Budja lost sight of the necessity there was for
his going to Gani to bring back a gun, ammunition,
And some
medicine - that is to say, brandy - for his king; and sent his men
off with mine to tell Mtesa all our adventures - our double
repulse, the intention to wait on the Unyoro side for further
orders, and the account of some Waganda having wounded my men. I
added my excuses for Kamrasi, and laid a complaint against
Mtesa's officers for having defrauded us out of ten cows, five
goats, six butter, and sixty mbugu. It was not that we required
these things, but I knew that the king had ordered them to be
given to us, and I thought it right we should show that his
officers, if they professed to obey his orders, had peculated.
After these men had started, some friends of the villager who had
been apprehended on the charge of assailing my men, came and
offered Budja five cows to overlook the charge; and Budja, though
he could not overlook it when I pleaded for the man, asked me to
recall my men. Discovering that the culprit was a queen's man,
and that the affair would cause bad blood at court should the
king order the man's life to be taken, I tried to do so, but
things had gone too far.
Again the expedition marched on in the right direction. We
reached the last village on the Uganda frontier, and there spent
the night. Here Grant shot a nsunnu buck. The Wanguana mutinied
for ammunition, and would not lift a load until they got it,
saying, "Unyoro is a dangerous country," though they had been
there before without any more than they now had in pouch. The
fact was, my men, in consequence of the late issues on the river,
happened to have more than Grant's men, and every man must have
alike. The ringleader, unfortunately for himself, had lately
fired at a dead lion, to astonish the Unyoro, and his chum had
fired a salute, which was contrary to orders; for ammunition was
at a low ebb, and I had done everything in my power to nurse it.
Therefore, as a warning to the others, the guns of these two were
confiscated, and a caution given that any gun in future let off,
either by design or accident, would be taken.
To-day I felt very thankful to get across the much-vexed
boundary-line, and enter Unyoro, guided by Kamrasi's deputation
of officers, and so shake off the apprehensions which had teased
us for so many days. This first march was a picture of all the
country to its capital: an interminable forest of small trees,
bush, and tall grass, with scanty villages, low huts, and dirty-
looking people clad in skins; the plantain, sweet potato,
sesamum, and ulezi (millet) forming the chief edibles, besides
goats and fowls; whilst the cows, which are reported to be
numerous, being kept, as everywhere else where pasture-lands are
good, by the wandering, unsociable Wahuma are seldom seen. No
hills, except a few scattered cones, disturb the level surface of
the land, and no pretty views ever cheer the eye. Uganda is now
entirely left behind; we shall not see its like again; for the
further one leaves the equator, and the rain-attracting
influences of the Mountains of the Moon, vegetation decreases
proportionately with the distance.
Fortunately the frontier-village could not feed so large a party
as ours, and therefore we were compelled to move farther on, to
our great delight, through the same style of forest acacia,
cactus, and tall grass, to Kidgwiga's gardens, where we no sooner
arrived than Mtesa's messenger-page, with a party of fifty
Waganda, dropped in, in the most unexpected manner, to inquire
after "his royal master's friend, Bana." The king had heard of
the fight upon the river, and thought the Wanguana must be very
good shots. He still trusted we would not forget the gun and
ammunition, but, above all, the load of stimulants, for he
desired that above all things on earth. This was the fourth
message to remind us of these important matters which we had
received since leaving his gracious presence, and each time
brought by the same page. While the purpose of the boy's coming
with so many men was not distinctly known, the whole village and
camp were in a state of great agitation, Budja fearing lest the
king had some fault to find with his work, and the Wanyoro
deeming it a menace of war, whilst I was afraid they might take
fright and stop our progress.
But all went well in the end; Massey's log, which I have
mentioned as a present I intended for Mtesa, was packed up, and
the page departed with it. Some of Rumanika's men, who came into
Unyoro with Baraka, with four of K'yengo's, were sent to call us
by Kamrasi. Through Rumanika's men it transpired that he had
stood security for our actions, else, with the many evil reports
of our being cannibals and such-like, which had preceded our
coming here, we never should have gained admittance to the
country. The Wanyoro, who are as squalid-looking as the
Wanyamuezi, and almost as badly dressed, now came about us to
hawk ivory ornaments, brass and copper twisted wristlets,
tobacco, and salt, which they exchanged for cowries, with which
they purchase cows from the Waganda. As in Uganda, all the
villagers forsook their huts as soon as they heard the Wageni
(guests) were coming; and no one paid the least attention to the
traveller, save the few head-men attached to the escort, or some
professional traders.
25th to 28th. - I had no sooner ordered the march than Vittagura
counter-ordered it, and held a levee to ascertain, as he said, if
the Waganda were to go back; for though Kamrasi wished to see us,
he did not want the Waganda.
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