How I Found Livingstone Travels, Adventures And Discoveries In Central Africa Including Four Months Residence With Dr. Livingstone By Sir Henry M. Stanley
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This, After The Twelve Doti
Received As Muhongo From The Caravans, I Thought, Was Rather
Sore; But As He Was About To Present Me With A Sheep Or Goat
Another Shukka Would Not Matter Much.
Shortly after he departed, and true to his promise, I received
a large, fine sheep, with a broad tail,
Heavy with fat; but with
the words, :"That being now his brother, I must send him three
doti of good cloth." As the price of a sheep is but a doti and
a half, I refused the sheep and the fraternal honour, upon the
ground that the gifts were all on one side; and that, as I had
paid muhongo, and given him a doti of Kaniki as a present, I
could not, afford to part with any more cloth without an
adequate return.
During the afternoon one more of my donkeys died, and at night the
hyaenas came in great numbers to feast upon the carcase. Ulimengo,
the chasseur, and best shot of my Wangwana, stole out and succeeded
in shooting two, which turned out to be some of the largest of
their kind.. One of them measured six feet from the tip of the
nose to the extremity of the tail, and three feet around the
girth.
On the 4th. June we struck camp, and after travelling westward for
about three miles, passing several ponds of salt water, we headed
north by west, skirting the range of low hills which separates
Ugogo from Uyanzi.
After a three hours' march, we halted for a short time at Little
Mukondoku, to settle tribute with the brother of him who rules at
Mukondoku Proper. Three doti satisfied the Sultan, whose
district contains but two villages, mostly occupied by pastoral
Wahumba and renegade Wahehe. The Wahumba live in plastered
(cow-dung) cone huts, shaped like the tartar tents of Turkestan.
The Wahumba, so far as I have seen them, are a fine and well-formed
race. The men are positively handsome, tall, with small heads,
the posterior parts of which project considerably. One will look
in vain for a thick lip or a flat nose amongst them; on the
contrary, the mouth is exceedingly well cut, delicately small;
the nose is that of the Greeks, and so universal was the peculiar
feature, that I at once named them the Greeks of Africa. Their
lower limbs have not the heaviness of the Wagogo and other tribes,
but are long and shapely, clean as those of an antelope. Their
necks are long and slender, on which their small heads are poised
most gracefully. Athletes from their youth, shepherd bred, and
intermarrying among themselves, thus keeping the race pure, any
of them would form a fit subject for the sculptor who would wish
to immortalize in marble an Antinous, a Hylas, a Daphnis, or an
Apollo. The women are as beautiful as the men are handsome.
They have clear ebon skins, not coal-black, but of an inky hue.
Their ornaments consist of spiral rings of brass pendent from the
ears, brass ring collars about the necks, and a spiral cincture
of brass wire about their loins for the purpose of retaining
their calf and goat skins, which are folded about their bodies,
and, depending from the shoulder, shade one half of the bosom,
and fall to the knees.
The Wahehe may be styled the Romans of Africa. Resuming our
march, after a halt of an hour, in foul hours more we arrived at
Mukondoku Proper. This extremity of Ugogo is most populous, The
villages which surround the central tembe, where the Sultan Swaruru
lives, amount to thirty-six. The people who flocked from these to
see the wonderful men whose faces were white, who wore the most
wonderful things on their persons, and possessed the most wonderful
weapons; guns which "bum-bummed" as fast as you could count on
your fingers, formed such a mob of howling savages, that I for an
instant thought there was something besides mere curiosity which
caused such commotion, and attracted such numbers to the roadside.
Halting, I asked what was the matter, and what they wanted, and
why they made such noise? One burly rascal, taking my words for
a declaration of hostilities, promptly drew his bow, but as
prompt as he had fixed his arrow my faithful Winchester with
thirteen shots in the magazine was ready and at the shoulder,
and but waited to see the arrow fly to pour the leaden messengers
of death into the crowd. But the crowd vanished as quickly as
they had come, leaving the burly Thersites, and two or three
irresolute fellows of his tribe, standing within pistol range
of my levelled rifle. Such a sudden dispersion of the mob which,
but a moment before, was overwhelming in numbers, caused me to
lower my rifle, and to indulge in a hearty laugh at the disgraceful
flight of the men-destroyers. The Arabs, who were as much
alarmed at their boisterous obtrusiveness, now came up to patch
a truce, in which they succeeded to everybody's satisfaction.
A few words of explanation, and the mob came back in greater
numbers than before; and the Thersites who had been the cause
of the momentary disturbance was obliged to retire abashed
before the pressure of public opinion. A chief now came up,
whom I afterwards learned was the second man to Swaruru, and
lectured the people upon their treatment of the "White Stranger."
"Know ye not, Wagogo," shouted he, "that this Musungu is a
sultan (mtemi - a most high title). He has not come to Ugogo
like the Wakonongo (Arabs), to trade in ivory, but to see us,
and give presents. Why do you molest him and his people?
Let them pass in peace. If you wish to see him, draw near,
but do not mock him. The first of you who creates a disturbance,
let him beware; our great mtemi shall know how you treat his
friends." This little bit of oratorical effort on the part of
the chief was translated to me there and then by the old Sheik
Thani; which having understood, I bade the Sheikh inform the
chief that, after I had rested, I should like him to visit me
in my tent.
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