To My Surprise
I Then Learnt That Rumanika Had Set His Heart On The Revolving
Rifle I Had Brought For
Mtesa - the one, in fact, which he had
prevented my sending on to Uganda in the hands of Kachuchu, and
He would have begged me for it before had his high-minded
dignity, and the principle he had established of never begging
for anything, not interfered. I then said he should certainly
have it; for as strongly as I had withheld from giving anything
to those begging scoundrels who wished to rob me of all I
possessed in the lower countries, so strongly now did I feel
inclined to be generous with this exceptional man Rumanika. We
then had another pic-nic together, and whilst I went home to join
Grant, Rumanika spent the night doing homage and sacrificing a
bullock at the tomb of his father Dagara.
Instead of paddling all down the lake again, I walked over the
hill, and, on crossing at its northern end, whished to shoot
ducks; but the superstitious boatmen put a stop to my intended
amusement by imploring me not to do so, lest the spirit of the
lake should be roused to dry up the waters.
4th. - Rumanika returned in the morning, walking up the hill,
followed by a long train of his officers, and a party of men
carrying on their shoulders his state carriage, which consisted
of a large open basket laid on the top of two very long poles.
After entering his palace, I immediately called on him to thank
him for the great treat he had given me, and presented him, as an
earnest of what I thought, with the Colt's revolving rifle and a
fair allowance of ammunition. His delight knew no bounds on
becoming the proprietor of such an extraordinary weapon, and
induced him to dwell on his advantages over his brother Rogero,
whose antipathy to him was ever preying on his mind. He urged me
again to devise some plan for overcoming him; and, becoming more
and more confidential, favoured me with the following narrative,
by way of evidence how the spirits were inclined to show all the
world that he was the rightful successor to the throne: - When
Dagara died, and he, Nnanaji, and Rogero, were the only three
sons left in line of succession to the crown, a small mystic drum
of diminutive size was placed before them by the officers of
state. It was only feather weight in reality, but, being loaded
with charms, became so heavy to those who were not entitled to
the crown, that no one could lift it but the one person whom the
spirits were inclined towards as the rightful successor. Now, of
all the three brothers, he, Rumanika, alone could raise it from
the ground; and whilst his brothers laboured hard, in vain
attempting to move it, he with his little finger held it up
without any exertion.
This little disclosure in the history of Karague led us on to
further particulars of Dagara's death and burial, when it
transpired that the old king's body, after the fashion of his
predecessors, was sewn up in a cow-skin, and placed in a boat
floating on the lake, where it remained for three days, until
decomposition set in and maggots were engendered, of which three
were taken into the palace and given in charge to the heir-elect;
but instead of remaining as they were, one worm was transformed
into a lion, another into a leopard, and the third into a stick.
After this the body of the king was taken up and deposited on the
hill Moga-Namirinzi, where, instead of putting him underground,
the people erected a hut over him, and, thrusting in five maidens
and fifty cows, enclosed the doorway in such a manner that the
whole of them subsequently died from starvation.
This, as may naturally be supposed, led into further genealogical
disclosures of a similar nature, and I was told by Rumanika that
his grandfather was a most wonderful man; indeed, Karague was
blessed with more supernatural agencies than any other country.
Rohinda the Sixth, who was his grandfather, numbered so many
years that people thought he would never die; and he even became
so concerned himself about it, reflecting that his son Dagara
would never enjoy the benefit of his position as successor to the
crown of Karague, that he took some magic powders and charmed
away his life. His remains were then taken to Moga-Namirinzi, in
the same manner as were those of Dagara; but, as an improvement
on the maggot story, a young lion emerged from the heart of the
corpse and kept guard over the hill, from whom other lions came
into existence, until the whole place has become infested by
them, and has since made Karague a power and dread to all other
nations; for these lions became subject to the will of Dagara,
who, when attacked by the countries to the northward, instead of
assembling an army of men, assembled his lion force, and so swept
all before him.
Another test was then advanced at the instigation of K'yengo, who
thought Rumanika not quite impressive enough of his right to the
throne; and this was, that each heir in succession, even after
the drum dodge, was required to sit on the ground in a certain
place of the country, where, if he had courage to plant himself,
the land would gradually rise up, telescope fashion, until it
reached the skies, when, if the aspirant was considered by the
spirits the proper person to inherit Karague, he would gradually
be lowered again without any harm happening; but, otherwise, the
elastic hill would suddenly collapse, and he would be dashed to
pieces. Now, Rumanika, by his own confession, had gone through
this ordeal with marked success; so I asked him if he found the
atmosphere cold when so far up aloft, and as he said he did so,
laughing at the quaintness of the question, I told him I saw he
had learnt a good practical lesson on the structure of the
universe, which I wished he would explain to me.
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