Kafurro and its magnates—Lake Windermere—Rumanika, the gentle king of
Karagwé—His country—The Ingezi—Among the mosquitoes—Ihema Island—The
triple cone of Ufumbiro—Double-horned rhinoceros—The hot springs of
Mtagata—The Geographical Society of Karagwé—The philosophy of noses—
Rumanika’s thesauron—Some new facts about the rhinoceros and elephant—
Uhimba—Paganus, _var._ esuriens—Retrospect.
_Feb. 25._—Kafurro owes its importance to being a settlement of two or
three rich Arab traders, Hamed Ibrahim, Sayid bin Sayf, and Sayid the
Muscati. It is situated within a deep hollow or valley fully 1200 feet
below the tops of the surrounding mountains, and at the spring source of
a stream flowing east and afterwards north to the Alexandra Nile.
Hamed Ibrahim is rich in cattle, slaves, and ivory. Assuming his own
figures to be correct, he possesses 150 cattle, bullocks, and milch
cows, forty goats, 100 slaves, and 450 tusks of ivory, the greater part
of which last is reported to be safely housed in the safe keeping of his
friend the chief of Urangwa in Unyamwezi.
Hamed has a spacious and comfortable gable-roofed house. He has a number
of concubines, and several children. He is a fine, gentlemanly-looking
Arab, of a light complexion, generous and hospitable to friends, liberal
to his slaves, and kind to his women. He has lived eighteen years in
Africa, twelve of which have been spent in Karagwé. He knew Suna, the
warlike Emperor of Uganda, and father of Mtesa. He has travelled to
Uganda frequently, and several times made the journey between Unyanyembé
and Kafurro. Having lived so long in Karagwé, he is friendly with
Rumanika, who, like Mtesa, loves to attract strangers to his court.
Hamed has endeavoured several times to open trade with the powerful
Empress of Ruanda, but has each time failed. Though some of his slaves
succeeded in reaching the imperial court, only one or two managed to
effect their escape from the treachery and extraordinary guile practised
there. Nearly all perished by poison.
He informed me that the Empress was a tall woman of middle age, of an
almost light Arab complexion, with very large brilliant eyes. Her son,
the prince, a boy of about eighteen, had some years ago committed
suicide by drinking a poisonous potion, because his mother had cast some
sharp cutting reproaches upon him, which had so wounded his sensitive
spirit that, he said, “nothing but death would relieve him.”
Hamed is of the belief that these members of the imperial family are
descendants of some light-coloured people to the north, possibly Arabs;
“for how,” asked he, “could the king of Kishakka possess an Arab
scimitar, which is a venerated heir-loom of the royal family, and the
sword of the founder of that kingdom?”
“All these people,” said he, “about here are as different from the
ordinary Washensi—pagans—as I am different from them. I would as soon
marry a woman of Ruanda as I would a female of Muscat. When you go to
see Rumanika, you will see some Wanya-Ruanda, and you may then judge for
yourself. The people of that country are not cowards. Mashallah! they
have taken Kishakka, Muvari, and have lately conquered Mpororo. The
Waganda measured their strength with them, and were obliged to retreat.
The Wanya-Ruanda are a great people, but they are covetous, malignant,
treacherous, and utterly untrustworthy. They have never yet allowed an
Arab to trade in their country, which proves them to be a bad lot. There
is plenty of ivory there, and during the last eight years Khamis bin
Abdullah, Tippu-Tib, Sayid bin Habib, and I myself have attempted
frequently to enter there, but none of us has ever succeeded. Even
Rumanika’s people are not allowed to penetrate far, though he permits
everybody to come into his country, and he is a man of their own blood
and their own race, and speaks with little difference their own
language.”
Hamed Ibrahim was not opening out very brilliant prospects before me,
nevertheless I resolved to search out in person some known road to this
strange country that I might make a direct course to Nyangwé.
_Feb. 28._—On the third day after arrival, the king having been informed
of my intended visit, Hamed Ibrahim and Sayid bin Sayf accompanied me on
an official visit to Rumanika, king of Karagwé, and a tributary of
Mtesa, Emperor of Uganda.
Kafurro, according to aneroid, is 3950 feet above the ocean. Ascending
the steep slope of the mountain west of Kafurro, we gained an altitude
of 5150 feet, and half an hour afterwards stood upon a ridge 5350 feet
above the sea, whence we obtained a most grand and imposing view. Some
600 feet below us was a grassy terrace overlooking the small Windermere
Lake, 1000 feet below, its placid surface rivalling in colour the azure
of the cloudless heaven. Across a narrow ridge we looked upon the broad
and papyrus-covered valley of the Alexandra, whilst many fair, blue
lakelets north and south, connected by the winding silver line of the
Alexandra Nile, suggested that here exploring work of a most interesting
character was needed to understand the complete relations of lake,
river, and valley to one another.
Beyond the broad valley rose ridge after ridge, separated from each
other by deep parallel basins, or valleys, and behind these, receding
into dim and vague outlines, towered loftier ridges. About sixty miles
off, to the north-west, rose a colossal sugar-loaf clump of enormous
altitude, which I was told was the Ufumbiro mountains. From their
northern base extended Mpororo country and to the south, Ruanda.
At the northern end of the Windermere Lake, an irregular range, which
extends north to Ugoi, terminates in the dome-like Mount Isossi. South
of where I stood, and about a mile distant, was the bold mount of
Kazwiro, and about thirty miles beyond it I could see the irregular and
confused masses of the Kishakka mountains.
On the grassy terrace below us was situated Rumanika’s village, fenced
round by a strong and circular stockade, to which we now descended after
having enjoyed a noble and inspiriting prospect.
Our procession was not long in attracting hundreds of persons,
principally youths, all those who might be considered in their boyhood
being perfectly nude.
“Who are these?” I inquired of Sheikh Hamed.
