The Discovery of the Source of the Nile
by
John Hanning Speke
Part 4 out of 11
Too knowing now to be caught with such chaff, I told him, through
Bombay, if he would consider the ten brass wires final, I would
give them, and then go to his palace, not otherwise. He acceded
to this, but no sooner got them, than he broke his faith, and
said he must either have more pretty cloths, or five more brass
wires, and then, without doubt, he would beat the drums. A long
badgering bargain ensued, at which I made all my men be present
as witnesses, and we finally concluded the hongo with four more
brass wires.
The drums then no sooner beat the satisfaction, than the Wasui
mace-bearers, in the most feeling and good-mannered possible
manner, dropped down on their knees before me, and congratulated
me on the cessation of this tormenting business. Feeling much
freer, we now went over and put up in Pong's palace, for we had
to halt there a day to collect more porters, as half my men had
just bolted. This was by no means an easy job, for all my
American sheeting was out, and so was the kiniki. Pongo then for
the first time showed himself, sneaking about with an escort,
hiding his head in a cloth lest our "evil eyes" might bewitch
him. Still he did us a good turn; for on the 16th he persuaded
his men to take service with us at the enormous hire of ten
necklaces of beads per man for every day's march--nearly ten
times what an Arab pays. Fowls were as plentiful here as
elsewhere, though the people only kept them to sell to
travellers, or else for cutting them open for diving purposes, by
inspection of their blood and bones.
From the frying pan we went into the fire in crossing from Ugombe
into the district of Wanga, where we beat up the chief,
N'yaruwamba, and at once went into the hongo business. He
offered a cow to commence with, which I would not accept until
the tax was paid, and then I made my offering of two wires, one
kitambi, and one kisutu. Badgering then commenced: I must add two
wires, and six makete or necklaces of mzizima beads, the latter
being due to the chief for negotiating the tax. When this
addition was paid, we should be freed by beat of drum.
I complied at once, by way of offering a special mark of respect
And friendship, and on the reliance that he would keep his word.
The scoundrel, however, no sooner got the articles, than he said
a man had just come there to inform hi that I gave Pongo ten
wires and ten cloths; he, therefore, could not be satisfied until
I added one more wire, when, without fail, he would beat the
drums. It was given, after many angry words; but it was the old
story over again-- he would have one more wire and a cloth, or
else he would not allow us to proceed on the morrow. My men,
this time really provoked, said they would fight it out;--a king
breaking his word in that way! But in the end the demand had to
be paid; and at last, at 9 P.M., the drums beat the satisfaction.
From this we went on to the north end of Wanga, in front of which
was a wilderness, separating the possessions of Rohinda from
those of Suwarora. We put up in a boma, but were not long
ensconced there when the villagers got up a pretext for a
quarrel, thinking they could plunder us of all our goods, and
began pitching into my men. We, however, proved more than a match
for them. Our show of guns frightened them all out of the place;
my men then gave chase, firing off in the air, which sent them
flying over the fields, and left us to do there as we liked until
night, when a few of the villagers came back and took up their
abode with us quietly. Next, after dark, the little village was
on the alert again. The Watuta were out marching, and it was
rumoured that they were bound for M'yaruwamba's. The porters who
were engaged at Pongo's now gave us the slip: we were
consequently detained here next day (19th), when, after engaging
a fresh set, we crossed the wilderness, and in Usui put up with
Suwarora's border officer of this post, N'yamanira.
Here we were again brought to a standstill.
Chapter VII
Usui
Taxation recommenced--A Great Doctor--Suwarora pillaging--The
Arabs --Conference with an Ambassador from Uganda--Disputes in
Camp-- Rivalry of Bombay and Baraka--Departure from the
Inhospitable Districts.
We were now in Usui, and so the mace-bearers, being on their own
ground forgot their manners, and peremptorily demanded their pay
before they would allow us to move one step farther. At first I
tried to stave the matter off, promising great rewards if they
took us quickly on to Suwarora; but they would take no
alternative--their rights were four wires each. I could not
afford such a sum, and tried to beat them down, but without
effect; for they said, they had it in their power to detain us
here a whole month, and they could get us bullied at every stage
by the officers of the stations. No threats of reporting them to
their chief had any effect, so, knowing that treachery in these
countries was a powerful enemy, I ordered them to be paid.
N'yamanira, the Mkungu, then gave us a goat and two pots of
pombe, begging, at the same time, for four wires, which I paid,
hoping thus to get on in the morning.
I then made friends with him, and found he was a great doctor as
well as an officer. In front of his hut he had his church or
uganga--a tree, in which was fixed a blaue boc's horn charged
with magic powder, and a zebra's hoof, suspended by a string over
a pot of water sunk in the earth below it. His badges of office
he had tied on his head; the butt of a shell, representing the
officer's badge, being fixed on the forehead, whilst a small
sheep's horn, fixed jauntily over the temple, denoted that he was
a magician. Wishing to try my powers in magical arts, as I
laughed at his church, he begged me to produce an everlasting
spring of water by simply scratching the ground. He, however,
drew short up, to the intense delight of my men, on my promising
that I would do so if he made one first.
At night, 22d, a steel scabbard and some cloths were extracted
from our camp, so I begged my friend the great doctor would show
us the use of his horn. This was promised, but never performed.
I then wished to leave, as the Wasui guides, on receiving their
pay, promised we should; but they deferred, on the plea that one
of them must see their chief first, and get him to frank us
through, else, they said, we should be torn to pieces. I said I
thought the Kaquenzingiriri could do this; but they said, "No;
Suwarora must be told first of your arrival, to prepare him
properly for your coming; so stop here for three days with two of
us, whilst the third one goes to the palace and returns again;
for you know the chiefs of these countries do not feel safe until
they have a look at the uganga."
One of them then went away, but no sooner had left than a man
named Makinga arrived to invite us on, as he said, at his adopted
brother K'yengo's request. Makinga then told us that Suwarora,
on first hearing that we were coming, became greatly afraid, and
said he would not let us set eyes on his country, as he was sure
we were king-dethroners; but, referring for opinion to Dr
K'yengo, his fears were overcome by the doctor assuring him that
he had seen hosts of our sort at Zanzibar; and he knew, moreover,
that some years ago we had been to Ujiji and to Ukerewe without
having done any harm in those places; and, further, since Musa
had sent word that I had done my best to subdue the war at
Unyanyembe, and had promised to do my best here, he, Suwarora,
had been anxiously watching our movements, and longed for our
arrival. This looked famous, and it was agreed we should move
the next morning. Just then a new light broke in on my defeat at
Sorombo, for with Makinga I recognised one of my former porters,
who I had supposed was a "child" of the Pig's. This man now said
before all my men, Baraka included, that he wished to accept the
load of mzizima I had offered the Pig if he would go forward with
Baraka and tell Suwarora I wanted some porters to help me to
reach him. He was not a "child" of the Pig's, but a "child" of
K'yengo's; and as Baraka would not allow him to accept the load
of mzizima, he went on to K'yengo by himself, and told all that
had happened. It was now quite clear what motives induced
Suwarora to send out the three Wasui; but how I blessed Baraka
for this in my heart, though I said nothing about it to him, for
fear of his playing some more treacherous tricks. Grant then
told me Baraka had been frightened at Mininga, by a blackguard
Mganga to whom he would not give a present, into the belief that
our journey would encounter some terrible mishap; for, when the
M'yonga catastrophe happened, he thought that a fulfillment of
the Mganga's prophecy.
I wished to move in the morning (23d), and had all hands ready,
but was told by Makinga he must be settled with first. His dues
for the present were four brass wires, and as many more when we
reached the palace. I could not stand this: we were literally,
as Musa said we should be, being "torn to pieces"; so I appealed
to the mace-bearers, protested that Makinga could have no claims
on me, as he was not a man of Usui, but a native of Utambara, and
brought on a row. On the other hand, as he could not refute
this, Makinga swore the mace was all a pretence, and set a-
fighting with the Wasui and all the men in turn.
To put a stop to this, I ordered a halt, and called on the
district officer to assist us, on which he said he would escort
us on to Suwarora's if we would stop till next morning. This was
agreed to; but in the night we were robbed of three goats, which
he said he could not allow to be passed over, lest Suwarora might
hear of it, and he would get into a scrape. He pressed us
strongly to stop another day whilst he sought for them, but I
told him I would not, as his magic powder was weak, else he would
have found the scabbard we lost long before this.
At last we got under way, and, after winding through a long
forest, we emerged on the first of the populous parts of Usui, a
most convulsed-looking country, of well-rounded hills composed of
sandstone. In all the parts not under cultivation they were
covered with brushwood. Here the little grass-hut villages were
not fenced by a boma, but were hidden in large fields of
plantains. Cattle were numerous, kept by the Wahuma, who could
not sell their milk to us because we ate fowls and a bean called
maharague.
Happily no one tried to pillage us here, so on we went to
Vikora's, another officer, living at N'yakasenye, under a
sandstone hill, faced with a dyke of white quartz, over which
leaped a small stream of water--a seventy-feet drop--which, it is
said, Suwarora sometimes paid homage to when the land was
oppressed by drought. Vikora's father it was whom Sirboko of
Mininga shot. Usually he was very severe with merchants in
consequence of that act; but he did not molest us, as the
messenger who went on to Suwarora returned here just as we
arrived, to say we must come on at once, as Suwarora was anxious
to see us, and had ordered his Wakungu not to molest us. Thieves
that night entered our ringfence of thorns, and stole a cloth
from off one of my men while he was sleeping.
We set down Suwarora, after this very polite message, "a regular
trump," and walked up the hill of N'yakasenye with considerable
mirth, singing his praises; but we no sooner planted ourselves on
the summit than we sang a very different tune. We were ordered
to stop by a huge body of men, and to pay toll.
Suwarora, on second thoughts, had changed his mind, or else he
had been overruled by two of his officers--Kariwami, who lived
here, and Virembo, who lived two stages back, but were then with
their chief. There was no help for it, so I ordered the camp to
be formed, and sent Nasib and the mace-bearers at once off to the
palace to express to his highness how insulted I felt as his
guest, being stopped in this manner, even when I had his
Kaquenzingiriri with me as his authority that I was invited there
as a guest. I was not a merchant who carried merchandise, but a
prince like himself, come on a friendly mission to see him and
Rumanika. I was waiting at night for the return of the
messengers, and sitting out with my sextant observing the stars,
to fix my position, when some daring thieves, in the dark bushes
close by, accosted two of the women of the camp, pretending a
desire to know what I was doing. They were no sooner told by the
unsuspecting women, than they whipped off their cloths and ran
away with them, allowing their victims to pass me in a state of
absolute nudity. I could stand this thieving no longer. My
goats and other things had been taken away without causing me
much distress of mind, but now, after this shocking event, I
ordered my men to shoot at any thieves that came near them.
This night one was shot, without any mistake about it; for the
next morning we tracked him by his blood, and afterwards heard he
had died of his wound. The Wasui elders, contrary to my
expectation, then came and congratulated us on our success. They
thought us most wonderful men, and possessed of supernatural
powers; for the thief in question was a magician, who until now
was thought to be invulnerable. Indeed, they said Arabs with
enormous caravans had often been plundered by these people; but
though they had so many more guns than ourselves, they never
succeeded in killing one.
Nasib then returned to inform us that the king had heard our
complaint, and was sorry for it, but said he could not interfere
with the rights of his officers. He did not wish himself to take
anything from us, and hoped we would come on to him as soon as we
had satisfied his officers with the trifle they wanted. Virembo
then sent us some pombe by his officers, and begged us to have
patience, for he was then fleecing Masudi at the encamping-ground
near the palace. This place was alive with thieves. During the
day they lured my men into their huts by inviting them to dinner;
but when they got them they stripped them stark-naked and let
them go again; whilst at night they stone our camp. After this,
one more was shot dead and two others wounded.
