Part 9 (1/2)
Next morning, as I said I could not by any means pay such an exorbitant tax as was demanded, Kariwami begged me to make an offer which I did by sending him four wires. These, of course, were rejected with scorn; so, in addition, I sent an old box. That, too, was thrown back on me, as nothing short of 20 wires, 40 cloths, and 200 necklaces of all sorts of beads, would satisfy him; and this I ought to be contented to pay, as he had been so moderate because I was the king's guest, and had been so reduced by robbery. I now sent six wires more, and said this was the last I could give--they were worth so many goats to me--and now by giving them away, I should have to live on grain like a poor man, though I was a prince in my own country, just like Suwarora. Surely Suwarora could not permit this if he knew it; and if they would not suffice, I should have to stop here until called again by Suwarora. The ruffian, on hearing this, allowed the wires to lie in his hut, and said he was going away, but hoped, when he returned, I should have, as I had got no cloths, 20 wires, and 1000 necklaces of extra length, strung and all ready for him.
Just then Bombay returned flushed with the excitement of a great success. He had been in Masudi's camp, and had delivered my message to Insangez. Asudi, he said, had been there a fortnight unable to settle his hongo, for the great Mkama had not deigned to see him, though the Arab had been daily to his palace requesting an interview. ”Well,” I said, ”that is all very interesting, but what next?--will the big king see us?” ”O no; by the very best good fortune in the world, on going into the palace I saw Suwarora, and spoke to him at once; but he was so tremendously drunk, he could not understand me.” ”What luck was there in that?” I asked. On which Bombay said, ”Oh, everybody in the place congratulated me on my success in having obtained an interview with that great monarch the very first day, when Arabs had seldom that privilege under one full month of squatting; even Masudi had not yet seen him.” To which Nasib also added, ”Ah, yes--indeed it is so--a monstrous success; there is great ceremony as well as business at these courts; you will better see what I mean when you get to Uganda. These Wahuma kings are not like those you ever saw in Unyamuezi or anywhere else; they have officers and soldiers like Said Majid, the Sultan at Zanzibar.” ”Well,”
said I to Bombay, ”what was Suwarora like?” ”Oh, he is a very fine man--just as tall, and in the face very like Grant; in fact, if Grant were black you would not know the difference.” ”And were his officers drunk too?” ”O yes, they were all drunk together; men were bringing in pombe all day.” ”And did you get drunk?” ”O yes,” said Bombay, grinning, and showing his whole row of sharp-pointed teeth, ”they WOULD make me drink; and then they showed me the place they a.s.signed for your camp when you come over there. It was not in the palace, but outside, without a tree near it; anything but a nice-looking residence.” I then sent Bombay to work at the hongo business; but, after haggling till night with Kariwami, he was told he must bring fourteen bra.s.s wires, two cloths, and five mukhnai of kanyera, or white porcelain beads--which, reduced, amounted to three hundred necklaces; else he said I might stop there for a month.
At last I settled this confounded hongo, by paying seven additional wires in lieu of the cloth; and, delighted at the termination of this tedious affair, I ordered a march. Like magic, however, Vikora turned up, and said we must wait until he was settled with. His rank was the same as the others, and one bead less than I had given them he would not take. I fought all the day out, but the next morning, as he deputed his officers to take nine wires, these were given, and then we went on with the journey.
Tripping along over the hill, we descended to a deep miry watercourse, full of bulrushes, then over another hill, from the heights of which we saw Suwarora's palace, lying down in the Uthungu valley, behind which again rose another hill of sandstone, faced on the top with a d.y.k.e of white quartz. The scene was very striking, for the palace enclosures, of great extent, were well laid out to give effect. Three circles of milk bush, one within the other, formed the boma, or ring-fence. The chief's hut (I do not think him worthy of the name of king, since the kingdom is divided in two) was three times as large as any of the others, and stood by itself at the farther end; whilst the smaller huts, containing his officers and domestics, were arranged in little groups within a circle, at certain distances apart from one another, sufficient to allow of their stalling their cattle at night.
