These Men Of The Moon Are Hereditarily The Greatest
Traders In Africa, And Are The Only People Who, For Love
Of
barter and change, will leave their own country as porters and go
to the coast, and they do so
With as much zest as our country-
folk go to a fair. As far back as we can trace they have done
this, and they still do it as heretofore. The whole of their
country ranges from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level - a high
plateau, studded with little outcropping hills of granite,
between which, in the valleys, there are numerous fertilising
springs of fresh water, and rich iron ore is found in sandstone.
Generally industrious - much more so than most other negroes - they
cultivate extensively, make cloths of cotton in their own looms,
smelt iron and work it up very expertly, build tembes to live in
over a large portion of their country, but otherwise live in
grass huts, and keep flocks and herds of considerable extent.
The Wanyamuezi, however, are not a very well-favoured people in
physical appearance, and are much darker than either the Wazaramo
or the Wagogo, though many of their men are handsome and their
women pretty; neither are they well dressed or well armed, being
wanting in pluck and gallantry. Their women, generally, are
better dressed than the men. Cloths fastened round under the
arms are their national costume, along with a necklace of beads,
large brass or copper wire armlets, and a profusion of thin
circles, called sambo, made of the giraffe's tail-hairs bound
round by the thinnest iron or copper wire; whilst the men at home
wear loin-cloths, but in the field, or whilst travelling, simply
hang a goat-skin over their shoulders, exposing at least three-
fourths of their body in a rather indecorous manner. In all
other respects they ornament themselves like the women, only,
instead of a long coil of wire wound up the arm, they content
themselves with having massive rings of copper or brass on the
wrist; and they carry for arms a spear and bow and arrows. All
extract more or less their lower incisors, and cut a [upside-down
V shape] between their two upper incisors. The whole tribe are
desperate smokers, and greatly given to drink.
On the 24th, we all, as many as were left of us, marched into the
merchant's depot, S. lat. 5§ 0' 52", and E. long. 33§ 1'
34",[FN#7] escorted by Musa, who advanced to meet us, and guided
us into his tembe, where he begged we would reside with him until
we could find men to carry our property on to Karague. He added
that he would accompany us; for he was on the point of going
there when my first instalment of property arrived, but deferred
his intention out of respect to myself. He had been detained at
Kaze ever since I last left it in consequence of the Arabs having
provoked a war with Manua Sera, to which he was adverse. For a
long time also he had been a chained prisoner; as the Arabs,
jealous of the favour Manua Sera had shown to him in preference
to themselves, basely accused him of supplying Manua Sera with
gunpowder, and bound him hand and foot "like a slave." It was
delightful to see old Musa's face again, and the supremely
hospitable, kind, and courteous manner in which he looked after
us, constantly bringing in all kind of small delicacies, and
seeing that nothing was wanting to make us happy. All the
property I had sent on in advance he had stored away; or rather,
I should say, as much as had reached him, for the road expenses
had eaten a great hole in it.
Once settled down into position, Sheikh Snay and the whole
conclave of Arab merchants came to call on me. They said they
had an army of four hundred slaves armed with muskets ready to
take the field at once to hunt down Manua Sera, who was cutting
their caravan road to pieces, and had just seized, by their
latest reports, a whole convoy of their ammunition. I begged
them strongly to listen to reason, and accept my advice as an old
soldier, not to carry on their guerilla warfare in such a
headlong hurry, else they would be led a dance by Manua Sera, as
we had been by Tantia Topee in India. I advised them to allow me
to mediate between them, after telling them what a favourable
interview I had had with Manua Sera and Maula, whose son was at
that moment concealed in Musa's tembe. My advice, however, was
not wanted. Snay knew better than any one how to deal with
savages, and determined on setting out as soon as his army had
"eaten their beef-feast of war."
On my questioning him about the Nile, Snay still thought the
N'yanza was the source of the Jub river[FN#8] as he did in our
former journey, but gave way when I told him that vessels
frequented the Nile, as this also coincided with his knowledge of
navigators in vessels appearing on some waters to the northward
of Unyoro. In a great hurry he then bade me good-bye; when, as
he thought it would be final, I gave him, in consideration of his
former good services to the last expedition, one of the gold
watches given me by the Indian Government. I saw him no more,
though he and all the other Arabs sent me presents of cows,
goats, and rice, with a notice that they should have gone on
their war-oath before, only, hearing of my arrival, out of due
respect to my greatness they waited to welcome me in. Further,
after doing for Manua Sera, they were determined to go on to
Ugogo to assist Salem bin Saif and the other merchants on, during
which, at the same time, they would fight all the Wagogo who
persisted in taking taxes and in harassing caravans.
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