The Discovery of the Source of the Nile Part 23

But all went well in the end; Ma.s.sey'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, bra.s.s 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-gla.s.s, scissors, knives, etc., when he promised a march in the morning, leaving a man behind to bring on the w.a.n.guana 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 compa.s.s; 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 compa.s.s 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 w.a.n.guana 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 w.a.n.guana, 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 w.a.n.guana.

Both w.a.n.guana 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 friends.h.i.+p. 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 embarra.s.s Mtesa's actions; whilst my w.a.n.guana, 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 gla.s.s 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 w.a.n.guana, 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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 ragam.u.f.fins--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, wis.h.i.+ng to have it shot before them; but the chief men, probably wis.h.i.+ng 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 w.a.n.guana, 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 G.o.d 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 gra.s.s, 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 gra.s.s, 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 rus.h.i.+ng 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 wis.h.i.+ng 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 Ha.s.sani 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 thras.h.i.+ng. 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 a.s.sistance." 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 pa.s.sed the last bit of jungle, sighted the Kidi hills, and, in a sea of swampy gra.s.s, 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 a.s.sured 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 c.o.c.ks, 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 r.e.t.a.r.d 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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.

[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 w.a.n.guana 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s, "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 a.s.sumed 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 appet.i.tes, 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 gra.s.s, 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 lat.i.tude, 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 s.h.i.+eld 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. [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 gra.s.s, was the great king Kamrasi, looking, enshrouded in his mbugu dress, for all the world like a pope in state--calm and actionless.