, was +worked up into small peppercorn-like knobs by rubbing the hand +circularly over the crown of the head. His eyes were long, face +narrow, and nose prominent, after the true fashion of his breed; +and though a finely-made man, considerably above six feet high, +he was not so large as Rumanika. A cow-skin, stretched out and +fastened to the roof, acted as a canopy to prevent dust falling, +and a curtain of mbugu concealed the lower parts of the hut, in +front of which, on both sides of the king, sat about a dozen head +men. + +This was all. We entered and took seats on our own iron stools, +whilst Bombay placed all the presents upon the ground before the +throne. As no greetings were exchanged, and all at first +remained as silent as death, I commenced, after asking about his +health, by saying I had journeyed six long years (by the African +computation of five months in the year) for the pleasure of this +meeting, coming by Karague instead of by the Nile, because the +"Wanya Beri" (Bari people at Gondokoro) had defeated the projects +of all former attempts made by white men to reach Unyoro. The +purpose of my coming was to ascertain whether his majesty would +like to trade with our country, exchanging ivory for articles of +European manufacture; as, should he do so, merchants would come +here in the same way as they went from Zanzibar to Karague. +Rumanika and Mtesa were both anxious for trade, and I felt sorry +he would not listen to my advice and make friend with Mtesa; for +unless the influence of trade was brought in to check the Waganda +from pillaging the country, nothing would do so. + +Kamrasi, in a very quiet, mild manner, instead of answering the +questions, told us of the absurd stories which he had heard from +the Waganda, said he did not believe them, else his rivers, +deprived of their fountains, would have run dry; and he thought, +if we did eat hills and the tender parts of mankind, we should +have had enough to satisfy our appetites before we reached +Unyoro. Now, however, he was glad to see that, although our hair +was straight and our faces white, we still possessed hands and +feel like other men. + +The present was then opened, and everything in turn placed upon +the red blanket. The goggles created some mirth; so did the +scissors, as Bombay, to show their use, clipped his beard, and +the lucifers were considered a wonder; but the king scarcely +moved or uttered any remarks till all was over, when, at the +instigation of the courtiers, my chronometer was asked for and +shown. This wonderful instrument, said the officers (mistaking +it for my compass), was the magic horn by which the white men +found their way everywhere. Kamrasi said he must have it, for, +besides it, the gun was the only thing new to him. The +chronometer, however, I said, was the only one left, and could +not possibly be parted with; though, if Kamrasi liked to send men +to Gani, a new one could be obtained for him. + +Then, changing the subject, much to my relief, Kamrasi asked +Bombay, "Who governs England?" "A woman." "Has she any +children?" "Yes," said Bombay, with ready impudence; "these are +two of them" (pointing to Grant and myself). That settled, +Kamrasi wished to know if we had any specked cows, or cows of any +peculiar colour, and would we like to change four large cows for +four small ones, as he coveted some of ours. This was a +staggerer. We had totally failed, then, in conveying to this +stupid king the impression that we were not mere traders, ready +to bargain with him. We would present him with cows if we had +such as he wanted, but we could not bargain. The meeting then +broke up in the same chilling manner as it began, and we returned +as we came, but no sooner reached home than four pots of pombe +were sent us, with a hope that we had arrived all safely. The +present gave great satisfaction. The Wanguana accused Frij of +having "unclean hands," because the beef had not lasted so long +as it should do--it being a notable fact in Mussulman creed, that +unless the man's hands are pure who cuts the throat of an animal, +its flesh will not last fresh half the ordinary time. + +19th.--As the presents given yesterday occupied the king's mind +too much for other business, I now sent to offer him one-third of +the guns left in Uganda, provided he would send some messengers +with one of my men to ask Mtesa for them, and also the same +proportion of the sixty loads of property left in charge of +Rumanika at Karague, if he would send the requisite number of +porters for its removal. But of all things, I said, I most +wished to send a letter to Petherick at Gani, to apprise him of +our whereabouts, for he must have been four years waiting our +arrival there, and by the same opportunity I would get a watch +for the king. He sent us to-day two pots of pombe, one sack of +salt, and what might be called a screw of butter, with an +assurance that the half of everything that came to his house-- +and everything was brought from great distances in boats--he +would give me; but for the present the only thing he was in need +of was some medicine or stimulants. Further, I need be under no +apprehension if I did not find men at once to go on the three +respective journeys; it should be all done in good time, for he +loved me much, and desired to show us so much respect that his +name should be celebrated for it in songs of praise until he was +bowed down by years, and even after death it should be +remembered. + +I ascertained then that the salt, which was very white and pure, +came from an island on the Little Luta Nzige, about sixty miles +west from the Chaguzi palace, where the lake is said to be forty +or fifty miles wide. It is the same piece of water we heard of +in Karague as the Little Luta Nzige, beyond Utumbi; and the same +story of Unyoro being an island circumscribed by it and the +Victoria N'yanza connected by the Nile, is related here, showing +that both the Karague and Unyoro people, as indeed all negroes +and Arabs, have the common defect in their language, of using the +same word for a peninsula and an island. The Waijasi--of whom we +saw a specimen in the shape of an old woman, with her upper lip +edged with a row of small holes, at Karague--occupy a large +island on this lake named Gasi, and sometimes come to visit +Kamrasi. Ugungu, a dependency of Kamrasi's, occupies this side, +the lake, and on the opposite side is Ulegga; beyond which, in +about 2§ N. lat. And 28§ E. long., is the country of Namachi; and +further west still about 2§, the Wilyanwantu, or cannibals, who, +according to the report both here and at Karague, "bury cows but +eat men." These distant people pay their homage to Kamrasi, +though they have six degrees of longitude to travel over. They +are, I believe, a portion of the N'yam N'yams--another name for +cannibal--whose country Petherick said he entered in 1857-58. +Among the other wild legends about this people, it was said that +the Wilyanwantu, in making brotherhood, exchanged their blood by +drinking at one another's veins; and, in lieu of butter with +their porridge, they smear it with the fat of fried human flesh. + +20th.--I had intended for to-day an expedition to the lake; but +Kamrasi, harbouring a wicked design that we should help in an +attack on his brothers, said there was plenty of time to think of +that; we would only find that all the waters united go to Gani, +and he wished us to be his guests for three or four months at +least. Fifty Gani men had just arrived to inform him that Rionga +had lately sent ten slaves and ten ivory tusks to Petherick's +post, to purchase a gun; but the answer was, that a thousand +times as much would not purchase a weapon that might be used +against us; for our arrival with Kamrasi had been heard of, and +nothing would be done to jeopardise our road. + +To talk over this matter, the king invited us to meet him. We +went as before, minus the flag and firing, and met a similar +reception. The Gani news was talked over, and we proposed sending +Bombay with a letter at once. I could get no answer; so, to pass +the time, we wished to know from the king's own lips if he had +prevented Baraka from going to Gani, as he had carried orders +from Rumanika as well as from myself to visit Kamrasi, to give +him fifty egg-beads, seventy necklaces of mtende, and seventy +necklaces of kutuamnazi beads, and then to pass on to Gani and +give its chief fifty egg-beads and forty necklaces of kutuamnazi. +Kamrasi replied, "I did not allow him to go, because I heard you +had gone to Uganda"; and Dr K'yengo's men happening to be +present, added, "Baraka used up all the beads save forty which he +gave to Kamrasi, living upon goats all the way; and when he left, +took back a tusk of ivory." + +This little controversy was amusing, but did not suit Kamrasi, +who had his eye on a certain valuable possession of mine. He +made his approach towards it by degrees, beginning with a truly +royal speech thus: "I am the king of all these countries, even +including Uganda and Kidi--though the Kidi people are such +savages they obey no man's orders--and you are great men also, +sitting on chairs before kings; it therefore ill becomes us to +talk of such trifles as beads, especially as I know if you ever +return this way I shall get more from you." "Begging your +majesty's pardon," I said, "the mention of beads only fell in the +way of our talk like stones in a walk; our motive being to get at +the truth of what Baraka did and said here, as his conduct in +returning after receiving strict orders from Rumanika and +ourselves to open the road, is a perfect enigma to us. We could +not have entered Unyoro at all excepting through Uganda, and we +could not have put foot in Uganda without visiting its king." +Without deigning to answer, Kamrasi, in the metaphorical language +of a black man, said, "It would be unbecoming of me to keep +secrets from you, and therefore I will tell you at once; I am +sadly afflicted with a disorder which you alone can cure." "What +is it, your majesty? I can see nothing in your face; it may +perhaps require a private inspection." "My heart," he said, "is +troubled, because you will not give me your magic horn-- the +thing, I mean, in your pocket, which you pulled out one day when +Budja and Vittagura were discussing the way; and you no sooner +looked at it than you said, 'That is the way to the palace.'" + +So! the sly fellow has been angling for the chronometer all this +time, and I can get nothing out of him until he has got it--the +road to the lake, the road to Gani, everything seemed risked on +his getting my watch--a chronometer worth œ50, which would be +spoilt in his hands in one day. To undeceive him, and tell him +it was the compass which I looked at and not the watch, I knew +would only end with my losing that instrument as well; so I told +him it was not my guide, but a time-keeper, made for the purpose +of knowing what time to eat my dinner by. It was the only +chronometer I had with me; and I begged he would have patience +until Bombay returned from Gani with another, when he should have +the option to taking this or the new one. "No; I must have the +one in your pocket; pull it out and show it." This was done, and +I placed it on the ground, saying, "The instrument is yours, but +I must keep it until another one comes." "No; I must have it +now, and will send it you three times every day to look at." + +The watch went, gold chain and all, without any blessings +following it; and the horrid king asked if I could make up +another magic horn, for he hoped he had deprived us of the power +of travelling, and plumed himself on the notion that the glory of +opening the road would devolve upon himself. When I told him +that to purchase another would cost five hundred cows, the whole +party were more confirmed than ever as to its magical powers; for +who in his sense would give five hundred cows for the mere +gratification of seeing at what time his dinner should be eaten? +Thus ended the second meeting. Kamrasi now said the Gani men +would feast on beef to-morrow, and the next day be ready to start +with my men for Petherick's camp. He then accompanies us to the +boats, spear in hand, and saw us cross the water. Long tail- +hairs of the giraffe surrounded his neck, on which little balls +and other ornaments of minute beads, after the Uganda fashion, +were worked. In the evening four pots of pombe and a pack of +flour were brought, together with the chronometer, which was sent +to be wound up--damaged of course-- the seconds-hand had been +dislodged. + +21st.--I heard from Kidgwiga that some of those Gani men now +ordered to go with Bombay had actually been visiting here when +the latter shot his first cow at the palace, but had gone to +their homes to give information of us, and had returned again. +Eager to get on with my journey, and see European faces again, I +besought the king to let us depart, as our work was all finished +here, since he had assured us he would like to trade with +England. The N'yanswenge-- meaning Petherick's party--who have +hitherto been afraid to come here, would do so now, when they had +seen us pass safely down, and could receive my guns and property +left to come from Uganda and Karague, which we ourselves could +not wait for. Kamrasi, thinking me angry for his having taken +the watch so rudely out of my pocket, took fright at the message, +sent some of his attendants quickly back to me, requesting me to +keep the instrument until another arrived, and begged I would +never say I wished to leave his house again. + +22d.--Kamrasi sent to say Bombay was not to start to-day, but to- +morrow, so we put the screw on again, and said we must go at +once; if he would give us guides to Gani, we would return him his +twenty cows and seven goats with pleasure. I let him understand +we suspected he was keeping us here to fight his brothers, and +told him he must at once know we would never lift hand against +them. It was contrary to the laws of our land. "I have got no +orders to enter into black men's quarrels, and my mother" (the +Queen), "whom I see every night in my sleep calling me home, +would be very angry if she heard of it. Rumanika once asked me +to fight his brothers Rogero and M'yongo, but my only reply to +all had been the same--I have no orders to fight with, only to +make friends of, the great kings of Africa." + +The game seemed now to be won. At once Kamrasi ordered Bombay to +prepare for the journey. Five Wanyoro, five Chopi men, and five +Gani men, were to escort him. There was no objection to his +carrying arms. The moment he returned, which ought to be in +little more than a fortnight, we would all go together. An +earnest request was at the same time made that I would not bully +him in the mean time with any more applications to depart. So +Bombay and Mabruki, carrying there muskets, and a map and letter +for Petherick, departed. + +23d and 24th.--Kamrasi, presuming he had gained favour in our +eyes, sent, begging to know how we had slept, and said he would +like us to inform him what part of his journey Bombay had this +morning reached --a fact which he had no doubt must be divinable +through the medium of our books. The reply was, that Bombay's +luck was so good we had no doubt regarding his success; but now +he had gone, and our days here were numbered, we should like to +see the palace, his fat wives and children, as well as the +Wanyoro's dances, and all the gaiety of the place. We did not +think our reception-hut by the river sufficiently dignified, and +our residence here was altogether like that of prisoners--seeing +no one, knowing no one. In answer to this, Kamrasi sent one pot +of pombe and five fowls, begging we would not be alarmed; we +should see everything in good time, if we would but have +patience, for he considered us very great men, as he was a great +man himself, and we had come at his invitation. He must request, +in the mean time, that we would send no more messages by his +officers, as such messages are never conveyed properly. At +present there was a great deal of business in the palace. + +We asked for some butter, but could get none, as all the milk in +the palace was consumed by the wives and children, drinking all +day long, to make themselves immovably fat. + +25th.--In the morning, the commander-in-chief wished us to cast a +horoscope, and see where Bombay was, and if he were getting on +well. That being negatived, he told us to put our hut in order, +as Kamrasi was coming to see us. Accordingly we made everything +as smart as possible, hanging the room round with maps, horns, +and skins of animals, and places a large box covered with a red +blanket, as a throne for the king to set upon. As he advanced, +my men, forming a guard of honour fired three shots immediately +on his setting foot upon our side the river; whilst Frij, with +his boatswain's whistle, piped the 'Rogue's March,' to prepare us +for his majesty's approach. We saluted him, hat in hand, and, +leading the way, showed him in. He was pleased to be +complimentary, remarking, what Waseja (fine men) we were, and +took his seat. We sat on smaller boxes, to appear humble, whilst +his escort of black "swells" filled the doorway, squatting on the +ground, so as to stop the light and interfere with our +decorations. + +After the first salutations, the king remarked the head of a +nsamma buck, and handled it; then noticed my mosquito-curtains +hanging over the bed, and begged for them. He was told they +could not be given until Bombay returned, as the mosquitoes would +eat us up. "But there were two," said the escort, "for we have +seen one in the other hut." That was true; but were there not +two white men? However, if the king wanted gauze, here was a +smart gauze veil-- and the veil vanished at once. The iron camp- +bed was next inspected, and admired; then the sextant, which was +coveted and begged for, but without success, much to the +astonishment of the king, as his attendants had led him to expect +he would get anything he asked for. Then the thermometers were +wanted and refused; also table-knives, spoons, forks, and even +cooking-pots, for we had no others, and could not part with them. +The books of birds and animals had next to be seen, and being +admired were coveted, the king offering one of the books I first +gave him in exchange for one of these. In fact, he wanted to +fleece us of everything; so, to shut him up, I said I would not +part with one bird for one hundred tusks of ivory; they were all +the collections I had made in Africa, and if I parted with them +my journey would go for nothing; but if he wanted a few drawings +of birds I would do some for him-- at present I wished to speak +to him. "Well, what is it? we are all attention." "I wish to +know positively if you would like English traders to come here +regularly, as the Arabs do to trade at Karague? and if so, would +you give me a pembe (magic horn) as a warrant, that everybody may +know Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, desires it?" + +Kamrasi replied, "I like your proposition very much; you shall +have the horn you ask for, either large or small, just as you +please; and after you have gone, should we hear any English are +at Gani wishing to come here, as my brothers are in the way we +will advance with spears whilst they approach with guns, and +between us both, my brothers must fly--for I myself will head the +expedition. But now you have had your say I will have mine if you +will listen." "All right, your majesty; what is it?" "I am +constantly stricken with fever and pains, for which I know no +remedy but cautery; my children die young; my family is not large +enough to uphold my dignity and station in life; in fact, I am +infirm and want stimulants, and I wish you to prescribe for me, +which considering you have found your way to this, where nobody +came before, must be easy to you." Two pills and a draught for +the morning were given as a preliminary measure, argument being +of no avail; and to our delight the king said it was time to go. + +We jumped off our seats to show him the way, hoping our +persecutions were over; but still he sat, and sat, until at +length, finding we did not take the hint to give him a parting +present, he said, "I never visited any big man's house without +taking home some trifle to show my wife and children." "Indeed, +great king! then you did not come to visit us, but to beg, eh? +You shall have nothing, positively nothing; for we will not have +it said the king did not come to see us, but to beg." Kamrasi's +face changed colour; he angrily said, "Irokh togend" (let us rise +and go), and forthwith walked straight out of the hut. Frij +piped, but no guns fired; and as he asked the reason why he was +told it would be offensive to say we were glad he was going. The +king was evidently not pleased for no pombe came to-day. + + + + + Chapter XVIII + + + + Unyoro--Continued + +The Ceremonies of the New Moon--Kamrasi's Rule and Discipline-- +An Embassy from Uganda, and its Results--The Rebellious Brothers- +- An African Sorcerer and his Incantations--The Kamraviona of +Unyoro-- Burial Customs--Ethiopian Legends--Complicated Diplomacy +for our Detention--Proposal to send Princes to England--We get +away. + +26th.--We found that the palace was shut up in consequence of the +new moon, seen for the first time last evening; and incessant +drumming was the order of the day. Still, private interviews +might be granted, and I sent to inquire after the state of the +king's health. The reply was, that the medicine had not taken, +and the king was very angry because nothing was given him when he +took the trouble to call on us. He never called at a big man's +house and left it mwiko (empty-handed) before; if there was +nothing else to dispose of, could Bana not have given him a bag +of beads? + +To save us from this kind of incessant annoyance, I now thought +it would be our best policy to mount the high horse and bully +him. Accordingly, we tied up a bag of the commonest mixed beads, +added the king's chronometer, and sent them to Kamrasi with a +violent message that we were thoroughly disgusted with all that +had happened; the beads were for the poor beggar who came to our +house yesterday, not to see us, but to beg; and as we did not +desire the acquaintance of beggars, we had made up our minds +never to call again, nor receive any more bread or wine from the +king. + +This appeared to be a hit. Kamrasi, evidently taken aback, said, +if he thought he should have offended us by begging, he would not +have begged. He was not a poor man, for he had many cows, but he +was a beggar, of course, when beads were in the question; and, +having unwittingly offended, as he desired our friendship, he +trusted his offence would be forgiven. On opening the +chronometer, he again wrenched back the seconds-hand, and sent it +for repair, together with two pots of pombe as a peace-offering. +Frij, who accompanied the deputation, overheard the counsellors +tell their king that the Waganda were on their way back to Unyoro +to snatch us away; on hearing which the king asked his men if +they would ever permit it; and, handling his spear as if for +battle, said at the same time he would lose his own head before +they should touch his guests. Then, turning to Frij, he said, +"What would you do if they came?