“Some of the youngest are sons of Rumanika, others are young
Wanya-Ruanda,” he replied.
The sons of Rumanika, nourished on a milk diet, were in remarkably good
condition. Their unctuous skins shone as though the tissues of fat
beneath were dissolving in the heat, and their rounded bodies were as
taut as a drum-head. Their eyes were large, and beaming and lustrous
with life, yet softened by an extreme gentleness of expression. The
sculptor might have obtained from any of these royal boys a dark model
for another statue to rival the classic Antinous.
As we were followed by the youths, who welcomed us with a graceful
curtesy, the appropriate couplet came to my mind—
“Thrice happy race! that innocent of blood,
From milk innoxious, seek their simple food.”
We were soon ushered into the hut wherein Rumanika sat expectant, with
one of the kindliest, most paternal smiles it would be possible to
conceive.
I confess to have been as affected by the first glance at this venerable
and gentle pagan as though I gazed on the serene and placid face of some
Christian patriarch or saint of old, whose memory the Church still holds
in reverence. His face reminded me of a deep still well; the tones of
his voice were so calm that unconsciously they compelled me to imitate
him, while the quick, nervous gestures and the bold voice of Sheikh
Hamed, seeming entirely out of place, jarred upon me.
It was no wonder that the peremptory and imperious, vivid-eyed Mtesa
respected and loved this sweet-tempered pagan. Though they had never
met, Mtesa’s pages had described him, and with their powers of mimicry
had brought the soft modulated tones of Rumanika to his ears as truly as
they had borne his amicable messages to him.
What greater contrasts can be imagined than the natures of the Emperor
Mtesa and the King Rumanika? In some of his volcanic passions Mtesa
seemed to be Fury personified, and if he were represented on the stage
in one of his furious moods, I fear that the actor would rupture a
blood-vessel, destroy his eyes, and be ever afterwards afflicted with
madness. The Waganda always had recourse to action and gesture to
supplement their verbal description of his raging fits. His eyes, they
said, were “balls of fire and large as fists,” while his words were
“like gunpowder.”
Nature, which had endowed Mtesa with a nervous and intense temperament,
had given Rumanika the placid temper, the soft voice, the mild
benignity, and pleasing character of a gentle father.
The king appeared to me, clad as he was in red blanket cloth, when
seated, a man of middle size, but when he afterwards stood up, he rose
to the gigantic stature of 6 feet 6 inches or thereabouts, for the top
of my head, as we walked side by side, only reached near his shoulders.
His face was long, and his nose somewhat Roman in shape; the profile
showed a decidedly refined type.
Our interview was very pleasing, and he took excessive interest in every
question I addressed to him. When I spoke, he imposed silence on his
friends, and leaned forward with eager attention. If I wished to know
anything about the geography of the country, he immediately sent for
some particular person who was acquainted with that portion, and
inquired searchingly of him as to his knowledge. He chuckled when he saw
me use my note-book, as though he had some large personal interest in
the number of notes I took. He appeared to be more and more delighted as
their bulk increased, and triumphantly pointed out to the Arabs the
immense superiority of the whites to them.
[Illustration: LUMANIKA’S TREASURE-HOUSE.]
He expressed himself as only too glad that I should explore his country.
It was a land, he said, that white men ought to know. It possessed many
lakes and rivers, and mountains and hot springs, and many other things,
which no other country could boast of.
“Which do you think best, Stamlee—Karagwé or Uganda?”
“Karagwé is grand, its mountains are high, and its valleys deep. The
Kagera is a grand river, and the lakes are very pretty. There are more
cattle in Karagwé than in Uganda, except Uddu and Koki; and game is
abundant. But Uganda is beautiful and rich; its banana plantations are
forests, and no man need to fear starvation, and Mtesa is good—and so is
Father Rumanika,” I replied smiling to him.
“Do you hear him, Arabs? Does he not speak well? Yes, Karagwé is
beautiful,” he sighed contentedly. “But bring your boat up and place it
on the Rweru (lake), and you can go up the river as far as Kishakka, and
down to Morongo (the falls), where the water is thrown against a big
rock and leaps over it, and then goes down to the Nianja of Uganda.
Verily, my river is a great one; it is the mother of the river at Jinga
(Ripon Falls). You shall see all my land; and when you have finished the
river, I will give you more to see—Mtagata’s hot springs!”
_March 6._—By the 6th of March, Frank had launched the boat from the
landing at Kazinga village on the waters of the Windermere Lake,[34] or
the Rweru of Rumanika, and the next day Rumanika accompanied me in state
to the water. Half-a-dozen heavy anklets of bright copper adorned his
legs, bangles of the same metal encircled his wrists, a robe of crimson
flannel was suspended from his shoulders. His walking-staff was 7 feet
in length, and his stride was a yard long. Drummers and fifers
discoursing a wild music, and fifty spearmen, besides his sons and
relatives, Wanya-Ruanda, Waganda, Wasui, Wanyamwezi, Arabs, and
Wangwana, followed us in a mixed multitude.
Four canoes manned by Wanyambu were at hand to race with our boat, while
we took our seats on the grassy slopes of Kazinga to view the scene. I
enjoined Frank and the gallant boat’s crew to exert themselves for the
honour of us Children of the Ocean, and not to permit the Children of
the Lakes to excel us.
A boat and canoe race on the Windermere of Karagwé, with 1200
gentle-mannered natives gazing on! An African international affair!
Rumanika was in his element; every fibre of him tingled with joy at
the prospective fun. His sons, seated around him, looked up into their
father’s face, their own reflecting his delight. The curious natives
shared in the general gratification.
The boat-race was soon over; it was only for about 800 yards, to
Kankorogo Point. There was not much difference in the speed, but it gave
immense satisfaction. The native canoemen, standing up with their long
paddles, strained themselves with all their energy, stimulated by the
shouts of their countrymen, while the Wangwana on the shore urged the
boat’s crew to their utmost power.
