So At 10 A.M. Another
Messenger Arrives, To Say Her Majesty Is Much Surprised At My Not
Coming.
What can such conduct mean, when she arranged everything
so nicely for me after my own desire, that she might drink her
medicine properly?
Still I am not up; but nobody will let me
rest for fear of the queen; so, to while away the time, I order
Bombay to call upon her, give the quinine, and tell her all that
has happened; at which she flies into a towering rage, says she
will never touch medicine administered by any other hands but
mine, and will not believe in one word Bombay says, either about
Maula or the hut; for Maula, whose duty necessarily obliged him
to take my servants before her majesty, had primed her with a lot
of falsehoods on the subject; and she had a fondness for Maula,
because he was a clever humbug and exceeding rogue - and sent
Bombay back to fetch me, for nobody had ever dared disobey her
mandates before.
It had now turned noon, and being ready for the visit, I went to
see the queen. Determined to have her turn, she kept me waiting
for a long time before she would show herself; and at last, when
she came, she flounced up to her curtain, lay down in a huff, and
vented her wrath, holding her head very high, and wishing to know
how I could expect officers, with large establishments, to be
turned out of their homes merely to give me room for one night; I
ought to have been content with my fare; it was no fault of
Maula's. I tried to explain through Nasib, but she called Nasib
a liar, and listened to Maula who told the lies; then asked for
her medicine; drank it, saying it was a small dose; and walked
off in ill humour as she had come. I now made up my mind to sit
till 3 p.m., hoping to see the queen again, whilst talking with
some Kidi officers, who, contrary to the general law of the
country, indulged me with some discourses on geography, from
which I gathered, though their stories were rather confused, that
beyond the Asua river, in the Galla country, there was another
lake which was navigated by the inhabitants in very large
vessels; and somewhere in the same neighbourhood there was an
exceedingly high mountain covered with yellow dust, which the
natives collected, etc., etc.
Time was drawing on, and as the queen would not appear of her own
accord, I sent to request a friendly conversation with her before
I left, endeavouring, as well as I could, to persuade her that
the want of cordiality between us was owing to the mistakes of
interpreters, who had not conveyed to her my profound sentiments
of devotion. This brought her gracious corpulence out all smirks
and smiles, preceded by a basket of potatoes for "Bana, my son."
I began conversation with a speech of courtesy, explaining how I
had left my brother Grant and my great friend Rumanika at Karague
- hastening, in compliance with the invitation of the king, to
visit him and herself, with the full hope of making friends in
Uganda; but now I had come, I was greatly disappointed; for I
neither saw half enough of their majesties, nor did any of their
officers ever call upon me to converse and pass away the dreary
hours. All seemed highly pleased, and complimented my speech;
while the queen, turning to her officers, said, "If that is the
case, I will send these men to you"; whereupon the officers,
highly delighted at the prospect of coming to see me, and its
consequence a present, n'yanzigged until I thought their hands
would drop off. Then her majesty to my thorough annoyance, and
before I had finished half I had to say, rose from her seat, and,
showing her broad stern to the company, walked straight away.
The officers then drew near me, and begged I would sleep there
another night; but as they had nothing better to offer than the
hut of last night, I declined and went my way, begging them to
call and make friends with me.
12th. - Immediately after breakfast the king sent his pages in a
great hurry to say he was waiting on the hill for me, and begged
I would bring all my guns immediately. I prepared, thinking,
naturally enough, that some buffaloes had been marked down; for
the boys, as usual, were perfectly ignorant of his designs. To
my surprise, however, when I mounted the hill half-way to the
palace, I found the king standing, dressed in a rich filagreed
waistcoat, trimmed with gold embroidery, tweedling the loading-
rod in his fingers, and an alfia cap on his head, whilst his
pages held his chair and guns, and a number of officers, with
dogs and goats for offerings, squatted before him.
When I arrived, hat in hand, he smiled, examined my firearms, and
proceeded for sport, leading the way to a high tree, on which
some adjutant birds were nesting, and numerous vultures resting.
This was the sport; Bana must shoot a nundo (adjutant) for the
king's gratification. I begged him to take a shot himself, as I
really could not demean myself by firing at birds sitting on a
tree; but it was all of no use - no one could shoot as I could,
and they must be shot. I proposed frightening them out with
stones, but no stone could reach so high; so, to cut the matter
short, I killed an adjutant on the nest, and, as the vultures
flew away, brought one down on the wing, which fell in a garden
enclosure.
The Waganda were for a minute all spell-bound with astonishment,
when the king jumped frantically in the air, clapping his hands
above his head, and singing out, "Woh, woh, woh! what wonders!
Oh, Bana, Bana! what miracles he performs!" - and all the Wakungu
followed in chorus.
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