--go back with them?" To which +Frij said, "No, never, when Gani is so near; they might cut our +heads off, but that is all they could do." The watch being by +this time repaired, it gave me the opportunity of sending +Kidgwiga back to the palace to say we trusted Kamrasi would allow +Budja to come here, if only with one woman to carry his pombe, +else Mtesa would take offence, form an alliance with Rionga, and +surround the place with warriors, for it was not becoming in +great kings to treat civil messengers like dogs. + +The reply to this was, that Kamrasi was very much pleased with my +fatherly wisdom and advice, and would act up to it, allowing +Budja only to approach with one woman; we need, however, be under +no apprehensions, for Kamrasi's power was infinite; the Gani road +should be opened even at the spear's point; he had been beating +the big drum in honour of us the whole day; he would not allow +any beggars to come and see us, for he wanted us all to himself, +and for this reason had ordered a fence to be built all round our +house; but he had got no present from Grant yet, though all he +wanted was his mosquito-curtains, whilst he wished my picture- +books to show his women, and be returned. We sent a picture of +Mtesa as a gift, the two books to look at and an acknowledgement +that the mosquito-curtains were his, only he must have patience +until Bombay arrived; but his proposition about the fence we +rejected with scorn. The king had been raising an army to fight +Rionga--the true reason, we suspect, for the beating of the +drums. + +27th and 28th.--There was drumming and music all day and night, +and the army was being increased to a thousand men, but we poor +prisoners could see nothing of it. Frij was therefore sent to +inspect the armament and brings us all the news. Some of +N'yamyonjo's men, seeing mine armed with carbines, became very +inquisitive about them, and asked if they were the instruments +which shot at their men on the Nile--one in the arm, who died; +the other on the top of the shoulder, who was recovering. The +drums were kept in private rooms, to which a select few only were +admitted. Kamrasi conducts all business himself, awarding +punishments and seeing them carried out. The most severe +instrument of chastisement is a knob-stick, sharpened at the +back, like that used in Uganda, for breaking a man's neck before +he is thrown into the N'yanza; but this severity is seldom +resorted to, Kamrasi being of a mild disposition compared with +Mtesa, whom he invariably alludes to when ordering men to be +flogged, telling them that were they in Uganda, their heads would +suffer instead of their backs. In the day's work at the palace, +army collecting, ten officers were bound because they failed to +bring a sufficient number of fighting men, but were afterwards +released on their promising to bring more. + +Nothing could be more filthy than the state of the palace and all +the lanes leading up to it: it was well, perhaps, that we were +never expected to go there, for without stilts and respirators it +would have been impracticable, such is the dirty nature of the +people. The king's cows, even, are kept in the palace enclosure, +the calves actually entering the hut, where, like a farmer, +Kamrasi walks amongst them up to his ankles in filth, and, +inspecting them, issues his orders concerning them. What has to +be selected for his guests he singles out himself. + +Dr K'yengo's men, who had been sent three times into action +against the refractory brothers, asked leave to return to +Karague; but the king, who did not fear for their lives when his +work was to be done, would not give them leave, lest accident +should befall them on the way. We found no prejudice against +eating butter amongst these Wahuma, for they not only sold us +some, but mixed it with porridge and ate it themselves. + +29th.--The king has appointed a special officer to keep our table +supplied with sweet potatoes, and sent us a pot of pombe, with +his excuses for not seeing us, as business was so pressing, and +would continue to be so until the army marched. Budja and Kasoro +were again reported to be near with a force of fifty Waganda, +prepared to snatch us away; and the king, fearing the +consequences, had sent to inform Budja, that if he dared attempt +to approach, he would slip us off in boats to Gani, and then +fight it out with the Waganda; for his guests, since they had +been handed over to him, had been treated with every possible +respect. + +To keep Kamrasi to his promise, as we particularly wished to hear +the Uganda news, Frij was sent to inform him on my behalf that +Mtesa only wished to make friends with all the great kings +surrounding his country before his coronation took place, when +his brothers would be burnt, and he would cease to take advice +from his mother. To treat his messengers disrespectfully could +do no good, and might provoke a war, when we should see my +deserters joined with the Waganda really coming in force against +us; whereas, if we saw Budja, we could satisfy him, and Mtesa +too, and obviate any such calamity. The reply was, that Kamrasi +would arrange for our having a meeting with Budja alone if we +wished it; he did not fear my deserters siding with king Mtesa, +but he detested the Waganda, and could not bear to see them in +his country. + +30th.--At breakfast-time we heard that my old friend Kasoro had +come to our camp without permission, to the surprise of +everybody, attended by all his boys, leaving Budja and his +children, on account of sickness, at the camp assigned to the +Waganda, five miles off. Kasoro wished to speak to us, and we +invited him into the hut; but the interview could not be +permitted until Kamrasi's wishes on the subject had been +ascertained. In a little while the Kamraviona, having seen +Kamrasi, said we might converse with one another whilst his +officers were present listening, and sent a cow as a present for +the Waganda. Kasoro with his children now came before us in +their usual merry manner and, after saluting, told us how the +deserters, on reaching Uganda, begged for leave to proceed to +Karague; but Mtesa, who would only allow two of them to approach +him, abused them, saying, "Did I not command you to take Bana to +Gani at all risks? If there was no road by land, you were to go +by water; or, if that failed, to go under-ground, or in the air +above, and if he died, you were to die with him: what, then, do +you mean by deserting him and flying here? You shall not move a +yard from this until I receive a messenger from him to hear what +he has got to say on the matter." Mtesa would not take their +arms, even at the desire of Budja, on my behalf; for as no +messenger on my behalf came to him, he would not believe what +Budja said, and feared to touch any of our property. The chief +item of court news was, that Mtesa had shot a buffalo which was +attacking him behind the palace, and made his Wakungu carry the +animal bodily, whilst life was in it, into his court. The +ammunition I wrote for to Rumanika had been brought by Maula. + +As Kasoro still remained silent with regard to Mtesa's message, I +told him we shot two of N'yamyonjo's men on our retreat up the +Nile, and that Kamrasi turned us back because some miscreant +Waganda had forged lies and told him we were terrible monsters, +who ate hills and human flesh, and drank up all the water of the +lake. He laughed, but still was silent; so I said, "What message +have you brought from Mtesa?" To which, in a timid, modest kind +of manner, he said, "Bana knows--what more need I say? Has he +forgotten Mtesa, who loves him so?" I said, "No, indeed, I have +not forgotten Mtesa; and, moreover, as I expected you back again, +I have sent Bombay to bring the stimulants and all the things I +promised Mtesa from Gani; in two or three days he will return." +"No," said Kasoro, "that is not it; we must go to Gani with you; +for Mtesa says he loves you so much he will never allow you to +part from his hand until his servants have seen you safely at +your homes." + +I replied, "If Mtesa wishes you to see my vessels and all the +wonders they contain, as far as I am concerned you may do so, and +I shall be only too happy to show you a little English +hospitality; but the road is in Kamrasi's hands, and his wishes +must now be heard." The commander-in-chief, now content with all +he had heard, went to Kamrasi to receive his orders, whilst I +gave Kasoro a feast of porridge and salt, with pombe to wash it +down, and a cow to take home with him; for the poor creatures +said they were all starving as the Wanyoro would not allow them +to take a single plantain from the field until Kamrasi's +permission had been given. + +Kamrasi's reply now arrived; it was to the following effect:-- +"Tell my children, the Waganda, they were never turned out of +Unyoro by my orders: if they wish to go to Gani, they can do so; +but, first of all, they must return to Mtesa, and ask him to +deliver up all of Bana's men." I answered, "No; if any one of +those scoundrels who has deserted me ever dares show his face to +me again, I will shoot him like a dog. Moreover, I want Mtesa to +take their guns from them, and, without taking life, to transport +them all to an island on the N'yanza, where they can spend their +days in growing plantains; for it is such men who prevent our +travelling in the country and visiting kings." Kasoro on this +said, "Mtesa will do so in a minute if you send a servant to him, +but he won't if we only say you wish it." + +The commander-in-chief then added, as to Kasoro's wish to +accompany me, "If Mtesa will send another time one of his people +whose life he wishes sacrificed on the journey, or tells, Here is +a man whom I wish you to send to Gani at all hazards, and without +responsibility for his life on our part, we will be very glad to +send him; but as we are at war with the Gani people continually, +there will be no security for a Mganda's life there." To this I +added, "Now, Kasoro, you see how it is; Kamrasi does not wish you +to do to Gani, so if you take my advice you will return to Mtesa. +Give this tin cartridge-box, which first came from him, back to +him again, to show him you have seen me, and say, This is Bana's +letter; he wishes you to transport the deserters and seize their +guns. The guns, of course, I shall want again at some other +time, when I will send one of my English children to visit him; +for now Kamrasi has opened his country to us, and given us leave +to come and purchase ivory, I never shall be very far away." I +gave them three pills for Budja, blistered two of the pages, and +started the whole merrily off, Kasoro asking me to send Mtesa +some pretty things from England such as he never saw. + +1st.--Kamrasi sent his commander-in-chief to inquire after my +health, and to say Budja had left in fear and trembling lest +Mtesa should cut all their heads off for failing in the mission; +but he had sent Kidgwiga's brother with a pot of pombe to escort +the Waganda beyond his frontier, and cheer them on the way; for +the tin cartridge-box, he thought, would save their lives by +satisfying Mtesa they had seen me. The commander-in-chief then +told me Kamrasi did not wish them to accompany me through Kidi +for the Kidi people don't like the Waganda, and, discovering +their nationality by the fullness of their teeth, would bring +trouble on us whilst trying to kill them. I said I thanked +Kamrasi for his having treated the Waganda with such marked +respect, in allowing them to see me, and sending them back with +an escort; but I thought it would have been better if he had +spoken the truth plainly out, for then I could have told them I +feared to have them in company with me. In return for my +civilities, the king then send one of his chopi officers to see +me, who went four stages with Bombay, and he also sent some rich +beads which he wished me to look at. They were nicely kept in a +neat though very large casing of rush pith, and were those sent +as a letter from Gani, to inform him that we were expected to +come via Karague. After this, to keep us in good-humour, Kamrasi +sent to inform us that some Gani men, twenty-five in number, had +just arrived, and had given him a lion-skin, several tippet +monkey-skins, and some giraffe hair, as well as a stick of copper +or brass wire. Bombay was met by them on the confines of Gani. + +2d.--The king sent me a pot of pombe to-day, inquiring after my +health, and saying he would like to take the medicine I gave him +if I would send Frij over to administer it, but he would be +ashamed to swallow pills before me. Hitherto he had not been +able to take the medicine from press of business in collecting an +army to fight his brothers; but as his troops would all leave for +war to-day, he expected to have leisure. + +In plying the Kamraviona to try if we could get rid of the +annoying restraints which made our residence here a sort of +imprisonment, I discovered that the whole affair was not one of +blunder or accident, but that we actually were prisoners thus be +design. It appeared that Kamrasi's brothers, when they heard we +were coming into Unyoro, murmured, and said to the king, "Why are +you bringing such guests amongst us, who will practise all kinds +of diabolical sorcery, and bring evil on us?" To which Kamrasi +replied, "I have invited them to come, and they shall come; and +if they bring evil with them, let that all fall on my shoulders, +for you shall not see them." He then built a palaver-house on +the banks of the Kafu to receive us in privately; and when we +were to go to Gani, it was his intention to slip us off privately +down the Kafu. The brothers were so thoroughly frightened, that +when Kamrasi opened his chronometer before them to show them the +works in motion, they turned their heads away. The large block- +tin box I gave Kamrasi, as part of his hongo, was, I heard, +called Mzungu, or the white man, by him. + +In the evening the beads recently brought from Gani were sent for +my inspection, with an intimation that Kamrasi highly approved of +them, and would like me to give him a few like them. Some of +Kamrasi's spies, whom he had sent to the refractory allies of +Rionga his brother, returned bringing a spear and some grass from +the thatch of the hut of a Chopi chief. The removal of the grass +was a piece of state policy. It was stolen by Kamrasi's orders, +in order that he might spread a charm on the Chopi people, and +gain such an influence over them that their spears could not +prevail against the Wanyoro; but it was thought we might possess +some still superior magic powder, as we had come from such a long +distance, and Kamrasi would prefer to have ours. These Chopi +people were leagued with the brothers, and thus kept the highroad +to Gani, though the other half of Chopi remained loyal; and +though Kamrasi continually sent armies against the refractory +half which aided his brothers, they never retaliated by attacking +this place. + +We found, by the way, that certain drumming and harmonious +accompaniments which we had been accustomed to hear all day and +night were to continue for four moons, in celebration of twins +born to Kamrasi since we came here. + +3d.--Kamrasi's political department was active again to-day. Some +Gani officials arrived to inform him that there were two white +men in the vessel spoken of as at Gani; a second vessel was +coming in there, and several others were on their way. A +carnelian was shown me which the Gani people gave to Kamrasi many +years ago. Kamrasi expressed a wish that I would exchange magic +powders with him. He had a very large variety, and would load a +horn for me with all those I desired most. He wanted also +medicines for longevity and perpetual strength. Those I had +given him had, he said, deprived him of strength, and he felt +much reduced by their effects. He would like me to go with him +and attack the island his three brothers, Rionga, Wahitu, and +Pohuka, are in possession of. When I said I never fought with +black men, he wished to know if I would not shoot them if they +attacked me. My replay was, alluding to our fight in the river, +"How did N'yamyonjo's men fare?" I found that Kamrasi had thirty +brothers and as many sisters. + +4th.--I gave Kamrasi a bottle of quinine, which we call "strong +back," and asked him in return for a horn containing all the +powders necessary to give me the gift of tongues, so that I +should be able to converse with any black men whom I might meet +with. We heard that Kamrasi has called all his Gani guests to +play before him, and a double shot from his Blissett rifle +announced to our ears that he in turn was amusing them. This was +the first time the gun had been discharged since he received it, +and, fearing to fire it himself, he called one of my men to do it +for him. + +5th.--At 9 a.m., the time for measuring the fall of rain for the +last twenty-four hours, we found the rain-gauge and the bottle +had been removed, so we sent Kidgwiga to inform the king we +wished his magicians to come at once and institute a search for +it. Kidgwiga immediately returned with the necessary adept, an +old man, nearly blind, dressed in strips of old leather fastened +to the waist, and carrying in one hand a cow's horn primed with +magic powder, carefully covered on the mouth with leather, from +which dangled an iron bell. The old creature jingled the bell, +entered our hut, squatted on his hams, looked first at one, then +at the other-- inquired what the missing things were like, +grunted, moved his skinny arm round his head, as if desirous of +catching air from all four sides of the hut, then dashed the +accumulated air on the head of his horn, smelt it to see if all +was going right, jingled the bell again close to his ear, and +grunted his satisfaction; the missing articles must be found. + +To carry out the incantation more effectually, however, all my +men were sent for to sit in the open before the hut, when the old +doctor rose, shaking the horn and tinkling the bell close to his +ear. He then, confronting one of the men, dashed the horn forward +as if intending to strike him on the face, then smelt the head, +then dashed at another, and so on, till he became satisfied that +my men were not the thieves. He then walked into Grant's hut, +inspected that, and finally went to the place where the bottle +had been kept. There he walked about the grass with his arm up, +and jingling the bell to his ear, first on one side, then on the +other, till the track of a hyena gave him the clue, and in two or +three more steps he found it. A hyena had carried it into the +grass and dropped it. Bravo, for the infallible horn! and well +done the king for his honesty in sending it! So I gave the king +the bottle and gauge, which delighted him amazingly; and the old +doctor who begged for pombe, got a goat for his trouble. My men +now, recollecting the powder robbery at Uganda, said king Mtesa +would not send his horn when I asked for it, because he was the +culprit himself. + +6th.--Kidgwiga told us to-day that king Kamrasi's sisters are not +allowed to wed; they live and die virgins in his palace. Their +only occupation in life consisted of drinking milk, of which each +one consumes the produce daily of from ten to twenty cows, and +hence they become so inordinately fat that they cannot walk. +Should they wish to see a relative, or go outside the hut for any +purpose, it requires eight men to lift any of them on a litter. +The brothers, too, are not allowed to go out of his reach. This +confinement of the palace family is considered a state necessity, +as a preventive to civil wars, in the same way as the +destruction of the Uganda princes, after a certain season, is +thought necessary for the preservation of peace there. + +7th.--In the morning the Kamraviona called, on the king's behalf, +to inquire after my health, and also to make some important +communications. First he was to request a supply of bullets, +that the king might fire a salute when Bombay returned from Gani; +next, to ask for stimulative medicine, now that he had consumed +all I gave him, and gone through the preliminary course; further, +to request I would spread a charm over all his subjects, so that +their hearts might be inclined towards him, and they would come +without calling and bow down at his feet; finally, he wished me +to exchange my blood with him, that we might be brothers till +death. I sent the bullets, advised him to wait a day or two for +the medicine, and said there was only one charm by which he could +gain the influence he required over his subjects--this was, +knowledge and the power of the pen. Should he desire some of my +children (meaning missionaries) to come here and instruct his, +the thing would be done; but not in one year, nor even ten, for +it takes many years to educate children. + +As to exchanging by blood with a black man's, it was a thing +quite beyond my comprehension; though Rumanika, I must confess, +had asked me to do the same thing. The way the English make +lasting friendships is done either by the expressions of their +hearts, or by the exchange of some trifles, as keepsakes; and +now, as I had given Kamrasi some specimens of English +manufacture, he might give me a horn, or anything else he chose, +which I could show to my friends, so as to keep him in +recollection all my life. + +The Kamraviona, before leaving, said, for our information, that a +robbery had occurred in the palace last night; for this morning, +when Kamrasi went to inspect his Mzungu (the block-tin box), +which he had forgotten to lock, he found all his beads had been +stolen. After sniffing round among the various wives, he smelt +the biggest one to be the culprit, and turned the beads out of +her possession. Deputies came in the evening with a pot of pombe +and small screw of butter, to tell me some Gani people had just +arrived, bringing information that the vessel at Gani had left to +go down the river; but when intelligence reached the vessel of +the approach of my men they turned and came back again. Bombay +was well feasted on the road by Kamrasi's people, receiving eight +cows from one and two cows from another. + +8th and 9th.--We had a summons to attend at the Kafu palace with +the medicine-chest, a few select persons only to be present. It +rained so much on the 8th as to stop the visit, but we went next +day. After arriving there, and going through the usual +salutations, Kamrasi asked us from what stock of people we came, +explaining his meaning by saying, "As we, Rumanika, Mtesa, and +the rest of us (enumerating the kings), are Wawitu (or princes), +Uwitu (or the country of princes) being to the east." This +interesting announcement made me quite forget to answer his +question, and induced me to say, "Omwita, indeed, as the ancient +names for Mombas, if you came from that place: I know all about +your race for two thousand years or more. Omwita, you mean, was +the last country you resided in before you came here, but +originally you came from Abyssinia, the sultan of which, our +great friend, is Sahela Selassie." + +He pronounced this name laughing, and said, "Formerly our stock +was half-white and half-black, with one side of our heads covered +with straight hair, and the other side frizzly: you certainly do +know everything." The subject then turned upon medicine, and +after inspecting the chest, and inquiring into all its contents, +it ended by his begging for the half of everything. The +mosquito-curtains were again asked for, and refused until I +should leave this. As Kamrasi was anxious I should take two of +his children to England to be instructed, I agreed to do so, but +said I thought it would be better if he invited missionaries to +come here and educate all his family. His cattle were much +troubled with sickness, dying in great numbers--could I cure +them? As he again began to persecute us with begging, wanting +knives and forks, etc., I advised his using ivory as money, and +purchasing what he wanted from Gani. This brought out the +interesting fact, the truth of which we had never reached before, +that when Petherick's servant brought him one necklace of beads, +and asked after us, he gave in return fourteen ivories, thirteen +women, and seven mbugu cloths. One of his men accompanied the +visitors back to the boats, and saw Petherick, who took the ivory +and rejected the women. + +10th.