No Sooner, However,
Did Virembo Turn Tail Than The Sirhid Gave Us A Broad Hint That
He Usually Received A Trifle From The Arabs Before He Made An
Attempt At Arranging The Hongo With Suwarora.
Any trifle would
do but he preferred cloth.
This was rather perplexing. Sirhid knew very well that I had a
small reserve of pretty cloths, though all the common ones had
been expended; so, to keep in good terms with him who was to be
our intercessor, I said I would give him the last I had got if he
would not tell Suwarora or any one else what I had done. Of
course he was quite ready to undertake the condition, so I gave
him two pretty cloths, and he in return gave me two goats. But
when this little business had been transacted, to my surprise he
said: "I have orders from Suwarora to be absent five days to
doctor a sick relation of his, for there is no man in the country
so skilled in medicines as myself; but whilst I am gone I will
leave Karambule, my brother, to officiate in my stead about
taking your hongo; but the work will not commence until to-
morrow, for I must see Suwarora on the subject myself first."
Irungu, a very fine-looking man of Uganda, now called on me and
begged for beads. He said his king had heard of our approach,
and was most anxious to see us. Hearing this I begged him to
wait here until my hongo was paid, that we might travel on to
Uganda together. He said, No, he could not wait, for he had been
detained here a whole year already; but, if I liked, he would
leave some of his children behind with me, as their presence
would intimidate Suwarora, and incite him to let us off quickly.
I then begged him to convey a Colt's six-chamber revolving rifle
to his king, Mtesa, as an earnest that I was a prince most
desirous of seeing him. No one, I said, but myself could tell
what dangers and difficulties I had encountered to come thus far
for the purpose, and all was owing to his great fame, as the king
of kings, having reached me even as far off as Zanzibar. The
ambassador would not take the rifle, lest his master, who had
never seen such a wonderful weapon before, should think he had
brought him a malign charm, and he would be in danger of losing
his head. I then tried to prevail on him to take a knife and
some other pretty things, but he feared them all; so, as a last
chance - for I wished to send some token, by way of card or
letter, for announcing my approach and securing the road - I gave
him a red six-penny pocket-handkerchief, which he accepted; and
he then told me he was surprised I had come all this way round to
Uganda, when the road by the Masai country was so much shorter.
He told me how, shortly after the late king of Uganda, Sunna,
died, and before Mtesa had been selected by the officers of the
country to be their king, an Arab caravan came across the Masai
as far as Usoga, and begged for permission to enter Uganda; but
as the country was disturbed by the elections, the officers of
the state advised the Arabs to wait, or come again when the king
was elected. I told him I had heard of this before, but also
heard that those Arabs had met with great disasters, owing to the
turbulence of the Masai. To which he replied: "That is true;
there were great difficulties in those times, but now the Masai
country was in better order; and as Mtesa was most anxious to
open that line, he would give me as many men as I liked if I
wished to go home that way."
This was pleasant information, but not quite new, for the Arabs
had told me Mtesa was so anxious to open that route, he had
frequently offered to aid them in it himself. Still it was most
gratifying to myself as I had written to the Geographical
Society, on leaving Bogue, that if I found Petherick in Uganda,
or on the northern end of the N'yanza, so that the Nile question
was settled, I would endeavour to reach Zanzibar via the Masai
country. In former days, I knew, the kings of Uganda were in the
habit of sending men to Karague when they heard that Arabs wished
to visit them - even as many as two hundred at a time - to carry
their kit; so I now begged Irungu to tell Mtesa that I should
want at least sixty men; and then, on his promising that he would
be my commissioner, I gave him the beads he had begged for
himself.
4th to 6th. - Karambule now told us to string our beads on the
fibre of the Mwale tree, which was sold here by the Wasui, as he
intended to live in the palace for a couple of days, arranging
with Suwarora what tax we should have to pay, after which he
would come and take it from us; but we must mind and be ready,
for whatever Suwarora said, it must be done instantly. There was
no such thing as haggling with him; you must pay and be off at
once, failing which you might be detained a whole month before
there would be an opportunity to speak on the subject again.
Beads were then served out to all my men to be strung, a certain
quantity to every kambi or mess, and our work was progressing;
but next day we heard that Karambule was sick or feigning to be
so, and therefore had never gone to the palace at all. On the
6th, provoked at last by the shameful manner in which we were
treated, I send word to him to say, if he did not go at once I
would go myself, and force my way in with my guns, for I could
not submit to being treated like a slave, stuck out here in the
jungle with nothing to do but shoot for specimens, or make
collections of rocks, etc.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 67 of 207
Words from 67260 to 68314
of 210958