When I Arrived, Hat In Hand, He Smiled, Examined My Firearms, And
Proceeded For Sport, Leading The Way To A High Tree, On Which
Some Adjutant Birds Were Nesting, And Numerous Vultures Resting.
This Was The Sport; Bana Must Shoot A Nundo (Adjutant) For The
King's Gratification.
I begged him to take a shot himself, as I
really could not demean myself by firing at birds sitting on a
tree; but it was all of no use - no one could shoot as I could,
and they must be shot.
I proposed frightening them out with
stones, but no stone could reach so high; so, to cut the matter
short, I killed an adjutant on the nest, and, as the vultures
flew away, brought one down on the wing, which fell in a garden
enclosure.
The Waganda were for a minute all spell-bound with astonishment,
when the king jumped frantically in the air, clapping his hands
above his head, and singing out, "Woh, woh, woh! what wonders!
Oh, Bana, Bana! what miracles he performs!" - and all the Wakungu
followed in chorus. "Now load, Bana - load, and let us see you do
it," cried the excited king; but before I was half loaded, he
said, "Come along, come along, and let us see the bird." Then
directing the officers which way to go - for, by the etiquette of
the court of Uganda, every one must precede the king - he sent
them through a court where his women, afraid of the gun, had been
concealed.
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