--At 2 p.m. we were called by Kamrasi to visit him at the +Kafu palace again, and requested to bring a lot of medicines tied +up in various coloured cloths, so that he might know what to +select for different ailments. We repaired there as before, +putting the medicines into the sextand-stand box, and found him +lying at full length on the platform of his throne, with a glass- +bead necklace of various colours, and a charm tied on his left +arm. Nobody was allowed to be present at our interview. The +medicines, four varieties, were weighed out into ten doses each, +and their uses and effects explained. He begged for four bottles +to put them in, till he was laughed out of it by our saying he +required forty bottles; for if the powders were mixed, how could +he separate them again? And to keep his mind from the begging +tack, which he was getting alarmingly near, I said, "Now I have +given you these things because you would insist on having them. +I must also tell you they are dangerous in your hands, in +consequence of your being ignorant of their properties. If you +take my advice you won't meddle with them until the two children +you wish educated have learnt the use of them in England; and if +I have to take boys from this, I hope they will be of your +family." He said, "You speak like a father to us, and we very +much approve. Here is a pot of pombe; I did not give you one +yesterday." + +11th.--To-day, the king having graciously granted permission, we +went out shooting, but saw only a few buffalo tracks. + +12th.--The Kamraviona was sent to inquire after our health, and +to ascertain from me all I knew respecting the origin of +Kamrasi's tribe, the distribution of countries, and the seat of +the government. I sent the king a diagram, painted in various +colours, with full explanations of everything, and asked +permission to send two more of my men in search of Bombay, who +had now been absent twenty days. The reply was, that if Bombay +did not return within four days, Kamrasi would send other men +after him on the fifth day; and, in the meantime, he sent one pot +of pombe as a token of his kind regard. + +13th.--The Kamraviona was sent to inquire after our health, to +ask for medicine for himself, and to inquire more into the origin +of his race. I, on the other hand, wishing to make myself as +disagreeable as possible, in order that Kamrasi might get tired +of us, sent Frij to ask for fresh butter, eggs, tobacco, coffee, +and fowls, every day, saying, I will pay their price when I reach +Gani, for we were suffering from want of proper food. Kamrasi +was surprised at this clamour for food, and inquired what we ate +at home that we were so different from everybody else. + +We heard to-day a strange story, involving the tragic fate of +Budja. On coming here, he had been bewitched by Kamrasi's +frontier officer, who put the charm into a pot of pombe. From +the moment Budja drank it he was seized with sickness, and +remained so until he reached the first station in Uganda, when he +died. The facts of the bewitchment had been found out by means +of the perpetrator's wives, who, from the moment the pombe was +drunk, took to precipitate flight, well knowing what effects +would follow, and dreading the chastisement Mtesa would bring +upon their household. We heard, too, that the deserters had +returned to the place they deserted from, with thirty Waganda, +and a present of some cows for me. + +14th.---Kamrasi sent me four parcels of coffee, very neatly +enclosed in rush pith. + +15th.--Getting more impatient, and desirous to move on at any +sacrifice, I proposed giving up all claims to my muskets, as well +as the present of cows from Mtesa, if Kamrasi would give us boats +to Gani at once; but the reply was simply, Why be in such a +hurry? + +16th.--The Kamraviona was sent to us with a load of coffee, which +Kamrasi had purchased with cowries, and to inquire how we had +slept. Very badly, was the reply, because we knew Bombay would +have been back long ago if Kamrasi was not concealing him +somewhere, and we did not know what he was doing with deserters +and Waganda. Kamrasi then wanted us to paint his mbugu cloths in +different patterns and colours; but we sent him instead six +packages of red-ink powder, and got abused for sauciness. He +then wanted black ink, else how could he put on the red with +taste; but we had none to give him. Next, he asked leave for my +men to shoot cows, before his Kidi visitors, which they did to +his satisfaction, instructing him at the same time to fire powder +with his own rifle; when, triumphant with his success, he +protested he would never use anything but guns again, and threw +away his spear as useless. Bombay, we learned, had reached Gani, +and ought to return in eight days. + +17th and 18th.--A large party of Chopi people arrived, by +Kamrasi's orders, to tell the reason which induced them to apply +for guns to the white men at Gani, as it appeared evident they +must have wished to fight their king. The Kidi visitors got +broken heads for helping themselves from the Wanyoro's fields, +and when they cried out against such treatment, were told they +should rob the king, if they wished to rob at all. + +19th.--Nothing was done because Kamrasi was dismissing his Kidi +guests, 200, with presents of cows and women. + +20th.--Having asked Kamrasi to return my pictures, he sent the +book of birds, but not of animals; and said he could not see us +until a new hut was built, because the old one was flooded by the +Kafu, which had been rising several days. We must not, he said, +talk about Bombay any more, because everybody said he was +detained by the N'yanswenge (Petherick's party), and would return +here with the new moon. I would not accept the lie, saying, How +can my "children" at Gani detain my messengers, when they have +received strict orders from me by letter to send an answer +quickly? It was all Kamrasi's doing, for he had either hidden +Bombay, or ordered his officers to take him slowly, as he did us, +stopping four days at each stage. + +Frij again told me he was present when Said Said, the Sultan of +Zanzibar, sent an army to assist the Wagunya at Amu, on the +coast, against the incursions of the Masai. These Amu people +have the same Wahuma features as Kamrasi, whom they also resemble +both in general physical appearance, and in many of them having +circular marks, as if made by cautery, on the forehead and +temples. These marks I took not to be tatooing or decorative, +but as a cure for disease--cautery being a favourite remedy with +both races. + +The battle lasted only two days, though the Masai brought a +thousand spears against the Arabs' cannon. But this was not the +only battle Said Said had to fight on those grounds; for some +years previously he had to subdue the Waziwa, who live on very +marshy land, into respect for his sovereignty, when the battle +lasted years, in consequence of the bad nature of the ground, and +the trick the Waziwa had of staking the ground with spikes. The +Wasuahili, or coast-people, by his description, are the bastards +or mixed breeds who live on the east coast of Africa, extending +from the Somali country to Zanzibar. Their language is Kisuahili; +but there is no land Usuahili, though people talk of going to the +Suahili in the same vague sense as they do of going to the +Mashenzi, or amongst the savages. The common story amongst the +Wasuahili at Zanzibar, in regard to the government of that +island, was, that the Wakhadim, or aborigines of Zanzibar, did +not like the oppressions of the Portuguese, and therefore allied +themselves to the Arabs of Muscat--even compromising their +natural birthright of freedom in government, provided the Arabs, +by their superior power, would secure to them perpetual equity, +peace and justice. The senior chief, Sheikh Muhadim, was the +mediator on their side, and without his sanction no radial +changes compromising the welfare of the land could take place; +the system of arbitration being, that the governing Arab on the +one side, and the deputy of the Wakhadim on the other, should +hold conference with a screen placed between them, to obviate all +attempts at favour, corruption, or bribery. + +The former report of the approach of my men, with as many Waganda +and cows for me, turned out partly false, inasmuch as only one of +my men was with 102 Waganda, whilst the whole of the deserters +were left behind in Uganda with cows; and Kamrasi hearing this, +ordered all to go back again until the whole of my men should +arrive. + +21st.--I was told how a Myoro woman, who bore twins that died, +now keeps two small pots in her house, as effigies of the +children, into which she milks herself every evening, and will +continue to do so five months, fulfilling the time appointed by +nature for suckling children, lest the spirits of the dead should +persecute her. The twins were not buried, as ordinary people are +buried, under ground, but placed in an earthenware pot, such as +the Wanyoro use for holding pombe. They were taken to the jungle +and placed by a tree, with the pot turned mouth downwards. +Manua, one of my men, who is a twin, said, in Nguru, one of the +sister provinces to Unyanyembe, twins are ordered to be killed +and thrown into water the moment they are born, lest droughts and +famines or floods should oppress the land. Should any one +attempt to conceal twins, the whole family would be murdered by +the chief; but, though a great traveller, this is the only +instance of such brutality Manua had ever witnessed in any +country. + +In the province of Unyanyembe, if a twin or twins die, they are +thrown into water for the same reason as in Nguru; but as their +numbers increase the size of the family, their birth is hailed +with delight. Still there is a source of fear there in +connection with twins, as I have seen myself; for when one dies, +the mother ties a little gourd to her neck as a proxy, and puts +into it a trifle of everything which she gives the living child, +lest the jealousy of the dead spirit should torment her. +Further, on the death of the child, she smears herself with +butter and ashes, and runs frantically about, tearing her hair +and bewailing piteously; whilst the men of the place use towards +her the foulest language, apparently as if in abuse of her +person, but in reality to frighten away the demons who have +robbed her nest. + +22d.--I sent Frij to Kamrasi to find out what he was doing with +the Waganda and my deserters, as I wished to speak with their two +head representatives. I also wanted some men to seek for and to +fetch Bombay, as I said I believed him to be tied by the leg +behind one of the visible hills in Kidi. The reply was, 102 +Waganda, with one of my men only, had been stationed at the +village my men deserted from since the date (13th) we heard of +them last. They had no cows for me, but each of the Waganda bore +a log of firewood, which Mtesa had ordered them to carry until +they either returned with me or brought back a box of gunpowder, +in default of which they were to be all burnt in a heap with the +logs they carried. Kamrasi, still acting on his passive policy, +would not admit them here, but wished them to return with a +message, to the effect that Mtesa had no right to hold me as his +guest now I had once gone into another's hands. We were all +three kings to do with our subjects as we liked, and for this +reason the deserters ought to be sent on here; but if I wished to +speak to the Waganda, he would call their officer. There was no +fear, he said, about Bombay; he was on his way; but the men who +were escorting him were spinning out the time, stopping at every +place, and feasting every day. To-morrow, he added, some more +Gani people would arrive here, when we should know more about it. +I still advised Kamrasi to give the road to Mtesa provided he +gave up plundering the Wanyoro of women and cattle; but if my +counsel was listened to, I could get no acknowledgment that it +was so. + +23d and 24th.--I sent to inquire what news there was of Bombay's +coming, and what measures Kamrasi had taken to call the Waganda's +chief officer and my deserters here; as also to beg he would send +us specimens of all the various tribes that visit him, in order +that me might draw them. He sent four loads of dried fish, with +a request for my book of birds again, as it contains a portrait +of king Mtesa, and proposed seeing us at the newly-constructed +Kafu palace to-morrow, when all requests would be attended to. +In the meanwhile, we were told that Bombay had been seen on his +way returning from Gani; and the Waganda had all run away +frightened, because they were told the Kidi and Chopi visitors, +who had been calling on Kamrasi lately, were merely the nucleus +of an army forming to drive them away, and to subdue Uganda. +Mtesa was undergoing the coronation formalities, and for this +reason had sent the deserters to Kari's hill, giving them cows +and a garden to live on, as no visitors can remain near the court +while the solemnities of the coronation were going on. The +thirty-odd brothers will be burnt to death, saving two or three, +of which one will be sent into this country--as was the case with +one of the late king Sunna's brothers, who is still in Unyoro-- +and the others will remain in the court with Mtesa as playfellows +until the king dies, when, like Sunna's two brothers still living +in Uganda, one at N'yama Goma and one at Ngambezi, they will be +pensioned off. After the coronation is concluded, it is expected +Mtesa will go into Kittari, on the west of Uganda, to fight +first, and then, turning east, will fight with the Wasoga; but we +think if he fights anywhere, it will be with Kamrasi. + +25th and 26th.--I sent Frij to the palace to inquire after +Bombay, and got the usual reply: "Why is Bana in such a hurry? +He is always for doing things quickly. Tell my 'brother' to keep +his mind at rest; Bombay is now on the boundary of Gani coming +here, and will in due course arrive." Both Rumanika's men and +those belonging to Dr K'yengo asked Kamrasi's leave to return to +their homes, but were refused, because the road was unsafe. "Had +they not," it was said, "heard of Budja's telling Mtesa that +K'yengo's children prevented the white men from returning to +Uganda? and since then Mtesa had killed his frontier officer for +being chicken-hearted, afraid to carry out his orders, and had +appointed another in his stead, giving him strict orders to make +prisoners of all foreigners who might pass that way; and, +further, when some twenty Wanyoro were going to Karague, they +were hunted down by Mtesa's orders, and three of their number +killed; for he was determined to cut off all intercourse between +this country and Karague. They must therefore wait till the road +is safe." + +Hearing this, Dr K'yengo's men, who happened to be as well off +here as anywhere, accepted the advice; but Rumanika's men said, +"We are starving; we have been here too long already doing +nothing, and must go, let what will happen to us." Kamrasi said, +"What will be the use of your going empty-handed? I cannot send +cows and slaves to Rumanika when the road is so unsafe; you must +wait a bit." But they still urged as before, and so forced the +king reluctantly to acquiesce, but only on the condition that two +of their head men should remain behind until some more of +Rumanika's men came to fetch them away--in fact, as we had been +accredited to him by Rumanika, he wanted to keep some of that +king's people as a security until we were out of his hands. + +27th.--I sent Frij to the palace to ask once more for leave to +visit the Luta Nzige river-lake to the westward, and to request +Kamrasi would send men to fetch my property from Karague. He +sent four loads of small fish and one pot of pombe, to say he +would see me on the morrow, when every arrangement would be made. +Late at night orders came announcing that I might write my +despatches, as sixty men were ready to start for Karague. + +28th.--I sent one of my men with despatches to Kamrasi, who +detained him half the day, and then ordered him to call to- +morrow. This being the fifteenth or twentieth time Kamrasi had +disappointed me, after promising an interview, that we might have +a proper understanding about everything, and when no begging on +his party was to interrupt our conversation, I sent him a +threatening message, to see what effect that would have. The +purport of it was, that I was afraid to send men to Karague, now +I had seen his disposition to make prisoners of all who visit +him. Here had I been kept six weeks waiting for Bombay's return +from Gani, where I only permitted him to go because I was told +the journey to and fro would only occupy from eight to ten days +at most. Then Rumanika's men, who came here with Baraka, though +daily crying to get away, were still imprisoned here, without any +hope before them. If I sent Msalima, he would be kept ten years +on the road. If I went to the lake Luta Nzige, God only knows +when he would let me come back; and now, for once and for all, I +wished to sacrifice my property, and leave the countries of black +kings; for what Kamrasi had done, Mtesa had done likewise, +detaining the two men I detached on a friendly mission, which +made me fear to send any more and inquire after my guns, lest he +should seize them likewise. I would stay no longer among such +people. + +Kamrasi, in answer, begged I would not be afraid; there was no +occasion for alarm; Bombay would be here shortly. I had promised +to wait patiently for his return, and as soon as he did return, I +would be sent off without one day's delay, for I was not his +slave, that he should use violence upon me. Rumanika's men, too, +would be allowed to go, only that the road was unsafe, and he +feared Rumanika would abuse him if any harm befell them. + +29th.--To-day I met Kamrasi at his new reception-palace on this +side the Kafu--taking a Bible to explain all I fancied I knew +about the origin and present condition of the Wahuma branch of +the Ethiopians, beginning with Adam, to show how it was the king +had heard by tradition that at one time the people of his race +were half white and half black. Then, proceeding with the Flood, +I pointed out that the Europeans remained white, retaining +Japhet's blood; whilst the Arabs are tawny, after Shem; and the +African's black, after Ham. And, finally, to show the greatness +of the tribe, I read the 14th chapter of 2d Chronicles, in which +it is written how Zerah, the Ethiopian, with a host of a thousand +thousand, met the Jew Asa with a large army, in the valley of +Zephathah, near Mareshah; adding to it that again, at a much +later date, we find the Ethiopians battling with the Arabs in the +Somali country, and with the Arabs and Portuguese at Omwita +(Mombas)--in all of which places they have taken possession of +certain tracts of land, and left their sons to people it. + +To explain the way in which the type or physical features of +people undergo great changes by interbreeding, Mtesa was +instanced as having lost nearly every feature of his Mhuma blood, +but the kings of Uganda having been produced, probably for +several generations running, of Waganda mothers. This amused +Kamrasi greatly, and induced me to inquire how his purity of +blood was maintained--"Was the king of Unyoro chosen, as in +Uganda, haphazard by the chief men--or did the eldest son sit by +succession on the throne?" The reply was, "The brothers fought +for it, and the best man gained the crown." + +Kamrasi then began counting the leaves of the Bible, an amusement +that every negro that gets hold of a book indulges in; and, +concluding in his mind that each page or leaf represented one +year of time since the beginning of creation, continued his +labour till one quarter of the way through the book, and then +only shut it up on being told, if he desired to ascertain the +number more closely, he had better count the words. + +I begged for my picture-books, which were only lent him at his +request for a few days; and then began a badgering verbal +conflict: he would not return them until I drew others like them; +he would not allow me to go to the Little Luta Nzige, west of +this, until Bombay returned, when he would send me with an army +of spears to lead the way, and my men with their guns behind to +protect the rear. This was for the purpose of making us his +tools in his conflict with his brothers. I complained that he +had, without consulting me, ordered away the men who had been +sent, either to fetch me back to Uganda, or else get powder from +me, although they had orders to carry out their king's desire, +under the threat of being burnt with the fire logs they carried; +and all this Kamrasi had professed to do merely out of respect +for my dignity, as I was no slave, that Mtesa should order me +about. I argued, founding on each particular in succession, that +his conduct throughout was most unjustifiable, and anything but +friendly. He then produced an officer, who was to escort my man +Msalima to Karague, giving him orders to collect the sixty men +required on the way; five of Rumanika's men could go with him, +but five must stop, until other Karague men came to say the road +was safe, when he would send by them the present he had prepared +for Rumanika. + +Then, turning to us, he said, "Why have you not brought the +medicine-chest and the saw? We wish to see everything you have +got, though we do not wish to rob you." When these things came +for inspection, he coveted the saw, and discovered there were +more varieties of medicine in the chest than had been given him. +This he was told was not the case, because the papers given him +contained mixed medicines--a little being taken from every +bottle. "But there are no pills; why won't you give us pills? +We have men, women, and children who require pills as well as you +do." We were much annoyed by this dogged begging; and as he +said, "Well, if you won't give my anything, I will go," we at +once rose, hat in hand; when, regretting the hastiness of his +speech, he begged us to be seated again, and renewed his demands. +We told him the road to Gani was the only condition on which we +would part with any more medicine; we had asked leave to go a +hundred times, and that was all we now desired. At last he rose +and walked off in a huff; but, repenting before he reached home, +he sent us a pot of pombe, when, in return, I finished the farce +by sending him a box of pills. + +30th.