were also met with. At one place the country was found to be governed
by a sultana, the only one they met with in their travels. She did her
utmost to detain Speke, not allowing him an interview till the next day.
On paying the lady a visit, he was received by an ugly, dirtily-garbed
old woman, though with a smiling countenance, who, at his request,
furnished him eggs and milk. At length the sultana appeared--an old
dame with a short, squat figure, a nose flabby at the end, and eyes
destitute of brows or lashes, but blessed with a smiling face. Her
dress consisted of an old _barsati_, dirtier even than her maid's. Her
fingers were covered with rings of copper wire, and her legs staggered
under an immense accumulation of anklets, made of brass-wire wound round
an elephant's tail or that of a zebra. On her arms were solid brass
rings, and from other wire bracelets depended a variety of brazen, horn,
and ivory ornaments.
Squatting by his side, the sultana, after shaking hands, felt Speke all
over, wondering at his dress. She insisted on his accepting a bullock;
but, anxious to be off, he declined waiting for it. She at last
consented to send it after him by some of his porters, who were to
remain for the purpose.
He was constantly detained by the laziness of his _ftagazis_, who, when
getting into a rich country, preferred eating the meat, eggs, and
vegetables they could obtain.
He unfortunately had only white beads with him, which which were not the
fashion: with coloured beads he could have purchased provisions at a
much cheaper rate. Had the people also been addicted to wearing cloth,
instead of decorating themselves with beads, he would with his cloth
have been able to make his purchases much more advantageously. As the
country is overstocked with common beads, it is far more economical to
obtain high-priced than low-priced beads when preparing to start from
Zanzibar.
As warfare was going on, it was necessary to make a tortuous track to
avoid the combatants.
The _jemadar_ and two Beloochs complained of sickness and declared they
could not march, and poor Gaetano fell ill and hid himself in the
jungle, being thus left behind. Men were sent off to search for him,
and the next day the Beloochs brought him in, looking exactly like a
naughty dog going to be punished.
The sultans, however, of the different villages were generally friendly.
When a desert tract had to be passed, the men went on well enough,
hoping to obtain food at the next cultivated district.
On the 30th of July Speke discerned, four miles off, a sheet of water
which proved to be a creek at the most southern portion of the Nyanza,
called by the Arabs the Ukerewe Sea.
Passing amidst villages and cultivated grounds, they descended to a
watercourse which he called the Jordan. It is frequented by
hippopotami, and rhinoceros pay frequent visits to the fields.
Iron is found in abundance in this district, and nearly all the iron
tools and cutlery used in this part of Eastern Africa is manufactured
here: it is, in truth, the Birmingham of the land. The porters
therefore wished to remain to make purchases of hoes.
A rich country was passed through, and on the 4th of August the caravan,
after leaving the village of Isamiro, ascended a hill, when the vast
expanse of the pale blue waters of the Nyanza burst suddenly on the
travellers' gaze. It was early morning. The distant sea-line of the
north horizon was defined in the calm atmosphere between the north and
west points of the compass. An archipelago of islands intercepted the
line of vision to the left. The sheet of water extended far away to the
eastward, forming the south and east angle of the lake, while two large
islands, distant about twenty or thirty miles, formed the visible north
shore of this firth. _Ukerewe_ is the name by which the whole lake is
called by the Arabs. Below, at no great distance, was the debouchure of
the creek along which he had travelled for the last three days.
This scene would anywhere have arrested the traveller by its peaceful
beauty. He writes enthusiastically--
"The islands, each swelling in a gentle slope to a rounded summit
clothed with wood, between the rugged, angular, closely-cropping rocks
of granite, seen mirrored in the calm surface of the lake, on which is
here and there detected the a small black speck--the tiny canoe of some
Muanza fisherman. On the gentle-shelving plain below me blue smoke
curled above the trees, which here and there partially concealed
villages and hamlets, their brown thatched roofs contrasting with the
emerald green of the beautiful milk-bush, the coral bunches of which
clustered in such profusion round the cottages, and formed alleys and
hedgerows about the villages, as ornamental as any garden shrub in
England.