_March 8._—The next day we began the circumnavigation of the Windermere.
The extreme length of the lake during the rainy season is about eight
miles, and its extreme breadth two and a half. It lies north and south,
surrounded by grass-covered mountains which rise from 1200 to 1500 feet
above it. There is one island called Kankorogo, situated midway between
Mount Isossi and the extreme southern end. I sounded three times, and
obtained depths of 48, 44, and 45 feet respectively at different points.
The soil of the shores is highly ferruginous in colour, and, except in
the vicinity of the villages, produces only euphorbia, thorny gum,
acacia, and aloetic plants.
_March 9._—On the 9th we pulled abreast of Kankorogo Island, and,
through a channel from 500 to 800 yards wide, directed our course to the
Kagera, up which we had to contend against a current of two knots and a
half an hour.
The breadth of the river varied from 50 to 100 yards. The average depth
of all the ten soundings we made on this day was 52 feet along the
middle; close to the papyrus walls, which grew like a forest above us,
was a depth of 9 feet. Sometimes we caught a view of hippopotamus creeks
running up for hundreds of yards on either side through the papyrus. At
Kagayyo, on the left bank, we landed for a short time to take a view of
the scene around, as, while in the river, we could see nothing except
the papyrus, the tops of the mountain ridge of Karagwé, and the sky.
We then learned for the first time the true character of what we had
imagined to be a valley when we gazed upon it from the summit of the
mountain between Kafurro and Rumanika’s capital.
The Ingezi, as the natives called it, embraces the whole space from the
base of the mountains of Muvari to that of the Karagwé ridges with the
river called Kagera, the Funzo or the papyrus, and the Rwerus or lakes,
of which there are seventeen, inclusive of Windermere. Its extreme width
between the bases of the opposing mountains is nine miles; the narrowest
part is about a mile, while the entire acreage covered by it from
Morongo or the falls in Iwanda, north to Uhimba, south, is about 350
square miles. The Funzo or papyrus covers a depth of from 9 feet to 14
feet of water. Each of the several lakes has a depth of from 20 to 65
feet, and they are all connected, as also is the river, underneath the
papyrus.
When about three miles north of Kizinga, at 5 P.M., we drew our boat
close to the papyrus, and prepared for a night’s rest, and the Wanyambu
did the same.
The boat’s crew crushed down some of the serest papyrus, and, cutting
off the broom-like tops, spread their mats upon the heap thus made,
flattering themselves that they were going to have a cozy night of it.
Their fires they kindled between three stalks, which sustained their
cooking-pots. It was not a very successful method, as the stalks had to
be replaced frequently; but finally their bananas were done to a turn.
At night, however, mosquitoes of a most voracious species attacked them
in dense multitudes, and nothing but the constant flip-flap of the
papyrus tops mingled with complaints that they were unable to sleep were
heard for an hour or two. They then began to feel damp, and finally wet,
for their beds were sinking into the depths below the papyrus, and they
were compelled at last to come into the boat, where they passed a most
miserable night, for the mosquitoes swarmed and attacked them until
morning with all the pertinacity characteristic of these hungry
bloodsuckers.
[Illustration: A NATIVE OF UHHA.]
_March 10._—The next day, about noon, we discovered a narrow, winding
creek, which led us to a river-like lake, five miles in length, out of
which, through another creek, we punted our boats and canoes to the
grazing island of Unyamubi.
From a ridge which was about 50 feet above the Ingezi we found that we
were about four miles from Kishakka and a similar distance due east from
a point of land projecting from Muvari.
_March 11._—The next day we ascended the Kagera about ten miles, and
returning fourteen miles entered Ihema Lake, a body of water about 50
square miles, and camped on Ihema Island, about a mile from Muvari.
The natives of Ihema Island stated to me that Lake Muta Nzigé was only
eleven days’ journey from the Muvari shores, and that the Wanya-Ruanda
frequently visited them to obtain fish in exchange for milk and
vegetables. They also stated that the Mworongo—or, as others called it,
Nawarongo—river flows through the heart of Ruanda from the Ufumbiro
mountains, and enters the Kagera in a south-west by west direction from
Ihema: that the Akanyaru was quite a large lake, a three days’ journey
round in canoes, and separated Ruanda, Uhha, and Urundi from each other;
that there was an island in the midst, where canoes leaving Uhha were
accustomed to rest at night, arriving in Ruanda at noon.
They were a genial people those islanders of Ihema, but they were
subject to two painful diseases, leprosy and elephantiasis. The island
was of a shaly substructure, covered with a scant depth of alluvium. The
water of the Lake Ihema was good and sweet to the taste, though, like
all the waters of the Alexandra Nile, distinguished for its dull brown
iron colour.
We began from the extreme south end of the lake the next day to coast
along the Muvari or Ruanda coast, and near a small village attempted to
land, but the natives snarled like so many spiteful dogs, and drew their
bows, which compelled us—being guests of Rumanika—to sheer off and leave
them in their ferocious exclusiveness.
Arriving at the Kagera again, we descended it, and at 7 P.M. were in our
little camp of Kasinga, at the south end of Windermere.
On the 11th we rowed into the Kagera, and descended the river as far as
Ugoi, and on the evening of the 12th returned once more to our camp on
Windermere.
_March 13._—The next day, having instructed Frank to convey the boat to
Kafurro, I requested Rumanika to furnish me with guides for the Mtagata
hot springs, and faithful to his promise, thirty Wanyambu were detailed
for the service.
Our route lay north along the crest of a lofty ridge between Kafurro and
Windermere. Wherever we looked, we beheld grassy ridges, grassy slopes,
grassy mountain summits, and grassy valleys—an eminently pastoral
country. In a few gorges or ravines the dark tops of trees are seen.