I knew that Suwarora's message was all humbug, and that his
officers merely kept about one per cent. of what they took from
travellers, paying the balance into the royal coffers. Thinking
I was now well in for a good fleecing myself, I sent Bombay off
to Masudi's camp, to tell Insangez, who was travelling with him
on a mission of his master's, old Musa's son, that I would reward
him handsomely if he would, on arrival at Karague, get Rumanika
to send us his mace here in the same way as Suwarora had done to
help us out of Bogue, as he knew Musa at one time said he would
go with us to Karague in person. When Bombay was gone, Virembo
then deputed Kariwami to take the hongo for both at once, mildly
requiring 40 wires, 80 cloths, and 400 necklaces of every kind of
bead we possessed. This was, indeed, too much of a joke. I
complained of all the losses I had suffered, and begged for
mercy; but all he said, after waiting the whole day, was, "Do not
stick at trifles; for, after settling with us, you will have to
give as much more to Vikora, who lives down below."
Next morning, as I said I could not by any means pay such an
exorbitant tax as was demanded, Kariwami begged me to make an
offer which I did by sending him four wires. These, of course,
were rejected with scorn; so, in addition, I sent an old box.
That, too, was thrown back on me, as nothing short of 20 wires,
40 cloths, and 200 necklaces of all sorts of beads, would satisfy
him; and this I ought to be contented to pay, as he had been so
moderate because I was the king's guest, and had been so reduced
by robbery. I now sent six wires more, and said this was the
last I could give--they were worth so many goats to me--and now
by giving them away, I should have to live on grain like a poor
man, though I was a prince in my own country, just like Suwarora.
Surely Suwarora could not permit this if he knew it; and if they
would not suffice, I should have to stop here until called again
by Suwarora. The ruffian, on hearing this, allowed the wires to
lie in his hut, and said he was going away, but hoped, when he
returned, I should have, as I had got no cloths, 20 wires, and
1000 necklaces of extra length, strung and all ready for him.
Just then Bombay returned flushed with the excitement of a great
success. He had been in Masudi's camp, and had delivered my
message to Insangez. Asudi, he said, had been there a fortnight
unable to settle his hongo, for the great Mkama had not deigned
to see him, though the Arab had been daily to his palace
requesting an interview. "Well," I said, "that is all very
interesting, but what next?--will the big king see us?" "O no;
by the very best good fortune in the world, on going into the
palace I saw Suwarora, and spoke to him at once; but he was so
tremendously drunk, he could not understand me." "What luck was
there in that?" I asked. On which Bombay said, "Oh, everybody in
the place congratulated me on my success in having obtained an
interview with that great monarch the very first day, when Arabs
had seldom that privilege under one full month of squatting; even
Masudi had not yet seen him." To which Nasib also added, "Ah,
yes--indeed it is so-- a monstrous success; there is great
ceremony as well as business at these courts; you will better see
what I mean when you get to Uganda. These Wahuma kings are not
like those you ever saw in Unyamuezi or anywhere else; they have
officers and soldiers like Said Majid, the Sultan at Zanzibar."
"Well," said I to Bombay, "what was Suwarora like?" "Oh, he is a
very fine man--just as tall, and in the face very like Grant; in
fact, if Grant were black you would not know the difference."
"And were his officers drunk too?" "O yes, they were all drunk
together; men were bringing in pombe all day." "And did you get
drunk?" "O yes," said Bombay, grinning, and showing his whole
row of sharp-pointed teeth, "they WOULD make me drink; and then
they showed me the place they assigned for your camp when you
come over there. It was not in the palace, but outside, without
a tree near it; anything but a nice-looking residence." I then
sent Bombay to work at the hongo business; but, after haggling
till night with Kariwami, he was told he must bring fourteen
brass wires, two cloths, and five mukhnai of kanyera, or white
porcelain beads--which, reduced, amounted to three hundred
necklaces; else he said I might stop there for a month.
At last I settled this confounded hongo, by paying seven
additional wires in lieu of the cloth; and, delighted at the
termination of this tedious affair, I ordered a march. Like
magic, however, Vikora turned up, and said we must wait until he
was settled with. His rank was the same as the others, and one
bead less than I had given them he would not take. I fought all
the day out, but the next morning, as he deputed his officers to
take nine wires, these were given, and then we went on with the
journey.
Tripping along over the hill, we descended to a deep miry
watercourse, full of bulrushes, then over another hill, from the
heights of which we saw Suwarora's palace, lying down in the
Uthungu valley, behind which again rose another hill of
sandstone, faced on the top with a dyke of white quartz. The
scene was very striking, for the palace enclosures, of great
extent, were well laid out to give effect. Three circles of milk
bush, one within the other, formed the boma, or ring-fence. The
chief's hut (I do not think him worthy of the name of king, since
the kingdom is divided in two) was three times as large as any of
the others, and stood by itself at the farther end; whilst the
smaller huts, containing his officers and domestics, were
arranged in little groups within a circle, at certain distances
apart from one another, sufficient to allow of their stalling
their cattle at night.
On descending into the Uthungu valley, Grant, who was preceding
the men, found Makinga opposed to the progress of the caravan
until his dues were paid. He was a stranger like ourselves, and
was consequently treated with scorn, until he tried to maintain
what he called his right, by pulling the loads off my men's
shoulders, whereupon Grant cowed him into submission, and all
went on again-- not to the palace, as we had supposed, but, by
the direction of the mace-bearers, to the huts of Suwarora's
commander-in-chief, two miles from the palace; and here we found
Masudi's camp also. We had no sooner formed camp for ourselves
and arranged all our loads, than the eternal Vikora, whom I
thought we had settled with before we started, made a claim for
some more wire, cloth, and beads, as he had not received as much
as Kariwani and Virembo. Of course I would not listen to this, as
I had paid what his men asked for, and that was enough for me.
Just then Masudi, with the other Arabs who were travelling with
him, came over to pay us a visit, and inquire what we thought of
the Usui taxes. He had just concluded his hongo to Suwarora by
paying 80 wires, 120 yards of cloth, and 130 lb. of beads, whilst
he had also paid to every officer from 20 to 40 wires, as well as
cloths and beads. On hearing of my transactions, he gave it as
his opinion that I had got off surprisingly well.
Next morning, (1st) Masudi and his party started for Karague.
They had been more than a year between this and Kaze, trying all
the time to get along. Provisions here were abundant--hawked
about by the people, who wore a very neat skin kilt strapped
round the waist, but otherwise were decorated like the
Wanyamuezi. It was difficult to say who were of true breed here,
for the intercourse of the natives with the Wahuma and the
Wanyamuezi produced a great variety of facial features amongst
the people. Nowhere did I ever see so many men and women with
hazel eyes as at this place.
In the evening, an Uganda man, by name N'yamgundu, came to pay
his respects to us. He was dressed in a large skin wrapper, made
up of a number of very small antelope skins: it was as soft as
kid, and just as well sewn as our gloves. To our surprise the
manners of the man were quite in keeping with his becoming dress.
I was enchanted with his appearance, and so were my men, though
no one could speak to him but Nasib, who told us he knew him
before. He was the brother of the dowager queen of Uganda, and,
along with a proper body of officers, he had been sent by Mtesa,
the present king of Uganda, to demand the daughter of Suwarora,
as reports had reached his king that she was surprisingly
beautiful. They had been here more than a year, during which
time this beautiful virgin had died; and now Suwarora, fearful of
the great king's wrath, consequent on his procrastinations, was
endeavouring to make amends for it, by sending, instead of his
daughter, a suitable tribute in wires. I thought it not wonderful
that we should be fleeced.
Next day (2d) Sirhid paid us a visit, and said he was the first
man in the state. He certainly was a nice-looking young man,
with a good deal of the Wahuma blood in him. Flashily dressed in
coloured cloths and a turban, he sat down in one of our chairs as
if he had been accustomed to such a seat all his life, and spoke
with great suavity. I explained our difficulties as those of
great men in misfortune; and, after listening to our tale, he
said he would tell Suwarora of the way we had been plundered, and
impress upon him to deal lightly with us. I said I had brought
with me a few articles of European manufacture for Suwarora,
which I hoped would be accepted if I presented them, for they
were such things as only great men like his chief every
possessed. One was a five-barrelled pistol, another a large
block-in box, and so fourth; but after looking at them, and
seeing the pistol fired, he said; "No; you must not shew these
things at first, or the Mkama might get frightened, thinking them
magic. I might lose my head for presuming to offer them, and
then there is no knowing what might happen afterwards." "Then can
I not see him at once and pay my respects, for I have come a
great way to obtain that pleasure?" "No," said Sirhid, "I will
see him first; for he is not a man like myself, but requires to
be well assured before he sees anybody." "Then why did he invite
me here!" "He heard that Makaka, and afterwards Lumeresi, had
stopped your progress; and as he wished to see what you were
like, he ordered me to send some men to you, which, as you know,
I did twice. He wishes to see you, but does not like doing
things in a hurry. Superstition, you know, preys on these men's
minds who have not seen the world like you and myself." Sirhid
then said he would ask Suwarora to grant us an interview as soon
as possible; then, whilst leaving, he begged for the iron chair
he had sat upon; but hearing we did not know how to sit on the
ground, and therefore could not spare it, he withdrew without any
more words about it.
Virembo then said (3d) he must have some more wire and beads, as
his proxy Kariwami had been satisfied with too little. I drove
him off in a huff, but he soon came back again with half the
hongo I had paid to Kariwami, and said he must have some cloths
or he would not have anything. As fortune decreed it, just then
Sirhid dropped in, and stopped him importunity for the time by
saying that if we had possessed cloths his men must have known
it, for they had been travelling with us. No sooner, however,
did Virembo turn tail than the Sirhid gave us a broad hint that
he usually received a trifle from the Arabs before he made an
attempt at arranging the hongo with Suwarora. Any trifle would
do but he preferred cloth.
This was rather perplexing. Sirhid knew very well that I had a
small reserve of pretty cloths, though all the common ones had
been expended; so, to keep in good terms with him who was to be
our intercessor, I said I would give him the last I had got if he
would not tell Suwarora or any one else what I had done. Of
course he was quite ready to undertake the condition, so I gave
him two pretty cloths, and he in return gave me two goats. But
when this little business had been transacted, to my surprise he
said: "I have orders from Suwarora to be absent five days to
doctor a sick relation of his, for there is no man in the country
so skilled in medicines as myself; but whilst I am gone I will
leave Karambule, my brother, to officiate in my stead about
taking your hongo; but the work will not commence until to-
morrow, for I must see Suwarora on the subject myself first."
Irungu, a very fine-looking man of Uganda, now called on me and
begged for beads. He said his king had heard of our approach,
and was most anxious to see us. Hearing this I begged him to
wait here until my hongo was paid, that we might travel on to
Uganda together. He said, No, he could not wait, for he had been
detained here a whole year already; but, if I liked, he would
leave some of his children behind with me, as their presence
would intimidate Suwarora, and incite him to let us off quickly.
I then begged him to convey a Colt's six-chamber revolving rifle
to his king, Mtesa, as an earnest that I was a prince most
desirous of seeing him. No one, I said, but myself could tell
what dangers and difficulties I had encountered to come thus far
for the purpose, and all was owing to his great fame, as the king
of kings, having reached me even as far off as Zanzibar. The
ambassador would not take the rifle, lest his master, who had
never seen such a wonderful weapon before, should think he had
brought him a malign charm, and he would be in danger of losing
his head. I then tried to prevail on him to take a knife and
some other pretty things, but he feared them all; so, as a last
chance--for I wished to send some token, by way of card or
letter, for announcing my approach and securing the road--I gave
him a red six-penny pocket-handkerchief, which he accepted; and
he then told me he was surprised I had come all this way round to
Uganda, when the road by the Masai country was so much shorter.