"But the pleasure of the mere view vanished in the presence of those
more intense and exciting emotions which were called up by the
consideration of the commercial and geographical importance of the
prospect before me. I no longer felt any doubt that the lake at my feet
gave birth to that interesting river the source of which has been the
subject of so much speculation and the object of so many explorers. The
Arab's tale was proved to the letter. This is a far more extensive lake
than the Tanganyika: so broad, you could not see across it, and so long
that nobody knew its length."
To this magnificent lake Speke gave the name of Victoria Nyanza.
Note. It has since been proved to be only one and the least
considerable of the sources of the White Nile, by the later discoveries
of Baker and Livingstone.
He now descended to Muanza, on the shores of the lake, having altogether
performed a journey of two hundred and twenty-six miles from Caze.
He was here kindly treated by Sultan Mahaya, with whom an Arab merchant,
named Mansur, was residing, who gave him much valuable information.
Taking a walk of three miles along the shores of the lake, accompanied
by Mansur and a native, the greatest traveller of the place, he ascended
a hill whence he could obtain a good view across the expanse of water
spread out before him. Several islands were seen, but some so far-off
as scarcely to be distinguishable. Facing to the west-north-west was an
unbroken sea horizon, and he calculated that the breadth of the lake was
over a hundred miles. The native, when asked the length of the lake,
faced to the north, and, nodding his head, indicated by signs that it
was something immeasurable, adding that he thought it probably extended
to the end of the world.
Poor Mansur had been robbed of his merchandise, by a sultan whose
territory was on the shore of the lake, and he had very little chance of
obtaining redress.
Sultan Mahaya was considered the best and most just ruler in those
quarters; and when Speke proposed crossing the lake to the island of the
Ukerewe, he urged him on no account to make the attempt. Mansur also
did his best to dissuade him, and, boats not being obtainable, he was
compelled to give up his design.
Speke, arguing from the fact that the source of the Nile at the highest
spot which had been reached, two thousand feet above the level of the
sea, is considerably lower than the surface of the lake, which is four
thousand feet, is of opinion that the waters of the lake must flow into
it. The lake has, however, numerous feeders which flow from the
Mountains of the Moon. Indeed, from that and several other reasons, he
felt convinced that the lake is the real and long-looked-for source of
the Nile.
As no boats of any size were to be obtained, and having gained all the
information he could, regretting that he was unable to extend his
explorations, he bade the Sultan and his Arab friend adieu, and on the
6th of August commenced his return journey.
The country through which he passed abounds in game. Elephants are
finer here than in any other part of the world, and some have tusks
exceeding five hundred pounds the pair in weight. The people are mostly
agricultural; and when a stranger comes among them, they welcome him,
considering his advent as a good omen, and allow him to do what he
likes.
His black attendants were in much better humour on the return journey,
as they were now going home, and, as the country was well stocked with
cattle, they could obtain as much meat as was required. One village
through which he passed, being full of sweet springs, had a dense
population possessing numerous herds of cattle.
"If they were ruled by a few score of Europeans, what a revolution a few
years would bring forth! An extensive market would be opened to the
world, and industry and commerce would clear the way for civilisation
and enlightenment," Speke remarks.
The country is also, he says, high, dry, and healthy, while the air is
neither too hot nor too cold.
On the evening of the 25th of August he marched into Caze, under the
influence of a cool night and bright moon, his attendants firing off
muskets and singing, while men, women, and children came flocking out,
piercing the air with loud, shrill noises. The Arabs all came forth to
meet him and escort him to their depot, where Captain Burton, who had
been very anxious as to his safety, greeted him, numerous reports having
been set afloat about him.
Captain Burton being now restored to health, they set off together for
Zanzibar, whence they shortly afterwards returned to England.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
CAPTAINS SPEKE AND GRANT'S TRAVELS FROM THE ISLAND OF ZANZIBAR, ON THE
EAST COAST OF AFRICA, TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA, AND DOWN THE NILE.
