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.