As these words were translated to him - imperfectly, I suppose,
but still, intelligibly - the face of the Wahha showed how well
they appreciated them. Once or twice I thought I detected something
like fear, but my assertions that I desired peace and friendship
with them soon obliterated all such feelings.
Mionvu replied:
"The white man tells me he is friendly. Why does he not come to
our village? Why does he stop on the road? The sun is hot.
Mionvu will not speak here any more. If the white man is a friend
he will come to the village."
"We must stop now. It is noon. You have broken our march. We
will go and camp in your village," I said, at the same time rising
and pointing to the men to take up their loads.
We were compelled to camp; there was no help for it; the messengers
had not returned from Kawanga. Having arrived in his village,
Mionvu had cast himself at full length under the scanty shade
afforded by a few trees within the boma. About 2 P.M. the
messengers returned, saying it was true the chief of Kawanga had
taken ten cloths; not, however for the King of Uhha, but for
himself!
Mionvu, who evidently was keen-witted, and knew perfectly what he
was about, now roused himself, and began to make miniature faggots
of thin canes, ten in each faggot, and shortly he presented ten
of these small bundles, which together contained one hundred, to me,
saying each stick represented a cloth, and the amount of the "honga"
required by the King of Uhha was ONE HUNDRED CLOTHS! - nearly two bales!
Recovering from our astonishment, which was almost indescribable,
we offered TEN.
"Ten! to the King of Uhha! Impossible. You do not stir from
Lukomo until you pay us one hundred!" exclaimed Mionvu, in a
significant manner.
I returned no answer, but went to my hut, which Mionvu had cleared
for my use, and Bombay, Asmani, Mabruki, and Chowpereh were invited -
to come to me for consultation. Upon my asking them if we could not
fight our way through Uhha, they became terror-stricken, and Bombay,
in imploring accents, asked me to think well what I was about to do,
because it was useless to enter on a war with the Wahha. "Uhha is
all a plain country; we cannot hide anywhere. Every village will
rise all about us, and how can forty-five men fight thousands of
people? They would kill us all in a few minutes, and how would you
ever reach Ujiji if you died? Think of it, my dear master, and do
not throw your life away for a few rags of cloth."
"Well, but, Bombay, this is robbery. Shall we submit to be robbed?
Shall we give this fellow everything he asks? He might as well ask
me for all the cloth, and all my guns, without letting him see that
we can fight.
