Her Features Were
Lovely, But Her Body Was As Round As A Ball.
In the evening we had another row with my head men - Baraka having
accused Bombay of trying to kill him with magic.
Bombay, who was
so incessantly bullied by Baraka's officious attempts to form
party cliques opposed to the interests of the journey, and get
him turned out of the camp, indiscreetly went to one of K'yengo's
men, and asked him if he knew of any medicine that would affect
the hearts of the Wanguana so as to incline them towards him; and
on the sub-doctor saying Yes, Bombay gave him some beads, and
bought the medicine required, which, put into a pot of pombe, was
placed by Baraka's side. Baraka in the meanwhile got wind of the
matter through K'yengo, who, misunderstanding the true facts of
the case, said it was a charm to deprive Baraka of his life. A
court of inquiry having been convened, with all the parties
concerned in attendance, K'yengo's mistake was discovered, and
Bombay was lectured for his folly, as he had a thousand times
before abjured his belief in such magical follies; moreover, to
punish him for the future, I took Baraka, whenever I could, with
me to visit the king, which, little as it may appear to others,
was of the greatest consequence to the hostile parties.
15th and 16th. - When I next called on Rumanika I gave him a
Vautier's binocular and prismatic compass; on which he politely
remarked he was afraid he was robbing me of everything. More
compliments went round, and then he asked if it was true we could
open a man's skull, look at his brains, and close it up again;
also if it was true we sailed all round the world into regions
where there was no difference between night and day, and how,
when he ploughed the seas in such enormous vessels as would carry
at once 20,000 men, we could explain to the sailors what they
ought to do; for, although he had heard of these things, no one
was able to explain them to him.
After all the explanations were given, he promised me a boat-hunt
after the nzoe in the morning; but when the time came, as
difficulties were raised, I asked him to allow us to anticipate
the arrival of Kachuchu, and march on to Kitangule. He answered,
with his usual courtesy, That he would be very glad to oblige us
in any way that we liked; but he feared that, as the Waganda were
such superstitious people, some difficulties would arise, and he
must decline to comply with our request. "You must not," he
added, "expect ever to find again a reasonable man like myself."
I then gave him a book on "Kafir laws," which he said he would
keep for my sake, with all the rest of the presents, which he was
determined never to give away, though it was usual for him to
send novelties of this sort to Mtesa, king of Uganda, and
Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, as a friendly recognition of their
superior positions in the world of great monarchies.
17th. - Rumanika next introduced me to an old woman who came from
the island of Gasi, situated in the little Luta Nzige. Both her
upper and lower incisors had been extracted, and her upper lip
perforated by a number of small holes, extending in an arch from
one corner to the other. This interesting but ugly old lady
narrated the circumstances by which she had been enslaved, and
then sent by Kamrasi as a curiosity to Rumanika, who had ever
since kept her as a servant in his palace. A man from Ruanda
then told us of the Wilyanwantu (men-eaters), who disdained all
food but human flesh; and Rumanika confirmed the statement.
Though I felt very sceptical about it, I could not help thinking
it a curious coincidence that the position they were said to
occupy agreed with Petherick's Nyam Nyams (men-eaters).
Of far more interest were the results of a conversation which I
had with another of Kamrasi's servants, a man of Amara, as it
threw some light upon certain statements made by Mr Leon of the
people of Amara being Christians. He said they bore single holes
in the centres both of their upper and lower lips, as well as in
the lobes of both of their ears, in which they wear small brass
rings. They live near the N'yanza - where it is connected by a
strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river to the northward-
-in comfortable houses, built like the tembes of Unyamuezi. When
killing a cow, they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with
both hands together, held palm upwards, and utter Zu, a word the
meaning of which he did not know. I questioned him to try if the
word had any trace of a Christian meaning - for instance, a
corruption of Jesu - but without success. Circumcision is not
known amongst them, neither have they any knowledge of God or a
soul. A tribe called Wakuavi, who are white, and described as
not unlike myself, often came over the water and made raids on
their cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief weapon
of war. These attacks were as often resented, and sometimes led
the Wamara in pursuit a long way into their enemy's country,
where, at a place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red
cloths. Beads were imported, he thought, both from the east and
from Ukidi. Associated with the countries Masau or Masai, and
Usamburu, which he knew, there was a large mountain, the exact
position of which he could not describe.
I took down many words of his language, and found they
corresponded with the North African dialects, as spoken by the
people of Kidi, Gani, and Madi. The southerners, speaking of
these, would call them Wakidi, Wagani, and Wamadi, but among
themselves the syllable was is not prefixed, as in the southern
dialects, to signify people.
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