30th. - To Fulfil My Engagement With The Queen, I Walked Off To
Her Palace With Stomach Medicine, Thinking We Were
Now such warm
friends, all pride and distant ceremonies would be dispensed
with; but, on the contrary, I was kept
Waiting for hours till I
sent in word to say, if she did not want medicine, I wished to go
home, for I was tired of Uganda and everything belonging to it.
This message brought her to her gate, where she stood laughing
till the Wahuma girls she had promised me, one of twelve and the
other a little older, were brought in and made to squat in front
of us. The elder, who was in the prime of youth and beauty, very
large of limb, dark in colour, cried considerably; whilst the
younger one, though very fair, had a snubby nose and everted
lips, and laughed as if she thought the change in her destiny
very good fun. I had now to make my selection, and took the
smaller one, promising her to Bombay as soon as we arrived on the
coast, where, he said, she would be considered a Hubshi or
Abyssinian. But when the queen saw what I had done, she gave me
the other as well, saying the little one was too young to go
alone, and, if separated, she would take fright and run away.
Then with a gracious bow I walked of with my two fine specimens
of natural history, though I would rather have had princes, that
I might have taken them home to be instructed in England; but the
queen, as soon as we had cleared the palace, sent word to say she
must have another parting look at her son with his wives. Still
laughing, she said, "That will do; you look beautiful; now go
away home"; and off we trotted, the elder sobbing bitterly, the
younger laughing.
As soon as we reached home, my first inquiry was concerning their
histories, of which they appeared to know but very little. The
elder, whom I named Meri (plantains), was obtained by Sunna, the
late king, as a wife, from Nkole; and though she was a mere
Kahala, or girl, when the old king died, he was so attached to
her he gave her twenty cows, in order that she might fatten up on
milk after her native fashion; but on Sunna's death, when the
establishment of women was divided, Meri fell to N'yamasore's
(the queen's) lot. The lesser one, who still retains the name of
Kahala, said she was seized in Unyoro by the Waganda, who took
her to N'yamasore, but what became of her father and mother she
could not say.
It was now dinner-time, and as the usual sweet potatoes and
goat's flesh were put upon my box-table, I asked them to dine
with me, and we became great friends, for they were assured they
would finally get good houses and gardens at Zanzibar; but
nothing would induce either of them to touch food that had been
cooked with butter. A dish of plantains and goat-flesh was then
prepared; but though Kahala wished to eat it, Meri rejected the
goat's flesh, and would not allow Kahala to taste it either; and
thus began a series of domestic difficulties. On inquiring how I
could best deal with my difficult charge, I was told the Wahuma
pride was so great, and their tempers so strong, they were more
difficult to break in than a phunda, or donkey, though when once
tamed, they became the best of wives.
31st. - I wished to call upon the queen and thank her for her
charming present, but my hungry men drove me to the king's palace
in search of food. The gun firing brought Mtesa out, prepared
for a shooting trip, with his Wakungu leading, the pages carrying
his rifle and ammunition, and a train of women behind. The first
thing seen outside the palace gate was a herd of cows, from which
four were selected and shot at fifty paces by the king, firing
from his shoulder, amidst thunders of applause and hand-shakings
of the elders. I never saw them dare touch the king's hand
before. Then Mtesa, turning kindly to me, said, "Pray take a
shot"; but I waived the offer off, saying he could kill better
himself. Ambitious of a cut above cows, the king tried his hand
at some herons perched on a tree, and, after five or six
attempts, hit one in the eye. Hardly able to believe in his own
skill, he stood petrified at first, and then ran madly to the
fallen bird, crying, "Woh, woh, woh! can this be? - is it true?
Woh, woh!" He jumped in the air, and all his men and women
shouted in concert with him. Then he rushes at me, takes both my
hands - shakes, shakes - woh, woh! - then runs to his women, then to
his men; shakes them all, woh-wohing, but yet not shaking or
wohing half enough for his satisfaction, for he is mad with joy
at his own exploit.
The bird is then sent immediately to his mother, whilst he
retires to his palace, woh-wohing, and taking "ten to the dozen"
all the way and boasting of his prowess. "Now, Bana, tell me - do
you not think, if two such shots as you and I were opposed to an
elephant, would he have any chance before us? I know I can
shoot - I am certain of it now. You have often asked me to go
hippopotamus-shooting with you, but I staved it off until I
learnt the way to shoot. Now, however, I can shoot - and that
remarkably well too, I flatter myself. I will have at them, and
both of us will go on the lake together." The palace was now
reached; musicians were ordered to play before the king, and
Wakungu appointments were made to celebrate the feats of the day.
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