A Hyena Had Carried It Into The
Grass And Dropped It.
Bravo, for the infallible horn!
And well
done the king for his honesty in sending it! So I gave the king
the bottle and gauge, which delighted him amazingly; and the old
doctor who begged for pombe, got a goat for his trouble. My men
now, recollecting the powder robbery at Uganda, said king Mtesa
would not send his horn when I asked for it, because he was the
culprit himself.
6th. - Kidgwiga told us to-day that king Kamrasi's sisters are not
allowed to wed; they live and die virgins in his palace. Their
only occupation in life consisted of drinking milk, of which each
one consumes the produce daily of from ten to twenty cows, and
hence they become so inordinately fat that they cannot walk.
Should they wish to see a relative, or go outside the hut for any
purpose, it requires eight men to lift any of them on a litter.
The brothers, too, are not allowed to go out of his reach. This
confinement of the palace family is considered a state necessity,
as a preventive to civil wars, in the same way as the
destruction of the Uganda princes, after a certain season, is
thought necessary for the preservation of peace there.
7th. - In the morning the Kamraviona called, on the king's behalf,
to inquire after my health, and also to make some important
communications. First he was to request a supply of bullets,
that the king might fire a salute when Bombay returned from Gani;
next, to ask for stimulative medicine, now that he had consumed
all I gave him, and gone through the preliminary course; further,
to request I would spread a charm over all his subjects, so that
their hearts might be inclined towards him, and they would come
without calling and bow down at his feet; finally, he wished me
to exchange my blood with him, that we might be brothers till
death. I sent the bullets, advised him to wait a day or two for
the medicine, and said there was only one charm by which he could
gain the influence he required over his subjects - this was,
knowledge and the power of the pen. Should he desire some of my
children (meaning missionaries) to come here and instruct his,
the thing would be done; but not in one year, nor even ten, for
it takes many years to educate children.
As to exchanging by blood with a black man's, it was a thing
quite beyond my comprehension; though Rumanika, I must confess,
had asked me to do the same thing. The way the English make
lasting friendships is done either by the expressions of their
hearts, or by the exchange of some trifles, as keepsakes; and
now, as I had given Kamrasi some specimens of English
manufacture, he might give me a horn, or anything else he chose,
which I could show to my friends, so as to keep him in
recollection all my life.
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