SETS OUT WITH AN EXPEDITION TO PROVE THAT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE IS THE
NYANZA RIVER--ARRIVES AT ZANZIBAR--CROSSES TO BAGOMOYO WITH HIS
FOLLOWERS--THE CARAVAN--SQUABBLES AMONG THE PORTERS--THE MARCH BEGUN FOR
CAZE--THE TRAVELLER'S ROUTINE OF WORK--TRIBUTE DEMANDED BY CHIEFS--THE
HOTTENTOT ESCORT AND THE WAGUANA ESCORT--THE COUNTRY OF THE WAZARAMO--
THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS--KIDUNDA--ALONG THE KINGANNI RIVER TO THE
COUNTRY OF THE USAGARA--GRANT IS ILL--UGOGO--THE PLACE AND PEOPLE--
ENCAMP ON A CLEARING CALLED KANYENYE, WHERE SOME OF THE PORTERS
ABSCOND--SHOOTING RHINOCEROS--NEW YEAR'S DAY AT ROUND ROCK--UNYAMUEZI,
THE COUNTRY OF THE MOON--CAZE--RECEIVED BY HIS FRIEND MUSA--THE
UNYAMUEZI PEOPLE--SET OUT AND REACH MININGA--LIBERATES A SLAVE--ILLNESS,
AND RETURNS TO CAZE--THE CUSTOM OF THE WEEZEE--REACHES MININGA AGAIN--
DIFFICULTIES--ARRIVES AT THE DISTRICT OF THE CHIEF, MYONGA--THE PIG--
DIFFICULTIES AGAIN--SPEKE'S ILLNESS--IS ATTENDED BY LUMERESI, WHO
AFTERWARDS MAKES EXTORTIONATE DEMANDS AND CAUSES TROUBLE--ALARMING NEWS
OF GRANT.
Captain Speke, who had already made two expeditions into Africa, which
have been described--on the second of which he discovered the great
lake, Victoria Nyanza--started, on the 20th of July, 1858, on a third
expedition, in the hopes of proving that the Nile has its source in that
lake. He was accompanied by an old Indian brother officer, Captain
Grant.
Having reached the island of Zanzibar, where some time was spent in
collecting a sufficient band of followers, they left Zanzibar on the
25th of September, in a corvette placed at their disposal by the sultan,
and crossed over to Bagomoyo, on the mainland.
They had, as their attendants, ten men of the Cape Mounted Rifles, who
were Hottentots; a native commandant, Sheikh Said; five old black
sailors, who spoke Hindostanee; in addition to Bombay, Speke's former
attendant, factotum, and interpreter; a party of sixty-four Waguana
blacks, emancipated from slavery; and fifteen porters of the interior.
The two chief men, besides Said, were Bombay and Baraka, who commanded
the Zanzibar men. Fifty carbines were distributed among the elder men
of the party, and the sheikh was armed with a double-barrelled rifle,
given to him by Captain Speke. The sultan also sent, as a guard of
honour, twenty-five Beloochs, with an officer, to escort them as far as
Uzaramo, the country of the Wazaramo. They had also eleven mules to
carry ammunition, and five donkeys for the sick.
Their whole journey was to be performed on foot. As there were no
roads, their luggage was carried on the backs of men.
Some time was spent among the porters in squabbling, and arranging their
packs. Their captain, distinguishable by a high head-dress of ostrich
plumes stuck through a strip of scarlet flannel, led the march, flag in
hand, followed by his gang of woolly-haired negroes, armed with spears
or bows and arrows, carrying their loads, either secured to
three-pronged sticks or, when they consisted of brass or copper wire,
hung at each end of sticks carried on the shoulder. The Waguana
followed in helter-skelter fashion, carrying all sorts of articles, next
came the Hottentots, dragging the mules with the ammunition, whilst
lastly marched the sheikh and the Belooch escort, the goats and women,
the sick and stragglers bringing up the rear.
One of the Hottentot privates soon died, and five others were sent back
sick. About thirty Seedees deserted, as did nearly all the porters,
while the sheikh also soon fell sick.
On the 2nd of October, having bid farewell to Colonel Rigby, the British
consul at Zanzibar, who took deep interest in the expedition, and
afforded it every assistance in his power, the march began.
They had first before them a journey of five hundred miles to Caze, the
capital of the country of the Moon, in latitude 5 degrees south,
longitude 33 degrees east, being due south of Lake Victoria Nyanza.
This was a small portion, however, only of the distance to be performed.
