There Would Be No Danger, As Kamrasi Was His Brother-In-Law,
And Would Do All That He Told Him.
I now proposed to send Baraka, who, ashamed to cry off, said he
would go with Rumanika's officers if
I allowed him a companion of
his own choosing, who would take care of him if he got sick on
the way, otherwise he should be afraid they would leave him to
die, like a dog, in the jungles. We consoled him by assenting to
the companion he wished, and making Rumanika responsible that no
harm should come to him from any of the risks which his
imagination conjured up. Rumanika then gave him and Uledi, his
selected companion, some sheets of mbugu, in order that they
might disguise themselves as his officers whilst crossing the
territories of the king of Uganda. On inquiring as to the reason
of this, it transpired that, to reach Unyoro, the party would
have to cross a portion of Uddu, which the late king Sunna, on
annexing that country to Uganda, had divided, not in halves, but
by alternate bands running transversely from Nkole to the
Victoria N'yanza.
5th and 6th. - To keep Rumanika up to the mark, I introduced to
him Saidi, one of my men, who was formerly a slave, captured in
Walamo, on the borders of Abyssinia, to show him, by his
similarity to the Wahuma, how it was I had come to the conclusion
that he was of the same race. Saidi told him his tribe kept
cattle with the same stupendous horns as those of the Wahuma; and
also that, in the same manner, they all mixed blood and milk for
their dinners, which, to his mind, confirmed my statement. At
night, as there was a partial eclipse of the moon, all the
Wanguana marched up and down from Rumanika's to Nnanaji's huts,
singing and beating our tin cooking-pots to frighten off the
spirit of the sun from consuming entirely the chief object of
reverence, the moon.
7th. - Our spirits were now further raised by the arrival of a
semi-Hindu-Suahili, named Juma, who had just returned from a
visit to the king of Uganda, bringing back with him a large
present of ivory and slaves; for he said he had heard from the
king of our intention to visit him, and that he had despatched
officers to call us immediately. This intelligence delighted
Rumanika as much as it did us, and he no sooner heard it than he
said, with ecstasies, "I will open Africa, since the white men
desire it; for did not Dagara command us to show deference to
strangers?" Then, turning to me, he added, "My only regret is,
you will not take something as a return for the great expenses
you have been put to in coming to visit me." The expense was
admitted, for I had now been obliged to purchase from the Arabs
upwards of œ400 worth of beads, to keep such a store in reserve
for my return from Uganda as would enable me to push on to
Gondokoro.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 166 of 403
Words from 86668 to 87186
of 210958
