The Present Was Then Opened, And Everything In Turn Placed Upon
The Red Blanket.
The goggles created some mirth; so did the
scissors, as Bombay, to show their use, clipped his beard, and
The lucifers were considered a wonder; but the king scarcely
moved or uttered any remarks till all was over, when, at the
instigation of the courtiers, my chronometer was asked for and
shown. This wonderful instrument, said the officers (mistaking
it for my compass), was the magic horn by which the white men
found their way everywhere. Kamrasi said he must have it, for,
besides it, the gun was the only thing new to him. The
chronometer, however, I said, was the only one left, and could
not possibly be parted with; though, if Kamrasi liked to send men
to Gani, a new one could be obtained for him.
Then, changing the subject, much to my relief, Kamrasi asked
Bombay, "Who governs England?" "A woman." "Has she any
children?" "Yes," said Bombay, with ready impudence; "these are
two of them" (pointing to Grant and myself). That settled,
Kamrasi wished to know if we had any specked cows, or cows of any
peculiar colour, and would we like to change four large cows for
four small ones, as he coveted some of ours. This was a
staggerer. We had totally failed, then, in conveying to this
stupid king the impression that we were not mere traders, ready
to bargain with him. We would present him with cows if we had
such as he wanted, but we could not bargain. The meeting then
broke up in the same chilling manner as it began, and we returned
as we came, but no sooner reached home than four pots of pombe
were sent us, with a hope that we had arrived all safely. The
present gave great satisfaction. The Wanguana accused Frij of
having "unclean hands," because the beef had not lasted so long
as it should do - it being a notable fact in Mussulman creed, that
unless the man's hands are pure who cuts the throat of an animal,
its flesh will not last fresh half the ordinary time.
19th. - As the presents given yesterday occupied the king's mind
too much for other business, I now sent to offer him one-third of
the guns left in Uganda, provided he would send some messengers
with one of my men to ask Mtesa for them, and also the same
proportion of the sixty loads of property left in charge of
Rumanika at Karague, if he would send the requisite number of
porters for its removal. But of all things, I said, I most
wished to send a letter to Petherick at Gani, to apprise him of
our whereabouts, for he must have been four years waiting our
arrival there, and by the same opportunity I would get a watch
for the king. He sent us to-day two pots of pombe, one sack of
salt, and what might be called a screw of butter, with an
assurance that the half of everything that came to his house -
and everything was brought from great distances in boats - he
would give me; but for the present the only thing he was in need
of was some medicine or stimulants.
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