Then, Finding The Day Waning, He Sent Maula On An Embassy To Ask
Me If I Had Seen Him; And
On receiving my reply, "Yes, for full
one hour," I was glad to find him rise, spear in hand, lead
His
dog, and walk unceremoniously away through the enclosure into the
fourth tier of huts; for this being a pure levee day, no business
was transacted. The king's gait in retiring was intended to be
very majestic, but did not succeed in conveying to me that
impression. It was the traditional walk of his race, founded on
the step of the lion; but the outward sweep of the legs, intended
to represent the stride of the noble beast, appeared to me only
to realise a very ludicrous kind of waddle, which made me ask
Bombay if anything serious was the matter with the royal person.
I had now to wait for some time, almost as an act of humanity;
for I was told the state secret, that the king had retired to
break his fast and eat for the first time since hearing of my
arrival; but the repast was no sooner over than he prepared for
the second act, to show off his splendour, and I was invited in,
with all my men, to the exclusion of all his own officers save my
two guides. Entering as before, I found him standing on a red
blanket, leaning against the right portal of the hut, talking and
laughing, handkerchief in hand, to a hundred or more of his
admiring wives, who, all squatting on the ground outside, in two
groups, were dressed in mew mbugus. My men dared not advance
upright, nor look upon the women, but, stooping, with lowered
heads and averted eyes, came cringing after me. Unconscious
myself, I gave loud and impatient orders to my guard, rebuking
them for moving like frightened geese, and, with hat in hand,
stood gazing on the fair sex till directed to sit and cap.
Mtesa then inquired what messages were brought from Rumanika; to
which Maula, delighted with the favour of speaking to royalty,
replied by saying, Rumanika had gained intelligence of Englishmen
coming up the Nile to Gani and Kidi. The king acknowledged the
truthfulness of their story, saying he had heard the same
himself; and both Wakungu, as is the custom in Uganda, thanked
their lord in a very enthusiastic manner, kneeling on the ground-
-for no one can stand in the presence of his majesty - in an
attitude of prayer, and throwing out their hands as they repeated
the words N'yanzig, N'yanzig, ai N'yanzig Mkahma wangi, etc.,
etc., for a considerable time; when, thinking they had done
enough of this, and heated with the exertion, they threw
themselves flat upon their stomachs, and, floundering about like
fish on land, repeated the same words over again and again, and
rose doing the same, with their faces covered with earth; for
majesty in Uganda is never satisfied till subjects have grovelled
before it like the most abject worms. This conversation over,
after gazing at me, and chatting with his women for a
considerable time, the second scene ended. The third scene was
more easily arranged, for the day was fast declining. He simply
moved his train of women to another hut, where, after seating
himself upon his throne, with his women around him, he invited me
to approach the nearest limits of propriety, and to sit as
before. Again he asked me if I had seen him - evidently desirous
of indulging in his regal pride; so I made the most of the
opportunity thus afforded me of opening a conversation by telling
him of those grand reports I had formerly heard about him, which
induced me to come all his way to see him, and the trouble it had
cost me to reach the object of my desire; at the same time taking
a gold ring from off my finger, and presenting it to him, I said,
"This is a small token of friendship; if you will inspect it, it
is made after the fashion of a dog-collar, and, being the king of
metals, gold, is in every respect appropriate to your illustrious
race."
He said, in return, "If friendship is your desire, what would you
say if I showed you a road by which you might reach your home in
one month?" Now everything had to be told to Bombay, then to
Nasib, my Kiganda interpreter, and then to either Maula or
N'yamgundu, before it was delivered to the king, for it was
considered indecorous to transmit any message to his majesty
excepting through the medium of one of his officers. Hence I
could not get an answer put in; for as all Waganda are rapid and
impetuous in their conversation, the king, probably forgetting he
had put a question, hastily changed the conversation and said,
"What guns have you got? Let me see the one you shoot with." I
wished still to answer the first question first, as I knew he
referred to the direct line to Zanzibar across the Masai, and was
anxious, without delay, to open the subject of Petherick and
Grant; but no one dared to deliver my statement. Much
disappointed, I then said, "I had brought the best shooting-gun
in the world - Whitworth's rifle - which I begged he would accept,
with a few other trifles; and, with his permission, I would lay
them upon a carpet at his feet, as is the custom of my country
when visiting sultans." He assented, sent all his women away,
and had an mbugu spread for the purpose, on which Bombay, obeying
my order, first spread a red blanket, and then opened each
article one after the other, when Nasib, according to the usage
already mentioned, smoothed them down with his dirty hands, or
rubbed them against his sooty face, and handed them to the king
to show there was no poison or witchcraft in them.
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