He told me how, shortly after the late king of Uganda, Sunna,
died, and before Mtesa had been selected by the officers of the
country to be their king, an Arab caravan came across the Masai
as far as Usoga, and begged for permission to enter Uganda; but
as the country was disturbed by the elections, the officers of
the state advised the Arabs to wait, or come again when the king
was elected. I told him I had heard of this before, but also
heard that those Arabs had met with great disasters, owing to the
turbulence of the Masai. To which he replied: "That is true;
there were great difficulties in those times, but now the Masai
country was in better order; and as Mtesa was most anxious to
open that line, he would give me as many men as I liked if I
wished to go home that way."
This was pleasant information, but not quite new, for the Arabs
had told me Mtesa was so anxious to open that route, he had
frequently offered to aid them in it himself. Still it was most
gratifying to myself as I had written to the Geographical
Society, on leaving Bogue, that if I found Petherick in Uganda,
or on the northern end of the N'yanza, so that the Nile question
was settled, I would endeavour to reach Zanzibar via the Masai
country. In former days, I knew, the kings of Uganda were in the
habit of sending men to Karague when they heard that Arabs wished
to visit them--even as many as two hundred at a time--to carry
their kit; so I now begged Irungu to tell Mtesa that I should
want at least sixty men; and then, on his promising that he would
be my commissioner, I gave him the beads he had begged for
himself.
4th to 6th.--Karambule now told us to string our beads on the
fibre of the Mwale tree, which was sold here by the Wasui, as he
intended to live in the palace for a couple of days, arranging
with Suwarora what tax we should have to pay, after which he
would come and take it from us; but we must mind and be ready,
for whatever Suwarora said, it must be done instantly. There was
no such thing as haggling with him; you must pay and be off at
once, failing which you might be detained a whole month before
there would be an opportunity to speak on the subject again.
Beads were then served out to all my men to be strung, a certain
quantity to every kambi or mess, and our work was progressing;
but next day we heard that Karambule was sick or feigning to be
so, and therefore had never gone to the palace at all. On the
6th, provoked at last by the shameful manner in which we were
treated, I send word to him to say, if he did not go at once I
would go myself, and force my way in with my guns, for I could
not submit to being treated like a slave, stuck out here in the
jungle with nothing to do but shoot for specimens, or make
collections of rocks, etc. This brought on another row; for he
said both Virembo and Vikora had returned their hongos, and until
their tongues were quieted he could not speak to Suwarora.
To expedite matters (7th), as our daily consumption in camp was a
tax of itself, I gave these tormenting creatures one wire, one
pretty cloth, and five hundred necklaces of white beads, which
were no sooner accepted than Karambule, in the same way as Sirhid
had done, said it would be greatly to my advantage if I gave him
something worth having before he saw the Mkama. Only too glad to
being work I gave him a red blanket, called joho, and five
strings of mzizima beads, which were equal to fifty of the common
white.
8th and 9th.--All this time nothing but confusion reigned in
camp, khambi fighting against khambi. Both men and women got
drunk, whilst from outside we were tormented by the Wasui, both
men and women pertinaciously pressing into our hut, watching us
eat, and begging in the most shameless manner. They did not know
the word bakhshish, or present; but, as bad as the Egyptians,
they held our their hands, patted their bellies, and said
Kaniwani (my friend) until we were sick of the sound of that
word. Still it was impossible to dislike these simple creatures
altogether, they were such perfect children. If we threw water
at them to drive them away, they came back again, thinking it
fun.
Ten days now had elapsed since we came here, still nothing was
done (10th), as Karambule said, because Suwarora had been so
fully occupied collecting an army to punish an officer who had
refused to pay his taxes, had ignored his authority, and had set
himself us as king of the district he was appointed to
superintend. After this, at midnight, Karambule, in an excited
manner, said he had seen Suwarora, and it then was appointed
that, not he, but Virembo should take the royal hongo, as well as
the Wahinda, or princes' shares, the next morning--after which we
might go as fast as we liked, for Suwarora was so full occupied
with his army he could not see us this time. Before, however,
the hongo could be paid, I must give the Sirhid and himself
twenty brass wires, three joho, three barsati, twenty strings of
mzizima, and one thousand strings of white beads. They were
given.
A fearful row now broke out between Bombay and Baraka (11th).
Many of my men had by this time been married, notwithstanding my
prohibition. Baraka, for instance, had with him the daughter of
Ungurue, chief of Phunze; Wadimoyo, a woman called Manamaka;
Sangizo, his wife and sister; but Bombay had not got one, and
mourned for a girl he had set his eyes on, unfortunately for
himself letting Baraka into his confidence. This set Baraka on
the qui vive to catch Bombay tripping; for Baraka knew he could
not get her without paying a good price for her, and therefore
watched his opportunity to lay a complaint against him of
purloining my property, by which scheme he would, he thought, get
Bombay's place as storekeeper himself. In a sly manner Bombay
employed some of my other men to take five wires, a red blanket,
and 500 strings of beads, to his would-be father-in-law, which,
by a previously-concocted arrangement, was to be her dowry price.
These men did as they were bid; but the father-in-law returned
things, saying he must have one more wire. That being also
supplied, the scoundrel wanted more, and made so much fuss about
it, that Baraka became conversant with all that was going on, and
told me of it.
This set the whole camp in a flame, for Bombay and Baraka were
both very drunk, as well as most of the other men, so that it was
with great difficulty I could get hold of the rights of their
stories. Bombay acknowledged he had tried to get the girl, for
they had been sentimentalising together for several days, and
both alike wished to be married. Baraka, he said, was allowed to
keep a wife, and his position, demanded that he should have one
also; but the wires were his own property, and not mine, for he
was given them by the chiefs as a perquisite when I paid their
hongo through him. He thought it most unjust and unfair of
Baraka to call him to account in that way, but he was not
surprised at it, as Baraka, from the beginning of the journey to
the present moment, had always been backbiting him, to try and
usurp his position. Baraka, at this, somewhat taken aback, said
there were no such things as perquisites on a journey like this;
for whatever could be saved from the chiefs was for the common
good of all, and all alike ought to share in it--repeating words
I had often expressed. Then Bombay retorted trembling and
foaming in his liquor: "I know I shall get the worst of it, for
whilst Baraka's tongue is a yard long, mine is only an inch; but
I would not have spent any wires of master's to purchase slaves
with (alluding to what Baraka had done at Mihambo); nor would I,
for any purpose of making myself richer; but when it comes to a
wife, that's a different thing."
In my heart I liked Bombay all the more for this confession, but
thought it necessary to extol Baraka for his quickness in finding
him out, which drove Bombay nearly wild. He wished me to degrade
him, if I thought him dishonest; threw himself on the ground, and
kissed my feet. I might thrash him, turn him into a porter, or
do anything else that I liked with him, as long as I did not
bring a charge of dishonesty against him. He could not explain
himself with Baraka's long tongue opposed to him, but there were
many deficiencies in my wires before he took overcharge at Bogue,
which he must leave for settlement till the journey was over, and
then, the whole question having been sifted at Zanzibar, we would
see who was the most honest. I then counted all the wires over,
at Bombay's request, and found them complete in numbers, without
those he had set aside from the dowry money. Still there was a
doubt, for the wires might have been cut by him without
detection, as from the commencement they were of different
lengths. However, I tried to make them friends, claimed all the
wires myself, and cautioned every man in the camp again, that
they were all losers when anything was misappropriated; for I
brought this property to pay our way with and whatever balance
was over at the end of the journey I would divide amongst the
whole of them.
12th and 13th.--When more sober, Bombay again came to crave a
thousand pardons for what he had done, threw himself down at my
feet, then at Grant's, kissed our toes, swore I was his Ma Pap
(father and mother); he had no father or mother to teach him
better; he owed all his prosperity to me; men must err sometimes;
oh, if I would only forgive him,--and so forth. Then being
assured that I knew he never would have done as he had if a
woman's attractions had not led him astray, he went to his work
again like a man, and consoled himself by taking Sangizo's sister
to wife on credit instead of the old love, promising to pay the
needful out of his pay, and to return her to her brother when the
journey was over.
In the evening Virembo and Karambule came to receive the hongo
for their chief, demanding 60 wires, 160 yards merikani, 300
strings of mzizima, and 5000 strings of white beads; but they
allowed themselves to be beaten down to 50 wires, 20 pretty
cloths, 100 strings mzizima, and 4000 kutuamnazi, or cocoa-nut-
leaf coloured beads, my white being all done. It was too late,
however, to count all the things out, so they came the next day
and took them. They then said we might go as soon as we had
settled with the Wahinda or Wanawami (the king's children), for
Suwarora could not see us this time, as he was so engaged with
his army; but he hoped to see us and pay us more respect when we
returned from Uganda, little thinking that I had sworn in my mind
never to see him, or return that way again. I said to those men,
I thought he was ashamed to see us, as he had robbed us so after
inviting us into the country, else he was too superstitious, for
he ought at least to have given us a place in his palace. They
both rebutted the insinuation; and, to change the subject,
commenced levying the remaining dues to the princes, which ended
by my giving thirty-four wires and six pretty cloths in a lump.
Early in the morning we were on foot again, only too thankful to
have got off so cheaply. Then men were appointed as guides and
protectors, to look after us as far as the border. What an
honour! We had come into the country drawn there by a combination
of pride and avarice and now we were leaving it in hot haste
under the guidance of an escort of officers, who were in reality
appointed to watch us as dangerous wizards and objects of terror.
It was all the same to us, as we now only thought of the prospect
of relief before us, and laughed at what we had gone through.
Rising out of the Uthungu valley, we walked over rolling ground,
drained in the dips by miry rush rivulets. The population was
thinly scattered in small groups of grass huts, where the scrub
jungle had been cleared away. On the road we passed cairns, to
which every passer-by contributed a stone. Of the origin of the
cairns I could not gain any information, though it struck me as
curious I should find them in the first country we had entered
governed by the Wahuma, as I formerly saw the same thing in the
Somali country, which doubtless, in earlier days, was governed by
a branch of the Abyssinians. Arrived at our camping, we were
immediately pounced upon by a deputation of officers, who said
they had been sent by Semamba, the officer of this district. He
lived ten miles from the road; but hearing of our approach, he
had sent these men to take his dues. At first I objected to pay,
lest he should afterwards treat me as Virembo had done; but I
gave way in the end, and paid nine wires, two chintz and two
bindera cloths, as the guides said they would stand my security
against any further molestation.
Rattling on again as merry as larks, over the same red sandstone
formation, we entered a fine forest, and trended on through it as
a stiff pace until we arrived at the head of a deep valley called
Lohuati, which was so beautiful we instinctively pulled up to
admire it. Deep down its well-wooded side below us was a stream,
of most inviting aspect for a trout-fisher, flowing towards the
N'yanza. Just beyond it the valley was clothed with fine trees
and luxuriant vegetation of all descriptions, amongst which was
conspicuous the pretty pandana palm, and rich gardens of
plantains; whilst thistles of extraordinary size and wild indigo
were the more common weeds. The land beyond that again rolled
back in high undulations, over which, in the far distance, we
could see a line of cones, red and bare on their tops, guttered
down with white streaks, looking for all the world like recent
volcanoes; and in the far background, rising higher than all,
were the rich grassy hills of Karague and Kishakka.
On resuming our march, a bird, called khongota, flew across our
path; seeing which, old Nasib, beaming with joy, in his
superstitious belief cried out with delight, "Ah, look at that
good omen!--now our journey will be sure to be prosperous."
After fording the stream, we sat down to rest, and were visited
by all the inhabitants, who were more naked than any people we
had yet seen. All the maidens, even at the age of puberty, did
not hesitate to stand boldly in front of us--for evil thoughts
were not in their minds. From this we rose over a stony hill to
the settlement of Vihembe, which, being the last on the Usui
frontier, induced me to give our guides three wires each, and
four yards of bindera, which Nasib said was their proper fee.
