Ukulima, However, Was A Very Kind And Good Man,
Though He Did Stick The Hands And Heads Of His Victims On The
Poles Of His Boma As A Warning To Others.
He kept five wives, of
whom the rest paid such respect to the elder one, it was quite
pleasing to see them.
A man of considerable age, he did
everything the state or his great establishment required himself.
All the men of his district clapped their hands together as a
courteous salutation to him, and the women curtsied as well as
they do at our court - a proof that they respected him as a great
potentate - a homage rarely bestowed on the chiefs of other small
states. Ukulima was also hospitable; for on one occasion, when
another chief came to visit him, he received his guest and
retainers with considerable ceremony, making all the men of the
village get up a dance; which they did, beating the drums and
firing off guns, like a lot of black devils let loose.
We were not the only travellers in misfortune here, for Masudi,
with several other Arabs, all formed in one large caravan, had
arrived at Mchimeka's, and could not advance for want of men.
They told me it was the first time they had come on this line,
and they deeply regretted it, for they had lost 5000 dollar's
worth of beads by their porters running away with their loads,
and now they did not know how to proceed. Indeed, they left the
coast and arrived at Kaze immediately in rear of us, and had,
like ourselves, found it as much as they could do even to reach
this, and now they were at a standstill for want of porters.
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