No sooner was it
observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with
springing bounds, the men, all
Spear in hand, as if advancing on
an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till,
as they neared the maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to
meet his assailants with the best charge his exhausted body could
muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he knew his
disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water, - the
worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank
above him soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained
their victory. Now, what was to be done with this huge carcass?
No one could be induced to leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe
on reaching camp; but no, the buffalo was bigger than a cow, and
must be quartered on the spot; so, to gain our object, we went
ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus saving a cow in
rations, for we required to slaughter one every day.
By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the
same downs of tall grass with occasional swamps. We saw a herd
of hartebeest, and reached at night a place within easy run of
Koki in Gani.
The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the
habitations of men - a collection of conical huts on the ridge of
a small chain of granitic hills lying north-west. As we
approached the southern extremity of this chain, knots of naked
men, perched like monkeys on the granite blocks were anxiously
awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the usages of the
country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and look out
for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a
messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were
visitors from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and
forward us to our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty
welcome; for Chongi had been appointed governor by Kamrasi of
this district, which appears to have been the extreme northern
limit of the originally vast kingdom of Kittara. All the elite
of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as
their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair,
charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after
performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and
invited us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a
very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us -
one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a
little twig.
Chongi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and
taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the
ground in front of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony
had been also repeated by the familiar, Chongi then took the
gourd and twig, and sprinkled the contents all over us; retired
to the Uganga, or magic house - a very diminutive hut - sprinkled
pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a cow-skin under a tree,
bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making many apologies
that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had reduced
his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!!
Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress
consisted of bead, iron, or brass ornaments, with some feathers
or cowrie-beads on the head. Even the women contented themselves
with a few fibres hung like tails before and behind. Some of our
men who had seen the Watuta in Utambara, declared these savages
to resemble them in every particular, save one small specialty in
their costume, alluded to in the description of the Zulu Kafir's
dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same fantastic
fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it
rode on its mother's back. They also, like the Kidi people, whom
they much fear, carry diminutive stools to sit upon wherever they
go.
Their habitat extends from this to the Asua river, whilst the
Madi occupy all the country west of this meridian to the Nile,
which is far beyond sight. The villages are composed of little
conical huts of grass, on a framework of bamboo raised above low
mud walls. There are no sultans here of any consequence, each
village appointing its own chief. The granitic hills, like those
of Unyamuezi, are extremely pretty, and clad with trees,
contrasting strangely with the grassy downs of indefinite extend
around, which give the place, when compared with the people, the
appearance of a paradise within the infernal regions. From the
site of Koki we saw the hills behind which, according to Bombay,
Petherick was situated with his vessels; and we also saw a nearer
hill, behind which his advanced post of elephant-hunters were
waiting our arrival.
I tried to ascertain if there were any prefixes, as in the South
African dialects, by which one might determine the difference
between the people and the country; but I was assured that both
here and in the adjacent countries these people saw Chopi, Kidi,
Gani, Madi, Bari, alike for person and place, though Jo in their
language is the equivalent for Wa in South Africa, and Dano takes
the place of Mtu. All the words and system of language were
wholly changed - as for example, Poko poko wingi bongo, means "we
do not understand"; Mazi, "fire"; Pi, "water"; Pe, "there is
none; Bugra, "cow." In sound, the language of these people
resembles that of the Tibet Tartars. Chongi considers himself
the greatest man in the country, and of noble descent, his great-
grandfather having been a Mhuma, born at Ururi, in Unyoro, and
appointed by the then reigning king to rule over this country,
and keep the Kidi people in check.
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