When Windermere Lake and Isossi, its northern mount, were south of us,
we descended into a winding grassy valley, and in our march of ten miles
from Isossi to Kasya I counted thirty-two separate herds of cattle,
which in the aggregate probably amounted to 900 head. We also saw seven
rhinoceroses, three of which were white, and four a black brown. The
guides wished me to shoot one, but I was scarce of ammunition, and as I
could not get a certain shot, I was loath to wound unnecessarily, or
throw away a cartridge.
[Illustration: VIEW OF UFUMBIRO MOUNTAINS FROM MOUNT NEAR MTAGATA HOT
SPRINGS.]
_March 14._—The next day, at 8 A.M., near the end of the valley, we came
to Meruré Lake, which is about two miles long, and thence, crossing
three different mountains, arrived at Kiwandaré mountain, and from its
summit, 5600 feet above the sea, obtained a tolerably distinct view of
the triple cone of Ufumbiro, in a west-north-west direction, Mag. I
should estimate the distance from Kiwandaré to Ufumbiro to be about
forty-five miles, and about sixty miles from the mountain height above
Rumanika’s capital. Several lines of mountains, with lateral valleys
between, rose between the valley of the Alexandra Nile and Ufumbiro.
From Kiwandaré we descended gradually along its crest to a lower
terrace. About 5 P.M. one of our party sighted a dark brown
double-horned rhinoceros, and as we had no meat, and the nature of the
ground permitted easy approach, I crept up to within fifty yards of it
unperceived and sent in a zinc bullet close to the ear, which bowled it
over dead.
The quantity of meat obtained from the animal was more than would supply
the eighteen men, Wangwana, of my party; therefore, acceding to their
wish, we camped on the spot, exposed to the chilly mountain winds, which
visited us during the night. The men, however, continued to pick up
abundance of fuel from a wooded gorge close by, and, engaged in the
interesting and absorbing task of roasting meat before many blazing
fires, did not suffer greatly.
_March 15._—At 9 A.M. the next day we descended to the wooded gorge of
Mtagata, having travelled thirty-five miles almost due north from
Kafurro.
This gorge is formed by an angle where the extreme northern end of
Kiwandaré mountain meets a transverse ridge. It is filled with tall
trees which have been nourished to a gigantic size and density of
foliage by the warm vapours from the springs and the heated earth. A
thick undergrowth of plants, llianes, and creepers of all sizes has
sprung up under the shade of the aspiring trees, and the gloom thus
caused within the gorge is very striking. I imagine a person would find
it a most eerie place at night alone. Great baboons and long-tailed
monkeys roared and chattered in the branches, causing the branches to
sway and rustle as they chased one another from tree to tree.
At the time of our visit the springs were frequented by invalids from
Iwanda, Ngoi, Kiziwa, Usongora, and Usui, for, as may be believed, they
have obtained a great repute throughout the districts of Karagwé and
neighbouring countries.
The springs are six in number, and at their extreme source they had,
when I tested them, a temperature of 129½° Fahr. The bathing pools,
which are about 12 feet in diameter, and from 2 to 5 feet deep, showed a
temperature of 110° Fahr., except one on the extreme north, which was
only 107° Fahr.
I bottled eight ounces of water from one of these springs, and on
arriving in London sent it to Messrs. Savory and Moore, the well-known
chemists, 143 Bond Street, who in a few days kindly returned me the
following analysis:—
“The fluid was clear, colourless, and odourless; on standing at rest,
a small quantity of red granular matter was deposited.
“Examined chemically, it was found to have a faint alkaline reaction,
and its specific gravity, corrected to 60° F., was 1004, water being
considered 1000.
“One hundred grammes evaporated left a white crystalline residue,
weighing ·37 of a gramme, and it was composed of sodium carbonate,
calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate and sodium chlorine; this order
represents their proportions, sodium carbonate being the chief
constituent, and the other salts existing in more minute quantities.
“The deposit was removed and examined microchemically: it was thus
found to consist of ferruginous sand, and two minute pieces of
vegetable cellulose.
“It was therefore a faintly alkaline water, and its alkalinity
depended on the presence of sodium carbonate possibly existing in
solution as bicarbonate, as the water held in solution carbonic acid
gas, and this gas was evolved by heating the water.”
The natives praised the water of these springs so highly that I resolved
to stay three days to test in my own person what virtues it possessed. I
drank an enormous quantity of the water with a zealous desire to be
benefited, but I experienced no good—on the contrary, much ill, for a
few days afterwards I suffered from a violent attack of intermittent
fever, occasioned, I fancy, by the malaria inhaled from the tepid
atmosphere. It is true I luxuriated morning and evening in the bath
which was reserved for me by Luajumba, son of Rumanika, but that was all
the advantage that accrued to me.
Patients suffering from cutaneous diseases profit rapidly from, I
believe, the unusual cleanliness; and during the few days we camped here
numbers of natives came and went, and merriment and cleansing, bathing
and lounging, music and barbarous chanting, kept awake the echoes of the
gorge.
Our stay at the springs was cheered also by the presence of Luajumba,
who, following the example of his father Rumanika, was hospitable and
bland in his manners. An ox, two goats, ten fowls, besides bananas,
sweet potatoes and flour, and fourteen large gourdfuls of maramba were
received with thanks and paid for.
_March 18._—On the 18th of March we set out on our return to Kafurro
from the hot springs, and on the road I shot a white rhinoceros, which
the people soon cut up to convey to their comrades. On the 19th we
arrived at Kafurro, each of the Wangwana being loaded with over twenty
lbs. of meat.
_March 21._—After two days’ rest I paid another visit to Rumanika, where
we had a great geographical discussion. It is unnecessary to describe
the information I had to give Rumanika respecting the geographical
distribution of tribes and races over the Dark Continent, but conscious
that the geographical world will take an interest in what Rumanika and
the native travellers at his court imparted, I here append, verbatim,
the notes I took upon the spot.
