On
Arrival At Sangua, I Found Many Of Them Had Been Seized By Some
Men Who, Bolder Than The Rest, Had Overtaken Them Whilst Gutting
Their Huts, And Made Them Prisoners, Demanding Of Me Two Slaves
And One Load Of Beads For Their Restitution.
I sent my men back
to see what had happened, and ordered them to bring all the men
on to me, that I might see fair play.
They, however, took the
law into their own hands, drove off the Waganda villagers by
firing their muskets, and relieved the thieves. A complaint was
then laid against Nyamgundu by the chief officer of the village,
and I was requested to halt. That I would not do, leaving the
matter in the hands of the governor-general, Mr Pokino, whom I
heard we should find at the next station, Masaka.
On arrival there at the government establishment - a large
collection of grass huts, separated one from the other within
large enclosures, which overspread the whole top of a low hill - I
was requested to withdraw and put up in some huts a short
distance off, and wait until his excellency, who was from home,
could come and see me; which the next day he did, coming in state
with a large number of officers, who brought with them a cow,
sundry pots of pombe, enormous sticks of sugar-cane, and a large
bundle of country coffee. This grows in great profusion all over
this land in large bushy trees, the berries sticking on the
branches like clusters of hollyberries.
I was then introduced, and told that his excellency was the
appointed governor of all the land lying between the Katonga and
the Kitangule rivers. After the first formalities were over, the
complaint about the officers at Sangua was preferred for
decision, on which Pokino at once gave it against the villagers,
as they had no right, by the laws of the land, to lay hands on a
king's guest. Just then Maula arrived, and began to abuse
N'yamgundu. Of course I would not stand this; and, after telling
all the facts of the case, I begged Pokino to send Maula away out
of my camp. Pokino said he could not do this, as it was by the
king's order he was appointed; but he put Maula in the
background, laughing at the way he had "let the bird fly out of
his hands," and settled that N'yamgundu should be my guide. I
then gave him a wire, and he gave me three large sheets of mbugu,
which he said I should require, as there were so many water-
courses to cross on the road I was going. A second day's halt
was necessitated by many of my men catching fever, probably owing
to the constant crossing of those abominable rush-drains. There
was no want of food here, for I never saw such a profusion of
plantains anywhere. They were literally lying in heaps on the
ground, though the people were brewing pombe all day, and cooking
them for dinner every evening.
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