From the day when Kabba Rega had denied the possession of the guns and
ammunition belonging to the irregular levy, he had never appeared at his
new divan, neither had I seen him.
Upon many occasions I had sent to request his attendance, but he was
always in the sanctuary of his own private house, or rather
establishment of houses; these were a series of enormous beehive-shaped
straw and cane dwellings in a courtyard of about an acre, surrounded by
a fence, and guarded by many sentries, each of whom had a small but
built in the middle of the hedge.
Since the departure of the irregular levy, I had noticed a decided
change in the demeanour of the chiefs. Kittiakara, who had been our
greatest friend, could never look me in the face, but always cast his
eyes upon the ground when speaking or listening.
The food for the troops was obtained with the greatest difficulty, after
constant worry and endless applications. It was in vain that I insisted
upon the right of paying for a supply of corn; the chiefs replied: "Is
not Kabba Rega your son? can a son sell corn to his own father"
At the same time we never had two days' provisions in store, and we were
simply living from hand to month. This looked suspicious, as though the
troops were to be rendered helpless by the absence of supplies in the
event of hostilities.
My few Baris consisted of my good interpreter Morgian, together with
three other natives, who had been for some years in the employ of
Suleiman. I had kept these people with me, as they knew something about
the country and the Unyoros. They were all armed and were tolerably good
shots. One of these fellows (Molodi), a native of the Madi country, was
extremely useful and intelligent. He now told me that I could never
depend upon Kabba Rega, and that he had simply begged me to send the
irregulars out of the country in order that I should not hear the truth
of his former conduct from them; also, in their absence, I should be
quite ignorant of the paths that were now completely overgrown with
immensely high grass throughout the country.
An incident occurred on the 31st May which caused me serious anxiety.
The station was in complete order: the cultivation was thriving, and the
general appearance of the government settlement was a strong contrast to
the surrounding wilderness of high grass, and the large and dirty town
of Masindi.
My troops were now without occupation, therefore I instructed Colonel
Abd-el-Kader to drill them every morning.
It had been the daily practice of the band to march up and down the
broad approach, and to perform nearly opposite Kabba Rega's public
divan.