On descending into the Uthungu valley, Grant, who was preceding the men, found Makinga opposed to the progress of the caravan until his dues were paid. He was a stranger like ourselves, and was consequently treated with scorn, until he tried to maintain what he called his right, by pulling the loads off my men's shoulders, whereupon Grant cowed him into submission, and all went on again--not to the palace, as we had supposed, but, by the direction of the mace-bearers, to the huts of Suwarora's commander-in-chief, two miles from the palace; and here we found Masudi's camp also. We had no sooner formed camp for ourselves and arranged all our loads, than the eternal Vikora, whom I thought we had settled with before we started, made a claim for some more wire, cloth, and beads, as he had not received as much as Kariwani and Virembo. Of course I would not listen to this, as I had paid what his men asked for, and that was enough for me. Just then Masudi, with the other Arabs who were travelling with him, came over to pay us a visit, and inquire what we thought of the Usui taxes. He had just concluded his hongo to Suwarora by paying 80 wires, 120 yards of cloth, and 130 lb. of beads, whilst he had also paid to every officer from 20 to 40 wires, as well as cloths and beads. On hearing of my transactions, he gave it as his opinion that I had got off surprisingly well.
Next morning, (1st) Masudi and his party started for Karague. They had been more than a year between this and Kaze, trying all the time to get along. Provisions here were abundant--hawked about by the people, who wore a very neat skin kilt strapped round the waist, but otherwise were decorated like the Wanyamuezi. It was difficult to say who were of true breed here, for the intercourse of the natives with the Wahuma and the Wanyamuezi produced a great variety of facial features amongst the people. Nowhere did I ever see so many men and women with hazel eyes as at this place.
In the evening, an Uganda man, by name N'yamgundu, came to pay his respects to us. He was dressed in a large skin wrapper, made up of a number of very small antelope skins: it was as soft as kid, and just as well sewn as our gloves. To our surprise the manners of the man were quite in keeping with his becoming dress. I was enchanted with his appearance, and so were my men, though no one could speak to him but Nasib, who told us he knew him before. He was the brother of the dowager queen of Uganda, and, along with a proper body of officers, he had been sent by Mtesa, the present king of Uganda, to demand the daughter of Suwarora, as reports had reached his king that she was surprisingly beautiful. They had been here more than a year, during which time this beautiful virgin had died; and now Suwarora, fearful of the great king's wrath, consequent on his procrastinations, was endeavouring to make amends for it, by sending, instead of his daughter, a suitable tribute in wires. I thought it not wonderful that we should be fleeced.
Next day (2d) Sirhid paid us a visit, and said he was the first man in the state. He certainly was a nice-looking young man, with a good deal of the Wahuma blood in him. Flas.h.i.+ly dressed in coloured cloths and a turban, he sat down in one of our chairs as if he had been accustomed to such a seat all his life, and spoke with great suavity. I explained our difficulties as those of great men in misfortune; and, after listening to our tale, he said he would tell Suwarora of the way we had been plundered, and impress upon him to deal lightly with us. I said I had brought with me a few articles of European manufacture for Suwarora, which I hoped would be accepted if I presented them, for they were such things as only great men like his chief ever possessed. One was a five-barrelled pistol, another a large block-in box, and so fourth; but after looking at them, and seeing the pistol fired, he said; ”No; you must not shew these things at first, or the Mkama might get frightened, thinking them magic. I might lose my head for presuming to offer them, and then there is no knowing what might happen afterwards.” ”Then can I not see him at once and pay my respects, for I have come a great way to obtain that pleasure?” ”No,” said Sirhid, ”I will see him first; for he is not a man like myself, but requires to be well a.s.sured before he sees anybody.” ”Then why did he invite me here!” ”He heard that Makaka, and afterwards Lumeresi, had stopped your progress; and as he wished to see what you were like, he ordered me to send some men to you, which, as you know, I did twice. He wishes to see you, but does not like doing things in a hurry. Superst.i.tion, you know, preys on these men's minds who have not seen the world like you and myself.” Sirhid then said he would ask Suwarora to grant us an interview as soon as possible; then, whilst leaving, he begged for the iron chair he had sat upon; but hearing we did not know how to sit on the ground, and therefore could not spare it, he withdrew without any more words about it.
