Torches Were Then Lit, And Guns,
Pistols, Powder, Boxes, Tools, Beads - The Whole Collection, In
Short - Were Tossed Together Topsy-Turvy, Bundled Into Mbugus, And
Carried Away By The Pages.
Mtesa now said, "It is late, and time
to break up; what provisions would you wish to have?" I
Said, "A
little of everything, but no one thing constantly." "And would
you like to see me to-morrow?" "Yes, every day." "Then you
can't to-morrow, for I have business; but the next day come if
you like. You can now go away, and here are six pots of
plantain-wine for you; my men will search for food to-morrow."
21st. - In the morning, whilst it rained, some pages drove in
twenty cows and ten goats, with a polite metaphorical message
from their king, to the effect that I had pleased him much, and
he hoped I would accept these few "chickens" until he could send
more, - when both Maula and N'yamgundu, charmed with their
success in having brought a welcome guest to Uganda, never ceased
showering eulogiums on me for my fortune in having gained the
countenance of their king. The rain falling was considered at
court a good omen, and everybody declared the king mad with
delight. Wishing to have a talk with him about Petherick and
Grant, I at once started off the Wakungu to thank him for the
present, and to beg pardon for my apparent rudeness of yesterday,
at the same time requesting I might have an early interview with
his majesty, as I had much of importance to communicate; but the
solemn court formalities which these African kings affect as much
as Oriental emperors, precluded my message from reaching the
king. I heard, however, that he had spent the day receiving
Suwarora's hongo of wire, and that the officer who brought them
was made to sit in an empty court, whilst the king sat behind a
screen, never deigning to show his majestic person. I was told,
too, that he opened conversation by demanding to know how it
happened that Suwarora became possessed of the wires, for they
were made by the white men to be given to himself, and Suwarora
must therefore have robbed me of them; and it was by such
practices he, Mtesa, never could see any visitors. The officer's
reply was, Suwarora would not show the white men any respect,
because they were wizards would did not sleep in houses at night,
but flew up to the tops of hills, and practised sorcery of every
abominable kind. The king to this retorted, in a truly African
fashion, "That's a lie; I can see no harm in this white man; and
if he had been a bad man, Rumanika would not have sent him on to
me." At night, when in bed, the king sent his pages to say, if I
desired his friendship I would lend him one musket to make up six
with what I had given him, for he intended visiting his relations
the following morning.
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