He Was A Stranger Like Ourselves, And
Was Consequently Treated With Scorn, Until He Tried To Maintain
What He Called
His right, by pulling the loads off my men's
shoulders, whereupon Grant cowed him into submission, and all
went on
Again - not to the palace, as we had supposed, but, by
the direction of the mace-bearers, to the huts of Suwarora's
commander-in-chief, two miles from the palace; and here we found
Masudi's camp also. We had no sooner formed camp for ourselves
and arranged all our loads, than the eternal Vikora, whom I
thought we had settled with before we started, made a claim for
some more wire, cloth, and beads, as he had not received as much
as Kariwani and Virembo. Of course I would not listen to this, as
I had paid what his men asked for, and that was enough for me.
Just then Masudi, with the other Arabs who were travelling with
him, came over to pay us a visit, and inquire what we thought of
the Usui taxes. He had just concluded his hongo to Suwarora by
paying 80 wires, 120 yards of cloth, and 130 lb. of beads, whilst
he had also paid to every officer from 20 to 40 wires, as well as
cloths and beads. On hearing of my transactions, he gave it as
his opinion that I had got off surprisingly well.
Next morning, (1st) Masudi and his party started for Karague.
They had been more than a year between this and Kaze, trying all
the time to get along. Provisions here were abundant - hawked
about by the people, who wore a very neat skin kilt strapped
round the waist, but otherwise were decorated like the
Wanyamuezi. It was difficult to say who were of true breed here,
for the intercourse of the natives with the Wahuma and the
Wanyamuezi produced a great variety of facial features amongst
the people. Nowhere did I ever see so many men and women with
hazel eyes as at this place.
In the evening, an Uganda man, by name N'yamgundu, came to pay
his respects to us. He was dressed in a large skin wrapper, made
up of a number of very small antelope skins: it was as soft as
kid, and just as well sewn as our gloves. To our surprise the
manners of the man were quite in keeping with his becoming dress.
I was enchanted with his appearance, and so were my men, though
no one could speak to him but Nasib, who told us he knew him
before. He was the brother of the dowager queen of Uganda, and,
along with a proper body of officers, he had been sent by Mtesa,
the present king of Uganda, to demand the daughter of Suwarora,
as reports had reached his king that she was surprisingly
beautiful. They had been here more than a year, during which
time this beautiful virgin had died; and now Suwarora, fearful of
the great king's wrath, consequent on his procrastinations, was
endeavouring to make amends for it, by sending, instead of his
daughter, a suitable tribute in wires. I thought it not wonderful
that we should be fleeced.
Next day (2d) Sirhid paid us a visit, and said he was the first
man in the state. He certainly was a nice-looking young man,
with a good deal of the Wahuma blood in him. Flashily dressed in
coloured cloths and a turban, he sat down in one of our chairs as
if he had been accustomed to such a seat all his life, and spoke
with great suavity. I explained our difficulties as those of
great men in misfortune; and, after listening to our tale, he
said he would tell Suwarora of the way we had been plundered, and
impress upon him to deal lightly with us. I said I had brought
with me a few articles of European manufacture for Suwarora,
which I hoped would be accepted if I presented them, for they
were such things as only great men like his chief every
possessed. One was a five-barrelled pistol, another a large
block-in box, and so fourth; but after looking at them, and
seeing the pistol fired, he said; "No; you must not shew these
things at first, or the Mkama might get frightened, thinking them
magic. I might lose my head for presuming to offer them, and
then there is no knowing what might happen afterwards." "Then can
I not see him at once and pay my respects, for I have come a
great way to obtain that pleasure?" "No," said Sirhid, "I will
see him first; for he is not a man like myself, but requires to
be well assured before he sees anybody." "Then why did he invite
me here!" "He heard that Makaka, and afterwards Lumeresi, had
stopped your progress; and as he wished to see what you were
like, he ordered me to send some men to you, which, as you know,
I did twice. He wishes to see you, but does not like doing
things in a hurry. Superstition, you know, preys on these men's
minds who have not seen the world like you and myself." Sirhid
then said he would ask Suwarora to grant us an interview as soon
as possible; then, whilst leaving, he begged for the iron chair
he had sat upon; but hearing we did not know how to sit on the
ground, and therefore could not spare it, he withdrew without any
more words about it.
Virembo then said (3d) he must have some more wire and beads, as
his proxy Kariwami had been satisfied with too little. I drove
him off in a huff, but he soon came back again with half the
hongo I had paid to Kariwami, and said he must have some cloths
or he would not have anything. As fortune decreed it, just then
Sirhid dropped in, and stopped him importunity for the time by
saying that if we had possessed cloths his men must have known
it, for they had been travelling with us.
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