Virembo then said (3d) he must have some more wire and beads, as his proxy Kariwami had been satisfied with too little. I drove him off in a huff, but he soon came back again with half the hongo I had paid to Kariwami, and said he must have some cloths or he would not have anything. As fortune decreed it, just then Sirhid dropped in, and stopped him importunity for the time by saying that if we had possessed cloths his men must have known it, for they had been travelling with us. 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 amba.s.sador 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 quant.i.ty 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. This brought on another row; for he said both Virembo and Vikora had returned their hongos, and until their tongues were quieted he could not speak to Suwarora.
To expedite matters (7th), as our daily consumption in camp was a tax of itself, I gave these tormenting creatures one wire, one pretty cloth, and five hundred necklaces of white beads, which were no sooner accepted than Karambule, in the same way as Sirhid had done, said it would be greatly to my advantage if I gave him something worth having before he saw the Mkama. Only too glad to being work I gave him a red blanket, called joho, and five strings of mzizima beads, which were equal to fifty of the common white.
8th and 9th.--All this time nothing but confusion reigned in camp, khambi fighting against khambi. Both men and women got drunk, whilst from outside we were tormented by the Wasui, both men and women pertinaciously pressing into our hut, watching us eat, and begging in the most shameless manner. They did not know the word bakhs.h.i.+sh, or present; but, as bad as the Egyptians, they held our their hands, patted their bellies, and said Kaniwani (my friend) until we were sick of the sound of that word. Still it was impossible to dislike these simple creatures altogether, they were such perfect children. If we threw water at them to drive them away, they came back again, thinking it fun.
Ten days now had elapsed since we came here, still nothing was done (10th), as Karambule said, because Suwarora had been so fully occupied collecting an army to punish an officer who had refused to pay his taxes, had ignored his authority, and had set himself up as king of the district he was appointed to superintend. After this, at midnight, Karambule, in an excited manner, said he had seen Suwarora, and it then was appointed that, not he, but Virembo should take the royal hongo, as well as the Wahinda, or princes' shares, the next morning--after which we might go as fast as we liked, for Suwarora was so full occupied with his army he could not see us this time. Before, however, the hongo could be paid, I must give the Sirhid and himself twenty bra.s.s wires, three joho, three barsati, twenty strings of mzizima, and one thousand strings of white beads. They were given.
A fearful row now broke out between Bombay and Baraka (11th). Many of my men had by this time been married, notwithstanding my prohibition.
Baraka, for instance, had with him the daughter of Ungurue, chief of Phunze; Wadimoyo, a woman called Manamaka; Sangizo, his wife and sister; but Bombay had not got one, and mourned for a girl he had set his eyes on, unfortunately for himself letting Baraka into his confidence. This set Baraka on the qui vive to catch Bombay tripping; for Baraka knew he could not get her without paying a good price for her, and therefore watched his opportunity to lay a complaint against him of purloining my property, by which scheme he would, he thought, get Bombay's place as storekeeper himself. In a sly manner Bombay employed some of my other men to take five wires, a red blanket, and 500 strings of beads, to his would-be father-in-law, which, by a previously-concocted arrangement, was to be her dowry price. These men did as they were bid; but the father-in-law returned things, saying he must have one more wire. That being also supplied, the scoundrel wanted more, and made so much fuss about it, that Baraka became conversant with all that was going on, and told me of it.
