Weight
I Would Give Him 50 Dollars By Orders On Zanzibar, And Would
Insure Him From Being Cheated, By Sending A Letter Of Advice To
Our Consul Residing There.
At first he demurred, on the high-
toned principle that he could not have any commercial dealings
with myself;
But, at the instigation of Bombay and Baraka, who
viewed it in its true character, as tending merely to assist my
journey in the best manner he could, without any sacrifice to
dignity, he eventually yielded, and, to prove his earnestness,
sent me a large tusk, with a notice that his ivory was not kept
in the palace, but with his officers, and as soon as they could
collect it, so soon I should get it.
Rumanika, on hearing that it was our custom to celebrate the
birth of our Saviour with a good feast of beef, sent us an ox. I
immediately paid him a visit to offer the compliments of the
season, and at the same time regretted, much to his amusement,
that he, as one of the old stock of Abyssinians, who are the
oldest Christians on record, should have forgotten this rite; but
I hoped the time would come when, by making it known that his
tribe had lapsed into a state of heathenism, white teachers would
be induced to set it all to rights again. At this time some
Wahaiya traders (who had been invited at my request by Rumanika)
arrived. Like the Waziwa, they had traded with Kidi, and they
not only confirmed what the Waziwa had said, but added that, when
trading in those distant parts, they heard of Wanguana coming in
vessels to trade to the north of Unyoro; but the natives there
were so savage, they only fought with these foreign traders. A
man of Ruanda now informed us that the cowrie-shells, so
plentiful in that country, come there from the other or western
side, but he could not tell whence they were originally obtained.
Rumanika then told me Suwarora had been so frightened by the
Watuta, and their boastful threats to demolish Usui bit by bit,
reserving him only as a tit-bit for the end, that he wanted a
plot of ground in Karague to preserve his property in.
26th, 27th, and 28th. - Some other travellers from the north again
informed us that they had heard of Wanguana who attempted to
trade in Gani and Chopi, but were killed by the natives. I now
assured Rumanika that in two or three years he would have a
greater trade with Egypt than he ever could have with Zanzibar;
for when I opened the road, all those men he heard of would swarm
up here to visit him. He, however, only laughed at my folly in
proposing to go to a place of which all I heard was merely that
every stranger who went there was killed. He began to show a
disinclination to allow my going there, and though from the most
friendly intention, this view was alarming, for one word from him
could have ruined my projects. As it was, I feared my followers
might take fright and refuse to advance with me. I thought it
good policy to talk of there being many roads leading through
Africa, so that Rumanika might see he had not got, as he thought,
the sole key to the interior. I told him again of certain views
I once held of coming to see him from the north up the Nile, and
from the east through the Masai. He observed that, "To open
either of those routes, you would require at least two hundred
guns." He would, however, do something when we returned from
Uganda; for as Mtesa followed his advice in everything, so did
Kamrasi, for both held the highest opinion of him.
The conversation then turning on London, and the way men and
carriages moved up the streets like strings of ants on their
migrations, Rumanika said the villages in Ruanda were of enormous
extent, and the people great sportsmen, for they turned out in
multitudes, with small dogs on whose necks were tied bells, and
blowing horns themselves, to hunt leopards. They were, however,
highly superstitious, and would not allow any strangers to enter
their country; for some years ago, when Arabs went there, a great
drought and famine set in, which they attributed to evil
influences brought by them, and, turning them out of their
country, said they would never admit any of their like amongst
them again. I said, in return, I thought his Wanyambo just as
superstitious, for I observed, whilst walking one day, that they
had placed a gourd on the path, and on inquiry found they had
done so to gain the sympathy of all passers-by to their crop
close at hand, which was blighted, imagining that the voice of
the sympathiser heard by the spirits would induce them to relent,
and restore a healthy tone to the crop.
During this time an interesting case was brought before us for
judgment. Two men having married one woman, laid claim to her
child, which, as it was a male one, belonged to the father.
Baraka was appointed the umpire, and immediately comparing the
infant's face with those of its claimants, gave a decision which
all approved of but the loser. It was pronounced amidst peals of
laughter from my men; for whenever any little excitement is going
forward, the Wanguana all rush to the scene of action to give
their opinions, and joke over it afterwards.
29th and 30th. - On telling Rumanika this story next morning, he
said, "Many funny things happen in Karague"; and related some
domestic incidents, concluding with the moral that "Marriage in
Karague was a mere matter of money." Cows, sheep, and slaves
have to be given to the father for the value of his daughter; but
if she finds she has made a mistake, she can return the dowry-
money, and gain her release.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 84 of 207
Words from 84766 to 85768
of 210958