She Affected Great Anger At Mtesa Having Interfered
With My Servants When Coming To See Her - Sympathised With Me On
The Distance I Had To Travel - Ordered A Hut To Be Cleared For Me
Ere Night - Told Me To Eat My Breakfast In The Next Court - And,
Rising Abruptly, Walked Away.
At noon we heard the king
approaching with his drums and rattle-traps, but I still waited
on till 5 p.m., when, on summons, I repaired to the throne-hut.
Here I heard, in an adjoining court, the boisterous, explosive
laughs of both mother and son - royal shouts loud enough to be
heard a mile off, and inform the community that their sovereigns
were pleased to indulge in hilarity. Immediately afterwards, the
gate between us being thrown open, the king, like a very child,
stood before us, dressed for the first time, in public, in what
Europeans would call clothes. For a cap he wore a Muscat alfia,
on his neck a silk Arab turban, fastened with a ring. Then for a
coat he had an Indian kizbow, and for trousers a yellow woollen
doti; whilst in his hand, in imitation of myself, he kept running
his ramrod backwards and forwards through his fingers. As I
advanced and doffed my hat, the king, smiling, entered the court,
followed by a budding damsel dressed in red bindera, who carried
the chair I had presented to him, and two new spears.
He now took his seat for the first time upon the chair, for I had
told him, at my last interview, that all kings were expected to
bring out some new fashion, or else the world would never make
progress; and I was directed to sit before him on my grass
throne. Talking, though I longed to enter into conversation, was
out of the question; for no one dared speak for me, and I could
not talk myself; so we sat and grinned, till in a few minutes the
queen, full of smirks and smiles, joined us, and sat on a mbugu.
I offered the medicine-chest as a seat, but she dared not take
it; in fact, by the constitution of Uganda, no one, however high
in rank, not even his mother, can sit before the king. After
sundry jokes, whilst we were all bursting with laughter at the
theatrical phenomenon, the Wakungu who were present, some twenty
in number, threw themselves in line upon their bellies, and
wriggling like fish, n'yanzigged, n'goned, and demaned, and
uttered other wonderful words of rejoining - as, for instance,
"Hai Minange! Hai Mkama wangi!" (O my chief! O my king!) -
whilst they continued floundering, kicking about their legs,
rubbing their faces, and patting their hands upon the ground, as
if the king had performed some act of extraordinary munificence
by showing himself to them in that strange and new position - a
thing quite enough to date a new Uganda era from.
The king, without deigning to look upon his grovelling subjects,
said, "Now, mother, take your medicine"; for he had been called
solemnly to witness the medical treatment she was undergoing at
my hands. When she had swallowed her quinine with a wry face,
two very black virgins appeared on the stage holding up the
double red blanket I had given the queen; for nothing, however
trifling, can be kept secret from the king. The whole court was
in raptures. The king signified his approval by holding his
mouth, putting his head on one side, and looking askance at it.
The queen looked at me, then at the blanket and her son in turn;
whilst my men hung down their heads, fearful lest they should be
accused of looking at the ladies of the court; and the Wakungu
n'yanzigged again, as if they could not contain the gratification
they felt at the favour shown them. Nobody had ever brought such
wonderful things to Uganda before, and all loved Bana.
Till now I had expected to vent my wrath on both together for all
past grievances, but this childish, merry, homely scene - the
mother holding up her pride, her son, before the state officers -
melted my heart at once. I laughed as well as they did, and said
it pleased me excessively to see them both so happy together. It
was well the king had broken through the old-fashioned laws of
Uganda, by sitting on an iron chair, and adopting European
dresses; for now he was opening a road to cement his own
dominions with my country. I should know what things to send that
would please him. The king listened, but without replying; and
said, at the conclusion, "It is late, now let us move"; and
walked away, preserving famously the lion's gait. The mother
also vanished, and I was led away to a hut outside, prepared for
my night's residence. It was a small, newly-built hut, just
large enough for my bed, with a corner for one servant; so I
turned all my men away, save one - ate my dinner, and hoped to
have a quiet cool night of it, when suddenly Maula flounced in
with all his boys, lighting a fire, and they spread their mbugus
for the night. In vain I pleaded I could not stand the
suffocation of so many men, especially of Waganda, who eat raw
plantains; and unless they turned out, I should do so, to benefit
by the pure air. Maula said he had the queen's orders to sleep
with Bana, and sleep there he would; so rather than kick him out,
which I felt inclined to do, I smoked my pipe and drank pombe all
night, turning the people out and myself in, in the morning, to
prepare for a small house-fight with the queen.
11th. - Early in the morning, as I expected, she demanded my
immediate attendance; and so the little diplomatic affair I had
anticipated came on. I began the affair by intimating that I am
in bed, and have not breakfasted.
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