Here Bombay's would-be, but disappointed, father-in-law sent
after us to say that he required a hongo; Suwarora had never
given his sanction to our quitting his country; his hongo even
was not settled. He wished, moreover, particularly to see us;
and if we did not return in a friendly manner, an army would
arrest our march immediately.
Chapter VIII
Karague
Relief from Protectors and Pillagers--The Scenery and Geology--
Meeting with the Friendly King Rumanika--His Hospitalities and
Attention--His Services to the Expedition--Philosophical and
Theological Inquiries--The Royal Family of Karague--The M-Fumbiro
Mountain--Navigation of "The Little Windermere"--The New-Moon
Levee --Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus Hunting--Measurement of a
Fattened Queen--Political Polygamy--Christmas--Rumours of
Petherick's Expedition--Arrangements to meet it--March to Uganda.
This was a day of relief and happiness. A load was removed from
us in seeing the Wasui "protectors" depart, with the truly
cheering information that we now had nothing but wild animals to
contend with before reaching Karague. This land is "neutral," by
which is meant that it is untenanted by human beings; and we
might now hope to bid adieu for a time to the scourging system of
taxation to which we had been subjected.
Gradually descending from the spur which separates the Lohugati
valley from the bed of the Lueru lo Urigi, or Lake of Urigi, the
track led us first through a meadow of much pleasing beauty, and
then through a passage between the "saddle-back" domes we had
seen from the heights above Lohugati, where a new geological
formation especially attracted my notice. From the green slopes
of the hills, set up at a slant, as if the central line of
pressure on the dome top had weighed on the inside plates,
protruded soft slabs of argillaceous sandstone, whose laminae
presented a beef-sandwich appearance, puce or purple alternating
with creamy-white. Quartz and other igneous rocks were also
scattered about, lying like superficial accumulations in the dips
at the foot of the hills, and red sandstone conglomerates clearly
indicated the presence of iron. The soil itself looked rich and
red, not unlike our own fine country of Devon.
On arriving in camp we pitched under some trees, and at once were
greeted by an officer sent by Rumanika to help us out of Usui.
This was Kachuchu, an old friend of Nasib's, who no sooner saw
him than, beaming with delight, he said to us, "Now, was I not
right when I told you the birds flying about on Lohugati hill
were a good omen? Look here what this man says: Rumanika has
ordered him to bring you on to his palace at once, and wherever
you stop a day, the village officers are instructed to supply you
with food at the king's expenses, for there are no taxes gathered
from strangers in the kingdom of Karague. Presents may be
exchanged, but the name of tax is ignored." Grant here shot a
rhinoceros, which came well into play to mix with the day's flour
we had carried on from Vihembe.
Deluded yesterday by the sight of the broad waters of the Lueru
lo Urigi, espied in the distance from the top of a hill, into the
belief that we were in view of the N'yanza itself, we walked
triumphantly along, thinking how well the Arabs at Kaze had
described this to be a creek of the great lake; but on arrival in
camp we heard from the village officer that we had been
misinformed, and that it was a detached lake, but connected with
the Victoria N'yanza by a passage in the hills and the Kitangule
river. Formerly, he said, the Urigi valley was covered with
water, extending up to Uhha, when all the low lands we had
crossed from Usui had to be ferried, and the saddle-back hills
were a mere chain of islands in the water. But the country had
dried up, and the lake of Urigi became a small swamp. He further
informed us, that even in the late king Dagara's time it was a
large sheet of water; but the instant he ceased to exist, the
lake shrank to what we now saw.
Our day's march had been novel and very amusing. The hilly
country surrounding us, together with the valley, brought back to
recollection many happy days I had once spent with the Tartars in
the Thibetian valley of the Indus--only this was more
picturesque; for though both countries are wild, and very thinly
inhabited, this was greened over with grass, and dotted here and
there on the higher slopes with thick bush of acacias, the haunts
of rhinoceros, both white and black; whilst in the flat of the
valley, herds of hartebeests and fine cattle roamed about like
the kiyang and tame yak of Thibet. Then, to enhance all these
pleasure, so different from our former experiences, we were
treated like guests by the chief of the place, who, obeying the
orders of his king, Rumanika, brought me presents, as soon as we
arrived, of sheep, fowls, and sweet potatoes, and was very
thankful for a few yards of red blanketing as a return, without
begging for more.
The farther we went in this country the better we liked it, as
the people were all kept in good order; and the village chiefs
were so civil, that we could do as we liked. After following
down the left side of the valley and entering the village, the
customary presents and returns were made. Wishing then to obtain
a better view of the country, I strolled over the nearest hills,
and found the less exposed slopes well covered with trees. Small
antelopes occasionally sprang up from the grass. I shot a
florikan for the pot; and as I had never before seen white
rhinoceros, killed one now; though, as no one would eat him, I
felt sorry rather than otherwise for what I had done. When I
returned in the evening, small boys brought me sparrows for sale;
and then I remembered the stories I had heard from Musa Mzuri--
that in the whole of Karague the small birds were so numerous,
the people, to save themselves from starvation were obliged to
grow a bitter corn which the birds disliked; and so I found it.
At night, whilst observing for latitude, I was struck by surprise
to see a long noisy procession pass by where I sat, led by some
men who carried on their shoulders a woman covered up in a
blackened skin. On inquiry, however, I heard she was being taken
to the hut of her espoused, where, "bundling fashion," she would
be put in bed; but it was only with virgins they took so much
trouble.
A strange but characteristic story now reached my ears. Masudi,
the merchant who took up Insangez, had been trying his best to
deter Rumanika from allowing us to enter his country, by saying
we were addicted to sorcery; and had it not been for Insangez's
remonstrances, who said we were sent up by Musa, our fate would
have been doubtful. Rumanika, it appeared, as I always had
heard, considered old Musa his saviour, for having eight years
before quelled a rebellion, when his younger brother, Rogero,
aspired to the throne; whilst Musa's honour and honesty were
quite unimpeachable. But more of this hereafter.
Khonze, the next place, lying in the bending concave of this
swamp lake, and facing Hangiro, was commanded by a fine elderly
man called Muzegi, who was chief officer during Dagara's time.
He told me with the greatest possible gravity, that he remembered
well the time when a boat could have gone from this to Vigura; as
also when fish and crocodiles came up from the Kitangule; but the
old king no sooner died than the waters dried up; which showed as
plainly as words could tell, that the king had designed it, to
make men remember him with sorrow in all future ages. Our
presents after this having been exchanged, the good old man, at
my desire, explained the position of all the surrounding
countries, in his own peculiar manner, by laying a long stick on
the ground pointing due north and south, to which he attached
shorter ones pointing to the centre of each distant country. He
thus assisted me in the protractions of the map, to the countries
which lie east and west of the route.
Shortly after starting this morning, we were summoned by the last
officer on the Urigi to take breakfast with him, as he could not
allow us to pass by without paying his respects to the king's
guests. He was a man of most affable manners, and loth we should
part company without one night's entertainment at least; but as
it was a matter of necessity, he gave us provisions to eat on the
way, adding, at the same time, he was sorry he could not give
more, as a famine was then oppressing the land. We parted with
reiterated compliments on both sides; and shortly after, diving
into the old bed of the Urigi, were constantly amused with the
variety of game which met our view. On several occasions the
rhinoceros were so numerous and impudent as to contest the right
of the road with us, and the greatest sport was occasioned by our
bold Wanguana going at them in parties of threes and fours, when,
taking good care of themselves at considerable distances, they
fired their carbines all together, and whilst the rhinoceros ran
one way, they ran the other. Whilst we were pitching our tents
after sunset by some pools on the plain, Dr K'yengo arrived with
the hongo of brass and copper wires sent by Suwarora for the
great king Mtesa, in lieu of his daughter who died; so next
morning we all marched together on to Uthenga.
Rising out of the bed of the Urigi, we passed over a low spur of
beef-sandwich clay sandstones, and descended into the close, rich
valley of Uthenga, bound in by steep hills hanging over us more
than a thousand feet high, as prettily clothed as the mountains
of Scotland; whilst in the valley there were not only magnificent
trees of extraordinary height, but also a surprising amount of
the richest cultivation, amongst which the banana may be said to
prevail. Notwithstanding this apparent richness in the land, the
Wanyambo, living in their small squalid huts, seem poor. The
tobacco they smoke is imported from the coffee-growing country of
Uhaiya. After arrival in the village, who should we see but the
Uganda officer, Irungu! The scoundrel, instead of going on to
Uganda, as he had promised to do, conveying my present to Mtesa,
had stopped here plundering the Wanyambo, and getting drunk on
their pombe, called, in their language, marwa--a delicious kind
of wine made from the banana. He, or course, begged for more
beads; but, not able to trick me again, set his drummers and
fifers at work, in hopes that he would get over our feelings in
that way.
Henceforth, as we marched, Irungu's drummers and fifers kept us
alive on the way. This we heard was a privilege that Uganda
Wakungu enjoyed both at home and abroad, although in all other
countries the sound of the drum is considered a notice of war,
unless where it happens to accompany a dance or festival.
Leaving the valley of Uthenga, we rose over the spur of
N'yamwara, where we found we had attained the delightful altitude
of 5000 odd feet. Oh, how we enjoyed it! every one feeling so
happy at the prospect of meeting so soon the good king Rumanika.
Tripping down the greensward, we now worked our way to the Rozoka
valley, and pitched our tents in the village.
Kachuchu here told us he had orders to precede us, and prepare
Rumanika for our coming, as his king wished to know what place we
would prefer to live at--the Arab depot at kufro, on the direct
line to Uganda, in his palace with himself, or outside his
enclosures. Such politeness rather took us aback; so, giving our
friend a coil of copper wire to keep him in good spirits, I said
all our pleasure rested in seeing the king; whatever honours he
liked to confer on us we should take with good grace, but one
thing he must understand, we came not to trade, but to see him
and great kings and therefore the Arabs had no relations with us.
This little point settled, off started Kachuchu in his usual
merry manner, whilst I took a look at the hills, to see their
geological formation, and found them much as before, based on
streaky clay sandstones, with the slight addition of pure blue
shales, and above sections of quartzose sandstone lying in flags,
as well as other metamorphic and igneous rocks scattered about.
Moving on the next morning over hill and dale, we came to the
junction of two roads, where Irungu, with his drummers, fifers
and amazon followers, took one way to Kufro, followed by the men
carrying Suwarora's hongo, and we led off on the other, directed
to the palace. The hill-tops in many places were breasted with
dykes of pure white quartz, just as we had seen in Usui, only
that here their direction tended more to the north. It was most
curious to contemplate, seeing that the chief substance of the
hills was a pure blue, or otherwise streaky clay sandstone, which
must have been formed when the land was low, but has now been
elevated, making these hills the axis of the centre of the
continent, and therefore probably the oldest of all.
When within a few miles of the palace we were ordered to stop and
wait for Kachuchu's return; but no sooner put up in a plaintain
grove, where pombe was brewing, and our men were all taking a
suck at it, than the worthy arrived to call us on the same
instant, as the king was most anxious to see us. The love of
good beer of course made our men all too tired to march again; so
I sent off Bombay with Nasib to make our excuses, and in the
evening found them returning with a huge pot of pombe and some
royal tobacco, which Rumanika sent with a notice that he intended
it exclusively for our own use, for though there was abundance
for my men, there was nothing so good as what came from the
palace; the royal tobacco was as sweet and strong as honey-dew,
and the beer so strong it required a strong man to drink it.
