Baraka
And All The Men Begged I Would Give In, As They Were Sure He Must
Be A Good Man To Send Such A Kind Message.
I strove in vain, for
no one would lift a load unless I complied; so, perforce, I went
there, in company, however, with Mfumbi, who now pretended to be
great friends; but what was the result?
On entering the palace
we were shown into a cowyard without a tree in it, or any shade;
and no one was allowed to sell us food until a present of
friendship was paid, after which the hongo would be discussed.
The price of friendship was not settled that day, however, and my
men had to go supperless to bed. Baraka offered him one common
cloth, and then another - all of which he rejected with such
impetuosity that Baraka said his head was all on a whirl. Makaka
insisted he would have a deole, or nothing at all. I protested I
had no deoles I could give him; for all the expensive cloths
which I had brought from the coast had been stolen in Mgunda
Mkhali. I had three, however, concealed at the time - which I had
bought from Musa, at forty dollars each - intended for the kings
of Karague and Uganda.
Incessant badgering went on for hours and hours, until at last
Baraka, clean done with the incessant worry of this hot-headed
young chief, told him, most unfortunately, he would see again if
he could find a deole, as he had one of his own. Baraka then
brought one to my tent, and told me of his having bought it for
eight dollars at the coast; and as I now saw I was let in for it,
I told him to give it. It was given, but Makaka no sooner saw it
than he said he must have another one; for it was all nonsense
saying a white man had no rich cloths. Whenever he met Arabs,
they all said they were poor men, who obtained all their
merchandise from the white men on credit, which they refunded
afterwards, by levying a heavy percentage on the sale of their
ivory.
I would not give way that night; but next day, after fearful
battling, the present of friendship was paid by Baraka's giving
first a dubuani, then one sahari, then one barsati, then one
kisutu, and then eight yards of merikani - all of which were
contested in the most sickening manner - when Baraka, fairly done
up, was relieved by Makaka's saying, "That will do for
friendship; if you had given the deole quietly, all this trouble
would have been saved; for I am not a bad man, as you will see."
My men then had their first dinner here, after which the hongo
had to be paid. This for the time was, however, more easily
settled; because Makaki at once said he would never be satisfied
until he had received, if I had really not got a deole, exactly
double in equivalents of all I had given him. This was a fearful
drain on my store; but the Pig, seeing my concern, merely laughed
at it, and said, "Oh, these savage chiefs are all alike here; you
will have one of these taxes to pay every stage to Uyofu, and
then the heavy work will begin; for all these men, although they
assume the dignity of chief to themselves, are mere officers, who
have to pay tribute to Suwarora, and he would be angry if they
were shortcoming."
The drums as yet had not beaten, for Makaka said he would not be
satisfied until we had exchanged presents, to prove that we were
the best of friends. To do this last act properly, I was to get
ready whatever I wished to give him, whilst he would come and
visit me with a bullock; but I was to give him a royal salute, or
the drums would not beat. I never felt so degraded as when I
complied, and gave orders to my men to fire a volley as he
approached my tent; but I ate the dirt with a good grace, and met
the young chief as if nothing had happened. My men, however,
could not fire the salute fast enough for him; for he was one of
those excitable impulsive creatures who expect others to do
everything in as great a hurry as their minds wander. The moment
the first volley was fired, he said, "Now, fire again, fire
again; be quick, be quick! What's the use of those things?"
(meaning the guns). "We could spear you all whilst you are
loading: be quick, be quick, I tell you." But Baraka, to give
himself law, said: "No; I must ask Bana" (master) "first, as we
do everything by order; this is not fighting at all."
The men being ready, file-firing was ordered, and then the young
chief came into my tent. I motioned him to take my chair, which,
after he sat down upon it, I was very sorry for, as he stained
the seat all black with the running colour of one of the new
barsati cloths he had got from me, which, to improve its
appearance, he had saturated with stinking butter, and had tied
round his loins. A fine-looking man of about thirty, he wore the
butt-end of a large sea-shell cut in a circle, and tied on his
forehead, for a coronet, and sundry small saltiana antelope
horns, stuffed with magic powder, to keep off the evil eye. His
attendants all fawned on him, and snapped their fingers whenever
he sneezed. After passing the first compliment, I gave him a
barsati, as my token of friendship, and asked him what he saw
when he went to the Masai country. He assured me "that there were
two lakes, and not one"; for, on going from Usoga to the Masai
country, he crossed over a broad strait, which connected the big
N'yanza with another one at its north-east corner.
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