They Smear Themselves With Rancid Butter Instead Of Macassar, And
Are, In Consequence, Very Offensive To All But The Negro, Who
Seems, Rather Than Otherwise, To Enjoy A Good Sharp Nose Tickler.
For arms they carry both bow and spear; more generally the
latter.
The Wazinza in the southern parts are so much like the
Wanyamuezi, as not to require any especial notice; but in the
north, where the country is more hilly, they are much more
energetic and actively built. All alike live in grass-hut
villages, fenced round by bomas in the south, but open in the
north. Their country rises in high rolls, increasing in altitude
as it approaches the Mountains of the Moon, and is generally well
cultivated, being subjected to more of the periodical rains than
the regions we have left, though springs are not so abundant, I
believe, as they are in the Land of the Moon, where they ooze out
by the flanks of the little granitic hills.
After tracking through several miles of low bush-jungle, we came
to the sites of some old bomas that had been destroyed by the
Watuta not long since. Farther on, as we wished to enter a
newly- constructed boma, the chief of which was Mafumbu Wantu (a
Mr Balls), we felt the effects of those ruthless marauders; for
the villagers, thinking us Watuta in disguise, would not let us
in; for those savages, they said, had once tricked them by
entering their village, pretending to be traders carrying ivory
and merchandise, whilst they were actually spies. This was
fortunate for me, however, as Mr Balls, like M'yonga, was noted
for his extortions on travellers. We then went on and put up in
the first village of Bogue, where I wished to get porters and
return for Grant, as the place seemed to be populous. Finding,
however, that I could not get a sufficient number for that
purpose, I directed those who wished for employment to go off at
once and take service with Grant.
I found many people assembled here from all parts of the
district, for the purpose of fighting M'yonga; but the chief
Ruhe, having heard of my arrival, called me to his palace, which,
he said, was on my way, that he might see me, for he never in all
his life had a white man for his guest, and was so glad to hear
of my arrival that he would give orders for the dispersing of his
forces. I wished to push past him, as I might be subjected to
such calls every day; but Ungurue, in the most piggish manner -
for he was related to Ruhe - insisted that neither himself nor
any of his children would advance one step farther with me unless
I complied with their wish, which was a simple conformity with
the laws of their country, and therefore absolute. At length
giving in, I entered Ruhe's boma, the poles of which were decked
with the skulls of his enemies stuck upon them. Instead,
however, of seeing him myself, as he feared my evil eye, I
conducted the arrangements for the hongo through Baraka, in the
same way as I did at M'yonga's, directing that it should be
limited to the small sum of one barsati and four yards kiniki.
The drum was beaten, as the public intimation of the payment of
the hongo, and consequently of our release, and we went on to
Mihambo, on the west border of the eastern division of Uzinza,
which is called Ukhanga. It overlooks the small district of
Sorombo, belonging to the great western division, known as Usui,
and is presided over by a Sorombo chief, named Makaka, whose
extortions had been so notorious that no Arabs now ever went near
him. I did not wish to do so either, though his palace lay in
the direct route. It was therefore agreed we should skirt round
by the east of this district, and I even promised the Pig I would
give him ten necklaces a-day in addition to his wages, if he
would avoid all the chiefs, and march steadily ten miles every
day. By doing so, we should have avoided the wandering Watuta,
whose depredations had laid waste nearly all of this country; but
the designing blackguard, in opposition to my wishes, to
accomplish some object of his own, chose to mislead us all, and
quietly took us straight into Sorombo to Kague, the boma of a
sub-chief, called Mfumbi, where we no sooner arrived than the
inhospitable brute forbade any one of his subjects to sell us
food until the hongo was paid, for he was not sure that we were
not allied with the Watuta to rob his country. After receiving
what he called his dues - one barsati, two yards merikani, and two
yards kiniki - the drums beat, and all was settled with him; but I
was told the head chief Makaka, who lived ten miles to the west,
and so much out of my road, had sent expressly to invite me to
see him. He said it was his right I should go to him as the
principal chief of the district. Moreover he longed for a sight
of a white man; for though he had travelled all across Uganda and
Usoga into Masawa, or the Masai country, as well as to the coast,
where he had seen both Arabs and Indians, he had never yet seen
an Englishman. If I would oblige him, he said he would give me
guides to Suwarora, who was his mkama or king. Of course I knew
well what all this meant; and at the same time that I said I
could not comply, I promised to send him a present of friendship
by the hands of Baraka.
This caused a halt. Makaka would not hear of such an
arrangement. A present, he said, was due to him of course, but of
more importance than the present was his wish to see me.
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