Hamed Ibrahim spoke and said:—
“My slaves have travelled far, and they say that the Ni-Nawarongo
River rises on the west side of Ufumbiro mountains, takes a wide sweep
through Ruanda, and enters Akanyaru, in which lake it meets the Kagera
from the south. United they then empty from the lake between Uhha and
Kishakka, and flowing between Karagwé and Ruanda, go into the Nianza
(Nyanza).
“The Rwizi River, also rising at the northern base of the Ufumbiro
cones, in Mpororo, flows through Igara, then Shema, then Ankori, into
the king of Koki’s (Luampula) lake, and becoming the Chibarré or
Kiwaré River, joins the Kagera below Kitangulé.
“If you proceed toward sunset from Mpororo, you will see Muta Nzigé,
the Nianza of Unyoro. There are many large islands in it. Utumbi is a
country of islands, and the natives are very good, but you cannot
proceed through Mpororo, as the people are Shaitans—devils—and the
Wanya-Ruanda are wicked; and because something happened when Wangwana
first tried to go there, they never tolerate strangers. A strange
people, and full of guile verily.
“West of Ruanda is a country called Mkinyaga, and there is a large
lake there, so I have heard—no Arabs have ever been there.”
Then a native of Western Usui, at the request of Rumanika, said:—
“Mkinyaga is west of Kivu Lake or Nianja Cha Ngoma, from which the
Rusizi River flows into the lake of Uzigé (Tanganika). To reach
Mkinyaga, you must pass through Unyambungu first, then you will see
the great Lake of Mkinyaga. Lake Kivu has a connection with the lake
Akanyaru, though there is much grass, as in the Ingezi, below here. A
canoe could almost reach Kivu from Kishakka, but it would be hard
work.
“Akanyaru, which the Wahha call Nianja Cha-Ngoma, is very wide. It
will take a day and a half to cross, and is about two or three days’
canoe journey in length. It lies between Ruanda, Uhha, and Urundi. The
Kagera coming from between Uhha and Urundi flows into it. The
Nawarongo empties into the Ruvuvu between Ugufu and Kishakka. The
Ruvuvu between Kishakka and Karagwé enters the Kagera; the Kagera
comes into the Ingezi, and flows by Kitangulé into the Nianja of
Uganda; Kivu lake is west-south-west from Kibogora’s capital, in West
Usui. Kivu has no connection with Muta Nzigé, the lake of Unyoro.”
Then a native of Zanzibar who had accompanied Khamis bin Abdallah to
North-Western Uhha said:—
“I have been west of King Khanza’s Uhha, and I saw a large lake. Truly
there is much water there. Urundi was to my left. Ruanda fronted me
across, and I stood on Uhha.”
Rumanika followed, and imparted at length all his information, of which
I append only the pith:—
“Leaving Mpororo, you may reach by canoes Makinda’s, in Utumbi, in
half a day. The island is called Kabuzzi. Three hours will take a
canoe thence to Karara Island, and from Karara Island another half-day
will take you to Ukonju, where there is a tribe of cannibals.
“Mkinyaga is at the end of Ruanda, and its lake is Muta Nzigé, on
which you can go to Unyoro. There is a race of dwarfs somewhere west
of Mkinyaga called the Mpundu, and another called the Batwa or Watwa,
who are only two feet high. In Uriambwa is a race of small people with
tails.
“Uitwa, or Batwa—Watwa, is at the extreme south end of Uzongora.
“From Butwa, at the end of a point of land in Ruanda, you can see
Uitwa, Usongora.
“From Butwa, Mkinyaga is to the left of you about three days’ journey.
“Some of the Waziwa saw a strange people in one of those far-off lands
who had long ears descending to their feet; one ear formed a mat to
sleep on, the other served to cover him from the cold like a dressed
hide! They tried to coax one of them to come and see me, but the
journey was long, and he died on the way.”
Dear old Rumanika, how he enjoyed presiding over the Geographical
Society of Karagwé, and how he smiled when he delivered this last
extraordinary piece of Münchhausenism! He was determined that he should
be considered as the best informed of all present, and anticipated with
delight the pleasure old and jaded Europe would feel upon hearing of
these marvellous fables of Equatorial Africa. He was also ambitious to
witness my note-book filled with his garrulity, and I fear he was a
little disposed to impose upon the credulity of sober Christians.
However, with this remark of caution to the reader, his fables may be
rendered harmless, and we can accord him thanks for his interesting
information.
Since I am publishing these geographical items, I may as well append
here, also in brief, some other information obtained elsewhere relating
to Muta Nzigé from a native of Usongora, whom we found at Kawanga with
Sekajugu, one of the Watongoleh who accompanied us to Beatrice Gulf.
“When you leave Ruoko in Unyoro, you will have Gambaragara to your
right, and Usagara or Ankori will be on your left. Uzimba, Ruigi’s
country, will be four days’ journey west of you.
“On reaching Uzimba, if you turn to the left you will reach Luhola.
Usongora will be on your right hand.
“On your left will also be Unyampaka, Kasita, Kishakka, Chakiomi,
Nyteré, Buhuju, Makara, Unyamururu, Munya Chambiro, and the Bwambu,
who are cannibals.
“If you go to your right from Ruigi’s, you reach Usongora, Mata, two
days after Nabweru, then Butwa. Standing at Butwa, you will see Ruanda
on the left hand.
“The country of Ruigi is called Uzimba.
“Kitagwenda is the name of the neighbouring country.
“Unyanuruguru lies between Ruanda and Usongora.
“All the Wasongora emigrated from Unyoro.”
The following is information from a native of Unyampaka upon Muta
Nzigé;—
“My king’s name is Bulema. Kashéshé is the great king of Uzimba. Ruigi
is dead. Usongora, as you look towards sunset, will lie before you, as
you stand at Kashéshé’s. To go to Usongora from Kashéshé’s, you go to
Nkoni Island, then to Ihundi Island, and then to Usongora.
