He Was The Big Man And
Appointed Go-Between, And No One Could Dispute It.
This was
rather startling news to us, for Vittagura said he was commander-
in-chief; Kajunju thought himself biggest, so did Kwibeya, and
even Dr K'yengo's men justified Budja's speech.
5th and 6th. - Still another halt, with all sorts of excuses.
Frij, it appeared, dreamt last night that the king of Uganda came
to fight us for not complying with his orders, and that all my
men ran away except Uledi and himself. This, according to the
interpretation of the coast, would turn out the reverse,
otherwise his head must be wrong, and, according to local
science, should be set right again by actual cautery of the
temples; and as Grant dreamt a letter came from Gani which I
opened and ran away with, he thought it would turn out no letter
at all, and therefore Kamrasi had been humbugging us. We heard
that Bombay had shot a cow before Kamrasi and would not be
allowed to return until he had eaten it.
At last we made a move, but only of two hours' duration, through
the usual forest, in which elephants walked about as if it were
their park. We hoped at starting to reach the palace, but found
we must stop here until the king should send for us. We were
informed that doubtless he was looking into his Uganga, or magic
horn, to discover what he had to expect from us; and he seemed as
yet to have found no ground for being afraid of us. Moreover, it
is his custom to keep visitors waiting on him in this way, for is
he not the king of kings, the king of Kittara, which includes all
the countries surrounding Unyoro?
Chapter XVII
Unyoro
Invitation to the Palace at last - Journey to it - Bombay's Visit
to King Kamrasi - Our Reputation as Cannibals - Reception at Court-
- Acting the Physician again - Royal Mendicancy.
We halted again, but in the evening one of Dr K'yengo's men came
to invite us to the palace. He explained that Kamrasi was in a
great rage because we only received seven goats instead of
thirty, the number he had ordered Kwibeya to give us, besides
pombe and plantains without limitation. I complained that Bombay
had been shown more respect than myself, obtaining an immediate
admittance to the king's presence. To this he gave two ready
answers - that every distinction shown my subordinate was a
distinction to myself, and that we must not expect court
etiquette from savages.
9th. - We set off for the palace. This last march differed but
little from the others. Putting Dr K'yengo's men in front, and
going on despite all entreaties to stop, we passed the last bit
of jungle, sighted the Kidi hills, and, in a sea of swampy grass,
at last we stood in front of and overlooked the great king's
palace, situated N. lat. 1§ 37' 43", and E. long. 32§ 19' 49", on
a low tongue of land between the Kafu and Nile rivers.
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