After breakfast next morning, we crossed the hill-spur called
Waeranhanje, the grassy tops of which were 5500 feet above the
sea. Descending a little, we came suddenly in view of what
appeared to us a rich clump of trees, in S. lat. 1§ 42' 42", and
E. long. 31§ 1' 49"; and, 500 feet below it, we saw a beautiful
sheet of water lying snugly within the folds of the hills. We
were not altogether unprepared for it, as Musa of old had
described it, and Bombay, on his return yesterday, told us he had
seen a great pond. The clump, indeed, was the palace enclosure.
As to the lake, for want of a native name, I christened it the
Little Winderemere, because Grant thought it so like our own
English lake of that name. It was one of many others which, like
that of Urigi, drains the moisture of the overhanging hills, and
gets drained into the Victoria N'yanza through the Kitangule
river.
To do royal honours to the king of this charming land, I ordered
my men to put down their loads and fire a volley. This was no
sooner done than, as we went to the palace gate, we received an
invitation to come in at once, for the king wished to see us
before attending to anything else. Now, leaving our traps
outside, both Grant and myself, attended by Bombay and a few of
the seniors of my Wanguana, entered the vestibule, and, walking
through extensive enclosures studded with huts of kingly
dimensions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which the
Arabs had built as a sort of government office where the king
might conduct his state affairs.
Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged on the ground
Rumanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji, both of them men of
noble appearance and size. The king was plainly dressed in an
Arab's black choga, and wore, for ornament, dress-stockings of
rich-coloured beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper.
Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high pretensions, in addition to
a check cloth wrapped round him, was covered with charms. At
their sides lay huge pipes of black clay. In their rear,
squatting quiet as mice, were all the king's sons, some six or
seven lads, who wore leather middle-coverings, and little dream-
charms tied under their chins. The first greetings of the king,
delivered in good Kisuahili, were warm and affecting, and in an
instant we both felt and saw we were in the company of men who
were as unlike as they could be to the common order of the
natives of the surrounding districts. They had fine oval faces,
large eyes, and high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia.
Having shaken hands in true English style, which is the peculiar
custom of the men of this country, the ever-smiling Rumanika
begged us to be seated on the ground opposite to him, and at once
wished to know what we thought of Karague, for it had struck him
his mountains were the finest in the world; and the lake, too,
did we not admire it? Then laughing, he inquired--for he knew
all the story--what we thought of Suwarora, and the reception we
had met with in Usui. When this was explained to him, I showed
him that it was for the interest of his own kingdom to keep a
check on Suwarora, whose exorbitant taxations prevented the Arabs
from coming to see him and bringing things from all parts of the
world. He made inquiries for the purpose of knowing how we found
our way all over the world; for on the former expedition a letter
had come to him for Musa, who no sooner read it than he said I
had called him and he must leave, as I was bound for Ujiji.
This of course led to a long story, describing the world, the
proportions of land and water, and the power of ships, which
conveyed even elephants and rhinoceros--in fact, all the animals
in the world--to fill our menageries at home,--etc., etc.; as
well as the strange announcement that we lived to the northward,
and had only come this way because his friend Musa had assured me
without doubt that he would give us the road on through Uganda.
Time flew like magic, the king's mind was so quick and enquiring;
but as the day was wasting away, he generously gave us our option
to choose a place for our residence in or out of his palace, and
allowed us time to select one. We found the view overlooking the
lake to be so charming, that we preferred camping outside, and
set our men at once to work cutting sticks and long grass to
erect themselves sheds.
One of the young princes--for the king ordered them all to be
constantly in attendance on us--happening to see me sit on an
iron chair, rushed back to his father and told him about it.
This set all the royals in the palace in a state of high wonder,
and ended by my getting a summons to show off the white man
sitting on his throne; for of course I could only be, as all of
them called me, a king of great dignity, to indulge in such
state. Rather reluctantly I did as I was bid, and allowed myself
once more to be dragged into court. Rumanika, as gentle as ever,
then burst into a fresh fit of merriment, and after making sundry
enlightened remarks of enquire, which of course were responded to
with the greatest satisfaction, finished off by saying, with a
very expressive shake of the head, "Oh, these Wazungu, these
Wazungu! they know and do everything."
I then put in a word for myself. Since we had entered Karague we
never could get one drop of milk either for love or for money,
and I wished to know what motive the Wahuma had for withholding
it. We had heard they held superstitious dreads; that any one who
ate the flesh of pigs, fish, or fowls, or the bean called
Maharague, if he tasted the products of their cows, would destroy
their cattle --and I hoped he did not labour under any such
absurd delusions. To which he replied, It was only the poor who
thought so; and as he now saw we were in want, he would set apart
one of his cows expressly for our use. On bidding adieu, the
usual formalities of handshaking were gone through; and on
entering camp, I found the good thoughtful king had sent us some
more of his excellent beer.
The Wanguana were now all in the highest of good-honour; for time
after time goats and fowls were brought into camp by the officers
of the king, who had received orders from all parts of the
country to bring in supplies for his guests; and this kind of
treatment went on for a month, though it did not diminish my
daily expenditures of beads, as grain and plantains were not
enough thought of. The cold winds, however, made the coast-men
all shiver, and suspect, in their ignorance, we must be drawing
close to England, the only cold place they had heard of.
16th.--Hearing it would be considered indecent haste to present
my tributary offering at once, I paid my morning's visit, only
taking my revolving-pistol, as I knew Rumanika had expressed a
strong wish to see it. The impression it made was surprising--he
had never seen such a thing in his life; so, in return for his
great generosity, as well as to show I placed no value on
property, not being a merchant, I begged him to accept it. We
then adjourned to his private hut, which rather surprised me by
the neatness with which it was kept. The roof was supported by
numerous clean poles, to which he had fastened a large assortment
of spears--brass-headed with iron handles, and iron-headed with
wooden ones--of excellent workmanship. A large standing-screen,
of fine straw-plait work, in elegant devices, partitioned off one
part of the room; and on the opposite side, as mere ornaments,
were placed a number of brass grapnels and small models of cows,
made in iron for his amusement by the Arabs at Kufro. A little
later in the day, as soon as we had done breakfast, both Rumanika
and Nnanaji came over to pay us a visit; for they thought, as we
could find our way all over the world, so we should not find much
difficulty in prescribing some magic charms to kill his brother,
Rogero, who lived on a hill overlooking the Kitangule. Seating
them both on our chairs, which amused them intensely, I asked
Rumanika, although I had heard before the whole facts of the
case, what motives now induced him to wish the committal of such
a terrible act, and brought out the whole story afresh.
Before their old father Dagara died, he had unwittingly said to
the mother of Rogero, although he was the youngest born, what a
fine king he would make; and the mother, in consequence, tutored
her son to expect the command of the country, although the law of
the land in the royal family is the primogeniture system,
extending, however, only to those sons who are born after the
accession of the king to the throne.
As soon, therefore, as Dagara died, leaving the three sons
alluded to, all by different mothers, a contest took place with
the brothers, which, as Nnanaji held by Rumanika, ended in the
two elder driving Rogero away. It happened, however, that half
the men of the country, either from fear or love, attached
themselves to Rogero. Feeling his power, he raised an army and
attempted to fight for the crown, which it is generally admitted
would have succeeded, had not Musa, with unparalleled
magnanimity, employed all the ivory merchandise at his command to
engage the services of all the Arabs' slaves residing at Kufro,
to bring muskets against him. Rogero was thus frightened away;
but he went away swearing that he would carry out his intentions
at some future date, when the Arabs had withdrawn from the
country.
Magic charms, of course, we had none; but the king would not
believe it, and, to wheedle some out of us, said they would not
kill their brother even if they caught him--for fratricide was
considered an unnatural crime in their country--but they would
merely gouge out his eyes and set him at large again; for without
the power of sight he could do them no harm.
I then recommended, as the best advice I could give him for the
time being, to take some strong measures against Suwarora and the
system of taxation carried on in Usui. These would have the
effect of bringing men with superior knowledge into the country--
for it was only through the power of knowledge that good
government could be obtained. Suwarora at present stopped eight-
tenths of the ivory-merchants who might be inclined to trade here
from coming into the country, by the foolish system of excessive
taxation he had established. Next I told him, if he would give
me one or two of his children, I would have them instructed in
England; for I admired his race, and believed them to have sprung
from our old friends the Abyssinians, whose king, Sahela
Selassie, had received rich presents from our Queen. They were
Christians like ourselves, and had the Wahuma not lost their
knowledge of God they would be so also. A long theological and
historical discussion ensued, which so pleased the king, that he
said he would be delighted if I would take two of his sons to
England, that they might bring him a knowledge of everything.
Then turning again to the old point, his utter amazement that we
should spend so much property in travelling, he wished to know
what we did it for; when men had such means they would surely sit
down and enjoy it. "Oh no," was the reply; "we have had our fill
of the luxuries of life; eating, drinking, or sleeping have no
charms for us now; we are above trade, therefore require no
profits, and seek for enjoyment the run of the world. To observe
and admire the beauties of creation are worth much more than
beads to us. But what led us this way we have told you before;
it was to see your majesty in particular, and the great kings of
Africa--and at the same time to open another road to the north,
whereby the best manufactures or Europe would find their way to
Karague, and you would get so many more guests." In the highest
good-humour the king said, "As you have come to see me and see
sights, I will order some boats and show you over the lake, with
musicians to play before you, or anything else that you like."
Then, after looking over our pictures with intensest delight, and
admiring our beds, boxes, and outfit in general, he left for the
day.
In the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa that the wives of the
king and princes were fattened to such an extent that they could
not stand upright, I paid my respects to Wazezeru, the king's
eldest brother--who, having been born before his father ascended
the throne, did not come in the line of succession--with the hope
of being able to see for myself the truth of the story. There
was no mistake about it. On entering the hut I found the old man
and his chief wife sitting side by side on a bench of earth
strewed over with grass, and partitioned like stalls for sleeping
apartments, whilst in front of them were placed numerous wooden
pots of milk, and hanging from the poles that supported the
beehive-shaped hut, a large collection of bows six feet in
length, whilst below them were tied an even larger collection of
spears, intermixed with a goodly assortment of heavy-headed
assages. I was struck with no small surprise at the way he
received me, as well as with the extraordinary dimensions, yet
pleasing beauty, of the immoderately fat fair one his wife. She
could not rise; and so large were her arms that, between the
joints, the flesh hung down like large, loose-stuffed puddings.
Then in came their children, all models of the Abyssinian type of
beauty, and as polite in their manners as thorough-bred
gentlemen. They had heard of my picture-books from the king, and
all wished to see them; which they no sooner did, to their
infinite delight, especially when they recognised any of the
animals, then the subject was turned by my inquiring what they
did with so many milk-pots. This was easily explained by
Wazezeru himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, "This is all
the product of those pots: from early youth upwards we keep those
pots to their mouths, as it is the fashion at court to have very
fat wives."
27th.--Ever anxious to push on with the journey, as I felt every
day's delay only tended to diminish my means--that is, my beads
and copper wire--I instructed Bombay to take the under-mentioned
articles to Rumanika as a small sample of the products of my
country;[FN#11] to say I felt quite ashamed of their being so few
and so poor, but I hoped he would forgive my shortcomings, as he
knew I had been so often robbed on the way to him; and I trusted,
in recollection of Musa, he would give me leave to go on to
Uganda, for every day's delay was consuming my supplies.
Nnanaji, however, it was said, should get something; so, in
addition to the king's present, I apportioned one out for him,
and Bombay took both up to the palace.[FN#12] Everybody, I was
pleased to hear, was surprised with both the quantity and quality
of what I had been able to find for them; for, after the
plundering in Ugogo, the immense consumption caused by such long
delays on the road, the fearful prices I had had to pay for my
porters' wages, the enormous taxes I had been forced to give both
in Msalala and Uzinza, besides the constant thievings in camp,
all of which was made public by the constantly-recurring tales of
my men, nobody thought I had got anything left.