“Far to your left, as you face the sunset, you have Utumbi, the
Mahinda, Karara, and Kabuzzi Islands.
“There is abundance of salt in Usongora, and we go from Unyampaka (my
country) to get salt, and sell it to all the country round. Ankori
country does not extend to Muta Nzigé. Buhuju and Unyanuruguru lie
between Ankori and the lake.
“Nyika is king of Gambaragara and Usongora. North of Gambaragara is
Toru, or Tori, country, a part of Unyoro. Kabba Rega is the great king
of all those lands. The medicines (charms) of Unyoro are kept by Nyika
on the top of his high mountain. There are as many white people there
as there are black. On the top there is a little Nianja, and a
straight rock rises high out from the middle. There is plenty of water
falling from the sides of the mountain, sometimes straight down, with
a loud noise. Herds upon herds of cattle, hundreds of them are in
Gambaragara and Usongora. The people of Usongora are great fighters,
they carry three spears and a shield each, and they live on nothing
but milk and potatoes.”
I now proceed to give some “reflections” of a young philosopher of
Uganda, one of the pages of Sambuzi, who had accompanied his master in
the Katekiro’s great raid upon Usongora three years before.
This young lad startled me out of the idea that philosophizing was not a
common gift, or that only members of the white race were remarkable for
their powers of observation, by the following question:—
“Stamlee, how is it, will you tell me, that all white men have long
noses, while all their dogs have very short noses,[35] while almost all
black men have short noses, but their dogs have very long noses?”
A youth of Uganda, thought I, who can propound such a proposition as
that, deserves attention.
“Speak,” I said, “all you know about Muta Nzigé and the Kagera.”
“Good; you see the Kagera, it is broad and deep and swift, and its
water though dark is clear. Where can it come from? There is an
enormous quantity of water in that river. It is the mother of the
river at Jinja, because were it not for this river our Niyanza would
dry up!
“Tell me where it can come from? There is no country large enough to
feed it, because when you reach Rumanika’s it is still a large river.
If you go to Kishakka, farther south, it is still large, and at
Kibogora’s it is still a large river. Urundi is not far, and beyond
that is the Tanganika.
“Tell me, where does the water of the Muta Nzigé go to? It goes into
the Kagera, of course; the Kagera goes into our Niyanza, and the river
at Jinja (Victoria Nile) goes to Kaniessa (Gondokoro). I tell you
truly that this must be the way of it. You saw the Rusango and Mpanga,
did you not, go to Muta Nzigé? Well, there must be many rivers like
that going to Muta Nzigé also. And what river drinks all those rivers
but the Kagera?” he asked triumphantly.
“Usongora is a wonderful land! Its people are brave, and when the
Katekiro, who was accompanied by Mkwenda and Sekebobo’s chiefs, and
some of Kitunzi’s, met them, they were different people from
Gambaragara. They are very tall, long-legged people, and are armed
with spears and shields. They tried every dodge with us. When we stood
on the banks of a river going north, through the Tinka-tinka, like
that in the Katonga, the Wasongora stood on the opposite side and
shouted out to us that they were ready. Sambuzi came near being killed
next day, and we lost many men, but the Katekiro, he does not fight
like other chiefs, he is exceedingly brave, and he wanted to please
Mtesa. We fought six days.
“The Wasongora had a number of large dogs also which they set upon us;
as we drove their cattle towards Gambaragara, the earth shook, springs
of mud leaped up, and the water in the plain was very bitter, and
killed many Waganda; it left a white thing around its borders like
salt.
“We first saw Muta Nzigé as we followed Nyika to the top of his big
mountain in Gambaragara. We could not quite get to the top, it was too
high.” (This is Mount Gordon-Bennett.) “But we could see Usongora, and
a great lake spreading all round it. When we came back with our spoil
to Mtesa, he sent us back a short time afterwards to Ankori, and from
the top of a high mountain near Kibanga (Mount Lawson) we saw Muta
Nzigé again spreading west of us. Oh, it is a grand lake, not so wide
as our Niyanza, but very long. We get all our salt from Usongora, as
Nyika pays tribute to us with so many bags, collected from the plains,
but it is unfit to eat, unless you wash it and clean it.”
This young lad accompanied me to Karagwé, and by his intelligence and
his restless curiosity extracted from the Wanyambu courtiers at King
Rumanika’s information which he delivered to me in the following
manner:—
“Master, I have been asking questions from many Wanyambu, and they say
that you can take a canoe from here to Ujiji, only a certain distance
you will have to drag your canoes by land. They say also that Ndagara,
Rumanika’s father, wishing to trade with the Wajiji, tried to cut a
canal or a ditch for his canoes to pass through. They say also that
Kivu is connected with Akanyaru, and that the Rusizi leaves Kivu and
goes to Tanganika through Uzigé, but the Kagera comes through Karagwé
towards Uganda. Do you believe it?”
To close the interesting day, Rumanika requested Hamed Ibrahim to
exhibit the treasure, trophies and curiosities in the king’s museum or
armoury, which Hamed was most anxious to do, as he had frequently
extolled the rare things there.
The armoury was a circular hut, resembling externally a dome thatched
neatly with straw. It was about 30 feet in diameter.
The weapons and articles, of brass and copper and iron, were in perfect
order, and showed that Rumanika did not neglect his treasures.
There were about sixteen rude brass figures of ducks with copper wings,
ten curious things of the same metal which were meant to represent
elands, and ten headless cows of copper. Billhooks of iron, of really
admirable make, double-bladed spears, several gigantic blades of
exceedingly keen edge, 8 inches across and 18 inches in length,
exquisite spears, some with blades and staves of linked iron; others
with chained-shaped staves, and several with a cluster of small rigid
rings massed at the bottom of the blade and the end of the staff;
others, copper-bladed, had curious intertwisted iron rods for the staff.
