But I don't think he will be able to leave
Gondokoro, as he has a large amount of baggage, _and I have told the
Baris not to transport it: - thus he will have no carriers."
This was the actual report that Abou Saood had given to Kabba Rega, as
the dragoman Umbogo had been the interpreter, in the presence of
Mohammed, my old Cairo dragoman.
I laughed outright at this absurdity: at the same time it corroborated
all that I had already heard of Abou Saood's treachery. I immediately
asked Kabba Rega if he was satisfied now that he had seen me? He
replied, "Abou Saood is a liar, and you are Kamrasi's friend, and my
father: therefore you will, I am sure, assist me, and relieve me from my
great enemy, Rionga. I shall then know that you are indeed my true
friend."
Once more it was necessary to change the conversation. A number of
buffoons that were kept about the court for the amusement of the young
king now came forward. The crowd was driven back, and an open space
having been thus cleared, they performed a curious theatrical scene,
followed by a general fight with clubs, until one man, having knocked
down all the party, remained the victor. The scene terminated with an
act of disgusting indecency, which created roars of laughter from the
immense crowd, who evidently considered this was the great joke of the
piece.
"Kabba Rega now took leave, and retired as he had before arrived, with
drums, whistles, horns, flageolets, making a horrid din . . . ."
The spot that I had selected for a station was at the southern edge of
the town, from which site the land sloped into a valley about a hundred
feet below. I had at once commenced clearing away the high grass, and,
as usual when first settling, I had broken up a few small plots, and had
already sown seeds of English cucumbers, sweet melons, &c.
The soil was wonderfully rich, at the same time it was very easily
worked. When the tall rank grass was torn out by the roots, a fine
surface was exposed that resembled dark chocolate. This was a vegetable
loam, with a minimum of two feet thickness, resting upon a bright red
quartz gravel.
The quartz was not rounded, and appeared to be only the residue of
decayed rock that had never been subjected to the action of running
water. When washed, a handful remained of sharp and clear white
fragments.
With such a subsoil the country must be healthy, as the heaviest shower
drained rapidly through the gravel.
I employed the prisoners in clearing the grass, while the soldiers
commenced cultivation, and dug up the ground with a number of hoes that
I borrowed from Kabba Rega.
These implements are nearly the same in shape as those in Gondokoro and
throughout the Madi country, but smaller, and the iron is very brittle
and inferior. They are not used like the Dutch hoe, with a long handle,
but are fixed upon a piece of wood with a bend of natural growth, so the
hoe can be used with a downward stroke like a pick-axe.
On 29th April I commenced building a government house and public divan.
The king of Uganda (M'tese) has envoys throughout the countries which
surround his dominions. One of these chiefs, who represented M'tese at
Masindi, paid me a visit, and gave me a good deal of information.
He described the M'wootan N'zige (Albert N'yanza) as forming the western
frontier of Karagwe, from which point it turned westward for a distance
unknown. This was a similar description to that given by Kamrasi some
years ago.
I gave the envoy a red and yellow handkerchief to tie around his head.
The man was neatly dressed in Indian clothes that had arrived from
Bombay via Zanzibar.
On 30th April, Kabba Rega sent a present of twelve elephants' tusks,
forty-one loads of tullaboon, twelve pots of sour plantain cider, and
thirty-four cows. At the same time, he complained that some of Abou
Saood's people were taking slaves in the neighbourhood of Foweera and
Kisoona.
The principal chiefs, together with Kabba Rega, assured me that Abou
Saood's people had been in the habit of torturing people to extract from
them the secret of the spot in which their corn was concealed.
Throughout Unyoro there are no granaries exposed at the present time, as
the country has been ravaged by civil war; thus all corn is buried in
deep holes specially arranged for that purpose. When the slave-hunters
sought for corn, they were in the habit of catching the villagers and
roasting their posteriors by holding them down on the mouth of a large
earthen water jar filled with gloving embers. If this torture of
roasting alive did not extract the secret, they generally cut the
sufferer's throat to terrify his companion, who would then divulge the
position of the hidden stores to avoid a similar fate. This accusation
was corroborated by Mohammed, the Cairo dragoman.
It is difficult to conceive the brutality of these brigands, who, thus
relieved from the fear of a government, exhibit their unbridled passions
by every horrible crime.
Umbogo, the interpreter, was now regularly installed in a hut within
call of my tent. This man appeared to be exceedingly fond of us, and he
was the main source of information.
He had a very lovely wife, a Bahooma, who was a light brown colour, with
beautiful Abyssinian eyes; she had been given to him by Kabba Rega, with
whom he was a great favourite.
Umbogo was very intelligent, and he took a great interest in all my
plans for establishing free trade throughout the country: but he told me
privately that he thought the idea would be opposed secretly by Kabba
Rega, who would wish to monopolize all the ivory trade, in order to keep
up the price, and to obtain the whole of the merchandise.