Rumanika, above all, was as delighted as if he had come in for a
fortune, and sent to say the Raglan coat was a marvel, and the
scarlet broadcloth the finest thing he had ever seen. Nobody but
Musa had ever given him such beautiful beads before, and none
ever gave with such free liberality. Whatever I wanted I should
have in return for it, as it was evident to him I had really done
him a great honour in visiting him. Neither his father nor any
of his forefathers had had such a great favour shown them. He
was alarmed, he confessed, when he heard we were coming to visit
him, thinking we might prove some fearful monsters that were not
quite human, but now he was delighted beyond all measure with
what he saw of us. A messenger should be sent at once to the king
of Uganda to inform him of our intention to visit him, with his
own favourable report of us. This was necessary according to the
etiquette of the country. Without such a recommendation our
progress would be stopped by the people, whilst with one word
from him all would go straight; for was he not the gatekeeper,
enjoying the full confidence of Uganda? A month, however, must
elapse, as the distance to the palace of Uganda was great; but,
in the meantime, he would give me leave to go about in his
country to do and see what I liked, Nnanaji and his sons
escorting me everywhere. Moreover, when the time came for my
going on to Uganda, if I had not enough presents to give the
king, he would fill up the complement from his own stores, and
either go with me himself, or send Nnanaji to conduct me as far
as the boundary of Uganda, in order that Rogero might not molest
us on the way. In the evening, Masudi, with Sangoro and several
other merchants, came up from Kufro to pay us a visit of respect.
28th and 29th.--A gentle hint having come to us that the king's
brother, Wazezeru, expected a trifle in virtue of his rank, I
sent him a blanket and seventy-five blue egg-beads. These were
accepted with the usual good grace of these people. The king
then, ever attentive to our position as guests, sent his royal
musicians to give us a tune. The men composing the band were a
mixture of Waganda and Wanyambo, who played on reed instruments
made telescope fashion, marking time by hand-drums. At first
they marched up and down, playing tunes exactly like the
regimental bands of the Turks, and then commenced dancing a
species of "hornpipe," blowing furiously all the while. When
dismissed with some beads, Nnanaji dropped in and invited me to
accompany him out shooting on the slopes of the hills overlooking
the lake. He had in attendance all the king's sons, as well as a
large number of beaters, with three or four dogs. Tripping down
the greensward of the hills together, these tall, athletic
princes every now and then stopped to see who could shoot
furthest, and I must say I never witnessed better feats in my
life. With powerful six-feet-long bows they pulled their arrows'
heads up to the wood, and made wonderful shots in the distance.
They then placed me in position, and arranging the field, drove
the covers like men well accustomed to sport--indeed, it struck
me they indulged too much in that pleasure, for we saw nothing
but two or three montana and some diminutive antelopes, about the
size of mouse deer, and so exceedingly shy that not one was
bagged.
Returning home to the tents as the evening sky was illumined with
the red glare of the sun, my attention was attracted by observing
in the distance some bold sky-scraping cones situated in the
country Ruanda, which at once brought back to recollection the
ill-defined story I had heard from the Arabs of a wonderful hill
always covered with clouds, on which snow or hail was constantly
falling. This was a valuable discovery, for I found these hills
to be the great turn-point of the Central African watershed.
Without loss of time I set to work, and, gathering all the
travellers I could in the country, protracted, from their
descriptions, all the distance topographical features set down in
the map, as far north as 3§ of north latitude, as far east as
36§, and as far west as 26§ of east longitude; only afterwards
slightly corrected, as I was better able to connect and clear up
some trifling but doubtful points.
Indeed, I was not only surprised at the amount of information
about distant places I was enabled to get here from these men,
but also at the correctness of their vast and varied knowledge,
as I afterwards tested it by observation and the statements of
others. I rely so far on the geographical information I thus
received, that I would advise no one to doubt the accuracy of
these protractions until he has been on the spot to test them by
actual inspection. About the size only of the minor lakes do I
feel doubtful, more especially the Little Luta Nzige, which on
the former journey I heard was a salt lake, because salt was
found on its shores and in one of its islands. Now, without
going into any lengthy details, and giving Rumanika due credit
for everything--for had he not ordered his men to give me every
information that lay in their power, they would not have done so-
-I will merely say for the present that, whilst they conceived
the Victoria N'yanza would take a whole month for a canoe to
cross it, they thought the Little Luta Nzige might be crossed in
a week. The Mfumbiro cones in Ruanda, which I believe reach
10,000 feet, are said to be the highest of the "Mountains of the
Moon." At their base are both salt and copper mines, as well as
hot springs. There are also hot springs in Mpororo, and one in
Karague near where Rogero lived.
30th.--The important business of announcing our approach to
Uganda was completed by Rumanika appointing Kachuchu to go to
king Mtesa as quickly as possible, to say we were coming to visit
him. He was told that we were very great men, who only travelled
to see great kings and great countries; and, as such, Rumanika
trusted we should be received with courteous respect, and allowed
to roam all over the country wherever we liked, he holding
himself responsible for our actions for the time being. In the
end, however, we were to be restored to him, as he considered
himself our father, and therefore must see that no accident
befell us.
To put the royal message in proper shape, I was now requested to
send some trifle by way of a letter or visiting card; but, on
taking out a Colt's revolving rifle for the purpose, Rumanika
advised me not to send it, as Mtesa might take fright, and,
considering it a charm of evil quality, reject us as bad
magicians, and close his gates on us. Three bits of cotton cloth
were then selected as the best thing for the purpose; and,
relying implicitly on the advice of Rumanika, who declared his
only object was to further our views, I arranged accordingly, and
off went Kachuchu.
To keep my friend in good-humour, and show him how well the
English can appreciate a kindness, I presented him with a hammer,
a sailor's knife, a Rodger's three-bladed penknife, a gilt
letter-slip with paper and envelopes, some gilt pens, an ivory
holder, and a variety of other small articles. Of each of these
he asked the use, and then in high glee put it into the big
block-tin box, in which he kept his other curiosities, and which
I think he felt more proud of than any other possession. After
this, on adjourning to his baraza, Ungurue the Pig, who had
floored my march in Sorombo, and Makinga, our persecutor in Usui,
came in to report that the Watuta had been fighting in Usui, and
taken six bomas, upon which Rumanika asked me what I thought of
it, and if I knew where the Watuta came from. I said I was not
surprised to hear Usui had attracted the Watuta's cupidity, for
every one knew of the plundering propensities of the inhabitants,
and as they became rich by their robberies, they must in turn
expect to be robbed. Where the Watuta came from, nobody could
tell; they were dressed something like the Zulu Kaffirs of the
South, but appeared to be now gradually migrating from the
regions of N'yazza. To this Dr K'yengo, who was now living with
Rumanika as his head magician, added that, whilst he was living
in Utambara, the Watuta invested his boma six months; and
finally, when all their cows and stores were exhausted, they
killed all the inhabitants but himself, and he only escaped by
the power of the charms which he carried about him. These were
so powerful, that although he lay on the ground, and the Watuta
struck at him with their spears, not one could penetrate his
body.
In the evening after this, as the king wished to see all my
scientific instruments, we walked down to the camp; and as he did
not beg for anything, I gave him some gold and mother-of-pearl
shirt studs to swell up his trinket-box. The same evening I made
up my mind, if possible, to purchase a stock of beads from the
Arabs, and sent Baraka off to Kufro, to see what kind of a
bargain he could make with them; for, whilst I trembled to think
what those "blood-suckers" would have the impudence to demand
when they found me at their mercy, I felt that the beads must be
bought, or the expedition would certainly come to grief.
1st and 2d.--Two days after this the merchants came in a body to
see me, and said their worst beads would stand me 80 dollars per
frasala, as they would realise that value in ivory on arrival at
the coast. Of course no business was done, for the thing was
preposterous by all calculation, being close on 2500 per cent.
above Zanzibar valuation. I was "game" to give 50 dollars, but
as they would not take this, I thought of dealing with Rumanika
instead. I then gave Nnanaji, who had been constantly throwing
out hints that I ought to give him a gun as he was a great
sportsman, a lappet of beadwork to keep his tongue quiet, and he
in return sent me a bullock and sundry pots of pombe, which, in
addition to the daily allowance sent by Rumanika, made all my
people drunk, and so affected Baraka that one of the women--also
drunk--having given him some sharp abuse, he beat her in so
violent a manner that the whole drunken camp set upon him, and
turned the place into a pandemonium. A row amongst the negroes
means a general rising of arms, legs, and voices; all are in a
state of the greatest excitement; and each individual thinks he
is doing the best to mend matters, but is actually doing his best
to create confusion.
By dint of perseverance, I now succeeded in having Baraka
separated from the crowd and dragged before me for justice. I
found that the woman, who fully understood the jealous hatred
which existed in Baraka's heart against Bombay, flirted with both
of them; and, pretending to show a preference for Bombay, set
Baraka against her, when from high words they came to blows, and
set the place in a blaze. It was useless to remonstrate--Baraka
insisted he would beat the woman if she abused him, no matter
whether I thought it cowardly or not; he did not come with me
expecting to be bullied in this way--the whole fault lay with
Bombay--I did not do him justice-- when he proved Bombay a thief
at Usui, I did not turn him off, but now, instead, I showed the
preference to Bombay by always taking him when I went to
Rumanika. It was useless to argue with such a passionate man, so
I told him to go away and cool himself before morning.
When he was gone, Bombay said there was not one man in the camp,
besides his own set, who wished to go on to Egypt--for they had
constant arguments amongst themselves about it; and whilst Bombay
always said he would follow me wherever I led, Baraka and those
who held by him abused him and his set for having tricked them
away from Zanzibar, under the false hopes that the road was quite
safe. Bombay said his arguments were, that Bana knew better than
anybody else what he was about, and he would follow him, trusting
to luck, as God was the disposer of all things, and men could die
but once. Whilst Baraka's arguments all rested the other way;--
that no one could tell what was ahead of him--Bana had sold
himself to luck and the devil--but though he did not care for his
own safety, he ought not to sacrifice the lives of others--Bombay
and his lot were fools for their pains in trusting to him.
3d.--At daybreak Rumanika sent us word he was off to Moga-
Namarinzi, a spur of a hill beyond "the Little Windermere,"
overlooking the Ingezi Kagera, or river which separates Kishakka
from Karague, to show me how the Kiangule river was fed by small
lakes and marshes, in accordance with my expressed wish to have a
better comprehension of the drainage system of the Mountains of
the Moon. He hoped we would follow him, not by the land route he
intended to take, but in canoes which he had ordered at the ferry
below. Starting off shortly afterwards, I made for the lake, and
found the canoes all ready, but so small that, besides two
paddlers, only two men could sit down in each. After pushing
through the tall reeds with which the end of the lake is covered,
we emerged in the clear open, and skirted the further side of the
water until a small strait was gained, which led us into another
lake, drained at the northern end with a vast swampy plain,
covered entirely with tall rushes, excepting only in a few places
where bald patches expose the surface of the water, or where the
main streams of the Ingezi and Luchoro valleys cut a clear drain
for themselves.
The whole scenery was most beautiful. Green and fresh, the
slopes of the hills were covered with grass, with small clumps of
soft cloudy-looking acacias growing at a few feet only above the
water, and above them, facing over the hills, fine detached
trees, and here and there the gigantic medicinal aloe. Arrived
near the end of the Moga-Namirinzi hill in the second lake, the
paddlers splashed into shore, where a large concourse of people,
headed by Nnanaji, were drawn up to receive me. I landed with
all the dignity of a prince, when the royal band struck up a
march, and we all moved on to Rumanika's frontier palace, talking
away in a very complimentary manner, not unlike the very polite
and flowery fashion of educated Orientals.
