The King Had Therefore Given Orders
That Upon Pain Of Death No Stranger Should Cross The River.
He continued, "that when he saw our people marching along the bank of
the river they imagined us to
Be the same party that had attacked them
formerly, and they were prepared to resist us, and had sent on a
messenger to Kamrasi, who was three days' march from Karuma, at his
capital, M'rooli; until they received a reply it would be impossible to
allow us to enter the country. He promised to despatch another messenger
immediately to inform the king who we were, but that we must certainly
wait until his return. I explained that we had nothing to eat, and that
it would be very inconvenient to remain in such a spot; that I
considered the suspicion displayed was exceedingly unfair, as they must
see that my wife and I were white people like Speke and Grant, whereas
those who had deceived them were of a totally different race, all being
either black or brown.
I told him that it did not much matter; that I had very beautiful
presents intended for Kamrasi, but that another great king would be only
too glad to accept them, without throwing obstacles in my way. I should
accordingly return with my presents.
At the same time I ordered a handsome Persian carpet, about fifteen feet
square, to be displayed as one of the presents intended for the king.
The gorgeous colors, as the carpet was unfolded, produced a general
exclamation. Before the effect of astonishment wore off I had a basket
unpacked, and displayed upon a cloth a heap of superb necklaces, that we
had prepared while at Obbo, of the choicest beads, many as large as
marbles, and glittering with every color of the rainbow. The garden of
jewels of Aladdin's wonderful lamp could not have produced more enticing
fruit. Beads were extremely rare in Kamrasi's land; the few that existed
had arrived from Zanzibar, and all that I exhibited were entirely new
varieties. I explained that I had many other presents, but that it was
not necessary to unpack them, as we were about to return with them to
visit another king, who lived some days' journey distant. "Don't go;
don't go away," said the headman and his companions. "Kamrasi will -"
Here an unmistakable pantomimic action explained their meaning better
than words; throwing their heads well back, they sawed across their
throats with their forefingers, making horrible grimaces, indicative of
the cutting of throats. I could not resist laughing at the terror that
my threat of returning with the presents had created. They explained
that Kamrasi would not only kill them, but would destroy the entire
village of Atada should we return without visiting him; but that he
would perhaps punish them in precisely the same manner should they ferry
us across without special orders. "Please yourselves," I replied; "if my
party is not ferried across by the time the sun reaches that spot on the
heavens (pointing to the position it would occupy at about 3 P.M.) I
shall return." In a state of great excitement they promised to hold a
conference on the other side, and to see what arrangements could be
made.
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