Whole
force should swim the river, supporting themselves and guns upon bundles
of papyrus rush. The men thought us perfectly mad, and declared that we
should be murdered immediately when on the other side; however, they
prepared for crossing the river in case of treachery.
At the last moment, when the boat was about to leave the shore, two of
the best men jumped in with their guns. However, the natives positively
refused to start; therefore, to avoid suspicion, I ordered them to
retire, but I left word that on the morrow I would send the canoe across
with supplies, and that one or two men should endeavor to accompany the
boat to our side on every trip.
It was quite dark when we started. The canoe was formed of a large
hollow tree, capable of holding twenty people, and the natives paddled
us across the rapid current just below the falls. A large fire was
blazing upon the opposite shore, on a level with the river, to guide us
to the landing-place. Gliding through a narrow passage in the reeds, we
touched the shore and landed upon a slippery rock, close to the fire,
amid a crowd of people, who immediately struck up a deafening welcome
with horns and flageolets, and marched us up the steep face of the rocky
cliff through a dark grove of bananas. Torches led the way, followed by
a long file of spearmen; then came the noisy band and ourselves, I
towing my wife up the precipitous path, while my few attendants followed
behind with a number of natives who had volunteered to carry the
luggage.
On arrival at the top of the cliff, we were about 180 feet above the
river; and after a walk of about a quarter of a mile, we were
triumphantly led into the heart of the village, and halted in a small
courtyard in front of the headman's residence.
Keedja waited to receive us by a blazing fire. Not having had anything
to eat, we were uncommonly hungry, and to our great delight a basketful
of ripe plantains was presented to us. These were the first that I had
seen for many years. A gourd bottle of plantain wine was offered and
immediately emptied; it resembled extremely poor cider. We were now
surrounded by a mass of natives, no longer the naked savages to whom we
had been accustomed, but well-dressed men, wearing robes of bark cloth,
arranged in various fashions, generally like the Arab "tope" or the
Roman toga. Several of the headmen now explained to us the atrocious
treachery of Debono's men, who had been welcomed as friends of Speke and
Grant, but who had repaid the hospitality by plundering and massacring
their hosts. I assured them that no one would be more wroth than Speke
when I should make him aware of the manner in which his name had been
used, and that I should make a point of reporting the circumstance to
the British Government. At the same time I advised them not to trust any
but white people should others arrive in my name or in the names of
Speke and Grant. I upheld their character as that of Englishmen, and I
begged them to state if ever they had deceived them. They replied that
"there could not be better men." I answered, "You MUST trust me, as I
trust entirely in you, and have placed myself in your hands; but if you
have ever had cause to mistrust a white man, kill me at once! - either
kill me or trust in me; but let there be no suspicions."
They seemed much pleased with the conversation, and a man stepped
forward and showed me a small string of blue beads that Speke bad given
him for ferrying him across the river. This little souvenir of my old
friend was most interesting. After a year's wandering and many
difficulties, this was the first time that I had actually come upon his
track. Many people told me that they had known Speke and Grant; the
former bore the name of "Mollegge" (the bearded one), while Grant had
been named "Masanga" (the elephant's tusk), owing to his height. The
latter had been wounded at Lucknow during the Indian mutiny, and I spoke
to the people of the loss of his finger. This crowned my success, as
they knew without doubt that I had seen him. It was late, therefore I
begged the crowd to depart, but to send a messenger the first thing in
the morning to inform Kamrasi who we were, and to beg him to permit us
to visit him without loss of time.
A bundle of straw was laid on the ground for Mrs. Baker and myself, and,
in lieu of other beds, the ground was our resting-place. We were
bitterly cold that night, as the guns were packed up in the large
blanket, and, not wishing to expose them, we were contented with a
Scotch plaid each. Ibrahim, Saat, and Richarn watched by turns.
On the following morning an immense crowd of natives thronged to see us.
There was a very beautiful tree about a hundred yards from the village,
capable of shading upward of a thousand men, and I proposed that we
should sit beneath this protection and hold a conference. The headman of
the village gave us a large hut with a grand doorway about seven feet
high, of which my wife took possession, while I joined the crowd at the
tree. There were about six hundred men seated respectfully on the ground
around me, while I sat with my back to the huge knotty trunk, with
Ibrahim and Richarn at a few paces distant.
The subject of conversation was merely a repetition of that of the
preceding night, with the simple addition of some questions respecting
the lake.
