After Crossing Many More Hills And Miry Bottoms, Constantly
Coming In View Of The Lake, We Reached Ugonzi, And After Another
March Of The Same Description, Came To Kituntu, The Last
Officer's Residence In Uddu.
Formerly it was the property of a
Beluch named Eseau, who came to this country with merchandise,
trading on
Account of Said Said, late Sultan of Zanzibar; but
having lost it all on his way here, paying mahongo, or taxes, and
so forth he feared returning, and instead made great friends with
the late king Sunna, who took an especial fancy to him because he
had a very large beard, and raised him to the rank of Mkungu. A
few years ago, however, Eseau died, and left all his family and
property to a slave named Uledi, who now, in consequence, is the
border officer.
I became now quite puzzled whilst thinking which was the finest
spot I had seen in Uddu, so many were exceedingly beautiful; but
I think I gave the preference to this, both for its own immediate
neighbourhood and the long range of view it afforded of Uganda
proper, the lake, and the large island, or group of islands,
called Sese where the king of Uganda keeps one of his fleets of
boats.
Some little boys came here who had all their hair shaved off
excepting two round tufts on either side of the head. They were
the king's pages; and, producing three sticks, said they had
brought them to me from their king, who wanted three charms or
medicines. Then placing one stick on the ground before me, they
said, "This one is a head which, being affected by dreams of a
deceased relative, requires relief"; the second symbolised the
king's desire for the accomplishment of a phenomenon to which the
old phalic worship was devoted; "and this third one," they said,
"is a sign that the king wants a charm to keep all his subjects
in awe of him." I then promised I would do what I could when I
reached the palace, but feared to do anything in the distance. I
wished to go on with the march, but was dissuaded by N'yamgundu,
who said he had received orders to find me some cows here, as his
king was most anxious I should be well fed. Next day, however,
we descended into the Katonga valley, where, instead of finding a
magnificent broad sheet of water, as I had been led to expect by
the Arabs' account of it, I found I had to wade through a
succession of rush-drains divided one from the other by islands.
It took me two hours, with my clothes tucked up under my arms, to
get through them all; and many of them were so matted with weeds,
that my feet sank down as though I trod in a bog.
The Waganda all said that at certain times in the year no one
could ford these drains, as they all flooded; but, strangely
enough, they were always lowest when most rain fell in Uganda.
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