--I gave Msalima a letter in the Kisuahili or coast language +to convey to Rumanika, ordering all my property to be sent here, +his account of the things as they left him to be given to Msalima +to convey to the coast, while I sent him one pound of gunpowder +as a sort of agency fee. Msalima also took a map of all the +countries we had passed, with lunar observations, and a letter to +Rigby, by which he, Baraka, and Uledi would be able to draw their +pay on arrival. + +31st.--I sent Frij with a letter to the king, containing an +acknowledgment that, on the arrival of the rear property from +Karague, he would be entitled to half of everything, reserving +the other half for any person I might in future send to take them +from him. He accepted the letter, and put it into his mzungu-- +the tin box I had given him. He said he would take every care of +the kit from the time it arrived, and would not touch his share +of it till my deputy arrived. An inhabitant of Chopi reported +that he heard Bombay's gun fire the evening before he left home, +and was rewarded with the present of a cow. + +1st.--I purchased a small kitten, Felis serval, from an Unyoro +man, who requested me to give it back to him to eat if it was +likely to die, for it is considered very good food in Unyoro. + +Bombay at last arrived with Mabruki in high glee, dressed in +cotton jumpers and drawers, presents given them by Petherick's +outpost. Petherick himself was not there. The journey to and fro +was performed in fourteen days' actual travelling, the rest of +the time being frittered away by the guides. The jemadar of the +guard said he commanded two hundred Turks, and had orders to wait +for me, without any limit as to time, until I should arrive, when +Petherick's name would be pointed out to me cut on a tree; but as +no one in camp could read my letter, they were doubtful whether +we were the party they were looking out for. + +They were all armed with elephant-guns, and had killed sixteen +elephants. Petherick had gone down the river eight days' +journey, but was expected to return shortly. Kamrasi would not +see Bombay immediately on his return, but sent him some pombe, +and desired an interview the following day. + +2d.--I sent Bombay with a farewell present to Kamrasi, consisting +of one tent, one mosquito-curtain, one roll of bindera or red +cotton cloth, one digester pot, one saw, six copper wires, one +box of beads, containing six varieties of the best sort, and a +request to leave his country. Much pleased with the things, +Kamrasi ordered the tent to be pitched before all his court, +pointed out to them what clever people the white people are, +making iron pots instead of earthen ones. Covetous and never +satisfied, however, instead of returning thanks, he said he was +sure I must have more beads than those I sent him; and, instead +of granting the leave asked for, said he would think about it, +and send the Kamraviona in the evening with his answer. This, +when it came, was anything but satisfactory; for we were required +to stop here until the king should have prepared the people on +the road for our coming, so that they might not be surprised, or +try to molest us on the way. Kamrasi, however, returned the +books of birds and animals, requesting a picture of the king of +Uganda to be drawn for him, and gave us one pot of pombe. + +3d.--I sent the picture required, and an angry message to Kamrasi +for breaking his word, as he promised us we should go without a +day's delay; and go we must, for I could neither eat nor sleep +from thinking of my home. His only reply to this was, Bana is +always in a preposterous hurry. He answered, that for our +gratification he had directed a dwarf called Kimenya to be sent +to us, and the Kamraviona should follow after. Kimenya, a little +old man, less than a yard high, called on us with a walking-stick +higher than himself, made his salaam, and sat down very +composedly. He then rose and danced, singing without invitation, +and following it up with queer antics. Lastly, he performed the +tambura, or charging-march, in imitation of Wakugnu, repeating +the same words they use, and ending by a demand for simbi, or +cowrie-shells, modestly saying, "I am a beggar, and want simbi; +if you have not 500 to spare, you must at any rate give me 400." + +He then narrated his fortune in life. Born in Chopi, he was sent +for by Kamrasi, who first gave him two women, who died; then +another, who ran away; and, finally, a distorted dwarf like +himself, whom he rejected, because he thought the propagation of +his pigmy breed would not be advantageous to society. Bombay +then marched him back to the palace, with 500 simbi strung in +necklaces round his neck. When these two had gone, the +Kamraviona arrived with two spears, one load of flour, and a pot +of pombe, which he requested me to accept, adding that the spears +were given as it was observed I had accepted some from the king +of Uganda; a shield was still in reserve for me, and spears would +be sent for Grant. Then with regard to my going, Kamrasi must +beg us to have patience until he had sent messengers into Kidi, +requesting the natives there not to molest me on the way, for +they had threatened they would do so, and if they persisted, he +would send us with a force by another route via Ugungu--another +attempt to draw us off to fight against his brothers. + +I stormed at this announcement as a breach of faith; said I had +given the king my only tent, my only digester, my only saw, my +only wire, my only mosquito-curtains, and my last of everything, +because he had assured me I should have to pay no more chiefs, +and he would give me the road at once. If he did not intend now +to fulfil his promise, I begged he would take back his spears, +for I would only accept them as a farewell present. The +Kamraviona finding me rather warm, with the usual pertinacious +duplicity of a negro, then said, "Well, let that subject drop, +and consider the present Kamrasi promised you when you gave him +the Uganga" (meaning the watch); "Kamrasi's horn is not ready +yet." This second prevarication completely set my dander up. If +I did not believe in his dangers of the way before, it quite +settled my opinion of the worth of his words now. I therefore +tendered him what might be called the ultimatum to this effect. +There was no sincerity in such haggling; I would not submit to +being told lies by kings or anybody else. He must take back the +spears, or give us the road to-morrow; and unless the Kamraviona +would tell him this and bring me an answer at once, the spears +should not remain in my house during the night. Evidently in +alarm, the Kamraviona, with Kidgwiga and Frij in company to bear +him witness, returned to the palace, telling Kamrasi that he saw +we were in thorough earnest. He extracted a promise that Kamrasi +would have a farewell meeting with us either to-morrow or the +next day, when we should have a large escort to Petherick's +boats, and the men would be able to bring back anything that he +wanted; but he could not let us go without a parting interview, +such as we had at Uganda with Mtesa. + +The deputation, delighted with their success and the manner in +which it was effected, hurried back to me at once, and said they +were so frightened themselves that they would have skulked away +to their homes and not come near me if they could not have +arranged matters to my satisfaction. Kamrasi would not believe I +had threatened to turn out his spears until Frij testified to +their statements; and he then said, "Let Bana keep the spears and +drink the pombe, for I would not wish him to be a prisoner +against his will." Bombay, after taking back the dwarf, met one +of N'yamasore's officers, just arrived from Uganda on some +important business, and upbraided Mtesa for not having carried +out my instructions. The officer in turn tried to defend Mtesa's +conduct by saying he had given the deserters seventy cows and +four women, as well as orders to join us quickly; but they had +been delayed on the road, because wherever they went they +plundered, and no one liked their company. Had we returned to +Uganda, Mtesa would have given us the road through Masai, which, +in my opinion, is nearer for us than this one. + +This officer had been wishing to see us as much as we had been to +see him; but Kamrasi would not allow him to get access to us, for +fear, it was said, lest the Waganda should know where we were +hidden, and enable Mtesa to send an army to come and snatch us +away. As the officer said he would deliver any message I might +wish to send to Uganda, I folded a visiting-card as a letter to +the queen-dowager, intimating that I wished the two men whom I +sent back to Mtesa to be forwarded on to Karague; but desired +that the remainder, who deserted their master in difficulty, +should be placed on an island of the N'yanza to live in exile +until some other Englishman should come to release them; that +their arms should be taken from them and kept in the palace. I +said further, that should Mtesa act up to my desires, I would +then know he was my friend, and other white men would not fear to +enter Uganda; but if he acted otherwise, they would fear lest he +should imprison them, or seize their property of their men. If +these deserters escaped punishment, no white men would ever dare +trust their lives with such men again. The officer said he +should be afraid to deliver such a message to Mtesa direct; but +he certainly would tell the queen every word of it, which would +be even more efficacious. + +4th.--I bullied Kamrasi by telling him we must go with this moon, +for the benefit of its light whilst crossing the Kidi wilderness; +as if we did not reach the vessels in time for seasonable +departure down the Nile, we should have to wait another year for +their return from Khartum. "What!" said Kamrasi, "does Bana +forget my promised appointment that I would either see him to-day +or to-morrow? I cannot do so to-day, and therefore to-morrow we +will certainly meet and bid good-bye." The Gani men, who came +with Bombay, said they would escort us to their country, +although, as a rule, they never cross the Kidi wilderness above +once in two years, from fear of the hunting natives, who make +gave of everybody and everything they see; in other words, they +seize strangers, plunder them, and sell them as slaves. To cross +that tract, the dry season is the best, when all the grass is +burnt down, or from the middle of December to the end of March. +I gave them a cow, and they at once killed it, and, sitting down, +commenced eating her flesh raw, out of choice. + +5th.--The Kamraviona came to inform us that the king was ready +for the great interview, where we could both speak what we had at +heart, for as yet he had only heard what our servants had to say; +and there was a supplement to the message, of the usual kind, +that he would like a present of a pencil. The pencil was sent in +the first place, because we did not like talking about trifles +when we visited great kings. + +The interview followed. It was opened on our side by our saying +we had enjoyed his hospitality a great number of days, and wished +to go to our homes; should be have any message to send to the +great Queen of England, we should be happy to convey it. A long +yarn then emanated from the throne. He defended his over- +cautiousness when admitting us into Unyoro. It was caused at +first by wicked men who did not wish us to visit him; he +subsequently saw through their representations, and now was very +pleased with us as he found us. Of course he could not tie us +down to stopping here against our wish, but, for safety's sake, +he would like us to stop a little longer, until he could send +messengers ahead, requesting the wild men in Kidi not to molest +us. That state trick failing to frighten and stop us, he tried +another, by saying, when we departed, he hoped we would leave two +men with guns behind, to occupy our present camp, and so delude +the people into the belief that merely a party of their +followers, and not the white men themselves, had left his house, +for the purpose of spreading terror in the minds of the people we +might meet, who, not knowing the number of men behind, would +naturally conclude there was a large reserve force ready to +release us in case of necessity. + +This foxy speech was too transparent to require one moment's +reflection. In a country where men were property, the fate of +one or two left behind was obvious; and had we doubted that his +object was to get possession of them, his next words would have +sufficiently revealed it. He said, "As you gave men to Mtesa, +why would you refuse them to me?" but was checkmated on being +told, "Should any of those men who deserted us in this country +ever reach their homes, they will all be hung for breaking their +allegiance or oath." "Well," says the king, "I have acceded to +everything you have to say; and the day after to-morrow, when I +shall have had time to collect men to go with you, and selected +the two princes you have promised to educate, we will meet again +and say good-bye; but you must give me a gun and some more +medicine, as well as the powder and ball you promised after +reaching the vessels." This was all acquiesced in, and we wished +to take his portrait, but he would not have it done on any +consideration. The Kamraviona and Kidgwiga followed us home, and +told Bombay the king did not wish us to leave till next moon, and +then he would like us to fight his brothers on the way. This +message, sent in such an underhand manner after the meeting, +Bombay failed to deliver, telling them he should be afraid to do +so. + +6th.--The Kamraviona was sent to us with four loads of fish and a +request for ammunition, notwithstanding everything asked for +yesterday had been refused until we reached the vessels. +"Confound Kamrasi!" was the reply; "does he think we came here to +trick kings that he doubts our words? We came to open the road; +and, as sure as we wish it, we will send him everything that has +been promised. Why should he doubt our word more than anybody +else? We are not accustomed to be treated in this manner, and +must beg he won't insult us any more. Then about fighting his +brothers, we have already given answer that we never fight with +black men; and should the king persist in it, we will never take +another thing from his hands. The boys shall not go to England, +neither will any other white men come this way." The Kamraviona +made the following answer:-- "But there are two more things the +king wishes to know about: he has asked the question before, but +forgotten the answers. Is there any medicine for women or +children which will prevent the offspring from dying shortly +after birth?--for it is a common infirmity in this country with +some women, that all their children die before they are able to +walk, whilst others never lose a child. The other matter of +inquiry was, What medicine will attach all subjects to their +king?-- for Kamrasi wants some of that most particularly." I +answered, "Knowledge of good government, attended with wisdom and +justice, is all the medicine we know of; and this his boys can +best learn in England, and instruct him in when they return." + +7th.--We went to meet Kamrasi at his Kafu palace to bid good-bye. +After all the huckstering and begging with which he had tormented +us, the state he chose to assume on this occasion was very +ludicrous. He sat with an air of the most solemn dignity, upon +his throne of skins, regarding us like mere slaves, and asking +what things we intended to send to him. On being told we did not +like being repeatedly reminded of our promises, he came down a +little from his dignity, saying, "And what answer have you about +the business on the island?"--meaning the request to fight his +brothers. That, of course, could not be listened to, as it was +against the principle of our country. Grant's rings were then +espied, and begged for, but without success. We told him it was +highly improper to beg for everything he saw, and if he persisted +in it, no one would ever dare to come near him again. + +Then, to change the subject, we begged K'yengo's men might be +allowed to go as far as Gani with us; but no reply was given, +until the question was put again, with a request that the reason +might be told us for his not wishing it, as we saw great benefit +would be derived to Unyoro, as the Wanyamuezi instead of trading +merely with Karague and Zanzibar, would bring their ivory through +this country and barter it, thus converting Unyoro into a great +commercial country; when Kamrasi said, "We don't want any more +ivory in Unyoro; for the tusks are already as numerous as grass." +Kidgwiga was then appointed to receive all the things we were to +send back from Gani; our departure was fixed for the 9th; and the +king walked away as coldly as he came, whilst we felt as jolly as +birds released from a cage. + +Floating islands of grass were seen going down the Kafu, +reminding us of the stories told at Kaze by Musa Mzuri, of the +violent manner in which, at certain season, the N'yanza was said +to rise and rush with such velocity that islands were uprooted +and carried away. In the evening a pot of pombe was brought, +when the man in charge, half-drunk, amused us with frantic +charges, as if he were fighting with his spear; and after +settling the supposed enemy, he delighted in tramping him under +foot, spearing him repeatedly through and through, then wiping +the blade of the spear in the grass, and finally polishing it on +this tufty head, when, with a grunt of satisfaction, he +shouldered arms and walked away a hero. + +8th.--As the king seemed entirely to disregard our comfort on the +journey, we made a request for cows, butter, and coffee, in +answer to which we only got ten cows, the other things not being +procurable without delay. Twenty-four men were appointed us to +escort us and bring back our presents from Gani, which were to +be--six carbines, with a magazine of ammunition, a large brass or +iron water-pot, a hair-brush, lucifers, a dinner-knife, and any +other things procurable that had never been seen in Unyoro. + +Two orphan boys, seized by the king as slaves, were brought for +education in England; but as they were both of the common negro +breed, with nothing attractive about them, and such as no one +could love but their mothers, we rejected them, fearing lest no +English boys would care to play with them, and told Kamrasi that +his offspring only could play with our children, and unless I got +some princes of that interesting breed, no one would ever +undertake to teach children brought from this country. The king +was very much disappointed at this announcement; said they were +his adopted children, and the only ones he could part with, for +his own boys were mere balls of fat, and too small to leave home. + + + + + Chapter XIX + + + + The March to Madi + +Sail down the Kafu--The Navigable Nile--Fishing and Sporting +Population--The Scenery on the River--An Inhospitable Governor-- +Karuma Falls--Native Superstitions--Thieveries--Hospitable +Reception at Koki by Chongi. + +After giving Kamrasi a sketching-stool, we dropped down the Kafu +two miles in a canoe, in order that the common people might not +see us; for the exclusive king would not allow any eyes but his +won to be indulged with the extraordinary sight of white men in +Unyoro! The palace side of the river, however, as we paddled +away, was thronged with anxious spectators amongst whom the most +conspicuous was the king's favourite nurse. Dr K'yengo's men +were very anxious to accompany us, even telling the king, if he +would allow the road to be opened to their countrymen, all would +hongo, or pay customs-duty to him; but the close, narrow-minded +king could not be persuaded. Bombay here told us Kamrasi at the +last moment wished to give me some women and ivory; and when told +we never accepted anything of that sort, wished to give them to +my head servants; but this being contrary to standing orders +also, he said he would smuggle them down to the boats for Bombay +in such a manner that I should not find out. + +We were not expected to march again, but being anxious myself to +see more of the river, before starting, I obtained leave to go by +boat as far as the river was navigable, sending our cattle by +land. To this concession was accompanied a request for a few more +gun-caps, and liberty was given us to seize any pombe which might +be found coming on the river in boats, for the supplies to the +palace all come in this manner. We then took boat again, an +immense canoe, and, after going a short distance, emerged from +the Kafu, and found ourselves on what at first appeared a long +lake, averaging from two hundred at first to one thousand yards +broad before the day's work was out; but this was the Nile again, +navigable in this way from Urondogani. + +Both sides were fringed with the huge papyrus rush. The left one +was low and swampy, whilst the right one--in which the Kidi +people and Wanyoro occasionally hunt--rose from the water in a +gently sloping bank, covered with trees and beautiful convolvuli, +which hung in festoons. Floating islands, composed of rush, +grass, and ferns, were continually in motion, working their way +slowly down the stream, and proving to us that the Nile was in +full flood. On one occasion we saw hippopotami, which our men +said came to the surface because we had domestic fowls on board, +supposing them to have an antipathy to that bird. Boats there +were, which the sailors gave chase to; but, as they had no +liquor, they were allowed to go their way, and the sailors, +instead, set to lifting baskets and taking fish from the snares +which fisherman, who live in small huts amongst the rushes, had +laid for themselves. + +After arrival, as we found the boatmen wished to make off, +instead of carrying out their king's orders to take us to the +waterfall, we seized all the paddles, and kept their tongues +quiet by giving them a cow to eat. The overland route, by which +Kidgwiga and the cattle went, was not so interesting, by all +accounts, as the river one; for they walked the whole way through +marshy ground, and crossed one drain in boats, where some savages +struggled to plunder our men of their goats. + +With a great deal of difficulty, and after hours of delay, we +managed to get under way with two boats besides the original one; +and, after an hour and a half's paddling in the laziest manner +possible, the men seized two pots of pombe and pulled in to Koki, +guided by a king's messenger, who said this was one of the places +appointed by order to pick up recruits for the force which was to +take us to Gani. We found, however, nothing but loss and +disappointment--one calf stolen, and five goats nearly so. +Fortunately, the thief who attempted to run off with the goats +was taken by my men in the act, tied with his hands painfully +tight behind his back, and left, with his face painted white, +till midnight, when his comrades stole into Bombay's hut and +released him. After all these annoyances, the chief officer of +the place offered us a present of a goat, but was sent to the +right-about in scorn. How could he be countenanced as a friend +when the men under him steal from