I
Said Further, That Should Mtesa Act Up To My Desires, I Would
Then Know He Was My Friend, And Other White Men Would Not Fear To
Enter Uganda; But If He Acted Otherwise, They Would Fear Lest He
Should Imprison Them, Or Seize Their Property Of Their Men.
If
these deserters escaped punishment, no white men would ever dare
trust their lives with such men again.
The officer said he
should be afraid to deliver such a message to Mtesa direct; but
he certainly would tell the queen every word of it, which would
be even more efficacious.
4th. - I bullied Kamrasi by telling him we must go with this moon,
for the benefit of its light whilst crossing the Kidi wilderness;
as if we did not reach the vessels in time for seasonable
departure down the Nile, we should have to wait another year for
their return from Khartum. "What!" said Kamrasi, "does Bana
forget my promised appointment that I would either see him to-day
or to-morrow? I cannot do so to-day, and therefore to-morrow we
will certainly meet and bid good-bye." The Gani men, who came
with Bombay, said they would escort us to their country,
although, as a rule, they never cross the Kidi wilderness above
once in two years, from fear of the hunting natives, who make
gave of everybody and everything they see; in other words, they
seize strangers, plunder them, and sell them as slaves. To cross
that tract, the dry season is the best, when all the grass is
burnt down, or from the middle of December to the end of March.
I gave them a cow, and they at once killed it, and, sitting down,
commenced eating her flesh raw, out of choice.
5th. - The Kamraviona came to inform us that the king was ready
for the great interview, where we could both speak what we had at
heart, for as yet he had only heard what our servants had to say;
and there was a supplement to the message, of the usual kind,
that he would like a present of a pencil. The pencil was sent in
the first place, because we did not like talking about trifles
when we visited great kings.
The interview followed. It was opened on our side by our saying
we had enjoyed his hospitality a great number of days, and wished
to go to our homes; should be have any message to send to the
great Queen of England, we should be happy to convey it. A long
yarn then emanated from the throne. He defended his over-
cautiousness when admitting us into Unyoro. It was caused at
first by wicked men who did not wish us to visit him; he
subsequently saw through their representations, and now was very
pleased with us as he found us. Of course he could not tie us
down to stopping here against our wish, but, for safety's sake,
he would like us to stop a little longer, until he could send
messengers ahead, requesting the wild men in Kidi not to molest
us.
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