As No Greetings Were Exchanged, And All At First
Remained As Silent As Death, I Commenced, After Asking About His
Health, by saying I had journeyed six long years (by the African
computation of five months in the year) for
The pleasure of this
meeting, coming by Karague instead of by the Nile, because the
"Wanya Beri" (Bari people at Gondokoro) had defeated the projects
of all former attempts made by white men to reach Unyoro. The
purpose of my coming was to ascertain whether his majesty would
like to trade with our country, exchanging ivory for articles of
European manufacture; as, should he do so, merchants would come
here in the same way as they went from Zanzibar to Karague.
Rumanika and Mtesa were both anxious for trade, and I felt sorry
he would not listen to my advice and make friend with Mtesa; for
unless the influence of trade was brought in to check the Waganda
from pillaging the country, nothing would do so.
Kamrasi, in a very quiet, mild manner, instead of answering the
questions, told us of the absurd stories which he had heard from
the Waganda, said he did not believe them, else his rivers,
deprived of their fountains, would have run dry; and he thought,
if we did eat hills and the tender parts of mankind, we should
have had enough to satisfy our appetites before we reached
Unyoro. Now, however, he was glad to see that, although our hair
was straight and our faces white, we still possessed hands and
feel like other men.
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