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.

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