I Had Positively Never Seen
The Real Kamrasi Up To This Moment, And This Man M'Gambi Now Confessed
To Having
Impersonated the king, his brother, as Kamrasi was afraid that
I might be in league with Debono's people to murder
Him, and therefore
he had ordered his brother M'Gambi to act the king.
I told M'Gambi that I did not wish to see his brother, the king, as I
should perhaps be again deceived and be introduced to some impostor like
himself; and that as I did not choose to be made a fool of, I should
decline the introduction. This distressed him exceedingly. He said that
the king was really so great a man that he, his own brother, dared not
sit on a stool in his presence, and that he had only kept in retirement
as a matter of precaution, as Debono's people had allied themselves with
his enemy Rionga in the preceding year, and he dreaded treachery. I
laughed contemptuously at M'Gambi, telling him that if a woman like my
wife dared to trust herself far from her own country among such savages
as Kamrasi's people, their king must be weaker than a woman if he dared
not show himself in his own territory. I concluded by saying that I
should not go to see Kamrasi, but that he should come to visit me.
On the following morning, after my arrival at Kisoona, M'Gambi appeared,
beseeching me to go and visit the king. I replied that "I was hungry and
weak from want of food, and that I wanted to see meat, and not the man
who had starved me." In the afternoon a beautiful cow appeared with her
young calf, also a fat sheep and two pots of plantain cider, as a
present from Kamrasi. That evening we revelled in milk, a luxury that we
had not tasted for some months. The cow gave such a quantity that we
looked forward to the establishment of a dairy, and already contemplated
cheese-making. I sent the king a present of a pound of powder in
canister, a box of caps, and a variety of trifles, explaining that I was
quite out of stores and presents, as I had been kept so long in his
country that I was reduced to beggary, as I had expected to return to my
own country long before this.
In the evening M'Gambi appeared with a message from the king, saying
that I was his greatest friend, and that he would not think of taking
anything from me as he was sure that I must be hard up; that he desired
nothing, but would be much obliged if I would give him the "little
double rifle that I always carried, and my watch and compass!" He wanted
"NOTHING," only my Fletcher rifle, that I would as soon have parted with
as the bone of my arm; and these three articles were the same for which
I had been so pertinaciously bored before my departure from M'rooli. It
was of no use to be wroth, I therefore quietly replied that I should not
give them, as Kamrasi had failed in his promise to forward me to Shooa;
but that I required no presents from him, as he always expected a
thousandfold in return. M'Gambi said that all would be right if I would
only agree to pay the king a visit. I objected to this, as I told him
the king, his brother, did not want to see me, but only to observe what
I had, in order to beg for all that he saw. He appeared much hurt, and
assured me that he would be himself responsible that nothing of the kind
should happen, and that he merely begged as a favor that I would visit
the king on the following morning, and that people should be ready to
carry me if I were unable to walk. Accordingly I arranged to be carried
to Kamrasi's camp at about 8 A.M.
At the hour appointed M'Gambi appeared, with a great crowd of natives.
My clothes were in rags, and as personal appearance has a certain
effect, even in Central Africa, I determined to present myself to the
king in as favorable a light as possible. I happened to possess a
full-dress Highland suit that I had worn when I lived in Perthshire many
years before. This I had treasured as serviceable upon an occasion like
the present: accordingly I was quickly attired in kilt, sporran, and
Glengarry bonnet, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, the
ragged-looking object that had arrived in Kisoona now issued from the
obscure hut with plaid and kilt of Athole tartan. A general shout of
exclamation arose from the assembled crowd, and taking my seat upon an
angarep, I was immediately shouldered by a number of men, and, attended
by ten of my people as escort, I was carried toward the camp of the
great Kamrasi.
In about half an hour we arrived. The camp, composed of grass huts,
extended over a large extent of ground, and the approach was perfectly
black with the throng that crowded to meet me. Women, children, dogs,
and men all thronged at the entrance of the street that led to Kamrasi's
residence. Pushing our way through this inquisitive multitude, we
continued through the camp until at length we reached the dwelling of
the king. Halting for the moment, a message was immediately received
that we should proceed; we accordingly entered through a narrow passage
between high reed fences, and I found myself in the presence of the
actual king of Unyoro, Kamrasi. He was sitting in a kind of porch in
front of a hut, and upon seeing me he hardly condescended to look at me
for more than a moment; he then turned to his attendants and made some
remark that appeared to amuse them, as they all grinned as little men
are wont to do when a great man makes a bad joke.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 84 of 89
Words from 84448 to 85454
of 90207
