Owing to milking not being a general practice, the cows would never give their milk unless the calf was near by, so that if the calf died it was their practice to stuff the skin and place it by the cow when they went to get any milk.
This chief, however, brought me plenty of milk, and was altogether most friendly disposed, so we camped there for several days, the natives coming in every day to see me, and organizing a big dance for my special benefit. They had heard of my people being killed while going into Naivasha, and told me that the Kalyera were a bad lot and not long before had murdered some Government soldiers who had been sent out to buy food for the people constructing the Uganda Railway.
Being now close to the Kalyera country, I tried to get into touch with some of the chiefs, but they would not come to see me, only sending a lot of insulting messages in reply to my requests for interviews, and saying that if they saw any of my people straying about they would kill them. They did not attack me, however, but I had to abandon my mission to them for the present.
The two friendly chiefs brought me in a lot of food, for which I traded with them, and also several tusks of ivory, which I also acquired. Unfortunately, my own people could not carry all that I had bought down to headquarters, and the chief’s people refused to go down with me, saying that they would be killed on the way back, the other tribes being hostile to them; so that the food had to be stored until such time as I could arrange to have it transferred to Karuri’s.
My followers having made friends with the people with whom we had been staying, we were all very sorry to leave; but it was imperative that we should return at once, as a rumour had reached me that my people at headquarters were in trouble, and they had sent a message for me to come back as quickly as possible. We had hardly got started on the return journey when it was rumoured among the natives that I had gone on this expedition especially to see the Kalyera people, and that I was returning because I was afraid to meet them. Emboldened by this, the tribe living to the north had attacked my headquarters, killed a lot of the people, and raided the country, burning the villages, and carrying off a lot of cattle, sheep, and goats, as well as some of the women. On hearing this news I hurried back as fast as possible, as I thought it quite likely that they would burn my place. I got back in time to prevent any further fighting, and set myself to calm the fears of my people, who were lamenting the loss of their cattle, and praying me to get back their women. I found that the whole country was up in arms, and set to work to find out what was the cause of all the trouble.
It seemed that my own people had been partly the aggressors, and the old quarrelling had been started again; so I sent out messengers to ask the other chiefs in the neighbourhood to come in to see me. It is the custom always to send two messengers together, as no native will travel alone, and I waited some time, but as neither of the men returned, I supposed that they had both been murdered. So I moved out and pitched my camp at one of my trading stations on the boundary of the country, where I had built a house, which I found had not been interfered with. I hoped, by staying there a few days, to get into communication with the natives, with the object of getting the old men of the district to come in for a shauri. In this I was successful, and we talked over the whole matter of the raid. They said that they had no wish to fight, but the young warriors had got out of hand, carrying things their own way. The result of the palaver was that the women and all the stolen cattle were returned, with the exception of a few sheep and oxen that had been eaten, and knowing that my own people had been the aggressors in the first instance, I did not see that I could take any stronger action in the matter.
However, this peaceful settlement did not please them, and, coupled with my failure with the Kalyera, caused a change of feeling towards me; the people became insolent, and I had to be more than ever on my guard. Things were getting pretty bad, and it so happened that, just at this time, I had to call in a rather powerful headman, who had been causing a good deal of disturbance in the country, to see me; so I sent a messenger to his village to summon him to my camp. He refused to come, and sent back an insolent message, which was heard by all the people round about, and caused a jeering laugh at my expense. This headman was known as a great warrior, who was said to have slept out in the bush at night to kill lions with a spear, and was supposed to have killed several in that way.
I sent further messages to him, but he absolutely refused to come, and began to send threatening replies. He had a following of about one hundred fighting men, and it became a standing joke in the country that he had defied the white man, so that I felt that unless I did something I should lose my influence in the country; I was also getting ashamed to face my own people, who were continually asking if I was not going to bring him in by force. A few days later the matter was brought to a head by a body of about five hundred fighting men turning up at my camp to ask me what I proposed to do in the matter. Seeing that they were thoroughly roused, I said that I would go and bring him in myself. They all wanted to go with me, but I said that I would go alone, and to show that I was not afraid of him, I would not even take a gun, but only a stick or knobkerrie: I took the precaution, however, to have my revolver in my belt out of sight.
I started off with only about ten men, and when we got within a few hundred yards of the mutineer’s village, I told the men to stay behind, while I went on to talk to the headman. They had evidently got news of my coming, and were waiting for me, as I could see about fifty men, all fully armed, with the chief in front, drawn up to receive me, and I had no doubt that others were in ambush near by. The man was a fine big fellow, every inch a chief, and I knew that I could only hope to succeed by showing a bold front, bravery being about the only virtue a savage recognizes. As I advanced alone they appeared to be impressed, and a grunt of approbation passed round. The crisis had arrived, and I knew that only sheer bluff could carry me through; so, before the chief could guess my intention, I sprang on him like a flash, and dealt him a blow with the knobkerrie which laid him senseless on the ground, at the same time shouting to his followers to throw down their weapons, as my men had them covered with their guns, and they would all be shot if they attempted to resist. Standing over the chief, with my hand on my revolver, I was ready to face the crowd, but, to my great surprise, they all threw down their weapons. It must be remembered that I was believed to possess mysterious powers, which probably accounts in some measure for their ready submission.
Having made the warriors put all their weapons in a heap, I ordered them to bring in some sheep and goats which they had stolen, and had the chief carried to my camp, while the sheep and goats were driven into my village, the whole of the warriors marching ahead of me till I reached my own people. After giving them a good feed, I gave them a good talking to, and dressed the wound on the chief’s head, binding it up with some sticking-plaster; while, to show that there was no ill-feeling, I invited his followers to spend the night in my camp, and return to their own village in the morning.