Leaving The Valley Of Uthenga, We Rose Over The Spur Of
N'yamwara, Where We Found We Had Attained The Delightful Altitude
Of 5000 Odd Feet.
Oh, how we enjoyed it!
Every one feeling so
happy at the prospect of meeting so soon the good king Rumanika.
Tripping down the greensward, we now worked our way to the Rozoka
valley, and pitched our tents in the village.
Kachuchu here told us he had orders to precede us, and prepare
Rumanika for our coming, as his king wished to know what place we
would prefer to live at - the Arab depot at kufro, on the direct
line to Uganda, in his palace with himself, or outside his
enclosures. Such politeness rather took us aback; so, giving our
friend a coil of copper wire to keep him in good spirits, I said
all our pleasure rested in seeing the king; whatever honours he
liked to confer on us we should take with good grace, but one
thing he must understand, we came not to trade, but to see him
and great kings and therefore the Arabs had no relations with us.
This little point settled, off started Kachuchu in his usual
merry manner, whilst I took a look at the hills, to see their
geological formation, and found them much as before, based on
streaky clay sandstones, with the slight addition of pure blue
shales, and above sections of quartzose sandstone lying in flags,
as well as other metamorphic and igneous rocks scattered about.
Moving on the next morning over hill and dale, we came to the
junction of two roads, where Irungu, with his drummers, fifers
and amazon followers, took one way to Kufro, followed by the men
carrying Suwarora's hongo, and we led off on the other, directed
to the palace. The hill-tops in many places were breasted with
dykes of pure white quartz, just as we had seen in Usui, only
that here their direction tended more to the north. It was most
curious to contemplate, seeing that the chief substance of the
hills was a pure blue, or otherwise streaky clay sandstone, which
must have been formed when the land was low, but has now been
elevated, making these hills the axis of the centre of the
continent, and therefore probably the oldest of all.
When within a few miles of the palace we were ordered to stop and
wait for Kachuchu's return; but no sooner put up in a plaintain
grove, where pombe was brewing, and our men were all taking a
suck at it, than the worthy arrived to call us on the same
instant, as the king was most anxious to see us. The love of
good beer of course made our men all too tired to march again; so
I sent off Bombay with Nasib to make our excuses, and in the
evening found them returning with a huge pot of pombe and some
royal tobacco, which Rumanika sent with a notice that he intended
it exclusively for our own use, for though there was abundance
for my men, there was nothing so good as what came from the
palace; the royal tobacco was as sweet and strong as honey-dew,
and the beer so strong it required a strong man to drink it.
After breakfast next morning, we crossed the hill-spur called
Waeranhanje, the grassy tops of which were 5500 feet above the
sea. Descending a little, we came suddenly in view of what
appeared to us a rich clump of trees, in S. lat. 1§ 42' 42", and
E. long. 31§ 1' 49"; and, 500 feet below it, we saw a beautiful
sheet of water lying snugly within the folds of the hills. We
were not altogether unprepared for it, as Musa of old had
described it, and Bombay, on his return yesterday, told us he had
seen a great pond. The clump, indeed, was the palace enclosure.
As to the lake, for want of a native name, I christened it the
Little Winderemere, because Grant thought it so like our own
English lake of that name. It was one of many others which, like
that of Urigi, drains the moisture of the overhanging hills, and
gets drained into the Victoria N'yanza through the Kitangule
river.
To do royal honours to the king of this charming land, I ordered
my men to put down their loads and fire a volley. This was no
sooner done than, as we went to the palace gate, we received an
invitation to come in at once, for the king wished to see us
before attending to anything else. Now, leaving our traps
outside, both Grant and myself, attended by Bombay and a few of
the seniors of my Wanguana, entered the vestibule, and, walking
through extensive enclosures studded with huts of kingly
dimensions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which the
Arabs had built as a sort of government office where the king
might conduct his state affairs.
Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged on the ground
Rumanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji, both of them men of
noble appearance and size. The king was plainly dressed in an
Arab's black choga, and wore, for ornament, dress-stockings of
rich-coloured beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper.
Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high pretensions, in addition to
a check cloth wrapped round him, was covered with charms. At
their sides lay huge pipes of black clay. In their rear,
squatting quiet as mice, were all the king's sons, some six or
seven lads, who wore leather middle-coverings, and little dream-
charms tied under their chins. The first greetings of the king,
delivered in good Kisuahili, were warm and affecting, and in an
instant we both felt and saw we were in the company of men who
were as unlike as they could be to the common order of the
natives of the surrounding districts. They had fine oval faces,
large eyes, and high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia.
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