Not A Man Would Give The Slightest Information; The Only
Reply, Upon My Forcing The Question, Was The Pantomime Already
Described, Passing The Forefinger Across The Throat, And Exclaiming
"Kamrasi!" The Entire Population Was Tongue-Locked.
I tried the children
to no purpose:
They were all dumb. White-headed old men I questioned, as
to the distance of the lake from this point. They replied, "We are
children; ask the old people who know the country." Never was
freemasonry more secret than in the land of Unyoro. It was useless to
persevere. I therefore changed the subject by saying that our people
were starving on the other side, and that provisions must be sent
immediately. In all savage countries the most trifling demand requires
much talking. They said that provisions were scarce, and that until
Kamrasi should give the order, they could give no supplies.
Understanding most thoroughly the natural instincts of the natives, I
told them that I must send the canoe across to fetch three oxen that I
wished to slaughter. The bait took at once, and several men ran for the
canoe, and we sent one of our black women across with a message to the
people that three men, with their guns and ammunition, were to accompany
the canoe and guide three oxen across by swimming them with ropes tied
to their horns. These were the riding oxen of some of the men that it
was necessary to slaughter, to exchange the flesh for flour and other
supplies.
Hardly had the few boatmen departed than some one shouted suddenly, and
the entire crowd sprang to their feet and rushed toward the hut where I
had left Mrs. Baker. For the moment I thought that the hut was on fire,
and I joined the crowd and arrived at the doorway, where I found a
tremendous press to see some extraordinary sight. Every one was
squeezing for the best place, and, driving them on one side, I found the
wonder that had excited their curiosity. The hut being very dark, my
wife had employed her solitude during my conference with the natives, in
dressing her hair at the doorway, which, being very long and blonde, was
suddenly noticed by some natives; a shout was given, the rush described
had taken place, and the hut was literally mobbed by the crowd of
savages eager to see the extraordinary novelty. The gorilla would not
make a greater stir in London streets than we appeared to create at
Atada.
The oxen shortly arrived; one was immediately killed, and the flesh
divided into numerous small portions arranged upon the hide. Blonde hair
and white people immediately lost their attractions, and the crowd
turned their attention to beef. We gave them to understand that we
required flour, beans, and sweet potatoes in exchange.
The market soon went briskly, and the canoe was laden with provisions
and sent across to our hungry people on the other side the river.
The difference between the Unyoro people and the tribes we had hitherto
seen was most striking. On the north side of the river the natives were
either stark naked or wore a mere apology for clothing in the shape of a
skin slung across their shoulders. The river appeared to be the limit of
utter savagedom, and the people of Unyoro considered the indecency of
nakedness precisely in the same light as Europeans.
Nearly all savages have some idea of earthenware; but the scale of
advancement of a country between savagedom and civilization may
generally be determined by the style of its pottery. The Chinese, who
were as civilized as they are at the present day at a period when the
English were barbarians, were ever celebrated for the manufacture of
porcelain, and the difference between savage and civilized countries is
always thus exemplified; the savage makes earthenware, but the civilized
make porcelain; thus the gradations from the rudest earthenware will
mark the improvement in the scale of civilization. The prime utensil of
the African savage is a gourd, the shell of which is the bowl presented
to him by nature as the first idea from which he is to model. Nature,
adapting herself to the requirements of animals and man, appears in
these savage countries to yield abundantly much that savage man can
want. Gourds with exceedingly strong shells not only grow wild, which if
divided in halves afford bowls, but great and quaint varieties form
natural bottles of all sizes, from the tiny vial to the demijohn
containing five gallons.
The most savage tribes content themselves with the productions of
nature, confining their manufacture to a coarse and half-baked jar for
carrying water; but the semi-savage, like those of Unyoro, afford an
example of the first step toward manufacturing art, by their COPYING
FROM NATURE. The utter savage makes use of nature - the gourd is his
utensil; and the more advanced natives of Unyoro adopt it as the model
for their pottery. They make a fine quality of jet-black earthenware,
producing excellent tobacco-pipes most finely worked in imitation of the
small egg-shaped gourd. Of the same earthenware they make extremely
pretty bowls, and also bottles copied from the varieties of the bottle
gourds; thus, in this humble art, we see the first effort of the human
mind in manufactures, in taking nature for a model, precisely as the
beautiful Corinthian capital originated in a design from a basket of
flowers.
In two days reports were brought that Kamrasi had sent a large force,
including several of Speke's deserters, to inspect me and see if I was
really Speke's brother. I received them standing, and after thorough
inspection I was pronounced to be "Speke's own brother," and all were
satisfied. However, the business was not yet over; plenty of talk, and
another delay of four days was declared necessary until the king should
reply to the satisfactory message about to be sent. Losing all patience,
I stormed, declaring Kamrasi to be mere dust, while a white man was a
king in comparison.
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