If I Sent Msalima, He Would Be Kept Ten Years
On The Road.
If I went to the lake Luta Nzige, God only knows
when he would let me come back; and
Now, for once and for all, I
wished to sacrifice my property, and leave the countries of black
kings; for what Kamrasi had done, Mtesa had done likewise,
detaining the two men I detached on a friendly mission, which
made me fear to send any more and inquire after my guns, lest he
should seize them likewise. I would stay no longer among such
people.
Kamrasi, in answer, begged I would not be afraid; there was no
occasion for alarm; Bombay would be here shortly. I had promised
to wait patiently for his return, and as soon as he did return, I
would be sent off without one day's delay, for I was not his
slave, that he should use violence upon me. Rumanika's men, too,
would be allowed to go, only that the road was unsafe, and he
feared Rumanika would abuse him if any harm befell them.
29th. - To-day I met Kamrasi at his new reception-palace on this
side the Kafu - taking a Bible to explain all I fancied I knew
about the origin and present condition of the Wahuma branch of
the Ethiopians, beginning with Adam, to show how it was the king
had heard by tradition that at one time the people of his race
were half white and half black. Then, proceeding with the Flood,
I pointed out that the Europeans remained white, retaining
Japhet's blood; whilst the Arabs are tawny, after Shem; and the
African's black, after Ham. And, finally, to show the greatness
of the tribe, I read the 14th chapter of 2d Chronicles, in which
it is written how Zerah, the Ethiopian, with a host of a thousand
thousand, met the Jew Asa with a large army, in the valley of
Zephathah, near Mareshah; adding to it that again, at a much
later date, we find the Ethiopians battling with the Arabs in the
Somali country, and with the Arabs and Portuguese at Omwita
(Mombas) - in all of which places they have taken possession of
certain tracts of land, and left their sons to people it.
To explain the way in which the type or physical features of
people undergo great changes by interbreeding, Mtesa was
instanced as having lost nearly every feature of his Mhuma blood,
but the kings of Uganda having been produced, probably for
several generations running, of Waganda mothers. This amused
Kamrasi greatly, and induced me to inquire how his purity of
blood was maintained - "Was the king of Unyoro chosen, as in
Uganda, haphazard by the chief men - or did the eldest son sit by
succession on the throne?" The reply was, "The brothers fought
for it, and the best man gained the crown."
Kamrasi then began counting the leaves of the Bible, an amusement
that every negro that gets hold of a book indulges in; and,
concluding in his mind that each page or leaf represented one
year of time since the beginning of creation, continued his
labour till one quarter of the way through the book, and then
only shut it up on being told, if he desired to ascertain the
number more closely, he had better count the words.
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