This set the whole camp in a flame, for Bombay and Baraka were both very drunk, as well as most of the other men, so that it was with great difficulty I could get hold of the rights of their stories. Bombay acknowledged he had tried to get the girl, for they had been sentimentalising together for several days, and both alike wished to be married. Baraka, he said, was allowed to keep a wife, and his position, demanded that he should have one also; but the wires were his own property, and not mine, for he was given them by the chiefs as a perquisite when I paid their hongo through him. He thought it most unjust and unfair of Baraka to call him to account in that way, but he was not surprised at it, as Baraka, from the beginning of the journey to the present moment, had always been backbiting him, to try and usurp his position. Baraka, at this, somewhat taken aback, said there were no such things as perquisites on a journey like this; for whatever could be saved from the chiefs was for the common good of all, and all alike ought to share in it--repeating words I had often expressed. Then Bombay retorted trembling and foaming in his liquor: ”I know I shall get the worst of it, for whilst Baraka's tongue is a yard long, mine is only an inch; but I would not have spent any wires of master's to purchase slaves with (alluding to what Baraka had done at Mihambo); nor would I, for any purpose of making myself richer; but when it comes to a wife, that's a different thing.”
In my heart I liked Bombay all the more for this confession, but thought it necessary to extol Baraka for his quickness in finding him out, which drove Bombay nearly wild. He wished me to degrade him, if I thought him dishonest; threw himself on the ground, and kissed my feet. I might thrash him, turn him into a porter, or do anything else that I liked with him, as long as I did not bring a charge of dishonesty against him.
He could not explain himself with Baraka's long tongue opposed to him, but there were many deficiencies in my wires before he took overcharge at Bogue, which he must leave for settlement till the journey was over, and then, the whole question having been sifted at Zanzibar, we would see who was the most honest. I then counted all the wires over, at Bombay's request, and found them complete in numbers, without those he had set aside from the dowry money. Still there was a doubt, for the wires might have been cut by him without detection, as from the commencement they were of different lengths. However, I tried to make them friends, claimed all the wires myself, and cautioned every man in the camp again, that they were all losers when anything was misappropriated; for I brought this property to pay our way with and whatever balance was over at the end of the journey I would divide amongst the whole of them.
12th and 13th.--When more sober, Bombay again came to crave a thousand pardons for what he had done, threw himself down at my feet, then at Grant's, kissed our toes, swore I was his Ma Pap (father and mother); he had no father or mother to teach him better; he owed all his prosperity to me; men must err sometimes; oh, if I would only forgive him,--and so forth. Then being a.s.sured that I knew he never would have done as he had if a woman's attractions had not led him astray, he went to his work again like a man, and consoled himself by taking Sangizo's sister to wife on credit instead of the old love, promising to pay the needful out of his pay, and to return her to her brother when the journey was over.
In the evening Virembo and Karambule came to receive the hongo for their chief, demanding 60 wires, 160 yards merikani, 300 strings of mzizima, and 5000 strings of white beads; but they allowed themselves to be beaten down to 50 wires, 20 pretty cloths, 100 strings mzizima, and 4000 kutuamn.a.z.i, or cocoa-nut-leaf coloured beads, my white being all done.
It was too late, however, to count all the things out, so they came the next day and took them. They then said we might go as soon as we had settled with the Wahinda or Wanawami (the king's children), for Suwarora could not see us this time, as he was so engaged with his army; but he hoped to see us and pay us more respect when we returned from Uganda, little thinking that I had sworn in my mind never to see him, or return that way again. I said to those men, I thought he was ashamed to see us, as he had robbed us so after inviting us into the country, else he was too superst.i.tious, for he ought at least to have given us a place in his palace. They both reb.u.t.ted the insinuation; and, to change the subject, commenced levying the remaining dues to the princes, which ended by my giving thirty-four wires and six pretty cloths in a lump.
Early in the morning we were on foot again, only too thankful to have got off so cheaply. Then men were appointed as guides and protectors, to look after us as far as the border. What an honour! We had come into the country drawn there by a combination of pride and avarice and now we were leaving it in hot haste under the guidance of an escort of officers, who were in reality appointed to watch us as dangerous wizards and objects of terror. It was all the same to us, as we now only thought of the prospect of relief before us, and laughed at what we had gone through.