He Then Retired
To His Original Position, And The Marriage Ceremony Was Supposed
To Be Concluded, And The Settlements Adjusted, When All Went On
As Before.
The pictures were again looked at, and again admired, when we
asked for a private interview on business, and drew the king
outside.
I then begged he would allow me, whilst his men were
absent at Unyoro, to go to the Masai country, and see the Salt
Lake at the north-east corner of the N'yanza, and to lend me some
of his boats for Grant to fetch powder and beads from Karague.
This important arrangement being conceded by the king more
promptly than we expected, a cow, plantains, and pombe were
requested; but the cow only was given, though our men were said
to be feeding on grass. Taking the king, as it appeared, in a
good humour, to show him the abuses arising from the system of
allowing his guests to help themselves by force upon the
highways, I reported the late seizures made of thirty cows and
twelve slaves by the Wanyambo; but, though surprised to hear the
news, he merely remarked that there were indeed a great number of
visitors in Uganda. During this one day we heard the sad voice
of no less than four women, dragged from the palace to the
slaughter-house.
19th. - To follow up our success in the marching question and keep
the king to his promise, I called at his palace, but found he had
gone out shooting. To push my object further, I then marched off
to the queen's to bid her good-bye, as if we were certain to
leave the next day; but as no one would dare to approach her
cabinet to apprise her of our arrival, we returned home tired and
annoyed.
20th. - The king sent for us at noon; but when we reached the
palace we found he had started on a shooting tour; so, to make
the best of our time, we called again upon the queen for the same
purpose as yesterday, as also to get my books of birds and
animals, which, taken merely to look at for a day or so, had been
kept for months. After hours of waiting, her majesty appeared
standing in an open gateway; beckoned us to advance, and offered
pombe; then, as two or three drops of rain fell, she said she
could not stand the violence of the weather, and forthwith
retired without one word being obtained. An officer, however,
venturing in for the books, at length I got them.
21st. - To-day I went to the palace, but found no one; the king
was out shooting again.
22d. - We resolved to-day to try on a new political influence at
the court. Grant had taken to the court of Karague a jumping-
jack, to amuse the young princes; but it had a higher destiny,
for it so fascinated the king Rumanika himself that he would not
part with it - unless, indeed, Grant would make him a big one out
of a tree which was handed to him for the purpose.
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