He
squared up, and pouted like an enraged chameleon, looking
savagely at me.
I gave him another dig, which sent him
staggering. He squared again: I gave him another; till at last,
as the claret was flowing, he sulked off, and said he would not
serve me any more. I then gave Nasib orders to take Bombay's
post, and commence the march; but the good old man made Bombay
give in, and off we went, amidst crowds of Waganda, who had
collected to witness with comedy, and were all digging at one
another's heads, showing off in pantomime the strange ways of the
white man. N'yamgundu then jointed us, and begged us to halt
only one more day, as some of his women were still at Kisuere;
but Bombay, showing his nozzle rather flatter than usual, said,
"No; I got this on account of your lies. I won't tell Bana any
more of your excuses for stopping; you may tell him yourself if
you like." N'yamgundu, however, did not think this advisable,
and so we went on as we were doing. It was the first and last
time I had ever occasion to lose my dignity by striking a blow
with my own hands; but I could not help it on this occasion
without losing command and respect; for although I often had
occasion to award 100 and even 150 lashes to my men for stealing,
I could not, for the sake of due subordination, allow any
inferior officer to strike Bombay, and therefore had to do the
work myself.
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