There were also great fly-flaps set in iron, the handles of which were
admirable specimens of native art; massive cleaver-looking knives with
polished blades and a kedge-anchor-shaped article with four hooked iron
prongs, projecting out of a brass body. Some exquisite native cloths,
manufactured of delicate grass, were indeed so fine as to vie with
cotton sheeting, and were coloured black and red, in patterns and
stripes. The royal stool was a masterpiece of native turnery, being
carved out of a solid log of cotton-wood. Besides these specimens of
native art were drinking-cups, goblets, trenchers and milk dishes of
wood, all beautifully clean. The fireplace was a circular hearth in the
centre of the building, very tastefully constructed. Ranged round the
wall along the floor were other gifts from Arab friends, massive copper
trays, with a few tureen lids of Britannia ware, evidently from
Birmingham. Nor must the revolving rifle given to him by Captain Speke
be forgotten, for it had an honoured place, and Rumanika loves to look
at it, for it recalls to his memory the figures of his genial white
friends Speke and Grant.
The enormous drums, fifty-two in number, ranged outside, enabled us,
from their very appearance, to guess at the deafening sounds which
celebrate the new moon or deliver the signals for war.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF KING’S HOUSE.]
My parting with the genial old man, who must be about sixty years old
now, was very affecting. He shook my hands many times, saying each time
that he was sorry that my visit must be so short. He strictly charged
his sons to pay me every attention until I should arrive at Kibogora’s,
the king of Western Usui, who, he was satisfied, would be glad to see me
as a friend of Rumanika.
_March 26._—On the 26th of March the Expedition, after its month’s rest
at Kafurro, the whole of which period I had spent in exploration of
Western Karagwé, resumed its journey, and after a march of five miles
camped at Nakawanga, near the southern base of Kibonga mountain.
The next day a march of thirteen miles brought us to the northern
extremity of Uhimba lake, a broad river-like body of water supplied by
the Alexandra Nile.
_March 27._—On the 27th I had the good fortune to shoot three
rhinoceroses, from the bodies of which we obtained ample supplies of
meat for our journey through the wilderness of Uhimba. One of these
enormous brutes possessed a horn 2 feet long, with a sharp dagger-like
point below, a stunted horn, 9 inches in length. He appeared to have had
a tussle with some wild beast, for a hand’s breadth of hide was torn
from his rump.
[Illustration: TREASURE HOUSE, ARMS, AND TREASURES OF RUMANIKA.]
The Wangwana and Wanyambu informed me with the utmost gravity that the
elephant maltreats the rhinoceros frequently, because of a jealousy that
the former entertains of his fiery cousin. It is said that if the
elephant observes the excrement of the rhinoceros unscattered, he waxes
furious, and proceeds instantly in search of the criminal, when woe
befall him if he is sulky, and disposed to battle for the proud
privilege of leaving his droppings as they fall! The elephant in that
case breaks off a heavy branch of a tree, or uproots a stout sapling
like a boat’s mast, and belabours the unfortunate beast until he is glad
to save himself by hurried flight. For this reason, the natives say, the
rhinoceros always turns round and thoroughly scatters what he has
dropped.
Should a rhinoceros meet an elephant, he must observe the rule of the
road and walk away, for the latter brooks no rivalry; but the former is
sometimes headstrong, and the elephant then despatches him with his
tusks by forcing him against a tree and goring him, or by upsetting him,
and leisurely crushing him.
At the distance of twenty-six miles from Kafurro we made our third camp
near some wave-worn sheets and protruding humps of brown-veined
porphyry, and close to an arm of the Uhimba lake, which swarmed with
hippopotami.
There were traces of water or wave action on this hard porphyry visible
at about fifty feet above the present level. Some of these humps were
exposed in the water also, and showed similar effects to those observed
behind our camp.
_March 27._—During the next two days we travelled twenty-seven miles
south through a depression, or a longitudinal valley, parallel to Uhimba
lake and the course of the Alexandra, with only an intervening ridge
excluding the latter from our view. Tall truncated hill-cones rise every
now and then with a singular resemblance to each other, to the same
altitude as the grassy ridges which flank them. Their summits are flat,
but the iron-stone faithfully indicates by its erosions the element
which separated them from the ridges, and first furrowed the valley.
Uhimba, placed by Rumanika in the charge of his sons Kakoko, Kananga,
and Ruhinda, is sixty-eight miles south of his capital, and consists of
a few settlements of herdsmen. It was, a few years ago, a debatable land
between Usui and Karagwé, but upon the conquest of Kishakki by Ruanda,
Rumanika occupied it lest his jealous and ill-conditioned rival,
Mankorongo of Usui, should do so.
At this place I met messengers from Mankorongo despatched by him to
invite me to go and see him, and who, with all the impudence
characteristic of their behaviour to the Arabs, declared that if I
attempted to traverse any country in his neighbourhood without paying
him the compliment of a visit, it would be my utter ruin.
They were sent back with a peaceful message, and told to say that I was
bound for Kibogora’s capital, to try and search out a road across Urundi
to the west, and that if I did not succeed I would think of Mankorongo’s
words; at the same time, Mankorongo was to be sure that if I was waylaid
in the forest by any large armed party with a view to intimidation, that
party would be sorry for it.
I had heard of Mankorongo’s extortions from Arabs and Waganda, and how
he had proved himself a worthy successor to the rapacious Swarora, who
caused so much trouble to Speke and Grant.