us? + +The big boat gave us the slip, floating away and leaving its +paddles behind. To supply its place, we took six small boats, +turning my men into sailors, and going as we liked. The river +still continued beautiful; but after paddling three hours we +found it bend considerably, and narrow to two hundred yards, the +average depth being from two to three fathoms. At the fourth +hour, imagining our cattle to be far behind, we pulled in, and +walked up a well-cultivated hill to Yaragonjo's, the governor of +these parts. The guide, however, on first sighting his thorn- +fenced cluster of huts, regarding it apparently with the awe and +deference due to a palace, shrank from advancing, and merely +pointed, till he was forced on, and in the next minute we found +ourselves confronted with the heads of the establishment. The +father of the house, surprised at our unexpected manner of +entrance--imagining, probably, we were the king's sorcerers, in +consequence of our hats, sent to fight "the brothers"--without +saying a word, quietly beckoned us to follow him out of the gate +by the same way as we came. Preferring, however, to have a +little talk where we were, we remained. + +The eldest son, a fine young man considerably above six feet +high, with large gashes on his body received in war during late +skirmishes with the refractory brothers, now came in, did the +honours, and, on hearing of the importance of his visitors, +directed us to some huts a little distance off, where we could +rest for the night, for there was no accommodation for such a +large party in the palace. The red hill we were now on, with +plantain-gardens, fine huts neatly kept, and dense grasses +covering the country, reminded us of our residence in Uganda. +The people seemed of a decidedly sporting order, for they kept +hippopotamus-harpoons, attached to strong ropes with trimmers of +pith wood, in their huts; and, outside, trophies of their toil in +the shape of a pile of heads, consisting of those of buffalo and +hippopotami. The women, anything but pretty, wore their mbugu +cut into two flounces, fastened with a drawing-string round the +waist; and, in place of stockings, they bound strings of small +iron beads, kept bright and shining, carefully up the leg from +the ankle to the bottom of the calf. + +Kidgwiga with our cattle arrived in the morning. A bundle of +cartridges, stolen from one of the men's pouches, which we knew +could only have been done by some comrade, was discovered by +stopping the rations of flesh. The guilty person, to save +detection, threw it on the road, and allowed some of the natives +to pick it up. Strange as it may appear, the only motive for +this petty theft was the hope of being able to sell the +cartridges for a trifle at Gani. Yaragonjo brought us a present +of a goat and plantains. He was sorry he sent us back yesterday +from his house; and invited us to change ground to another +village close by, where he would make arrangements for our +receiving other boats, as the ones we had in possession must go +back. Presuming this to be a very fair proposition, and thinking +we would only have to walk across an elbow of land where the +river bends considerably, we gave him a return-present of beads, +and did as we were bid; but, after moving, it was obvious we had +been sold. We had lost our former boats, and no others were near +us; therefore, feeling angry with Yaragonjo, I walked back to his +palace, taking the presented goat with me, as I knew that would +touch the savage in the most tender part; then flaring up with +the officer for treating the king's orders with contempt, as well +as his guests, by sending us into the jungles like a pack of +thieves, whose riddance from his presence was obviously his only +intent, I gave him his goat again, and said I would have nothing +more to say to him, for I should look to the king for redress. + +This frightened him to such an extent that he immediately +produced another and finer goat, which he begged me to accept, +promising to convey all my traps to the next governor's, where +there would be no doubt about our getting boats. He did not +intend to deceive us, but committed an error in not informing us +he had no boats of his own; and, to show his earnestness, +accompanied us to the camp. Here I found the missing calf taken +at Koki, and a large deputation of natives awaiting our arrival. +They told me that the Koki governor had taken such fright in +consequence of my anger when I refused his proffered goat, that +he had traced the calf back to Kitwara, and now wished to take +Kidgwiga a prisoner to Kamrasi's for having seized five cows of +his, and a woman from another governor. As yet I had not heard of +this piece of rough justice; and, on inquiry, found out that he +had been compelled to do as he had done, because those officers, +on finding we had gone ahead in boats would not produce the +complement of men required of them by the king's orders for +escorting us to Gani; but now they sent the men, the woman and +cows could not be returned, as they had been sent overland by the +ordinary route to the ferry on the Nile. + +Of course we would not listen to this reference for justice with +Kamrasi, as the woman and cows were still all alive; commended +Kidgwiga for carrying out his orders so well, and told the +officers they had merited their punishment--as how could the +affairs of government be carried on, when subordinate officers +refused immediate compliance? The submkungu of Northern Gueni, +Kasoro, now proffered a goat and plantains, and everything was +settled for the day. + +With a full complement of porters, travelling six miles through +cultivation and jungle, we reached the headquarters of governor +Kaeru, where all the porters threw down their loads and bolted, +though we were still two miles from the post. We inquired for +the boats at once, but were told they were some distance off, and +we must wait here for the night. Four pots of pombe were sent +us, and Kaeru thought we would be satisfied and conform. We +suspected, however, that there was some trick at the bottom of +all; so, refusing the liquor, we said, with proper emphasis, +"Unless we are forwarded to the boats at once, and get them on +the following morning, we cannot think of receiving presents from +any one." This served our purpose, for a fresh set of porters was +found like magic, and traps, pombe, and all together, were +forwarded to the journey's end--a snug batch of huts imbedded in +large plantain cultivation surrounded by jungle, and obviously +near the river, as numerous huge harpoons, intended for striking +hippopotami, were suspended from the roof. Kaeru here presented +us with a goat, and promised the boats in the morning. + +After fighting for the boats, we still had to wait the day for +Kidgwiga and his men, who said it was all very well our pushing +ahead, indifferent as to whether men were enlisted or not, but he +had to prepare for the future also, as he could never recross the +Kidi wilderness by himself; he must have a sufficient number of +men to form his escort, and these were now grinding corn for the +journey. Numerous visitors called on us here, and consequently +our picture-books were in great request. We gave Kaeru some +beads. + +After walking two miles to the boats, we entered the district of +Chopi, subject to Unyoro, and went down the river, keeping the +Kikunguru cone in view. On arrival at camp, Viarwanjo, the +officer of the district, a very smart fellow, arrived with a +large escort of spearmen, presented pombe, ordered fowls to be +seized for us, and promised one boat in the morning, for he had +no more disposable, and even that one he felt anxious about lest +the men on ahead should seize it. + +I gave Viarwanjo some beads, and dropped down the river in his +only wretched little canoe--he, with Grant and the traps, going +overland. I caught a fever, and so spent the night. + +Here I halted to please Magamba, the governor, who is a relation +of the king. He called in great state, presented a cow and +pombe, was much pleased with the picture-books, and wished to +feast his eyes on all the wonders in the hut. He was very +communicative, also, as far as his limited knowledge permitted. +He said the people are only a sub-tribe of the Madi; and the +reason why the right bank of the river is preferred to the left +for travelling is, that Rionga, who lives down the river, is +always on the look-out for Kamrasi's allies, with a view to kill +them. Magamba also, on being questioned, told us about Ururi, a +province of Unyoro, under the jurisdiction of Kimerziri, a noted +governor, who covers his children with bead ornaments, and throws +them into the N'yanza, to prove their identity as his own true +offspring; for should they sink, it stands to reason some other +person must be their father; but should they float, then he +recovers them. One of Kamrasi's cousins, Kaoroti, with his chief +officer, called on us, presenting five fowls as an honorarium. +He had little to say, but begged for medicine, and when given +some in a liquid state, said his sub would like some also; then +Kidgwiga's wife, who was left behind, must have some; and as +pills were given for her, the two men must have dry medicine too, +to take home with them. Severe drain as this was on the +medicine-chest, Magamba and his wife must have both wet and dry; +and even others put in a claim, but were told they were too +healthy to require physicking. Many Kidi men, dressed as in the +woodcut, crossed the river to visit Kamrasi; they could not, +however, pass us without satisfying their curiosity with a look. +Usually these men despise clothes, and never deign to put any +covering on except out of respect, when visiting Kamrasi. Their +"sou'-wester"-shaped wigs are made of other men's hair, as the +negro hair will not grow long enough. A message came from Ukero, +the governor-general of Chopi, to request we would not go down +the river in boats to-morrow, lest the Chopi ferrymen at the +falls should take fright at our strange appearance, paddle +precipitately across the river, hide their boats, and be seen no +more. + +We started, leaving all the traps and men to follow, and made +this place in a stride, as a whisper warned me that Kamrasi's +officers, who are as thick as thieves about here, had made up +their minds to keep us each one day at his abode, and show us +"hospitality." Such was the case, for they all tried their powers +of persuasion, which failing, they took the alternative of making +my men all drunk, and sending to camp sundry pots of pombe. The +ground on the line of march was highly cultivated, and +intersected by a deep ravine of running water, whose sundry +branches made the surface very irregular. The sand-paper tree, +whose leaves resemble a cat's tongue in roughness, and which is +used in Uganda for polishing their clubs and spear-handles, was +conspicuous; but at the end of the journey only was there +anything of much interest to be seen. There suddenly, in a deep +ravine one hundred yards below us, the formerly placid river, up +which vessels of moderate size might steam two or three abreast, +was now changed into a turbulent torrent. Beyond lay the land of +Kidi, a forest of mimosa trees, rising gently away from the water +in soft clouds of green. This, the governor of the place, Kija, +described as a sporting-field, where elephants, hippopotami, and +buffalo are hunted by the occupants of both sides of the river. +The elephant is killed with a new kind of spear, with a double- +edged blade a yard long, and a handle which, weighted in any way +most easy, is pear-shaped. + +With these instruments in their hands, some men climb into trees +and wait for the herd to pass, whilst others drive them under. +The hippopotami, however, are not hunted, but snared with lunda, +the common tripping-trap with spike-drop, which is placed in the +runs of this animal, described by every South African traveller, +and generally known as far as the Hametic language is spread. The +Karuma Falls, if such they may be called, are a mere sluice or +rush of water between high syenitic stones, falling in a long +slope down a ten-feet drop. There are others of minor +importance, and one within ear-sound, down the river, said to be +very grand. + +The name given to the Karuma Falls arose from the absurd belief +that Karuma, the agent or familiar of a certain great spirit, +placed the stones that break the waters in the river, and, for so +doing, was applauded by his master, who, to reward his services +by an appropriate distinction, allowed the stones to be called +Karuma. Near this is a tree which contains a spirit whose +attributes for gratifying the powers and pleasures of either men +or women who summon its influence in the form appropriate to +each, appear to be almost identical with that of Mahadeo's Ligna +in India. + +20th.--We halted for the men to collect and lay in a store of +food for the passage of the Kidi wilderness. Presents of fish, +caught in baskets, were sent us by Kija. They were not bad +eating, though all ground animals of the lowest order. At the +Grand Falls below this, Kidgwiga informs us, the king had the +heads of one hundred men, prisoners taken in war against Rionga, +cut off and thrown into the river. + +21st and 22d.--The governor, who would not let us go until we saw +him, called on the 22d with a large retinue, attended by a +harpist, and bringing a present of one cow, two loads flour, and +three pots of pombe. He expected a chair to sit upon, and got a +box, as at home he has a throne only a little inferior to +Kamrasi's. He was very generous to Bombay on his former journey +to Gani; and then said he thought the white men were all flocking +this way to retake their lost country; for tradition recorded +that the Wahuma were once half-black and half-white, with half +the hair straight and the other half curly; and how was this to +be accounted for, unless the country formerly belonged to white +men with straight hair, but was subsequently taken by black men? +We relieved his apprehensions by telling him his ancestors were +formerly all white, with straight hair, and lived in a country +beyond the salt sea, till they crossed that sea, took possession +of Abyssinia, and are now generally known by the name of Hubshies +and Gallas; but neither of these names was known to him. + +On the east, beyond Kidi, he only knew of one clan of Wahuma, a +people who subsist entirely on meat and milk. The sportsmen of +this country, like the Wanyamuezi, plant a convolvulus of +extraordinary size by the side of their huts, and pile the jaw- +bones and horns of their spoils before, as a means of bringing +good-luck. This same flower, held in the hand when a man is +searching for anything that he has lost, will certainly bring him +to the missing treasure. In the evening, Kidgwiga, at the head +of his brave army, made one of their theatrical charges on "Bana" +with spear and shield, swearing they would never desert him on +the march, but would die to a man if it were necessary; and if +they deserted him, then might they be deprived of their heads, or +of other personal possessions not much less valuable. + +Just as we were ready for crossing the river, a line of Kidi men +was descried filing through the jungle on the opposite side, +making their way for a new-moon visit to Rionga, who occasionally +leads them into battle against Ukero. The last time they fought, +two men only were killed on Kamrasi's side, whilst nine fell on +Rionga's. There was little done besides crossing, for the last +cow was brought across as sunset--the ferrying-toll for the whole +being one cow, besides a present of beads to the head officer. +Kidgwiga's party sacrificed two kids, one on either side the +river, flaying them with one long cut each down their breasts and +bellies. These animals were then, spread-eagle fashion, laid on +their backs upon grass and twigs, to be steeped over by the +travellers, that their journey might be prosperous; and the spot +selected for the ordeal was chosen in deference to the Mzimu, or +spirit--a sort of wizard or ecclesiastical patriarch, whose +functions were devoted to the falls. + +After a soaking night, we were kept waiting till noon for the +forty porters ordered by Kamrasi, to carry our property to the +vessels wherever they might be. Only twenty-five men arrived, +notwithstanding the wife and one slave belonging to a local +officer, who would not supply the men required of him, were +seized and confiscated by Ukero, of Wire. We now mustered twenty +Wanguana, twenty-five country porters, and thirty-one of +Kidgwiga's "children"--making a total, with ourselves, of +seventy-eight souls. By a late arrival a message came from +Kamrasi. Its import was, that we must defer the march, as it was +reported the refractory brother Rionga harboured designs of +molesting us on the way, and therefore the king conceived it +prudent to clear the road by first fighting him. Without heeding +this cunning advice, we made a short march across swamps, and +through thick jungle and long grasses, which proved anything but +pleasant--wet and labouring hard all the way. + +It was a rainy day, and we had still to toil on fighting with the +grasses. We marched up the wet margin of swamp all day, crossing +the water at a fork near the end. The same jungle prevails on +all sides, excluding all view; and the only signs of man's +existence in these wilds lay in the meagre path, which is often +lost, and an occasional hut or two, the temporary residence of +the sporting Kidi people. + +After toiling five miles through the same terrible grasses, and +crossing swamp after swamp, we were at last rewarded by a +striking view. The jungles had thinned; we found ourselves +unexpectedly standing on the edge of a plateau, on the west of +which, for distance interminable, lay apparently a low flat +country of grass, yellowed by the sun, with a few trees or shrubs +only thinly scattered over the surface; while, from fifteen to +twenty miles in the rear, bearing south by west, stood +conspicuously the hill of Kisuga, said to be situated in Chopi, +not far from the refractory brothers. But this view was only for +the moment; again we dived into the grasses and forced our way +along. Presently elephants were seen, also buffalo; and the +guide, to make the journey propitious, plucked a twig, denuded it +of its leaves and branches, waved it like a wand up the line of +march, muttered some unintelligible words to himself, broke it in +twain, and threw the separated bits on either side of the path. + +Immediately after starting, the guide ran up on an ant-hill and +pointed out to us all the glories of the country round. In our +rear we could see back upon Wire and the hill of Kisuga; to the +west were the same low plains of grass; east and by south, the +jungles of Kidi; and to the northward, over downs of grass, the +tops of some hills, which marked the neighbouring village of +Koki, which we were making for. Its appearance in the distance +warned us that we were closing on the habitations of men, and we +were told that Bombay had drunk pombe there. Then plunging +through grass again over our heads, and crossing constant swamps, +we arrived at a stream which drains all these lands to westward, +and rested a while that the men might bathe, and also that they +might set fire to the grass as a telegraph to the settlement of +Koko, to apprise the people of our advance, and be ready with +their pombe ere our arrival. Shortly after, towards the close of +the day's work, as a solitary buffalo was seen grazing by a +brook, I put a bullet through him, and allowed the savages the +pleasure of despatching him in their own wild fashion with +spears. + +It was a sight quite worthy of a little delay. No sooner was it +observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with +springing bounds, the men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on +an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till, +as they neared the maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to +meet his assailants with the best charge his exhausted body could +muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he knew his +disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water,--the +worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank +above him soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained +their victory. Now, what was to be done with this huge carcass? +No one could be induced to leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe +on reaching camp; but no, the buffalo was bigger than a cow, and +must be quartered on the spot; so, to gain our object, we went +ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus saving a cow in +rations, for we required to slaughter one every day. + +By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the +same downs of tall grass with occasional swamps. We saw a herd +of hartebeest, and reached at night a place within easy run of +Koki in Gani. + +The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the +habitations of men--a collection of conical huts on the ridge of +a small chain of granitic hills lying north-west. As we +approached the southern extremity of this chain, knots of naked +men, perched like monkeys on the granite blocks were anxiously +awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the usages of the +country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and look out +for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a +messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were +visitors from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and +forward us to our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty +welcome; for Chongi had been appointed governor by Kamrasi of +this district, which appears to have been the extreme northern +limit of the originally vast kingdom of Kittara. All the elite +of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as +their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair, +charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after +performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and +invited us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a +very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us-- +one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a +little twig. + +Chongi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and +taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the +ground in front of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony +had been also repeated by the familiar, Chongi then took the +gourd and twig, and sprinkled the contents all over us; retired +to the Uganga, or magic house--a very diminutive hut--sprinkled +pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a cow-skin under a tree, +bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making many apologies +that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had reduced +his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!! +Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress +consisted of bead, iron, or brass ornaments, with some feathers +or cowrie-beads on the head. Even the women contented themselves +with a few fibres hung like tails before and behind. Some of our +men who had seen the Watuta in Utambara, declared these savages +to resemble them in every particular, save one small specialty in +their costume, alluded to in the description of the Zulu Kafir's +dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same fantastic +fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it +rode on its mother's back. They also, like the Kidi people, whom +they much fear, carry diminutive stools to sit upon wherever they +go. + +Their habitat extends from this to the Asua river, whilst the +Madi occupy all the country west of this meridian to the Nile, +which is far beyond sight. The villages are composed of little +conical huts of grass, on a framework of bamboo raised above low +mud walls. There are no sultans here of any consequence, each +village appointing its own chief. The granitic hills, like those +of Unyamuezi, are extremely pretty, and clad with trees, +contrasting strangely with the grassy downs of indefinite extend +around, which give the place, when compared with the people, the +appearance of a paradise within the infernal regions. From the +site of Koki we saw the hills behind which, according to Bombay, +Petherick was situated with his vessels; and we also saw a nearer +hill, behind which his advanced post of elephant-hunters were +waiting our arrival. + +I tried to ascertain if there were any prefixes, as in the South +African dialects, by which one might determine the difference +between the people and the country; but I was assured that both +here and in the adjacent countries these people saw Chopi, Kidi, +Gani, Madi, Bari, alike for person and place, though Jo in their +language is the equivalent for Wa in South Africa, and Dano takes +the place of Mtu. All the words and system of language were +wholly changed-- as for example, Poko poko wingi bongo, means "we +do not understand"; Mazi, "fire"; Pi, "water"; Pe, "there is +none; Bugra, "cow." In sound, the language of these people +resembles that of the Tibet Tartars. Chongi considers himself +the greatest man in the country, and of noble descent, his great- +grandfather having been a Mhuma, born at Ururi, in Unyoro, and +appointed by the then reigning king to rule over this country, +and keep the Kidi people in check. + +30th.