Captains Speke and Grant divided the duties of the expedition between
them, the first mapping the country, which is done by timing the rate of
march, taking compass-bearings, noting the water-shed, etcetera. Then,
on arriving in camp, it was necessary to boil the thermometer to
ascertain the altitude of the station above the sea-level, and the
latitude by the meridional altitude of a star; then, at intervals of
sixty miles, lunar observations had to be taken to determine the
longitude; and, lastly, there was the duty of keeping a diary,
sketching, and making geological and zoological collections. Captain
Grant made the botanical collections and had charge of the thermometer.
He kept the rain-guage and sketched with water colours, for it was found
that photography was too severe work for the climate.
The march was pursued before the sun was high, then came breakfast and a
pipe before exploring the neighbourhood, and dinner at sunset, then tea
and pipe before turning in at night.
Scarcely had they commenced the journey than the petty chiefs demanded
tribute, which it was necessary to pay. The porters also struck for
higher wages; but, the leaders going on, they thought better of the
matter, and followed.
The poor Hottentots suffered much from the climate, and were constantly
on the sick-list. The Waguana treated them with great contempt, and one
day, while a little Tot was trying to lift his pack on his mule a large
black grasped him, pack and all, in his muscular arms, lifting them
above his head, paraded him round the camp amid much laughter, and then,
putting him down, loaded his mule and patted him on the back.
"A day's march being concluded, the sheikh and Bombay arrange the camp,
issuing cloths to the porters for the purchase of rations, the tents are
pitched, the Hottentots cook, some look after the mules and donkeys,
others cut boughs for huts and fencing, while the Beloochs are supposed
to guard the camp, but prefer gossiping and brightening their arms,
while Captain Grant kills two buck antelopes to supply the larder."
The country through which they were passing belongs to to the tribe of
Wazaramo. It is covered with villages, the houses of which are mostly
of a conical shape, composed of hurdle-work and plastered with clay, and
thatched with grass or reeds. They profess to be the subjects of the
Sultan of Zanzibar. They are arrant rogues, and rob travellers, when
they can, by open violence. They always demand more tribute than they
expect to get, and generally use threats as a means of extortion. One
of their chiefs, the Lion-Claw, was very troublesome, sending back the
presents which had been made him, and threatening dire vengeance if his
demands were not complied with. Further on, Monkey's-Tail, another
chief, demanded more tribute; but Speke sent word that he should smell
his powder if he came for it; and, exhibiting the marksmanship of his
men, Monkey's-Tail thought better of it, and got nothing.
The people, though somewhat short, are not bad-looking. Though their
dress is limited, they adorn themselves with shells, pieces of tin, and
beads, and rub their bodies with red clay and oil, till their skins
appear like new copper. Their hair is woolly, and they twist it into a
number of tufts, each of which is elongated by the fibres of bark. They
have one good quality, not general in Africa: the men treat the women
with much attention, dressing their hair for them, and escorting them to
the water, lest any harm should befall them.
Kidunda was reached on the 14th of October. Hence the Belooch escort
was sent back the next day, with the specimens of natural history which
had been collected.
Proceeding along the Kinganni River they reached the country of the
Usagara, a miserable race, who, to avoid the slave-hunters, build their
villages on the tops of hills, and cultivate only just as much land
among them as will supply their wants. Directly a caravan appears, they
take to flight and hide themselves, never attempting resistance if
overtaken. Their only dress consist of a strip of cloth round the
waist.
Captain Grant was here seized with fever, and the sickness of the
Hottentots much increased.
A long day's march from the hilly Usagara country led the party into the
comparatively level land of Ugogo. Food was scarce, the inhabitants
living on the seed of the calabash to save their stores of grain.
The country has a wild aspect, well in keeping with the natives who
occupy it. The men never appeared without their spears, shields, and
_assegais_. They are fond of ornaments, the ordinary one being a tube
of gourd thrust through the lower lobe of the ear. Their colour is
somewhat like that of a rich plum. Impulsive and avaricious, they
forced their way into the camp to obtain gifts, and thronged the road as
the travellers passed by, jeering, quizzing, and pointing at them.
On the 27th, they encamped on the eastern border of the largest clearing
in Ugogo, called Kanyenye, stacking their loads beneath a large
gouty-limbed tree. Here eight of the Wanyamuezi porters absconded,
carrying off their loads, accompanied by two Wagogo boys.