Rumanika we found sitting dressed in a wrapper made of an nzoe
antelope's skin, smiling blandly as we approached him. In the
warmest manner possible he pressed me to sit by his side, asked
how I had enjoyed myself, what I thought of his country, and if I
did not feel hungry; when a pic-nic dinner was spread, and we all
set to at cooked plantains and pombe, ending with a pipe of his
best tobacco. Bit by bit Rumanika became more interested in
geography, and seemed highly ambitious of gaining a world-wide
reputation through the medium of my pen. At his invitation we
now crossed over the spur to the Ingezi Kagera side, when, to
surprise me, the canoes I had come up the lake in appeared before
us. They had gone out of the lake at its northern end, paddled
into, and then up the Kagera to where we stood, showing, by
actual navigation, the connection of these highland lakes with
the rivers which drain the various spurs of the Mountains of the
Moon. The Kagera was deep and dark, of itself a very fine
stream, and, considering it was only one-- and that, too, a minor
one--of the various affluents which drain the mountain valleys
into the Victoria N'yanza through the medium of the Kitangule
river, I saw at once there must be water sufficient to make the
Kitangule a very powerful tributary to the lake.
On leaving this interesting place, with the widespread
information of all the surrounding countries I had gained, my
mind was so impressed with the topographical features of all this
part of Africa, that in my heart I resolved I would make Rumanika
as happy as he had made me, and asked K'yengo his doctor, of all
things I possessed what the king would like best. To my surprise
I then learnt that Rumanika had set his heart on the revolving
rifle I had brought for Mtesa--the one, in fact, which he had
prevented my sending on to Uganda in the hands of Kachuchu, and
he would have begged me for it before had his high-minded
dignity, and the principle he had established of never begging
for anything, not interfered. I then said he should certainly
have it; for as strongly as I had withheld from giving anything
to those begging scoundrels who wished to rob me of all I
possessed in the lower countries, so strongly now did I feel
inclined to be generous with this exceptional man Rumanika. We
then had another pic-nic together, and whilst I went home to join
Grant, Rumanika spent the night doing homage and sacrificing a
bullock at the tomb of his father Dagara.
Instead of paddling all down the lake again, I walked over the
hill, and, on crossing at its northern end, whished to shoot
ducks; but the superstitious boatmen put a stop to my intended
amusement by imploring me not to do so, lest the spirit of the
lake should be roused to dry up the waters.
4th.--Rumanika returned in the morning, walking up the hill,
followed by a long train of his officers, and a party of men
carrying on their shoulders his state carriage, which consisted
of a large open basket laid on the top of two very long poles.
After entering his palace, I immediately called on him to thank
him for the great treat he had given me, and presented him, as an
earnest of what I thought, with the Colt's revolving rifle and a
fair allowance of ammunition. His delight knew no bounds on
becoming the proprietor of such an extraordinary weapon, and
induced him to dwell on his advantages over his brother Rogero,
whose antipathy to him was ever preying on his mind. He urged me
again to devise some plan for overcoming him; and, becoming more
and more confidential, favoured me with the following narrative,
by way of evidence how the spirits were inclined to show all the
world that he was the rightful successor to the throne:--When
Dagara died, and he, Nnanaji, and Rogero, were the only three
sons left in line of succession to the crown, a small mystic drum
of diminutive size was placed before them by the officers of
state. It was only feather weight in reality, but, being loaded
with charms, became so heavy to those who were not entitled to
the crown, that no one could lift it but the one person whom the
spirits were inclined towards as the rightful successor. Now, of
all the three brothers, he, Rumanika, alone could raise it from
the ground; and whilst his brothers laboured hard, in vain
attempting to move it, he with his little finger held it up
without any exertion.
This little disclosure in the history of Karague led us on to
further particulars of Dagara's death and burial, when it
transpired that the old king's body, after the fashion of his
predecessors, was sewn up in a cow-skin, and placed in a boat
floating on the lake, where it remained for three days, until
decomposition set in and maggots were engendered, of which three
were taken into the palace and given in charge to the heir-elect;
but instead of remaining as they were, one worm was transformed
into a lion, another into a leopard, and the third into a stick.
After this the body of the king was taken up and deposited on the
hill Moga-Namirinzi, where, instead of putting him underground,
the people erected a hut over him, and, thrusting in five maidens
and fifty cows, enclosed the doorway in such a manner that the
whole of them subsequently died from starvation.
This, as may naturally be supposed, led into further genealogical
disclosures of a similar nature, and I was told by Rumanika that
his grandfather was a most wonderful man; indeed, Karague was
blessed with more supernatural agencies than any other country.
Rohinda the Sixth, who was his grandfather, numbered so many
years that people thought he would never die; and he even became
so concerned himself about it, reflecting that his son Dagara
would never enjoy the benefit of his position as successor to the
crown of Karague, that he took some magic powders and charmed
away his life. His remains were then taken to Moga-Namirinzi, in
the same manner as were those of Dagara; but, as an improvement
on the maggot story, a young lion emerged from the heart of the
corpse and kept guard over the hill, from whom other lions came
into existence, until the whole place has become infested by
them, and has since made Karague a power and dread to all other
nations; for these lions became subject to the will of Dagara,
who, when attacked by the countries to the northward, instead of
assembling an army of men, assembled his lion force, and so swept
all before him.
Another test was then advanced at the instigation of K'yengo, who
thought Rumanika not quite impressive enough of his right to the
throne; and this was, that each heir in succession, even after
the drum dodge, was required to sit on the ground in a certain
place of the country, where, if he had courage to plant himself,
the land would gradually rise up, telescope fashion, until it
reached the skies, when, if the aspirant was considered by the
spirits the proper person to inherit Karague, he would gradually
be lowered again without any harm happening; but, otherwise, the
elastic hill would suddenly collapse, and he would be dashed to
pieces. Now, Rumanika, by his own confession, had gone through
this ordeal with marked success; so I asked him if he found the
atmosphere cold when so far up aloft, and as he said he did so,
laughing at the quaintness of the question, I told him I saw he
had learnt a good practical lesson on the structure of the
universe, which I wished he would explain to me. In a state of
perplexity, K'yengo and the rest, on seeing me laughing, thought
something was wrong; so, turning about, they thought again, and
said, "No, it must have been hot, because the higher one ascended
the nearer he got to the sun."
This led on to one argument after another, on geology, geography,
and all the natural sciences, and ended by Rumanika showing me an
iron much the shape and size of a carrot. This he said was found
by one of his villagers whilst tilling the ground, buried some
way down below the surface; but dig as he would, he could not
remove it, and therefore called some men to his help. Still the
whole of them united could not lift the iron, which induced them,
considering there must be some magic in it, to inform the king.
"Now," says Rumanika, "I no sooner went there and saw the iron,
and brought it here as you see it. What can such a sign mean?"
"Of course that you are the rightful king," said his flatterers.
"Then," said Rumanika, in exuberant spirits, "during Dagara's
time, as the king was sitting with many other men outside his
hut, a fearful storm of thunder and lightning arose, and a
thunderbolt struck the ground in the midst of them, which
dispersed all the men but Dagara, who calmly took up the
thunderbolt and places it in the palace. I, however, no sooner
came into possession, and Rogero began to contend with me, than
the thunderbolt vanished. How would you account for this?" The
flatterers said, "It is as clear as possible; God gave the
thunderbolt to Dagaro as a sign he was pleased with him and his
rule; but when he found two brothers contending, he withdrew it
to show their conduct was wicked."
5th.-- Rumanika in the morning sent me a young male nzoe (water-
boc)[FN#13] which his canoe-men had caught in the high rushes at
the head of the lake, by the king's order, to please me; for I
had heard this peculiar animal described in such strange ways at
Kaze, both by Musa and the Arabs, I was desirous of having a look
at one. It proved to be closely allied to a water-boc found by
Livingstone on the Ngami Lake; but, instead of being striped, was
very faintly spotted, and so long were its toes, it could hardly
walk on the dry ground; whilst its coat, also well adapted to the
moist element it lived in, was long, and of such excellent
quality that the natives prize it for wearing almost more than
any other of the antelope tribe. The only food it would eat were
the tops of the tall papyrus rushes; but though it ate and drank
freely, and lay down very quietly, it always charged with
ferocity any person who went near it.
In the afternoon Rumanika invited both Grant and myself to
witness his New Moon Levee, a ceremony which takes place every
month with a view of ascertaining how many of his subjects are
loyal. On entering his palace enclosure, the first thing we saw
was a blaue boc's horn stuffed full of magic powder, with very
imposing effect, by K'yengo, and stuck in the ground, with its
mouth pointing in the direction of Rogero. In the second court,
we found thirty-five drums ranged on the ground, with as many
drummers standing behind them, and a knot of young princes and
officers of high dignity waiting to escort us into the third
enclosure, where, in his principal hut, we found Rumanika
squatting on the ground, half-concealed by the portal, but
showing his smiling face to welcome us in. His head was got up
with a tiara of beads, from the centre of which, directly over
the forehead, stood a plume of red feathers, and encircling the
lower face with a fine large white beard set in a stock or band
of beads. We were beckoned to squat alongside Nnanaji, the
master of ceremonies, and a large group of high officials outside
the porch. Then the thirty-five drums all struck up together in
very good harmony; and when their deafening noise was over, a
smaller band of hand-drums and reed instruments was ordered in to
amuse us.
This second performance over, from want of breath only, district
officers, one by one, came advancing on tip-toe, then pausing,
contorting and quivering their bodies, advancing again with a
springing gait and outspread arms, which they moved as if they
wished to force them out of their joints, in all of which actions
they held drum-sticks or twigs in their hands, swore with a
maniacal voice an oath of their loyalty and devotion to their
king, backed by the expression of a hope that he would cut off
their heads if they ever turned from his enemies, and then,
kneeling before him, they held out their sticks that he might
touch them. With a constant reiteration of these scenes--the
saluting at one time, the music at another--interrupted only once
by a number of girls dancing something like a good rough Highland
fling whilst the little band played, the day's ceremonies ended.
6th and 7th.--During the next two days, as my men had all worn
out their clothes, I gave them each thirty necklaces of beads to
purchase a suit of the bark cloth called mbugu, already
described. Finding the flour of the country too bitter to eat by
itself, we sweetened it with ripe plantains, and made a good cake
of it. The king now, finding me disinclined to fight his brother
Rogero, either with guns or magic horns, asked me to give him a
"doctor" or charm to create longevity and to promote the increase
of his family, as his was not large enough to maintain the
dignity of so great a man as himself. I gave him a blister, and,
changing the subject, told him the history of the creation of
man. After listening to it attentively, he asked what thing in
creation I considered the greatest of all things in the world;
for whilst a man at most could only live one hundred years, a
tree lived many; but the earth ought to be biggest, for it never
died.
I then told him again I wished one of his sons would accompany me
to England, that he might learn the history of Moses, wherein he
would find that men had souls which live for ever, but that the
earth would come to an end in the fullness of time. This
conversation, diversified by numerous shrewd remarks on the part
of Rumanika, led to his asking how I could account for the
decline of countries, instancing the dismemberment of the Wahuma
in Kittara, and remarking that formerly Karague included Urundi,
Ruanda, and Kishakka, which collectively were known as the
kingdom of Meru, governed by one man. Christian principles, I
said, made us what we are, and feeling a sympathy for him made me
desirous of taking one of his children to learn in the same
school with us, who, on returning to him, could impart what he
knew, and, extending the same by course of instruction, would
doubtless end by elevating his country to a higher position than
it ever knew before,--etc., etc. The policy and government of
the vast possessions of Great Britain were then duly discussed,
and Rumanika acknowledged that the pen was superior to that of
the sword, and the electric telegraph and steam engine the most
wonderful powers he had ever heard of.
Before breaking up, Rumanika wished to give me any number of
ivories I might like to mention, even three or four hundred, as a
lasting remembrance that I had done him the honour of visiting
Karague in his lifetime, for though Dagara had given to coloured
merchants, he would be the first who had given to a white man.
