The telescope now
discovered that the arrangement of the hair of these natives was the
fashion of Shooli and Fatiko.
The eight strangers, who had not before observed us, now halted in
astonishment, and presently they shouted in good Arabic -
"Are you the Pacha's soldiers? We are sent by Abdullah to look for the
Pacha!"
This was great good fortune; then Abdullah was alive, and I hoped my
detachment was all right!
We crossed the broad river, and upon close arrival, we discovered that
two of the messengers were well known to us, one of whom was Iarro, the
interpreter of the great sheik, Rot Jarma.
The first gleam of pleasure with which I had welcomed these messengers
quickly changed to considerable anxiety.
I was now informed that the attempt to destroy us by poison, and
subsequently by a treacherous attack at Masindi, was mainly due to the
intrigues of Abou Saood, who had originally advised Kabba Rega to resist
me should I arrive in his country. This traitor Abou Saood had
considered that we should be certainly massacred when once in the heart
of Unyoro. He had therefore assumed a despotic command of Fatiko and all
the neighbouring countries shortly after my departure; and he had given
orders ` to the natives and to the sheik, Rot Jarma, that "no supplies
of corn should be provided for Major Abdullah's troops."
Rot Jarma had been faithful to the government, and his people had
carried corn to Major Abdullah.
