In The Meanwhile,
However, He Wished For Some Gunpowder.
I packed the pages off as
fast as I could with some, and tried myself to follow, but my men
were all either sick or out foraging, and therefore we could not
get under way until the evening.
After going a certain distance,
we came on a rush-drain, of much greater breadth even than the
Mwerango, called the Moga (or river) Myanza, which was so deep I
had to take off my trousers and tuck my clothes under my arms.
It flowed into the Mwerango, but with scarcely any current at
all. This rush-drain, all the natives assured me, rose in the
hills to the southward - not in the lake, as the Mwerango did -
and it was never bridged over like that river, because it was
always fordable. This account seemed to me reasonable; for
though so much broader in its bed than the Mwerango, it had no
central, deep-flowing current.
Chapter XI
Palace, Uganda
Preparations for the Reception at the Court of Mtesa, King of
Uganda - The Ceremonial - African Diplomacy and Dignity - Feats with
the Rifle - Cruelty, and Wastefulness of Life - The Pages - The
Queen- Dowager of Uganda - Her Court Reception - I negotiate for a
Palace - Conversations with the King and Queen - The Queen's grand
Entertainment - Royal Dissipation.
To-day the king sent his pages to announce his intention of
holding a levee in my honour. I prepared for my first
presentation at court, attired in my best, though in it I cut a
poor figure in comparison with the display of the dressy Waganda.
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