Of course this royal offer was declined with politeness; he must
understand that it was not the custom of big men in my country to
accept presents of value when we made visits of pleasure. I had
enjoyed my residence in Karague, his intellectual conversations
and his kind hospitality, all of which I should record in my
books to hand down to posterity; but if he would give me a cow's
horn, I would keep it as a trophy of the happy days I had spent
in his country. He gave me one, measuring 3 feet 5 inches in
length, and 18 3/4 inches in circumference at the base. He then
offered me a large sheet, made up of a patchwork of very small
N'yera antelope skins, most exquisitely cured and sewn. This I
rejected, as he told me it had been given to himself, explaining
that we prided ourselves on never parting with the gifts of a
friend; and this speech tickled his fancy so much, that he said
he never would part with anything I gave him.
8th and 9th.--The 8th went off much in the usual way, by my
calling on the king, when I gave him a pack of playing-cards,
which he put into his curiosity-box. He explained to me, at my
request, what sort of things he would like any future visitors to
bring him-- a piece of gold and silver embroidery; but, before
anything else, I found he would like to have toys--such as Yankee
clocks with the face in a man's stomach, to wind up behind, his
eyes rolling with every beat of the pendulum; or a china-cow
milk-pot, a jack-in-the- box, models of men, carriages, and
horses--all animals in fact, and railways in particular.
On the 9th I went out shooting, as Rumanika, with his usual
politeness, on hearing my desire to kill some rhinoceros, ordered
his sons to conduct the filed for me. Off we started by sunrise
to the bottom of the hills overlooking the head of the Little
Windermere lake. On arrival at the scene of action--a thicket or
acacia shrubs--all the men in the neighbourhood were assembled to
beat. Taking post myself, by direction, in the most likely place
to catch a sight of the animals, the day's work began by the
beaters driving the covers in my direction. In a very short
time, a fine male was discovered making towards me, but not
exactly knowing where he should bolt to. While he was in this
perplexity, I stole along between the bushes, and caught sight of
him standing as if anchored by the side of a tree and gave him a
broadsider with Blissett, which, too much for his constitution to
stand, sent him off trotting, till exhausted by bleeding he lay
down to die, and allowed me to give him a settler.
In a minute or two afterwards, the good young princes, attracted
by the sound of the gun, came to see what was done. Their
surprise knew no bounds; they could scarcely believe what they
saw; and then, on recovering, with the spirit of true gentlemen,
they seized both my hands, congratulating me on the magnitude of
my success, and pointed out, as an example of it, a bystander who
showed fearful scars, both on his abdomen and at the blade of his
shoulder, who they declared had been run through by one of these
animals. It was, therefore, wonderful to them, they observed,
with what calmness I went up to such formidable beasts.
Just at this time a distant cry was heard that another rhinoceros
was concealed in a thicket, and off we set to pursue her.
Arriving at the place mentioned, I settled at once I would enter
with only two spare men carrying guns, for the acacia thorns were
so thick that the only tracks into the thicket were runs made by
these animals. Leading myself, bending down to steal in, I
tracked up a run till half-way through cover, when suddenly
before me, like a pig from a hole, a large female, with her young
one behind her, came straight down whoof-whoofing upon me. In
this awkward fix I forced myself to one side, though pricked all
over with thorns in doing so, and gave her one on the head which
knocked her out of my path, and induced her for safety to make
for the open, where I followed her down and gave her another.
She then took to the hills and crossed over a spur, when,
following after her, in another dense thicket, near the head of a
glen, I came upon three, who no sooner sighted me, than all in
line they charged down my way. Fortunately at the time my gun-
bearers were with me; so, jumping to one side, I struck them all
three in turn. One of them dropped dead a little way on; but the
others only pulled up when they arrived at the bottom. To please
myself now I had done quite enough; but as the princes would have
it, I went on with the chase. As one of the two, I could see,
had one of his fore-legs broken, I went at the sounder one, and
gave him another shot, which simply induced him to walk over the
lower end of the hill. Then turning to the last one, which could
not escape, I asked the Wanyambo to polish him off with their
spears and arrows, that I might see their mode of sport. As we
moved up to the animal, he kept charging with such impetuous
fury, they could not go into him; so I gave him a second ball,
which brought him to anchor. In this helpless state the men set
at him in earnest, and a more barbarous finale I never did
witness. Every man sent his spear, assage, or arrow, into his
sides, until, completely exhausted, he sank like a porcupine
covered with quills. The day's sport was now ended, so I went
home to breakfast, leaving instructions that the heads should be
cut off and sent to the king as a trophy of what the white man
could do.
10th and 11th.--The next day, when I called on Rumanika, the
spoils were brought into court, and in utter astonishment he
said, "Well, this must have been done with something more potent
than powder, for neither the Arabs nor Nnanaji, although they
talk of their shooting powers, could have accomplished such a
great feat as this. It is no wonder the English are the greatest
men in the world."
Neither the Wanyambo nor the Wahuma would eat the rhinoceros, so
I was not sorry to find all the Wanyamuezi porters of the Arabs
at Kufro, on hearing of the sport, come over and carry away all
the flesh. They passed by our camp half borne down with their
burdens of sliced flesh, suspended from poles which they carried
on their shoulders; but the following day I was disgusted by
hearing that their masters had forbidden their eating "the
carrion," as the throats of the animals had not been cut; and,
moreover, had thrashed them soundly because they complained they
were half starved, which was perfectly true, by the poor food
that they got as their pay.
12th.--On visiting Rumanika again, and going through my
geographical lessons, he told me, in confirmation of Musa's old
stories, that in Ruanda there existed pigmies who lived in trees,
but occasionally came down at night, and, listening at the hut
doors of the men, would wait until they heard the name of one of
its inmates, when they would call him out, and, firing an arrow
into his heart, disappear again in the same way as they came.
But, more formidable even than these little men, there were
monsters who could not converse with me, and never showed
themselves unless they saw women pass by; then, in voluptuous
excitement, they squeezed them to death. Many other similar
stories were then told, when I, wishing to go, was asked if I
could kill hippopotami. Having answered that I could, the king
graciously said he would order some canoes for me the next
morning; and as I declined because Grant could not accompany me,
as a terrible disease had broken out in his leg, he ordered a
pig-shooting party. Agreeably with this, the next day I went out
with his sons, numerously attended; but although we beat the
covers all day, the rain was so frequent that the pigs would not
bolt.
14th.--After a long and amusing conversation with Rumanika in the
morning, I called on one of his sisters-in-law, married to an
elder brother who was born before Dagara ascended the throne.
She was another of those wonders of obesity, unable to stand
excepting on all fours. I was desirous to obtain a good view of
her, and actually to measure her, and induced her to give me
facilities for doing so, by offering in return to show her a bit
of my naked legs and arms. The bait took as I wished it, and
after getting her to sidle and wriggle into the middle of the
hut, I did as I promised, and then took her dimensions as noted
below.[FN#14] All of these are exact except the height, and I
believe I could have obtained this more accurately if I could
have her laid on the floor. Not knowing what difficulties I
should have to contend with in such a piece of engineering, I
tried to get her height by raising her up. This, after infinite
exertions on the part of us both, was accomplished, when she sank
down again, fainting, for her blood had rushed to her head.
Meanwhile, the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat stark-naked
before us, sucking at a milk-pot, on which the father kept her at
work by holding a rod in his hand, for as fattening is the first
duty of fashionable female life, it must be duly enforced by the
rod if necessary. I got up a bit of flirtation with missy, and
induced her to rise and shake hands with me. Her features were
lovely, but her body was as round as a ball.
In the evening we had another row with my head men--Baraka having
accused Bombay of trying to kill him with magic. Bombay, who was
so incessantly bullied by Baraka's officious attempts to form
party cliques opposed to the interests of the journey, and get
him turned out of the camp, indiscreetly went to one of K'yengo's
men, and asked him if he knew of any medicine that would affect
the hearts of the Wanguana so as to incline them towards him; and
on the sub-doctor saying Yes, Bombay gave him some beads, and
bought the medicine required, which, put into a pot of pombe, was
placed by Baraka's side. Baraka in the meanwhile got wind of the
matter through K'yengo, who, misunderstanding the true facts of
the case, said it was a charm to deprive Baraka of his life. A
court of inquiry having been convened, with all the parties
concerned in attendance, K'yengo's mistake was discovered, and
Bombay was lectured for his folly, as he had a thousand times
before abjured his belief in such magical follies; moreover, to
punish him for the future, I took Baraka, whenever I could, with
me to visit the king, which, little as it may appear to others,
was of the greatest consequence to the hostile parties.
15th and 16th.--When I next called on Rumanika I gave him a
Vautier's binocular and prismatic compass; on which he politely
remarked he was afraid he was robbing me of everything. More
compliments went round, and then he asked if it was true we could
open a man's skull, look at his brains, and close it up again;
also if it was true we sailed all round the world into regions
where there was no difference between night and day, and how,
when he ploughed the seas in such enormous vessels as would carry
at once 20,000 men, we could explain to the sailors what they
ought to do; for, although he had heard of these things, no one
was able to explain them to him.
After all the explanations were given, he promised me a boat-hunt
after the nzoe in the morning; but when the time came, as
difficulties were raised, I asked him to allow us to anticipate
the arrival of Kachuchu, and march on to Kitangule. He answered,
with his usual courtesy, That he would be very glad to oblige us
in any way that we liked; but he feared that, as the Waganda were
such superstitious people, some difficulties would arise, and he
must decline to comply with our request. "You must not," he
added, "expect ever to find again a reasonable man like myself."
I then gave him a book on "Kafir laws," which he said he would
keep for my sake, with all the rest of the presents, which he was
determined never to give away, though it was usual for him to
send novelties of this sort to Mtesa, king of Uganda, and
Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, as a friendly recognition of their
superior positions in the world of great monarchies.
17th.--Rumanika next introduced me to an old woman who came from
the island of Gasi, situated in the little Luta Nzige. Both her
upper and lower incisors had been extracted, and her upper lip
perforated by a number of small holes, extending in an arch from
one corner to the other. This interesting but ugly old lady
narrated the circumstances by which she had been enslaved, and
then sent by Kamrasi as a curiosity to Rumanika, who had ever
since kept her as a servant in his palace. A man from Ruanda
then told us of the Wilyanwantu (men-eaters), who disdained all
food but human flesh; and Rumanika confirmed the statement.
Though I felt very sceptical about it, I could not help thinking
it a curious coincidence that the position they were said to
occupy agreed with Petherick's Nyam Nyams (men-eaters).
Of far more interest were the results of a conversation which I
had with another of Kamrasi's servants, a man of Amara, as it
threw some light upon certain statements made by Mr Leon of the
people of Amara being Christians. He said they bore single holes
in the centres both of their upper and lower lips, as well as in
the lobes of both of their ears, in which they wear small brass
rings. They live near the N'yanza--where it is connected by a
strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river to the northward-
-in comfortable houses, built like the tembes of Unyamuezi. When
killing a cow, they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with
both hands together, held palm upwards, and utter Zu, a word the
meaning of which he did not know. I questioned him to try if the
word had any trace of a Christian meaning--for instance, a
corruption of Jesu--but without success. Circumcision is not
known amongst them, neither have they any knowledge of God or a
soul. A tribe called Wakuavi, who are white, and described as
not unlike myself, often came over the water and made raids on
their cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief weapon
of war. These attacks were as often resented, and sometimes led
the Wamara in pursuit a long way into their enemy's country,
where, at a place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red
cloths. Beads were imported, he thought, both from the east and
from Ukidi. Associated with the countries Masau or Masai, and
Usamburu, which he knew, there was a large mountain, the exact
position of which he could not describe.
I took down many words of his language, and found they
corresponded with the North African dialects, as spoken by the
people of Kidi, Gani, and Madi. The southerners, speaking of
Back to Full Books
|