--We halted at the earnest solicitation of Chongi, as well +as of the Chopi porters, who said they required a day to lay in +grain, as the Wichwezi, or mendicant sorcerers--for so they +thought fit to designate Petherick's elephant-hunters--had eaten +up the country all about them, and those who went before with +Bombay to visit their camp could get no food. + +1st.--We halted again at the request of all parties, and much to +the delight of old Chongi, who supplied us with abundant pombe, +promised a cow, that we should not be put to any extra expense by +stopping, and said that without fail he would furnish us with +guides who knew a short cut across country, by which we might +reach the Wichwesi camp in one march, instead of going by the +circuitous route which Bombay formerly took. The cow, however, +never came, as the old man did not intend to give his own, and +his officers refused to obey his orders in giving one of theirs. + +We left Koki with difficulty, in consequence of the Chopi porters +refusing to carry any loads, leaving the burden of lifting them +on the country people, as they said, "We have endured all the +trouble and hardships of bringing these visitors through the +wilderness; and now, as they have visited you, it is your place +to help them on." The consequence was, we had to engage fresh +porters at every village, each in turn saying he had done all the +work which with justice fell to his lot, till at last we arrived +at the borders of a jungle, where the men last engaged, feeling +tired of their work, pleaded ignorance of the direct road, and +turned off to the longer one, where villages and men were in +abundance, thus upsetting all our plans, and doubling the actual +distance. + +To pass the night half-way was now imperative, as we had been the +whole day travelling without making good much ground. From the +Gani people we had, without any visible change, mingled with the +Madi people, who dress in the same naked fashion as their +neighbours, and use bows and arrows. Their villages were all +surrounded with bomas (fences), and the country in its general +aspect resembled that of Northern Unyamuezi. At one place, the +good-natured simple people, as soon as we reached their village, +spread a skin, deposited a stool upon it, and placed in front two +pots of pombe. At the village where we put up, however, the women +and children of the head man at first all ran away, and the head +man himself was very shy of us, thinking we were some unearthly +creatures. He became more reconciled to us, however, when he +perceived we fed like rational beings; and, calling his family in +by midnight, presented us with pombe, and made many apologies for +having allowed us to dine without a drop of his beer, for he was +very glad to see us. + + + + + Chapter XX + + + + Madi + +Junction of the Two Hemispheres--The First Contact with Persons +Acquainted with European Habits--Interruptions and Plots-- The +Mysterious Mahamed--Native Revelries--The Plundering and Tyranny +of the Turks--The Rascalities of the Ivory Trade--Feeling for the +Nile--Taken to see a Mark left by a European--Buffalo, Eland, and +Rhinoceros Stalking--Meet Baker--Petherick's Arrival at +Gondokoro. + +After receiving more pombe from the chief, and, strange to say, +hot water to wash with--for he did not know how else to show +hospitality better--we started again in the same straggling +manner as yesterday. In two hours we reached the palace of +Piejoko, a chief of some pretensions, and were summoned to stop +and drink pombe. In my haste to meet Petherick's expedition, I +would listen to nothing, but pushed rapidly on, despite all +entreaties to stop, both from the chief and from my porters, who, +I saw clearly, wished to do me out of another day. + +Half of my men, however, did stop there, but with the other half +Grant and I went on; and, as the sun was setting, we came in +sight of what we thought was Petherick's outpost, N. lat. 3§ 10' +33", and E. long. 21§ 50' 45". My men, as happy as we were +ourselves, now begged I would allow them to fire their guns, and +prepare the Turks for our reception. Crack, bang, went their +carbines, and in another instant crack, bang, was heard from the +northerners' camp, when, like a swarms of bees, every height and +other conspicuous place was covered with men. Our hearts leapt +with an excitement of joy only known to those who have escaped +from long-continued banishment among barbarians, once more to +meet with civilised people, and join old friends. Every minute +increased this excitement. We saw three large red flags heading +a military procession, which marched out of the camp with drums +and fifes playing. I halted and allowed them to draw near. When +they did so, a very black man, named Mahamed, in full Egyptian +regimentals, with a curved sword, ordered his regiment to halt, +and threw himself into my arms, endeavouring to hug and kiss me. +Rather staggered at this unexpected manifestation of affection, +which was like a conjunction of the two hemispheres, I gave him a +squeeze in return for his hug, but raised my head above the reach +of his lips, and asked who was his master? "Petrik," was the +reply. "And where is Petherick now?" "Oh, he is coming." "How +is it you have not got English colours, then?" "The colours are +Debono's." "Who is Debono?" "The same as Petrik; but come along +into my camp, and let us talk it out there;" saying which, +Mahamed ordered his regiment (a ragamuffin mixture of Nubians, +Egyptians, and slaves of all sorts, about two hundred in number) +to rightabout, and we were guided by him, whilst his men kept up +an incessant drumming and fifing, presenting arms and firing, +until we reached his huts, situated in a village kept exactly in +the same order as that of the natives. Mahamed then gave us two +beds to sit upon, and ordered his wives to advance on their knees +and give us coffee, whilst other men brought pombe, and prepared +us a dinner of bread and honey and mutton. + +A large shed was cleared for Grant and myself, and all my men +were ordered to disperse, and chum in ones and twos with +Mahamed's men; for Mahamed said, now we had come there, his work +was finished. "If that is the case," I said, "tell us your +orders; there must be some letters." He said, "No, I have no +letters or written orders; though I have directions to take you +to Gondokoro as soon as you come. I am Debono's Vakil, and am +glad you are come, for we are all tired of waiting for you. Our +business has been to collect ivory whilst waiting for you." I +said, "How is it Petherick has not come here to meet me? is he +married?" "Yes, he is married; and both he and his wife ride +fore-and-aft on one animal at Khartum." "Well, then, where is the +tree you told Bombay you would point out to us with Petherick's +name on it?" "Oh, that is on the way to Gondokoro. It was not +Petherick who wrote, but some one else, who told me to look out +for your coming this way. We don't know his name, but he said if +we pointed it out to you, you would know at once." + +4th.--After spending the night as Mahamed's guest, I strolled +round the place to see what it was like, and found the Turks were +all married to the women of the country, whom they had dressed in +clothes and beads. Their children were many, with a prospect of +more. Temporary marriages, however, were more common than +others-- as, in addition to their slaves, they hired the +daughters of the villagers, who remained with them whilst they +were trading here, but went back to their parents when they +marched to Gondokoro. They had also many hundreds of cattle, +which it was said they had plundered from the natives, and now +used for food, or to exchange for ivory, or other purposes. The +scenery and situation were perfect for health and beauty. The +settlement lay at the foot of small, well-wooded granitic hills, +even prettier than the outcrops of Unyamuezi, and was intersected +by clear streams. + +At noon, all the rear troops arrived with Bombay and Piejoko in +person. This good creature had treated Bombay very handsomely on +his former journey. He said he felt greatly disappointed at my +pushing past him yesterday, as he wished to give me a cow, but +still hoped I would go over and make friends with him. I gave +him some beads and off he walked. Old Chongi's "children," who +had escorted us all the way from Kamrasi's, then took some beads +and cast-off clothes for themselves and their father, and left us +in good-humour. + +This reduced the expedition establishment to my men and +Kidgwiga's. With these, now, as there was no letter from +Petherick, I ordered a march for the next morning, but at once +met with opposition. Mahamed told me that there were no vessels +at Gondokoro; we must wait two months, by which time he expected +they would arrive there, and some one would come to meet him with +beads. I said in answer, that Petherick had promised to have +boats there all the year round, so I would not wait. "Then," +said Mahamed, "we cannot go with you, for there is a famine at +this season at Gondokoro." I said, "Never mind; do you give me +an interpreter, and I will go as I am." "No," said Mahamed, "that +will not do, as the Bari people are so savage, you could not get +through them with so small a force; besides which, just now there +is a stream which cannot be crossed for a month or more." + +Unable to stand Mahamed's shifting devices with equanimity any +longer, I accused him of trying to trick me in the same way as +all the common savage chiefs had done wherever I went, because +they wished me to stop for their own satisfaction, quite +disregarding my wishes and interest; so I said I would not stop +there any longer I would raft over the river, and find my way +through the Bari, as I had through the rest of the African +savages. We talked and talked, but could make nothing of it. I +maintained that if he was commissioned to help me, he at least +could not refuse to give me a guide and interpreter; when, if I +failed in the direct route, I would try another, but go I must, +as I could not hold out any longer, being short of beads and +cows. I had just enough, but none to spare. He told me not to +think of such a thing, as he would give me all that was needful, +both for myself and my men; but if I would have patience, he +would collect all his officers, and the next morning would see +what their opinions were on the subject. + +5th.--I found that every one of Mahamed's men was against our +going to Gondokoro. They told me, in fact, with one voice, that +it was quite impossible; but they said, if I liked they would +furnish me guides to escort me on ten marches to a depot at the +further end of the Madi country, and if I chose to wait there +until they could collect all their ivory tusks together and join +us, we would be a united party too formidable to be resisted by +the Bari people. This offer of immediate guides I of course +accepted at once, as to keep on the move was my only desire at +that time; for my men were all drunk, and Kidgwiga's were +deserting. Once more on the way, I did not despair of reaching +Gondokoro by myself. In the best good-humour now, I showed +Mahamed our picture-books: and as he said he always drilled his +two hundred men every Friday, I said I would, if he liked, +command them myself. This being agreed to, all the men turned +out in their best, and, to my surprise, they not only knew the +Turkish words of command, but manoeuvred with some show of good +training; though, as might have been expected with men of this +ragamuffin stamp, all the privates gave orders as well as their +captains. + +When the review was over, I complimented Mahamed on the +efficiency of his corps, and, retiring to my hut, as I thought I +had him now in a good-humour, again discussed our plans for going +ahead the next day. Scarcely able to look me in the face, the +humbugging scoundrel said he could not think of allowing me to go +on without him, for if any accident happened he would be blamed +for it. At the same time, he could not move for a few days, as +he expected a party of men to arrive about the next new moon with +ivory. My hurry he thought was uncalled for; for, as I had +spent so many days with Kamrasi, why could I not be content to do +so with him? + +I was provoked beyond measure with this, as it upset all my +plans. Kidgwiga's men were deserting, and I feared I should not +be able to keep my promise to Kamrasi of sending him another +white visitor, who would perhaps do what I had left undone, when +I did not follow up the connection of the Little Luta Nzige with +the Nile. We battled away again, and then Mahamed said there was +not one man in his camp who would go with me until their crops +were cut and taken in; for whilst residing here they grew grain +for their support. We battled again, and Mahamed at last, out of +patience himself, said, "Just look here, what a fix I am in," +showing me a hut full of ivory. "Who," he said, "is to carry all +this until the natives have got in their crops?" This, I said, +so far as I was concerned, was all nonsense. I merely had asked +him for a guide and interpreter, for go I must. In a huff he +then absconded; and my men--those of them who were not too drunk- +-came and said to me, "For Godsake let us stop here. Mahamed +says the road is too dangerous for us to go alone; he has +promised to carry all our loads for us if we stop; and all +Kamrasi's men are running away, because they are afraid to go +on." + +6th.--Next morning I called Kidgwiga, and begged him to procure +two men as guides and interpreters. He said he could not find +any. I then went at Mahamed again, who first said he would give +me the two men I wanted, then went off, and sent word to say he +would not be visible for three days. This was too much for my +patience, so I ordered all my things to be tied up in marching +order, and gave out that I should leave and find out the way +myself the following morning. Like an evil spirit stirred up, my +preparations for going no sooner were heard of than Mahamed +appeared again, and after a long and sharp contest in words, he +promised us guides if I would consent to write him a note, +testifying that my going was against his expressed desire. + +This was done; but the next morning (7th), after our things were +put out for the march, all Kidgwiga's men bolted, and no guides +would take service with us. It was now obvious that, even +supposing I succeeded in taking Kidgwiga to Gondokoro, he would +not have a sufficient escort to come back with, unless, indeed, +it happened that Englishmen might be there who might wish to +carry out my investigations by penetrating to the Little Luta +Nzige, and to pay a visit to Kamrasi. I therefore called +Kidgwiga, and after explaining these circumstances, advised him +to go back to Kamrasi. He was loth to leave, he said, until his +commission was fully performed; but as I thought it advisable, he +would consent. I then gave him a double gun and ammunition, as +well as some very rich beads which I obtained from Mahamed's +stores, to take back to Kamrasi, with orders to say that, as soon +as I reached Gondokoro or Khartum, I would send another white man +to him--not by the way I had come through Kidi, but by the left +bank of the Nile: to which Kidgwiga replied, "That will do +famously, for Kamrasi will change his residence soon, and come on +the Nile this side of Rionga's palace, in order that he may cut +in between his brother and the Turks' guns." + +After this, I gave a lot of rich beads to Kidgwiga for himself, +and a lot also for the senior officers at the Chopi and Kamrasi's +palaces, and sent the whole set off as happy as birds. When +these men were gone, I tried to get up an elephant-shooting +excursion due west of this, with a view to see where the Nile +was, for I would not believe it was very far off, although no one +as yet, since I left Chopi, either would or could tell me where +the stream had gone to. + +8th. Mahamed professed to be delighted I had made up my mind to +such a scheme. He called the heads of the villages to give me +all the information I sought for, and went with me to the top of +a high rock, from which we could see the hills I first viewed at +Chopi, sweeping round from south by east to north, which demarked +the line of the Asua river. The Nile at that moment was, I +believed, not very far off; yet, do or say what I would, +everybody said it was fifteen marches off, and could not be +visited under a month.[FN#25] It would be necessary for me to +take thirty-six of Mahamed's men, besides all my own, to go +there, which, he said, I was welcome to, but I should have to pay +them for their services. This was a damper at once. + +I knew in my mind all these reports were false, but, rather than +be out of the way when the time came for marching, I agreed to +wait patiently, write the history of the Wahuma, and make +collections, till Mahamed was ready, trusting that I might find +some one at Gondokoro who would finish what I had left undone; or +else, after arriving there, I might go up the Nile in boats and +see for myself. The same evening I was attracted by the sound of +drums to a neighbouring village, where, by the moonlight, I found +the natives were dancing. A more indecent or savage spectacle I +never witnessed. The whole place was alive with naked humanity +in a state of constant motion. Drawing near, I found that a +number of drums were beaten by men in the centre. Next to them +was a deep ring of women, half of whom carried their babies; and +outside these again was a still deeper circle of men, some +blowing horns, but most holding their spears erect. To the sound +of the music both these rings of the opposite sexes kept jumping +and sidling round and round the drummers, making the most +grotesque and obscene motions to one another. + +9th to 14th.--Nothing of material consequence happened until the +14th, when eighty of Rionga's men brought in two slaves and +thirty tusks of ivory, as a present to Mahamed. Of course, I +knew this was a bribe to induce Mahamed to fight with Rionga +against Kamrasi; but, counting that no affair of mine, I tried to +induce these men to give me some geographical information of the +countries they had just left. Not one of them would come near +me, for they knew I was friends with Kamrasi; and Mahamed's men, +when they saw mine attempting to converse with them, abused them +for "prying into other men's concerns." "These men," they said, +"are our friends, and not yours; if we choose to give them +presents of cloth and beads, and they give us a return in ivory, +what is that to you?" Mysterious Mahamed next came to me, and +begged for a blanket, as he said he was going off for a few days +to a depot where he had some ivory; and he also wanted to borrow +a musket, as one of his had been burnt. + +My suspicions and even apprehensions, were now greatly excited. I +began to think he had prevailed on me to stop here, that I might +hold the place whilst he went to fight Kamrasi with Rionga's men; +so I begged him to listen to my advice, and not attempt to cross +the Nile, "else," I said, "all his guns would be taken from him, +and his passage back cut off." At once he saw the drift of my +thought, and said he was not going towards the Nile, but on the +contrary, he was going with Rionga's men in the opposite +direction, to a place called Paira. "If that is the case," I +said, "why do you want a gun?" "Because there are some other +matters to settle. I shall not be long away, and my men will +take care of you whilst I am gone." I gave him the blanket after +this, but was too suspicious of his object to lend him a gun. + +15th to 20th.--I saw Mahamed march his regiment out of the place, +drums and fifes playing, colours flying, a hundred guns firing, +officers riding,--some of them on donkeys and others--yes, +actually on cows! whilst a host of the natives, Rionga's men +included, carrying spears and bows and arrows, looked little like +a peaceful caravan of merchants, but very much resembled a band +of marauders. After this I heard they were not going to Rionga +himself, but were going to show Rionga's men the way that they +made friends with old Chongi of Koki. In reality, Chongi had +invited Mahamed to fight against an enemy of his, in whose +territories immense stores of ivory were said to be buried, and +the people had an endless number of cattle--for they lived by +plunder, and had lifted most of old Chongi's; and this was the +service on which the expedition had set off. + +21st to 31st.--I had constantly wondered, ever since I first came +here, and saw the brutal manner in which the Turks treated the +natives, that these Madi people could submit to their "Egyptian +taskmasters," and therefore was not surprised now to find them +pull down their huts and march off with the materials to a +distant site. Every day this sort of migration continued, just as +you see in the picture; and nothing more important occurred until +Christmas-day, when an armadillo was caught, and I heard from +Mahamed's head wife that the Turks had plundered and burnt down +three villages, and in all probability they would return shortly +laden with ivory. This was a true anticipation; for, on the 31st, +Mahamed came in with his triumphant army laden with ivory, and +driving in five slave-girls and thirty head of cattle. + +1st to 3d.