"Oh, Your Majesty,
To Wipe The Mouth After Drinking Pombe." "Of Course," Is The
Reply - "Excellent; I Won't Use A Mbugu Napkin Any More, But Have
One Of These Placed On My Cup When It Is Brought To Drink, And
Wipe My Mouth With It Afterwards.
But what does Bana want?"
"The road to Gani," says Bombay for me.
"The king won't see him
when he goes to The palace, so now he comes here, trusting your
superior influence and good-nature will be more practicable."
"Oh!" says her majesty, "Bana does not know the facts of the
case. My son has tried all the roads without success, and now he
is ashamed to meet Bana face to face." "Then what is to be done,
your majesty?" "Bana must go back to Karague and wait for a
year, until my son is crowned, when he will make friends with the
surrounding chiefs, and the roads will be opened." "But Bana
says he will not retrace one step; he would sooner lose his
life." "Oh, that's nonsense! he must not be headstrong; but
before anything more can be said, I will send a message to my
son, and Bana can then go with Kaddu, K'yengo, and Viarungi, and
tell all they have to say to Mtesa to-morrow, and the following
day return to me, when everything will be concluded." We all now
left but Kaddu and some of the queen's officers, who waited for
the message to her son about us. To judge from Kaddu, it must
have been very different from what she led us to expect, as, on
joining us, he said there was not the smallest chance of our
getting the road we required, for the queen was so decided about
it no further argument would be listened to.
2d. - Three goats were stolen, and suspicion falling on the king's
cooks, who are expert foragers, we sent to the Kamraviona, and
asked him to order out the Mganga; but his only reply was, that
he often loses goats in the same way. He sent us one of his own
for present purposes, and gave thirty baskets of potatoes to my
men. As the king held a court, and broke it up before 8 a.m.,
and no one would go there for fear of his not appearing again, I
waited, till the evening for Bombay, Kaddu, K'yengo, and
Viarungi, when, finding them drunk, I went by myself, fired a
gun, and was admitted to where the king was hunting guinea-fowl.
On seeing me, he took me affectionately by the hand, and, as we
walked along together, he asked me what I wanted, showed me the
house which was burnt down, and promised to settle the road
question in the morning.
3d. - With Kaddu, K'yengo, and Viarungi all in attendance, we went
to the palace, where there was a large assemblage prepared for a
levee, and fired a gun, which brought the king out in state. The
Sakibobo, or provincial governor, arrived with a body of soldiers
armed with sticks, made a speech, and danced at the head of his
men, all pointing sticks upwards, and singing fidelity to their
king.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 295 of 403
Words from 154136 to 154669
of 210958
