However, They Were Now Undeceived, As The
First Object That Met Their View Was The English Flag On The High
Flagstaff, And They Were Shortly Led Into My Courtyard, Where They Were
Introduced To Me In Person.
They sat in a half-circle around me.
Assuming great authority, I asked them how they could presume to attack
a country under the protection of the British flag? I informed them that
Unyoro belonged to me by right of discovery, and that I had given
Ibrahim the exclusive right to the produce of that country, on the
condition that he should do nothing contrary to the will of the reigning
king, Kamrasi; that Ibrahim had behaved well; that I had been guided to
the lake and had returned, and that we were now actually fed by the
king; and we were suddenly invaded by Turkish subjects in connexion with
a hostile tribe, who thus insulted the English flag. I explained to them
that I should not only resist any attack that might be made upon
Kamrasi, but that I should report the whole affair to the Turkish
authorities upon my return to Khartoum; and that, should a shot be fired
or a slave be stolen in Kamrasi's country, the leader of their party,
Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, would be hanged.
They replied that they were not aware that I was in the country; that
they were allies of Fowooka, Rionga, and Owine, the three hostile
chiefs; that they had received both ivory and slaves from them on
condition that they should kill Kamrasi; and that, according to the
custom of the White Nile trade, they had agreed to these conditions.
They complained that it was very hard upon them to march six days
through an uninhabited wilderness between their station at Faloro and
Fowooka's islands and to return empty handed. In reply I told them, that
they should carry a letter from me to their vakeel Mahommed, in which I
should give him twelve hours from the receipt of my order to recross the
river with his entire party and their allies and quit Kamrasi's country.
They demurred to this alternative: but I shortly settled their
objections, by ordering my vakeel to write the necessary letter, and
desiring them to start before sunrise on the following morning. Kamrasi
had been suspicious that I had sent for Mahommed's party to invade him
because he had kept me starving at Shooa Moru instead of forwarding me
to Shooa as he had promised. This suspicion placed me in an awkward
position; I therefore called M'Gambi (his brother) in presence of the
Turks, and explained the whole affair face to face, desiring Mahommed's
people themselves to explain to him that they would retire from the
country simply because I commanded them to do so, but that, had I not
been there, they would have attacked him. This they repeated with a very
bad grace, boasting, at the completion, that, were it not for me, they
would shoot M'Gambi where he stood at that moment. The latter, fully
aware of their good intentions, suddenly disappeared. . . . My letter to
Mahommed was delivered to Suleiman Choush, the leader of his party, and
I ordered a sheep to be killed for their supper. . . . At sunrise on the
following morning they all departed, accompanied by six of my men, who
were to bring a reply to my letter. These people had two donkeys, and
just as they were starting, a crowd of natives made a rush to gather a
heap of dung that lay beneath the animals; a great fight and tussle took
place for the possession of this valuable medicine, in the midst of
which the donkey lifted up his voice and brayed so lustily that the
crowd rushed away with more eagerness than they had exhibited on
arriving, alarmed at the savage voice of the unknown animal. It appeared
that the dung of the donkey rubbed upon the skin was supposed to be a
cure for rheumatism, and that this rare specific was brought from a
distant country in the East where such animals existed.
CHAPTER XV.
KAMRASI BEGS FOR THE BRITISH FLAG.
Kamrasi, thus freed from his invaders, was almost stupefied with
astonishment. He immediately paid me a visit, and as he entered the
courtyard he stopped to look at the flag that was gaily fluttering above
him, as though it were a talisman. He inquired "why the Turks were awed
by an apparent trifle." I explained that the flag was well known, and
might be seen in every part of the world; wherever it was hoisted it was
respected, as he had just witnessed, even at so great a distance from
home and unsupported, as in Unyoro.
Seizing the opportunity, he demanded it, saying, "What shall I do when
you leave my country and take that with you? These Turks will surely
return. Give me the flag, and they will be afraid to attack me!" I was
obliged to explain to him that "the respect for the British ensign had
not been gained by running away on the approach of danger, as he had
proposed on the arrival of the enemy, and that its honour could not be
confided to any stranger." True to his uncontrollable instinct of
begging, he replied, "If you cannot give me the flag, give me at least
that little double-barrelled rifle that you do not require, as you are
going home; then I can defend myself should the Turks attack me."
I was excessively disgusted; he had just been saved by my intervention,
and his manner of thanking me was by begging most pertinaciously for the
rifle that I had refused him on more than twenty occasions. I requested
him never to mention the subject again, as I would not part with it
under any circumstances. Just at this moment I heard an uproar outside
my gate, and loud screams, attended with heavy blows. A man was dragged
past the entrance of the courtyard bound hand and foot, and was
immediately cudgelled to death by a crowd of natives.
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