--I now wished to go on with the journey, as I could +get no true information out of the suspicious blackguards who +called themselves Turks; but Mahamed postponed it until the 5th, +by which time he said he would be able to collect all the men he +wanted to carry his ivory. Rionga's men then departed, and +Mahamed showed some signs of getting ready by ordering one dozen +cows to be killed, the flesh of which was to be divided amongst +those villagers who would carry his ivory, and the skins to be +cut into thongs for binding the smaller tusks of ivory together +in suitable loads. + +4th and 5th.--Another specimen of Turkish barbarity came under my +notice, in the head man of a village bringing a large tusk of +ivory to Mahamed, to ransom his daughter with; for she had been +seized as a slave on his last expedition, in common with others +who could not run away fast enough to save themselves from the +Turks. Fortunately for both, it was thought necessary for the +Turks to keep on good terms with the father as an influential +man; and therefore, on receiving the tusk, Mahamed gave back the +girl, and added a cow to seal their friendship. + +6th to 10th.--I saw this land-pirate Mahamed take a blackmail +like a negro chief. Some men who had fled from their village +when Mahamed's plundering party passed by them the other day, +surprised that he did not stop to sack their homes, now brought +ten large tusks of ivory to him to express the gratitude they +said they felt for his not having molested them. Mahamed, on +finding how easy it was to get taxes in this fashion, instead of +thanking them, assumed the air of the great potentate, whose +clemency was abused, and told the poor creatures that, though +they had done well in seeking his friendship, they had not +sufficiently considered his dignity, else they would have brought +double that number of tusks, for it was impossible he could be +satisfied at so low a price. "What," said these poor creatures, +"can we do then? for this is all we have got." "Oh," says +Mahamed, "if it is all you have got now in store, I will take +these few for the present; but when I return from Gondokoro, I +expect you will bring me just as many more. Good-bye, and look +out for yourselves." + +Tired beyond all measure with Mahamed's procrastination, as I +could not get him to start, I now started myself, much to his +disgust, and went ahead again, leaving word that I would wait for +him at the next place, provided he did not delay more than one +day. The march led us over long rolling downs of grass, where we +saw a good many antelopes feeding; and after going ten miles, we +came, among other villages, to one named Panyoro, in which we +found it convenient to put up. At first all the villagers, +thinking us Turks, bolted away with their cattle and what stores +they could carry; but, after finding out who we were, they +returned again, and gave us a good reception, helping us to rig +up a shed with grass, and bringing a cow and some milk for our +dinner. + +12th.--To-day I went out shooting, but though I saw and fired at +a rhinoceros, as well as many varieties of antelopes, I did not +succeed in killing one head. All my men were surprised as well +as myself; and the villagers who were escorting me in the hope of +getting flesh, were so annoyed at their disappointment, they +offered to cut my fore-finger with a spear and spit on it for +good-luck. Joining in their talk, I told them the powder must be +crooked; but, on inspecting my rifle closer, I found that the +sights had been knocked on one side a little, and this created a +general laugh at all in turn. Going home from the shooting, I +found all the villagers bolting again with their cattle and +stores, and, on looking towards Faloro, saw a party of Turks +coming. + +As well as I could I reassured the villagers, and brought them +back again, when they said to me, "Oh, what have you done? We +were so happy yesterday when we found out who you were, but now +we see you have brought those men, all our hearts have sunk +again; for they beat us, they make us carry their loads, and they +rob us in such a manner, we know not what to do." I told them I +would protect them if they would keep quiet; and, when the Turks +came, I told them what I had said to the head man. They were the +vanguard of Mahamed's party, and said they had orders to march on +as far as Apuddo with me, where we must all stop for Mahamed, +who, as well as he could, was collecting men. There was a +certain tree near Apuddo which was marked by an Englishman two +years ago, and this, Mahamed thought, would keep us amused. + +The next march brought us to Paira, a collection of villages +within sight of the Nile. It was truly ridiculous; here had we +been at Faloro so long, and yet could not make out what had +become of the Nile. In appearance it was a noble stream, flowing +on a flat bed from west to east, and immediately beyond it were +the Jbl (hills) Kuku, rising up to a height of 2000 feet above +the river. Still we could not make out all, until the following +day, when we made a march parallel to the Nile, and arrived at +Jaifi. + +This was a collection of huts close to a deep nullah which drains +The central portions of Eastern Madi. At this place the Turks +killed a crocodile and ate him on the spot, much to the amusement +of my men, who immediately shook their heads, laughingly, and +said, "Ewa, Allah! are these men, then, Mussulmans? Savages in +our country don't much like a crocodile." + +After crossing two nullahs, we reached Apuddo, and at once, I +went to see the tree said to have been cut by an Englishman some +time before. There, sure enough, was a mark, something like the +letters M. I., on its bark, but not distinct enough to be +ascertained, because the bark had healed up. In describing the +individual who had done this, the Turks said he was exactly like +myself, for he had a long beard, and a voice even much resembling +mine. He came thus far with Mahamed from Gondokoro two years +ago, and then returned, because he was alarmed at the accounts +the people gave of the countries to the southward, and he did not +like the prospect of having to remain a whole rainy season with +Mahamed at Faloro. He knew we were endeavouring to come this way, +and directed Mahamed to point out his name if we did so. + +We took up our quarters in the village as usual, but the Turks +remained outside, and carried off all the tops of the villagers' +huts to make a camp for themselves. I rebuked them for doing so, +but was mildly told they had no huts of their own. They carried +no pots either for cooking their dinners, and therefore took from +the villagers all that they wanted. It was a fixed custom now, +they told us, and there was no use in our trying to struggle +against it. If the natives were wise, they would make enough to +sell; but as they would not, they must put up with their lot; for +the "government" cannot be baulked of its ivory. Truly there +seemed to be nothing but misery here; food was so scarce the +villagers sought for wild berries and fruits; whilst the Turks +helped themselves out of their half-filled bins--a small reserve +store to last up to the far-distant harvest. Then, to make +matters worse, all the village chiefs were at war with one +another. + +At night a party of warriors walked round our village, but feared +to attack it because we were inside. Next morning the villagers +turned out and killed two of the enemy; but the rest, whilst +retreating, sang out that they would not attempt to fight until +"the guns" were gone--after that, the villagers had better look +out for themselves. I now proposed going on if the Apina, or +chief of the village, would give me a guide; but he feared to do +so lest I should come to grief, and Mahamed would then be down +upon him. Struggling was useless, for I had no beads to pay my +way with, and my cows were now all finished; so I took the matter +quietly, and went out foraging with the rifle. + +18th and 19th.--Antelopes were numerous, but so wild I could not +get near them. On bending round homewards, however, three +buffaloes, feeding in the distance, on the top of a roll of high +ground beyond where we stood, were observed by the natives, who +had flocked out in the hopes of getting flesh. To stalk them, I +went up wind to near where I expected to find them; then bidding +the natives lie down, I stole along through the grass until at +last I saw three pairs of horns glistening quite close in front +of me. Anxious lest they should take sudden fright, I gently +raised myself, wishing to fire, but I was quite puzzled; there +was no mistake about what they were; still, look from as high as +I would, I could not see their bodies. The thought never struck +me they were lying down in such open ground in the day-time; so, +as I could not go closer without driving them off, I took a shot +with my single rifle at where I judged the chest of the nearest +one ought to be, and then discovered my error. In an instant all +three sprang on their legs and scampered off. I began loading, +but before I had half accomplished my object, those three had +mingled with the three previously seen grazing, and all six +together came charging straight at me. I really thought I should +now catch a toss, if I were not trampled to death; but suddenly, +as they saw me standing, whether from fear or what else I cannot +say, they changed their ferocious-looking design, swerved round, +and galloped off as fast as their legs could carry them. This +was bad luck; but Grant made up for it the next day by killing a +very fine buck nsamma. + +20th.--I went again after the herd of six buffaloes, as I thought +one was wounded, and after walking up a long sloping hill for +three miles towards the east, I found myself at once in view of +the Nile on one hand, and the long-heard-of Asua river on the +other, backed by hills even higher than the Jbl Kuku. The bed of +the Asua seemed very large, but, being far off, was not very +distinct, nor did I care to go and see it them; for at that +moment, straight in front of me, five buffaloes, five giraffes, +two eland and sundry other antelopes, were too strong a +temptation. + +The place looked like a park, and I began stalking in it, first +at the eland, as I wanted to see if they corresponded with those +I shot in Usagara; but the gawky giraffes, always in the way, +gave the alarm, and drove all but two of the buffaloes away. At +these two I now went with my only rifle, leaving the servants and +savages behind. They were out in the open grass feeding +composedly, so that I stole up to within forty yards of them, and +then, in a small naked patch of ground, I waited my opportunity, +and put a ball behind the shoulder of the larger one. At the +sound of the gun, in an instant both bulls charged, but they +pulled up in the same naked ground as myself, sniffing and +tossing their horns, while looking out for their antagonist, who, +as quick as themselves, had thrown himself flat on the ground. + +There we were, like three fools, for twenty minutes or so; one of +the buffaloes bleeding at the mouth and with a broken hind-leg, +for the bullet had traversed his body, and the other turning +round and round looking out for me, while I was anxiously +watching him, and by degrees loading my gun. When ready, I tried +a shot at the sound one, but the cap snapped and nearly betrayed +me, for they both stared at the spot where I lay--the sound one +sniffing the air and tossing his horns, but the other bleeding +considerably. Some minutes more passed in this manner, when they +allowed me to breathe freer by walking away. I followed, of +course, but could not get a good chance; so, as the night set in, +I let them alone for the time being, to get out the following +morning. + +21st and 22d.--At the place where I left off, I now sprang a +large herd of fifty or more buffaloes, and followed them for a +mile, when the wounded one, quite exhausted from the fatigue, +pulled up for a charge, and allowed me to knock him over. This +was glorious fun for the villagers, who cut him up on the spot +and brought him home. Of course, one half the flesh was given to +them, in return for which they brought us some small delicacies +to show their gratitude; for, as they truly remarked, until we +came to their village they never knew what it was to get a +present, or any other gift by a good thrashing. + +23d.--To-day I tried the ground again, and, whilst walking up the +hill, two black rhinoceros came trotting towards us in a very +excited manner. I did not wish to fire at them, as what few +bullets remained in my store I wished to reserve in better sport, +and therefore for the time being, let them alone. Presently, +however, they separated; one passed in front of us, stopped to +drink in a pool, and then lay down in it. Not heeding him, I +walked up the hill, whilst the other rhinoceros, still trotting, +suddenly turned round and came to drink within fifty yards of us, +obstructing my path; this was too much of a joke; so, to save +time, I gave him a bullet, and knocked him over. To my surprise, +the natives who were with me would not touch his flesh, though +pressed by me to "n'yam n'yam," or to eat. I found that they +considered him an unclean beast; so, regretting I had wasted my +bullet, I went farther on and startled some buffaloes. + +Though I got very near them, however, a small antelope springing +up in front of me scared them away, and I could not get a front +shot at any of them. Thus the whole day was thrown away, for I +had to return empty-handed. + +24th to 30th.--Grant and I after this kept our pot boiling by +shooting three more antelopes; but nothing of consequence +transpired until the 30th, when Bukhet, Mahamed's factotum, +arrived with the greater part of the Turk's property. He then +confirmed a report we had heard before, that, some days +previously, Mahamed had ordered Bukhet to go ahead and join us, +which he attempted to do; but, on arrival at Panyoro, his party +had a row with the villagers, and lost their property. Bukhet +then returned to Mahamed and reported his defeat and losses; upon +hearing which, Mahamed at once said to him, "What do you mean by +returning to me empty-handed? go back at once and recover your +things else how can I make my report at Gondokoro?" With these +peremptory orders Bukhet went back to Panyoro, and commenced to +attack it. The contest did not last long; for, after three of +Bukhet's men had been wounded, he set fire to the villages, +killed fifteen of the natives, and, besides recovering his own +lost property, took one hundred cows. + +31st.--To-day Mahamed came in, and commenced to arrange for the +march onwards. This, however, was no easy matter, for the Turks +alone required six hundred porters--half that number to carry +their ivory, and the other half to carry their beds and bedding; +whilst from fifty to sixty men was the most a village had to +spare, and all the village chiefs were at enmity with one +another. The plan adopted by Mahamed was, to summon the heads of +all the villages to come to him, failing which, he would seize +all their belongings. Then, having once got them together, he +ordered them all to furnish him with so many porters a-head, +saying he demanded it of them, for the "great government's +property" could not be left on the ground. Their separate +interests must now be sacrificed, and their feuds suspended: and +if he heard, on his return again, that one village had taken +advantage of the other's weakness caused by their employment in +his service, he would then not spare his bullets,-- so they might +look out for themselves. + +Some of the Turks, having found ninty-nine eggs in a crocodile's +nest, had a grand feast. They gave us two of the eggs, which we +ate, but did not like, for they had a highly musky flavour. + +1st.--On the 1st of February we went ahead again, with Bukhet and +the first half of Mahamed's establishment, as a sufficient number +of men could not be collected at once to move all together. In a +little while we struck on the Nile, where it was running like a +fine Highland stream between the gneiss and mica-schist hills of +Kuku, and followed it down to near where the Asua river joined +it. For a while we sat here watching the water, which was +greatly discoloured, and floating down rushes. The river was not +as full as it was when we crossed it at the Karuma Falls, yet, +according to Dr Khoblecher's[FN#26] account, it ought to have +been flooding just at this time: if so, we had beaten the stream. +Here we left it again as it arched round by the west, and forded +the Asua river, a stiff rocky stream, deep enough to reach the +breast when waded, but not very broad. It did not appear to me as +if connected with Victoria N'yanza, as the waters were falling, +and not much discoloured; whereas judging from the Nile's +condition, it ought to have been rising. No vessel ever could +have gone up it, and it bore no comparison with the Nile itself. +The exaggerated account of its volume, however, given by the +expeditionists who were sent up the Nile by Mehemet Ali, did not +surprise us, since they had mistaken its position; for we were +now 3§ 42' north, and therefore had passed their "farthest point" +by twenty miles. + +In two hours more we reached a settlement called Madi, and found +it deserted. Every man and woman had run off into the jungles +from fright, and would not come back again. We wished ourselves +at the end of the journey; thought anything better than this kind +of existence--living entirely at the expense of others; even the +fleecings in Usui felt less dispiriting; but it could not be +helped, for it must always exist as long as these Turks are +allowed to ride rough-shod over the people. The Turks, however, +had their losses also; for on the way four Bari men and one Bari +slave-girl slipped off with a hundred of their plundered cattle, +and neither they nor the cattle could be found again. Mijalwa +was here convicted of having stolen the cloth of a Turk whilst +living in his hut when he was away at the Paira plundering and +got fifty lashes to teach him better behaviour for the future. + +A party of fifty men came from Labure, a station on ahead of +this, to take service as porters, knowing that at this season the +Turks always come with a large herd of plundered cattle, which +they call government property, and give in payment to the men who +carry their tusks of ivory across the Bari country. + +We now marched over a rolling ground, covered in some places with +bush-jungle, in others with villages, where there were fine +trees, resembling oaks in their outward appearance; and stopping +one night at the settlement of Barwudi, arrived at Labure, where +we had to halt a day for Mahamed to collect some ivory from a +depot he had formed near by. We heard there was another ivory +party collecting tusks at Obbo, a settlement in the country of +Panuquara, twenty miles east of this. + +Next we crossed a nullah draining into the Nile, and, travelling +over more rolling ground, flanked on the right by a range of +small hills, put up at the Madi frontier station, Mugi, where we +had to halt two days to collect a full complement of porters to +traverse the Bari country, the people of which are denounced as +barbarians by the Turks, because they will not submit to be +bullied into carrying their tusks for them. Here we felt an +earthquake. The people would not take beads, preferring, they +said, to make necklaces and belts out of ostrich-eggs, which they +cut into the size of small shirt-buttons, and then drill a hole +through their centre to string them together. A passenger told +us that three white men had just arrived in vessels at Gondokoro; +and the Bari people, hearing of our advance, instead of trying to +kill us with spears, had determined to poison all the water in +their country. Mahamed now disposed of half of his herd of cows, +giving them to the chiefs of the villages in return for porters. +These, he said, were all that belonged to the government; for the +half of all captures of cows, as well as all slaves, all goats, +and sheep, were allowed to the men as part of their pay. + +When all was settled we marched, one thousand strong, to Wurungi; +and next day, by a double march, arrived at Marson, in the Bari +country. I wished still to put up in the native villages, but +Mahamed so terrified all my men, by saying these Bari would kill +us in the night if we did not all sleep together in one large +camp, that we were obliged to submit. The country, still flanked +on the right by hills, was undulating and very prettily wooded. +Villages were numerous, but as we passed them the inhabitants all +fled from us, save a few men, who, bolder than the rest, would +stand and look on at us as we marched along. Both night and +morning the Turks beat their drums; and whenever they stopped to +eat they sacked the villages. + +Pushing on by degrees, stopping at noon to eat, we came again in +sight of the Nile, and put up at a station called Doro, within a +short distance of the well-known hill Rijeb, where Nile voyagers +delight in cutting their names. The country continued the same, +but the grass was conspicuously becoming shorter and finer every +day--so much so, that my men all declared it was a sign of our +near approach to England. After we had settled down for the +night, and the Turks had finished plundering the nearest +villages, we heard two guns fired, and immediately afterwards the +whole place was alive with Bari people. Their drums were beaten +as a sign that they would attack us, and the war-drums of the +villages around responded by beating also. The Turks grew +somewhat alarmed at this, and as darkness began to set in, sent +out patrols in addition to their nightly watches. The savages +next tried to steal in on us, but were soon frightened off by the +patrols cocking their guns. Then, seeing themselves defeated in +that tactic, they collected in hundreds in front of us, set fire +to the grass, and marched up and down, brandishing ignited grass +in their hands, howling like demons, and swearing they would +annihilate us in the morning. + +We slept the night out, nevertheless, and next morning walked in +to Gondokoro, N. Lat. 4§ 54' 5", and E. long. 31§ 46' 9", where +Mahamed, after firing a salute, took us in to see a Circassian +merchant, named Kurshid Agha. Our first inquiry was, of course, +for Petherick. A mysterious silence ensued; we were informed +that Mr Debono was THE man we had to thank for the assistance we +had received in coming from Madi; and then in hot haste, after +warm exchanges of greeting with Mahamed's friend, who was +Debono's agent here, we took leave, to hunt up Petherick. +Walking down the bank of the river--where a line of vessels was +moored, and on the right hand a few sheds, one-half broken down, +with a brick-built house representing the late Austrian Church +Mission establishment--we saw hurrying on towards us the form of +an Englishman, who, for one moment, we believed was the Simon +Pure; but the next moment my old friend Baker, famed for his +sports in Ceylon, seized me by the hand. A little boy of his +establishment had reported our arrival, and he