Speke set off to shoot a rhinoceros at night. Having killed one, two
more approached in a stealthy, fidgetty way. Stepping out from his
shelter, with the two boys carrying his second rifle, he planted a ball
in the largest, which brought him round with a roar in the best position
for receiving a second shot; but, on turning round to take his spare
rifle, Speke found that the black boys had scrambled off like monkeys up
a tree, while the rhinoceros, fortunately for him, shuffled away without
charging. He hurried back to let his people know that there was food
for them, that they might take possession of it before the hungry Wagogo
could find it. Before, however, they had got the skin off the beast,
the natives assembled like vultures, and began fighting the men. The
scene, though grotesque, was savage and disgusting in the extreme; they
fell to work with swords and hatchets, cutting and slashing, thumping
and bawling, up to their knees in the middle of the carcass. When a
tempting morsel was obtained by one, a stronger would seize it and bear
off the prize--right was now might. Fortunately no fight took place
between the travellers and the villagers. The latter, covered with
blood, were seen scampering home, each with a part of the spoil.
The Sheikh Magomba did his utmost to detain them, sending his chief,
Wazir, in an apparently friendly manner, to beg that they would live in
his palace. The bait, however, did not take--Speke knew the rogue too
well. Next day the sheikh was too drunk to listen to anyone, and thus
day after day passed by. The time was employed in shooting, and a
number of animals were killed. Magomba, however, induced nearly the
whole of the porters to decamp, and there was great difficulty in
obtaining others to take their places. An old acquaintance, whom they
met in a caravan, urged them not to attempt to move, as he thought that
it would be impossible for them to pass through the wilderness depending
only on Speke's and Grant's guns for their support.
Still Speke resolved to push on, and most of the men who had deserted
came back.
To keep up discipline, one of the porters, who had stolen seventy-three
yards of cloth, which was found in his kit, received three dozen lashes,
and, being found to be a murderer and a bad character, he was turned out
of the camp.
They spent New Year's Day at Round Rock, a village occupied by a few
Wakimbu, who, by their quiet and domestic manners, made them feel that
they were out of the forest. Provisions were now obtained by sending
men to distant villages; but they were able to supply the camp with
their guns, killing rhinoceros, wild boar, antelope and zebra.
On the 23rd of January they entered Unyamuezi, or the country of the
moon, little inferior in size to England, but cut up into numerous
pretty states. The name is abbreviated to Weezee.
On the 24th they reached Caze, where Speke had remained so long on his
former visit. His old friend, Musa, came out to meet them, and escorted
them to his _tembe_, or house, where he invited them to reside till he
could find porters to carry their property to Karague, promising to go
there with them himself. They found here also Sheikh Snay, who, with
other Arab merchants, came at once to call on them. Snay told him that
he had an army of four hundred slaves prepared to march against the
chief, Manua Sera, who was constantly attacking and robbing their
caravans. Speke advised him not to make the attempt, as he was likely
to get the worst of it. The other Arab merchant agreed that a treaty of
peace would be better than fighting.
Musa gave him much information about the journey northward, and promised
to supply him with sixty porters from his slave establishment, by which
arrangement Speke would have a hundred armed men to form his escort.
Musa loudly praised Rumanika, the King of Karague, through whose
dominions the expedition was to pass.
Some time, however, was of necessity spent at Caze in making
preparations for the journey, the two travellers employing themselves
during it in gaining information about the country.
The Wanyamuezi, among whom they were residing, are a polite race, having
a complete code of etiquette for receiving friends or strangers; drums
are beat both on the arrival and departure of great people. When one
chief receives another, he assembles the inhabitants of the village,
with their drums and musical instruments, which they sound with all
their might, and then dance for his amusement. The drum is used, like
the bugle, on all occasions; and, when the travellers wished to move,
the drums were beaten as a sign to their porters to take up their
burdens. The women courtesy to their chief, and men clap their hands
and bow themselves. If a woman of inferior rank meets a superior, she
drops on one knee and bows her head; the superior then places her hand
on the shoulder of the kneeling woman, and they remain in this attitude
some moments, whispering a few words, after which they rise and talk
freely.
The Wanyamuezi, or, as they are familiarly called, the Weezee, are great
traders, and travel to a considerable distance in pursuit of their
business.