During the second day of our courteous intercourse with Kakoko, I
ascended a mount some 600 feet high about three miles from camp, to
take bearings of the several features which Kananga was requested
to show me. Five countries were exposed to view, Karagwé, Kishakka,
Ruanda beyond, Ugufu, and Usui. Parallel with Usui was pointed out King
Khanza’s Uhha; beyond Uhha we were told was Urundi, beyond Urundi,
west, the Tanganika and Uzigé, and then nobody knew what lands lay
beyond Uzigé. Akanyaru stretched south of west, between Ruanda, Uhha,
and Urundi; in a south-west direction was said to be Kivu; in a west by
north Mkinyaga, and in the west Unyambungu. Ugufu was separated from
Kishakka by the Nawarongo or Ruvuvu, and from Uhha and Usui by the
Alexandra Nile which came from between Uhha and Urundi. A river of some
size was also said to flow from the direction of Unyambungu into the
Akanyaru.[36]
_March 30._—The next day we entered Western Usui, and camped at
Kafurra’s. In Usui there was a famine, and it required thirty-two doti
of cloth to purchase four days’ rations. Kibogora demanded and obtained
thirty doti, one coil of ware, and forty necklaces of beads as tribute;
Kafurra, his principal chief, demanded ten doti and a quantity of beads;
another chief required five doti; the queen required a supply of cloth
to wear; the princes put in a claim; the guides were loud for their
reward. Thus, in four days, we were compelled to disburse two bales out
of twenty-two, all that were left of the immense store we had departed
with from Zanzibar. Under such circumstances, what prospect of
exploration had we, were we to continue our journey through Uhha, that
land which in 1871 had consumed at the rate of two bales of cloth per
diem? Twenty days of such experience in Uhha would reduce us to beggary.
Its “esurient” Mutwarés and rapacious Mkamas and other extortionate
people can only be quieted with cloth and beads disbursed with a
princely hand. One hundred bales of cloth would only suffice to sustain
a hundred men in Uhha about six weeks. Beyond Uhha lay the impenetrable
countries of Urundi and Ruanda, the inhabitants of which were hostile to
strangers.
Kibogora and Kufurra were sufficiently explicit and amiably
communicative, for my arrival in their country had been under the very
best auspices, viz. an introduction from the gentle and beloved
Rumanika.
I turned away with a sigh from the interesting land, but with a
resolution gradually being intensified, that the third time I sought a
road west nothing should deter me.
_April 7._—On the 7th of April we reluctantly resumed our journey in a
southerly direction, and travelled five miles along a ravine, at the
bottom of which murmured the infant stream Lohugati. On coming to its
source we ascended a steep slope until we stood upon the summit of a
grassy ridge at the height of 5600 feet by aneroid.
Not until we had descended about a mile to the valley of Uyagoma did I
recognize the importance of this ridge as the water-parting between one
of the feeders of Lake Victoria and the source of the Malagarazi, the
principal affluent of Lake Tanganika.
Though by striking across Uhha due west or to the south-west we should
again have reached the Alexandra Nile and the affluents of the Alexandra
Lake, our future course was destined never to cross another stream or
rivulet that supplied the great river which flows through the land of
Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea.
From the 17th of January, 1875, up to the 7th of April, 1876, we had
been engaged in tracing the extreme southern sources of the Nile, from
the marshy plains and cultivated uplands where they are born, down to
the mighty reservoir called the Victoria Nyanza. We had circumnavigated
the entire expanse; penetrated to every bay, inlet, and creek; become
acquainted with almost every variety of wild human nature—the mild and
placable, the ferocious and impracticably savage, the hospitable and the
inhospitable, the generous-souled as well as the ungenerous; we had
viewed their methods of war, and had witnessed them imbruing their hands
in each other’s blood with savage triumph and glee; we had been five
times sufferers by their lust for war and murder, and had lost many men
through their lawlessness and ferocity; we had travelled hundreds of
miles to and fro on foot along the northern coast of the Victorian Sea,
and, finally, had explored with a large force the strange countries
lying between the two lakes Muta Nzigé and the Victoria, and had been
permitted to gaze upon the arm of the lake named by me “Beatrice Gulf,”
and to drink of its sweet waters. We had then returned from farther
quest in that direction, unable to find a peaceful resting-place on the
lake shores, and had struck south from the Katonga lagoon down to the
Alexandra Nile, the principal affluent of the Victoria Lake, which
drains nearly all the waters from the west and south-west. We had made a
patient survey of over one-half of its course, and then, owing to want
of the means to feed the rapacity of the churlish tribes which dwell in
the vicinity of the Alexandra Nyanza, and to our reluctance to force our
way against the will of the natives, opposing unnecessarily our rifles
to their spears and arrows, we had been compelled, on the 7th of April,
to bid adieu to the lands which supply the Nile, and to turn our faces
towards the Tanganika.
I have endeavoured to give a faithful portrayal of nature, animate and
inanimate, in all its strange peculiar phases, as they were unfolded to
us. I am conscious that I have not penetrated to the depths; but then I
have not ventured beyond the limits assigned to me, viz. the Exploration
of the Southern Sources of the Nile, and the solution of the problem
left unsolved by Speke and Grant—Is the Victoria Nyanza[37] one lake, or
does it consist of five lakes, as reported by Livingstone, Burton, and
others? This problem has been satisfactorily solved, and Speke has now
the full glory of having discovered the largest inland sea on the
continent of Africa, also its principal affluent, as well as the outlet.
I must also give him credit for having understood the geography of the
countries he travelled through better than any of those who so
persistently assailed his hypothesis, and I here record my admiration of
the geographical genius that from mere native report first sketched with
such a masterly hand the bold outlines of the Victoria Nyanza.
-----
# 34:
This lake received this name from Captain Speke, because Colonel
Grant, his companion, thought it resembled the Windermere Lake in
England.
# 35:
The young philosopher had observed the broad short noses of my British
bulldog and bull terrier “Jack,” and he had hastily arrived at the
conclusion that all white men’s dogs were pug-nosed.
# 36:
I learned from Warundi and Wazigé, three months later, that the river
that came from the west was the Ruanda, flowing into the Rusizi,
thence into the Tanganika.
# 37:
Speke’s hypothetic sketch made this lake 29,000 square miles in
extent. My survey of it has reduced it to 21,500 square miles.