The king of Uganda (M'tese) has envoys throughout the countries which
surround his dominions. One of these chiefs, who represented M'tese at
Masindi, paid me a visit, and gave me a good deal of information.
He described the M'wootan N'zige (Albert N'yanza) as forming the western
frontier of Karagwe, from which point it turned westward for a distance
unknown. This was a similar description to that given by Kamrasi some
years ago.
I gave the envoy a red and yellow handkerchief to tie around his head.
The man was neatly dressed in Indian clothes that had arrived from
Bombay via Zanzibar.
On 30th April, Kabba Rega sent a present of twelve elephants' tusks,
forty-one loads of tullaboon, twelve pots of sour plantain cider, and
thirty-four cows. At the same time, he complained that some of Abou
Saood's people were taking slaves in the neighbourhood of Foweera and
Kisoona.
The principal chiefs, together with Kabba Rega, assured me that Abou
Saood's people had been in the habit of torturing people to extract from
them the secret of the spot in which their corn was concealed.
Throughout Unyoro there are no granaries exposed at the present time, as
the country has been ravaged by civil war; thus all corn is buried in
deep holes specially arranged for that purpose. When the slave-hunters
sought for corn, they were in the habit of catching the villagers and
roasting their posteriors by holding them down on the mouth of a large
earthen water jar filled with gloving embers. If this torture of
roasting alive did not extract the secret, they generally cut the
sufferer's throat to terrify his companion, who would then divulge the
position of the hidden stores to avoid a similar fate. This accusation
was corroborated by Mohammed, the Cairo dragoman.
It is difficult to conceive the brutality of these brigands, who, thus
relieved from the fear of a government, exhibit their unbridled passions
by every horrible crime.
Umbogo, the interpreter, was now regularly installed in a hut within
call of my tent. This man appeared to be exceedingly fond of us, and he
was the main source of information.
He had a very lovely wife, a Bahooma, who was a light brown colour, with
beautiful Abyssinian eyes; she had been given to him by Kabba Rega, with
whom he was a great favourite.
Umbogo was very intelligent, and he took a great interest in all my
plans for establishing free trade throughout the country: but he told me
privately that he thought the idea would be opposed secretly by Kabba
Rega, who would wish to monopolize all the ivory trade, in order to keep
up the price, and to obtain the whole of the merchandise.
