Delays And Subterfuges, However, Soon Came To Damp Our
Spirits.
The acting officer was sent for, and asked for the
boats; they were all scattered, and could not be collected for a
day or two; but, even if they were at hand, no boat ever went up
or down the river.
The chief was away and would be sent for, as
the king often changed his orders, and, after all, might not mean
what had been said. The district belonged to the Sakibobo, and
no representative of his had come here. These excuses, of course,
would not satisfy us. The boats must be collected, seven, if
there are not ten, for we must try them, and come to some
understanding about them, before we march up stream, when, if the
officer values his life, he will let us have them, and
acknowledge Karoso as the king's representative, otherwise a
complaint will be sent to the palace, for we won't stand
trifling.
We were now confronting Usoga, a country which may be said to be
the very counterpart of Uganda in its richness and beauty. Here
the people use such huge iron-headed spears with short handles,
that, on seeing one to-day, my people remarked that they were
better fitted for digging potatoes than piercing men. Elephants,
as we had seen by their devastations during the last two marches,
were very numerous in this neighbourhood. Till lately, a party
from Unyoro, ivory-hunting, had driven them away. Lions were
also described as very numerous and destructive to human life.
Antelopes were common in the jungle, and the hippopotami, though
frequenters of the plantain-garden and constantly heard, were
seldom seen on land in consequence of their unsteady habits.
The king's page again came, begging I would not forget the gun
and stimulants, and bringing with him the things I asked for -
two spears, one shield, one dirk, two leopard-cat skins, and two
sheets of small antelope skins. I told my men they ought to
shave their heads and bathe in the holy river, the cradle of
Moses - the waters of which, sweetened with sugar, men carry all
the way from Egypt to Mecca, and sell to the pilgrims. But
Bombay, who is a philosopher of the Epicurean school, said, "We
don't look on those things in the same fanciful manner that you
do; we are contented with all the common-places of life, and look
for nothing beyond the present. If things don't go well, it is
God's will; and if they do go well, that is His will also."
22d. - The acting chief brought a present of one cow, one goat,
and pombe, with a mob of his courtiers to pay his respects. He
promised that the seven boats, which are all the station he could
muster, would be ready next day, and in the meanwhile a number of
men would conduct me to the shooting-ground. He asked to be
shown the books of birds and animals, and no sooner saw some
specimens of Wolf's handiwork, than, in utter surprise, he
exclaimed, "I know how these are done; a bird was caught and
stamped upon the paper," using action to his words, and showing
what he meant, while all his followers n'yanzigged for the favour
of the exhibition.
In the evening I strolled in the antelope parks, enjoying the
scenery and sport excessively. A noble buck nsunnu, standing by
himself, was the first thing seen on this side, though a herd of
hertebeests were grazing on the Usoga banks. One bullet rolled
my fine friend over, but the rabble looking on no sooner saw the
hit than they rushed upon him and drove him off, for he was only
wounded. A chase ensued, and he was tracked by his blood when a
pongo (bush box) was started and divided the party. It also
brought me to another single buck nsunnu, which was floored at
once, and left to be carried home by some of my men in company
with Waganda, whilst I went on, shot a third nsunnu buck, and
tracked him by his blood till dark, for the bullet had pierced
his lungs and passed out on the other side. Failing to find him
on the way home, I shot, besides florikan and guinea-chicks, a
wonderful goatsucker, remarkable for the exceeding length of some
of its feathers floating out far beyond the rest in both
wings.[FN#21] Returning home, I found the men who had charge of
the dead buck all in a state of excitement; they no sooner
removed his carcass, than two lions came out of the jungle and
lapped his blood. All the Waganda ran away at once; but my
braves feared my answer more than the lions, and came off safely
with the buck on their shoulders.
23d. - Three boats arrived, like those used on the Murchison
Creek, and when I demanded the rest, as well as a decisive answer
about going to Kamrasi's, the acting Mkungu said he was afraid
accidents might happen, and he would not take me. Nothing would
frighten this pig-headed creature into compliance, though I told
him I had arranged with the king to make the Nile the channel of
communication with England. I therefore applied to him for
guides to conduct me up the river, and ordered Bombay and Kasoro
to obtain fresh orders from the king, as all future Wazungu,
coming to Uganda to visit or trade, would prefer the passage by
the river. I shot another buck in the evening, as the Waganda
love their skins, and also a load of guinea-fowl - three, four,
and five at a shot - as Kasoro and his boys prefer them to
anything.
24th. - The acting officer absconded, but another man came in his
place, and offered to take us on the way up the river to-morrow,
humbugging Kasoro into the belief that his road to the palace
would branch off from the first state, though in reality it was
here.
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