When Within A Few Miles Of The Palace We Were Ordered To Stop And
Wait For Kachuchu's Return; But No
Sooner put up in a plaintain
grove, where pombe was brewing, and our men were all taking a
suck at
It, than the worthy arrived to call us on the same
instant, as the king was most anxious to see us. The love of
good beer of course made our men all too tired to march again; so
I sent off Bombay with Nasib to make our excuses, and in the
evening found them returning with a huge pot of pombe and some
royal tobacco, which Rumanika sent with a notice that he intended
it exclusively for our own use, for though there was abundance
for my men, there was nothing so good as what came from the
palace; the royal tobacco was as sweet and strong as honey-dew,
and the beer so strong it required a strong man to drink it.
After breakfast next morning, we crossed the hill-spur called
Waeranhanje, the grassy tops of which were 5500 feet above the
sea. Descending a little, we came suddenly in view of what
appeared to us a rich clump of trees, in S. lat. 1§ 42' 42", and
E. long. 31§ 1' 49"; and, 500 feet below it, we saw a beautiful
sheet of water lying snugly within the folds of the hills. We
were not altogether unprepared for it, as Musa of old had
described it, and Bombay, on his return yesterday, told us he had
seen a great pond.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 266 of 767
Words from 72762 to 73024
of 210958
