3d. - With Kaddu, K'yengo, And Viarungi All In Attendance, We Went
To The Palace, Where There Was A Large Assemblage Prepared For A
Levee, And Fired A Gun, Which Brought The King Out In State.
The
Sakibobo, or provincial governor, arrived with a body of soldiers
armed with sticks, made a speech, and danced at the head of his
men, all pointing sticks upwards, and singing fidelity to their
king.
The king then turned to me, and said, "I have come out to listen
to your request of last night. What is it you do want?" I said,
"To open the country to the north, that an uninterrupted line of
commerce might exist between England and this country by means of
the Nile. I might go round by Nkole" (K'yengo looked daggers at
me); "but that is out of the way, and not suitable to the
purpose." The queen's deputation was now ordered to draw near,
and questioned in a whisper. As K'yengo was supposed to know all
about me, and spoke fluently both in Kiganda and Kisuahili, he
had to speak first; but K'yengo, to everybody's surprise, said,
"One white man wishes to go to Kamrasi's, whilst the other wishes
to return through Unyamuezi." This announcement made the king
reflect; for he had been privately primed by his mother's
attendants, that we both wished to go to Gani, and therefore
shrewdly inquired if Rumanika knew we wished to visit Kamrasi,
and whether he was aware we should attempt the passage north from
Uganda.
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