I do
not think, however, that his people will be in a hurry to fight after
the lesson they received on the 8th inst.
"Nevertheless, fighting is dangerous work in this country of high grass,
where troops cannot see to manoeuvre, and where the ground is everywhere
favourable for native ambuscades."
When I returned to the divan with the spear that had so narrowly missed
me, through the cowardice of the assailant (who should have made sure of
me, had he not been nervous), my wife was not cheered by the little
incident. She had had the same experience as myself in African natures,
and she immediately declared against the pretended sincerity of Kabba
Rega.
I had serious misgivings. Nothing can happen in Unyoro without the
order of the king. The superstitious veneration for the possessor of the
magic throne produces a profound obedience.
On the other hand, this attempt at murder might have been only the
revenge of an individual who had perhaps lost his house and property in
the conflagration of Masindi.
The evening arrived without tidings of either Ramadan or Umbogo. I was
now without an interpreter.
The troops, and their wives and effects, occupied the fort, and the
officers' quarters and camp had been abandoned.
It was about 8 P.M., and dinner being over, I was smoking my pipe in the
divan, conversing with my wife and Lieutenant Baker upon the situation
of affairs, when a sudden bright glare attracted my attention.
An officer immediately reported that the abandoned quarters were in a
blaze of fire!
I was of course ready in an instant, and armed, and accompanied by my
wife and Mr. Baker, I really enjoyed the beauty of the scene in that
moment of anxiety.
Without the slightest noise, or even an audible whisper, the troops were
all in position, kneeling on the ground in open order around the fort
and the divan, keeping the most vigilant watch for the appearance of an
enemy. The flames from the camp rose about seventy feet high. There was
not a breath of air; thus the fire danced and leapt up to its extreme
height, and illumined the neighbourhood for a great distance.
Not an enemy was to be seen. The soldiers were like statues, and there
was no sound except the roaring of flames.
Suddenly loud yells broke out from a distance of about 200 yards from
the farthest side of the fort, as though from a considerable body of
men. Not a soldier stirred or spoke.
I had cleared the grass around the fort and station, therefore it was
impossible to approach us unobserved.
The natives must have crept up stealthily, and fired the abandoned camp
in the expectation that the troops would have rushed down to extinguish
the flames, and thus the fort and the divan would have been at the mercy
of an attack from the dark side.
