The Headman Replied That He Felt Sure I Was Not An Impostor;
But That Very Shortly After The Departure Of Speke And Grant In The
Previous Year A Number Of People Had Arrived In Their Name, Introducing
Themselves As Their Greatest Friends.
They had been ferried across the
river, and well received by Kamrasi's orders, and had been presented
with ivory,
Slaves, and leopard-skins, as tokens of friendship; but they
had departed, and suddenly returned with Rionga's people, and attacked
the village in which they had been so well received; and upon the
country being assembled to resist them, about three hundred of Kamrasi's
men had been killed in the fight. The king had therefore given orders
that upon pain of death no stranger should cross the river.
He continued, "that when he saw our people marching along the bank of
the river they imagined us to be the same party that had attacked them
formerly, and they were prepared to resist us, and had sent on a
messenger to Kamrasi, who was three days' march from Karuma, at his
capital, M'rooli; until they received a reply it would be impossible to
allow us to enter the country. He promised to despatch another messenger
immediately to inform the king who we were, but that we must certainly
wait until his return. I explained that we had nothing to eat, and that
it would be very inconvenient to remain in such a spot; that I
considered the suspicion displayed was exceedingly unfair, as they must
see that my wife and I were white people like Speke and Grant, whereas
those who had deceived them were of a totally different race, all being
either black or brown.
I told him that it did not much matter; that I had very beautiful
presents intended for Kamrasi, but that another great king would be only
too glad to accept them, without throwing obstacles in my way. I should
accordingly return with my presents.
At the same time I ordered a handsome Persian carpet, about fifteen feet
square, to be displayed as one of the presents intended for the king.
The gorgeous colors, as the carpet was unfolded, produced a general
exclamation. Before the effect of astonishment wore off I had a basket
unpacked, and displayed upon a cloth a heap of superb necklaces, that we
had prepared while at Obbo, of the choicest beads, many as large as
marbles, and glittering with every color of the rainbow. The garden of
jewels of Aladdin's wonderful lamp could not have produced more enticing
fruit. Beads were extremely rare in Kamrasi's land; the few that existed
had arrived from Zanzibar, and all that I exhibited were entirely new
varieties. I explained that I had many other presents, but that it was
not necessary to unpack them, as we were about to return with them to
visit another king, who lived some days' journey distant. "Don't go;
don't go away," said the headman and his companions. "Kamrasi will -"
Here an unmistakable pantomimic action explained their meaning better
than words; throwing their heads well back, they sawed across their
throats with their forefingers, making horrible grimaces, indicative of
the cutting of throats. I could not resist laughing at the terror that
my threat of returning with the presents had created. They explained
that Kamrasi would not only kill them, but would destroy the entire
village of Atada should we return without visiting him; but that he
would perhaps punish them in precisely the same manner should they ferry
us across without special orders. "Please yourselves," I replied; "if my
party is not ferried across by the time the sun reaches that spot on the
heavens (pointing to the position it would occupy at about 3 P.M.) I
shall return." In a state of great excitement they promised to hold a
conference on the other side, and to see what arrangements could be
made. They returned to Atada, leaving the whole party, including
Ibrahim, exceedingly disconcerted, having nothing to eat, an impassable
river before us, and five days' march of uninhabited wilderness in our
rear.
The whole day passed in shouting and gesticulating our peaceful
intentions to the crowd assembled on the heights on the opposite side of
the river; but the boat did not return until long after the time
appointed. Even then the natives would only approach sufficiently near
to be heard, but nothing would induce them to land. They explained that
there was a division of opinion among the people on the other side: some
were in favor of receiving us, but the greater number were of opinion
that we intended hostilities; therefore we must wait until orders could
be sent from the king.
To assure the people of our peaceful intentions, I begged them to take
Mrs. Baker and myself alone, and to leave the armed party on this side
of the river until a reply should be received from Kamrasi. At this
suggestion the boat immediately returned to the other side.
The day passed away, and as the sun set we perceived the canoe again
paddling across the river. This time it approached directly, and the
same people landed that had received the necklaces in the morning. They
said that they had held a conference with the headman, and that they had
agreed to receive my wife and myself, but no other person. I replied
that my servants must accompany us, as we were quite as great personages
as Kamrasi, and could not possibly travel without attendants. To this
they demurred; therefore I dropped the subject, and proposed to load the
canoe with all the presents intended for Kamrasi. There was no objection
to this, and I ordered Richarn, Saat, and Ibrahim to get into the canoe
to stow away the luggage as it should be handed to them, but on no
account to leave the boat. I had already prepared everything in
readiness, and a bundle of rifles tied up in a large blanket and 500
rounds of ball cartridge were unconsciously received on board as
PRESENTS.
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