in an instant came +out to welcome us. What joy this was I can hardly tell. We +could not talk fast enough, so overwhelmed were we both to meet +again. Of course we were his guests in a moment, and learned +everything that could be told. I now first heard of the death of +H.R.H. the Prince-Consort, which made me reflect on the inspiring +words he made use of, in compliment to myself, when I was +introduced to him by Sir Roderick Murchison, a short while before +leaving England. Then there was the terrible war in America, and +other events of less startling nature, which came on us all by +surprise, as years had now passed since we had received news from +the civilised world. + +Baker then said he had come up with three vessels--one dyabir and +two nuggers--fully equipped with armed men, camels, horses, +donkeys, beads, brass wire, and everything necessary for a long +journey, expressly to look after us, hoping, as he jokingly said, +to find us on the equator in some terrible fix, that he might +have the pleasure of helping us out of it. He had heard of +Mahamed's party, and was actually waiting for him to come in, +that he might have had the use of his return-men to start with +comfortably. Three Dutch ladies[FN#27], also, with a view to +assist us in the same way as Baker (God bless them), had come +here in a steamer, but were driven back to Khartum by sickness. +Nobody had even dreamt for a moment it was possible we could come +through. An Italian, named Miani, had gone farther up the Nile +than any one else; and he, it now transpired, was the man who had +cut his name on the tree by Apuddo. But what had become of +Petherick? He was actually trading at N'yambara, seventy miles +due west of this, though he had, since I left him in England, +raised a subscription of œ1000, from those of my friends to whom +this Journal is most respectfully dedicated as the smallest +return a grateful heart can give for their attempt to succour me, +when knowing the fate of the expedition was in great jeopardy. + +Instead of coming up the Nile at once, as Petherick might have +done --so I was assured--he waited, whilst a vessel was building, +until the season had too far advanced to enable him to sail up +the river. In short, he lost the north winds at 7§ north, and +went overland to his trading depot at N'yambara. Previously, +however, he had sent some boats up to this, under a Vakil, who +had his orders to cross to his trading depot at N'yambara, and to +work from his trading station due south, ostensibly with a view +to look after me, though contrary to my advice before leaving him +in England, in opposition to his own proposed views of assisting +me when he applied for help to succour me, and against the +strongly-expressed opinions of every European in the same trade +as himself; for all alike said they knew he would have gone to +Faloro, and pushed south from that place, had his trade on the +west of the Nile not attracted him there. + +Baker now offered me his boats to go down to Khartum, and asked +me if there was anything left undone which it might be of +importance for him to go on and complete, by survey or otherwise; +for, although he should like to go down the river with us, he did +not wish to return home without having done something to +recompense him for the trouble and expense he had incurred in +getting up his large expedition. Of course I told him how +disappointed I had been in not getting a sight of the Little Luta +Nzige. I described how we had seen the Nile bending west where +we crossed in Chopi, and then, after walking down the chord of an +arc described by the river, had found it again in Madi coming +from the west, whence to the south, and as far at least as Koshi, +it was said to be navigable, probably continuing to be so right +into the Little Luta Nzige. Should this be the case, then, by +building boats in Madi above the cataracts, a vast region might +be thrown open to the improving influences of navigation. +Further, I told Baker of my contract with Kamrasi, and of the +property I had left behind, with a view to stimulate any +enterprising man who might be found at this place to go there, +make good my promise, and, if found needful, claim my share of +the things, for the better prosecution of his own travels there. +This Baker at once undertook, though he said he did not want my +property; and I drew out suggestions for him how to proceed. He +then made friends with Mahamed, who promised to help him on to +Faloro, and I gave Mahamed and his men three carbines as an +honorarium. + +I should now have gone down the Nile at once if the moon had been +in "distance" for fixing the longitude; but as it was not, I had +to remain until the 26th, living with Baker. Kurshid Agha became +very great friends with us, and, at once making a present of a +turkey, a case of wine, and cigars, said he was only sorry for +his own sake that we had found a fellow-countryman, else he would +have had the envied honour of claiming us as his guests, and had +the pleasure of transporting us in his vessels down to Khartum. + +The Rev. Mr Moorlan, and two other priests of the Austrian +Mission, were here on a visit from their station at Kich, to see +the old place again before they left for Khartum; for the +Austrian Government, discouraged by the failure of so many years, +had ordered the recall of the whole of the establishment for +these regions. It was no wonder these men were recalled; for, out +of twenty missionaries who, during the last thirteen years, had +ascended the White river for the purpose of propagating the +Gospel, thirteen had died of fever, two of dysentary, and two had +retired broken in health, yet not one convert had been made by +them. + +The fact is, there was no government to control the population or +to protect property; boys came to them, looked at their pictures, +and even showed a disposition to be instructed, but there it +ended; they had no heart to study when no visible returns were to +be gained. One day the people would examine the books, at +another throw them aside, say their stomachs were empty, and run +away to look for food. The Bari people at Gondokoro were +described as being more tractable than those of Kich, being of a +braver and more noble nature; but they were all half-starved--not +because the country was too poor to produce, but because they +were too lazy to cultivate. What little corn they grew they +consumed before it was fully ripe, and then either sought for +fish in the river or fed on tortoises in the interior, as they +feared they might never reap what they sowed. + +The missionaries never had occasion to complain of these blacks, +and to this day they would doubtless have been kindly inclined to +Europeans, had the White Nile traders not brought the devil +amongst them. Mr Moorlan remembers the time when they brought +food for sale; but now, instead, they turn their backs upon all +foreigners, and even abuse the missionaries for having been the +precursors of such dire calamities. The shell of the brick +church at Gondokoro, and the cross on the top of a native-built +hut in Kich, are all that will remain to bear testimony of these +Christian exertions to improve the condition of these heathens. +Want of employment, I heard was the chief operative cause in +killing the poor missionaries; for, with no other resource left +them to kill time, they spent their days eating, drinking, +smoking, and sleeping, till they broke down their constitutions +by living too fast. + +Mr Moorlan became very friendly, and said he was sorry he could +not do more for us. His headquarters were at Kich, some way down +the river, where, as we passed, he hoped at least he might be +able to show us as much attention and hospitality as lay in his +power. Mosquitoes were said to be extremely troublesome on the +river, and my men begged for some clothes, as Petherick, they +said, had a store for me under the charge of his Vakil. The +storekeeper was then called, and confirming the story of my men, +I begged him to give me what was my own. It then turned out that +it was all Petherick's, but he had orders to give me on account +anything that I wanted. This being settled, I took ninety-five +yards of the commonest stuff as a makeshift for mosquito-curtains +for my men, besides four sailor's shirts for my head men. + +On the 18th, Kurshid Agha was summoned by the constant fire of +musketry, a mile or two down the river, and went off in his +vessels to the relief. A party of his had come across from the +N'yambara country with ivory, and on the banks of the Nile, a few +miles north of this, were engaged fighting with the natives. He +arrived just in time to settle the difficulty, and next day came +back again, having shot some of the enemy and captured their +cows. Petherick, we heard, was in a difficulty of the same kind, +upon which I proposed to go down with Baker and Grant to succour +him; but he arrived in time, in company with his wife and Dr +James Murie, to save us the trouble, and told me he had brought a +number of men with him, carrying ivory, for the purpose now of +looking after me on the east bank of the Nile, by following its +course up to the south, though he had given up all hope of seeing +me, as a report had reached him of the desertion of my porters at +Ugogo. He then offered me his dyabir, as well as anything else +that I wanted that lay within his power to give. Suffice it to +say, I had, through Baker's generosity, at that very moment +enough and to spare; but at his urgent request I took a few more +yards of cloth for my men, and some cooking fat; and, though I +offered to pay for it, he declined to accept any return at my +hands. + +Though I naturally felt much annoyed at Petherick--for I had +hurried away from Uganda, and separated from Grant at Kari, +solely to keep faith with him--I did not wish to break +friendship, but dined and conversed with him, when it transpired +that his Vakil, or agent, who went south from the N'yambara +station, came amongst the N'yam N'yam, and heard from them that a +large river, four days' journey more to the southward, was +flowing from east to west, beyond which lived a tribe of "women," +who, when they wanted to marry, mingled with them in the stream +and returned; and then, again, beyond this tribe of women there +lived another tribe of women and dogs. Now, this may all seem a +very strange story to those who do not know the negro's and +Arab's modes of expression; but to me it at once came very +natural, and, according to my view, could be interpreted thus: -- +The river, running from east to west, according to the native +mode of expressing direction, could be nothing but the Little +Luta Nzige running the opposite way, according to fact and our +mode of expression. The first tribe of women were doubtless the +Wanyoro-- called women by the naked tribes on this side because +they wear bark coverings--an effeminate appendage, in the naked +man's estimation; and the second tribe must have been in allusion +to the dog-keeping Waganda, who also would be considered women, +as they wear bark clothes. In my turn, I told Petherick he had +missed a good thing by not going up the river to look for me; +for, had he done so, he would not only have had the best ivory- +grounds to work upon, but, by building a vessel in Madi above the +cataracts, he would have had, in my belief, some hundred miles of +navigable water to transport his merchandise. In short, his +succouring petition was most admirably framed, had he stuck to +it, for the welfare of both of us.[FN#28] + +We now received our first letters from home, and in one from Sir +Roderick Murchison I found the Royal Geographical Society had +awarded me their "founder's medal" for the discovery of the +Victoria N'yanza in 1858. + + + + + Conclusion + + + +My journey down to Alexandria was not without adventure, and +carried me through scenes which, in other circumstances, it might +have been worth while to describe. Thinking, however, that I +have already sufficiently trespassed on the patience of the +reader, I am unwilling to overload my volume with any matter that +does not directly relate to the solution of the great problem +which I went to solve. Having now, then, after a period of +twenty-eight months, come upon the tracks of European travellers, +and met them face to face, I close my Journal, to conclude with a +few explanations, for the purpose of comparing the various +branches of the Nile with its affluences, so as to show their +respective values. + +The first affluent, the Bahr el Ghazal, took us by surprise; for +instead of finding a huge lake, as described in our maps, at an +elbow of the Nile, we found only a small piece of water +resembling a duck-pond buried in a sea of rushes. The old Nile +swept through it with majestic grace, and carried us next to the +Geraffe branch of the Sobat river, the second affluent, which we +found flowing into the Nile with a graceful semicircular sweep +and good stiff current, apparently deep, but not more than fifty +yards broad. + +Next in order came the main stream of the Sobat, flowing into the +Nile in the same graceful way as the Geraffe, which in breadth it +surpassed, but in velocity of current was inferior. The Nile by +these additions was greatly increased; still it did not assume +that noble appearance which astonished us so much, immediately +after the rainy season, when we were navigating it in canoes in +Unyoro. + +I here took my last lunar observations, and made its mouth N. +lat. 9§ 20' 48", E. long. 31§ 24' 0". The Sobat has a third +mouth farther down the Nile, which unfortunately was passed +without my knowing it; but as it is so well known to be +unimportant, the loss was not great. + +Next to be treated of is the famous Blue Nile, which we found a +miserable river, even when compared with the Geraffe branch of +the Sobat. It is very broad at the mouth, it is true, but so +shallow that our vessel with difficulty was able to come up it. +It has all the appearance of a mountain stream, subject to great +periodical fluctuations. I was never more disappointed that with +this river; if the White river was cut off from it, its waters +would all be absorbed before they could reach Lower Egypt. + +The Atbara river, which is the last affluent, was more like the +Blue river than any of the other affluences, being decidedly a +mountain stream, which floods in the rains, but runs nearly dry +in the dry season. + +I had now seen quite enough to satisfy myself that the White +river which issues from the N'yanza at the Ripon Falls, is the +true or parent Nile; for in every instance of its branching, it +carried the palm with it in the distinctest manner, viewed, as +all the streams were by me, in the dry season, which is the best +time for estimating their relative perennial values. + +Since returning to England, Dr Murie, who was with me at +Gondokoro, has also come home; and he, judging from my account of +the way in which we got ahead of the flooding of the Nile between +the Karuma Falls and Gondokoro, is of opinion that the Little +Luta Nzige must be a great backwater to the Nile, which the +waters of the Nile must have been occupied in filling during my +residence in Madi; and then about the same time that I set out +from Madi, the Little Luta Nzige having been surcharged with +water, the surplus began its march northwards just about the time +when we started in the same direction. For myself, I believe in +this opinion, as he no sooner asked me how I could account for +the phenomenon I have already mentioned of the river appearing to +decrease in bulk as we descended it, than I instinctively +advanced his own theory. Moreover, the same hypothesis will +answer for the sluggish flooding of the Nile down to Egypt. + +I hope the reader who has followed my narrative thus far will be +interested in knowing how "my faithful children," for whose +services I had no further occasion, and whom I had taken so far +from their own country, were disposed of. At Cairo, where we put +up in Shepherd's Hotel, I had the whole of them photographed, and +indulged them at the public concerts, tableaux vivants, etc. By +invitation, we called on the Viceroy at his Rhoda Island palace, +and were much gratified with the reception; for, after hearing +all our stories with marked intelligence, he most graciously +offered to assist me in any other undertaking which would assist +to open up and develop the interior of Africa. + +I next appointed Bombay captain of the "faithfuls," and gave him +three photographs of all the eighteen men and three more of the +four women, to give one of each to our Consuls at Suez, Aden, and +Zanzibar, by which they might be recognised. I also gave them +increased wages, equal to three years' pay each, by orders on +Zanzibar, which was one in addition to their time of service; an +order for a grand "freeman's garden," to be purchased for them at +Zanzibar; and an order that each one should receive ten dollars +dowry-money as soon as he could find a wife. + +With these letters in their hands, I made arrangements with our +Consul, Mr Drummond Hay, to frank them through Suez, Aden, and +the Seychelles to Zanzibar. + +Since then, I have heard that Captain Bombay and his party missed +the Seychelles, and went on to the Mauritius, where Captain +Anson, Inspector-General of Police, kindly took charge of them +and made great lions of them. A subscription was raised to give +them a purse of money; they were treated with tickets to the +"circus," and sent back to the Seychelles, whence they were +transported by steamer to Zanzibar, and taken in charge by our +lately-appointed Consul, Colonel Playfair, who appears to have +taken much interest in them. Further, they volunteered to go with +me again, should I attempt to cross Africa from east to west, +through the fertile zone. + + + + + Footnotes: + + + +[FN#1] The equator was crossed on the 8th February 1862. + +[FN#2] The Wahuma are treated of in Chapter IX. + +[FN#3] The list of my fauna collection will be found in an early +Number of the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London." + +[FN#4] Captain Burton, on receiving his gold medal at the hands +of Sir Roderick I. Murchison, said, "You have alluded, sir, to +the success of the last expedition. Justice compels me to state +the circumstances under which it attained that success. To +Captain Speke are due those geographical results to which you +have alluded in such flattering terms. Whilst I undertook the +history and ethnography, the languages, and the peculiarity of +the people, to Captain Speke fell the arduous task of delineating +an exact topography, and of laying down our positions by +astronomical observations--a labour to which, at times, even the +undaunted Livingstone found himself unequal." + +[FN#5] Vol. iii. of A. D. 1801. + +[FN#6] It was such an attack as I had on my former journey; but +while mine ceased to trouble me after the first year, his kept +recurring every fortnight until the journey ended. + +[FN#7] It may be as well to remark here, that the figures both +in latitude and longitude, representing the position of Kaze, +computed by Mr Dunkin, accord with what appeared in Blackwood's +Magazine, computed by myself, and in the R. G. S. Journal Map, +computed by Captain George. + +This applies also to the position of Ujiji; at any rate, the +practical differences are so trifling that it would require a +microscope to detect them on the map. + +[FN#8] The Jub is the largest river known to the Zanzibar Arabs. +It debouches on the east coast north of Zanzibar, close under the +equator. + +[FN#9] The two first gold watches were given away at Zanzibar. + +[FN#10] If one asked the name of a tree, and it happened to be +the kind from which this cloth was made, the answer would be +"mbugu." If, again, the question was as to the bark, the same +answer; and the same if one saw the shirt, and asked what it was. +Hence I could not determine whether the word had been originally +the name of the tree, of its bark, or of the article made from +the bark, though I am inclined to think it is the bark, as there +are many varieties of these trees, which, being besides being +called mbugu, had their own particular names. + +[FN#11] Rumanika's present.--One block-tin box, one Raglan coat, +five yards scarlet broadcloth, two coils copper wire, a hundred +large blue egg-beads, five bundles best variegated beads, three +bundles minute beads--pink, blue, and white. + +[FN#12] Nnanaji's present.--One deole or gold-embroidered silk, +two coils copper wire, fifty large blue egg-beads, five bundles +best variegated beads, three bundles minute beads--pink, blue and +white. + +[FN#13] Since named by Dr P. L. Sclater "Tragelaphus Spekii." +These nzoe have been drawn by Mr Wolf, from specimens brought +home by myself. + +[FN#14] Round arm, 1 ft. 11 in.; chest, 4 ft. 4 in.; thigh, 2 +ft. 7 in.; calf, 1 ft. 8 in.; height, 5 ft. 8 in. + +[FN#15] I.e. Dead Locust Lake,--Luta, dead--Nzige, locust. + +[FN#16] In 'Blackwood's Magazine' for August 1859. + +[FN#17] See p. 211. + +[FN#18] 1 block-tin box, 4 rich silk cloths, 1 rifle +(Whitworth's), 1 gold chronometer, 1 revolver pistol, 3 rifled +carbines, 3 sword-bayonets, 1 box ammunition, 1 box bullets, 1 +box gun-caps, 1 telescope, 1 iron chair, 10 bundles best beads, 1 +set of table-knives, spoons, and forks. + +[FN#19] The straight road down the Nile through Unyoro no one +dares allude to at this time, as the two kings were always +fighting. + +[FN#20] Some say a group of forty islands compose Sese. + +[FN#21] Named by Dr P. L. Sclater, Cosmetornis Spekii. The +seventh pen feathers are double the length of the ordinaries, the +eighth double that of the seventh, and the ninth 20 inches long. +Bombay says the same bird is found in Uhiyow. + +[FN#22] It is questionable whether or not this word is a +corruption of Bahr (sea of) Ingo. + +[FN#23] This obviously was an allusion to the way in which the +first king of Uganda was countenanced by the great king of +Kittara, according to the tradition given in Chapter IX. + +[FN#24] 1 double rifle, 1 block-tin box, 1 red blanket, 1 brown +do., 10 copper wire, 4 socks full of different-coloured minute +beads, 2 socks full of blue and white pigeon eggs, 1 Rodgers's +pen-knife, 2 books, 1 elastic circle, 1 red handkerchief, 1 bag +gun-caps, 1 pair scissors, 1 pomatum-pot, 1 quart bottle, 1 +powder flask, 7 lb. powder, 1 dressing-case, 1 blacking-box, 1 +brass lock and key, 4 brass handles, 8 brass sockets, 7 chintz, 7 +binders, 1 red bag, 1 pair glass spectacles, 1 lucifer-box. + +[FN#25] It will appear shortly that is was actually not more than +two marches to the northward of Faloro. + +[FN#26] Dr Khoblecher, the founder of the Austrian Church Mission +Establishment of Gondokoro, ascertained that the Nile reached its +lowest level there in the middle of January. + +[FN#27] The Baroness Miss A. van Capellan, and Mrs and Miss +Tinne. + +[FN#28] See Petherick's succouring petition, addressed to the +Right Hon. Lord Ashburton, President of the Royal Geographical +Society, in the Proceedings of that Society, date 10th June 1860. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext The of the Source of the Nile, by Speke + diff --git a/old/disnl10.zip b/old/disnl10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3b34ff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/disnl10.zip |