All Acts Of The King Are Counted Benefits, For Which He Must Be
Thanked; And So Every Deed Done To
His subjects is a gift
received by them, though it should assume the shape of flogging
or fine; for are
Not these, which make better men of them, as
necessary as anything? The thanks are rendered by gravelling on
the ground, floundering about and whining after the manner of
happy dogs, after which they rise up suddenly, take up sticks -
spears are not allowed to be carried in court - make as if
charging the king, jabbering as fast as tongues can rattle, and
so they swear fidelity for all their lives.
This is the greater salutation; the lesser one is performed
kneeling in an attitude of prayer, continually throwing open the
hands, and repeating sundry words. Among them the word
"n'yanzig" is the most frequent and conspicuous; and hence these
gesticulations receive the general designation n'yanzig - a term
which will be frequently met with, and which I have found it
necessary to use like an English verb. In consequence of these
salutations, there is more ceremony in court than business,
though the king, ever having an eye to his treasury, continually
finds some trifling fault, condemns the head of the culprit,
takes his liquidation-present, if he has anything to pay, and
thus keeps up his revenue.
No one dare stand before the king whilst he is either standing
still or sitting, but must approach him with downcast eyes and
bended knees, and kneel or sit when arrived. To touch the king's
throne or clothes, even by accident, or to look upon his women is
certain death. When sitting in court holding a levee, the king
invariably has in attendance several women, Wabandwa, evil-eye
averters or sorcerers. They talk in feigned voices raised to a
shrillness almost amounting to a scream. They wear dried lizards
on their heads, small goat-skin aprons trimmed with little bells,
diminutive shields and spears set off with cock-hackles - their
functions in attendance being to administer cups of marwa
(plantain wine). To complete the picture of the court, one must
imagine a crowd of pages to run royal messages; they dare not
walk for such deficiency in zeal to their master might cost their
life. A further feature of the court consists in the national
symbols already referred to - a dog, two spears, and shield.
With the company squatting in large half-circle or three sides of
a square many deep before him, in the hollow of which are
drummers and other musicians, the king, sitting on his throne in
high dignity, issues his orders for the day much to the following
effect: - "Cattle, women, and children are short in Uganda; an
army must be formed of one to two thousand strong, to plunder
Unyoro. The Wasoga have been insulting his subjects, and must be
reduced to subjection: for this emergency another army must be
formed, of equal strength, to act by land in conjunction with the
fleet. The Wahaiya have paid no tribute to his greatness lately
and must be taxed." For all these matters the commander-in-chief
tells off the divisional officers, who are approved by the king,
and the matter is ended in court. The divisional officers then
find subordinate officers, who find men, and the army proceeds
with its march. Should any fail with their mission,
reinforcements are sent, and the runaways, called women, are
drilled with a red-hot iron until they are men no longer, and die
for their cowardice., All heroism, however, ensures promotion.
The king receives his army of officers with great ceremony,
listens to their exploits, and gives as rewards, women, cattle,
and command over men - the greatest elements of wealth in Uganda -
with a liberal hand.
As to the minor business transacted in court, culprits are
brought in bound by officers, and reported. At once the sentence
is given, perhaps awarding the most torturous, lingering death -
probably without trial or investigation, and, for all the king
knows, at the instigation of some one influenced by wicked spite.
If the accused endeavour to plead his defence, his voice is at
once drowned, and the miserable victim dragged off in the
roughest manner possible by those officers who love their king,
and delight in promptly carrying out his orders. Young virgins,
the daughters of Wakungu, stark naked, and smeared with grease,
but holding, for decency's sake, a small square of mbugu at the
upper corners in both hands before them, are presented by their
fathers in propitiation for some offence, and to fill the harem.
Seizing-officers receive orders to hunt down Wakungu who have
committed some indiscretions, and to confiscate their lands,
wives, children, and property. An officer observed to salute
informally is ordered for execution, when everybody near him
rises in an instant, the drums beat, drowning his cries, and the
victim of carelessness is dragged off, bound by cords, by a dozen
men at once. Another man, perhaps, exposes an inch of naked leg
whilst squatting, or has his mbugu tied contrary to regulations,
and is condemned to the same fate.
Fines of cows, goats, and fowls are brought in and presented;
they are smoothed down by the offender's hands, and then applied
to his face, to show there is no evil spirit lurking in the gift;
then thanks are proferred for the leniency of the king in letting
the presenter off so cheaply, and the pardoned man retires, full
of smiles, to the ranks of the squatters. Thousands of cattle,
and strings of women and children, sometimes the result of a
victorious plundering hunt, or else the accumulated seizures from
refractory Wakungu, are brought in; for there is no more common
or acceptable offering to appease the king's wrath towards any
refractory or blundering officer than a present of a few young
beauties, who may perhaps be afterwards given as the reward of
good service to other officers.
Stick-charms, being pieces of wood of all shapes, supposed to
have supernatural virtues, and coloured earths, endowed with
similar qualities, are produced by the royal magicians.
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