The Discovery of the Source of the Nile

by John Hanning Speke

Next day (22d) the Wasui from Suwarora arrived. They were a very gentle, nice-dispositioned-looking set of men—small, but well knit together. They advanced to my tent with much seeming grace; then knelt at my feet, and began clapping their hands together, saying, at the same time, "My great chief, my great chief, I hope you are well; for Suwarora, having heard of your detention here, has sent us over to assure you that all those reports that have been circulated regarding his ill-treatment of caravans are without foundation; he is sorry for what has happened to deter your march, and hopes you will at once come to visit him." I then told them all that had happened—how Grant and myself were situated—and begged them to assist me by going off to Grant's camp to inspire all the men there with confidence, and bring my rear property to me—saying, as they agreed to do so, "Here are some cloths and some beads for your expenses, and when you return I will give you more." Baraka at once, seeing this, told me they were not trustworthy, for at Mihambo an old man had come there and tried to inveigle him in the same manner, but he kicked him out of the camp, because he knew he was a touter, who wished merely to allure him with sweet words to fleece him afterwards. I then wrote to Grant another letter to be delivered by these men.

Lumeresi no sooner heard of the presents I had given them, than he flew into a passion, called them imposters, abused them for not speaking to him before they came to me, and said he would not allow them to go. High words then ensued. I said the business was mine, and not his; he had no right to interfere, and they should go. Still Lumeresi was obstinate, and determined they should not, for I was his guest; he would not allow any one to defraud me. It was a great insult to himself, if true, that Suwarora should attempt to snatch me out of his house; and he could not bear to see me take these strangers by the hand, when, as we have seen, it took him so long to entice me to his den, and he could not prevail over me until he actually sent his copper hatchet.

When this breeze blew over, by Lumeresi's walking away, I told the Wasui not to mind him, but to do just as I bid them. They said they had their orders to bring me, and if Lumeresi would not allow them to go for Grant, they would stop where they were, for they knew that if Suwarora found them delaying long, he would send more men to look after them. There was no peace yet, however; for Lumeresi, finding them quietly settled down eating with my men, ordered them out of his district, threatening force if they did not comply at once. I tried my best for them, but the Wasui, fearing to stop any longer, said they would take leave to see Suwarora, and in eight days more they would come back again, bringing something with them, the sight of which would make Lumeresi quake. Further words were now useless, so I gave them more cloth to keep them up to the mark, and sent them off. Baraka, who seemed to think this generosity a bit of insanity, grumbled that if I had cloths to throw away it would have been better had I disposed of them to my own men.

Next day (26th), as I was still unwell, I sent four men to Grant with inquiries how he was getting on, and a request for medicines. The messengers took four days to bring back the information that Bombay had not returned from Kaze, but that Grant, having got assistance, hoped to break ground about the 5th of next month. They brought me at the same time information that the Watuta had invested Ruhe's, after clearing off all the cattle in the surrounding villages, and had proclaimed their intention of serving out Lumeresi next. In consequence of this, Lumeresi daily assembled his grey-beards and had councils of war in his drum-house; but though his subjects sent to him constantly for troops, he would not assist them.

Another caravan then arrived (31st) from Karague, in which I found an old friend, of half Arab breed, called Saim, who whilst I was residing with Sheikh Snay at Kaze on my former expedition, taught me the way to make plantain-wine. He, like the rest of the porters in the caravan, wore a shirt of fig-tree bark called mbugu. As I shall have frequently to use this word in the course of the Journal, I may here give an explanation of its meaning. The porter here mentioned told me that the people about the equator all wore this kind of covering, and made it up of numerous pieces of bark sewn together, which they stripped from the trees after cutting once round the trunk above and below, and then once more down the tree from the upper to the lower circular cutting. This operation did not kill the trees, because, if they covered the wound, whilst it was fresh, well over with plaintain-leaves, shoots grew down from above, and a new bark came all over it. The way they softened the bark, to make it like cloth, was by immersion in water, and a good strong application of a mill-headed mallet, which ribbed it like corduroy. [10] Saim told me he had lived ten years in Uganda, had crossed the Nile, and had traded eastward as far as the Masai country. He thought the N'yanza was the sources of the Ruvuma river; as the river which drained the N'yanza, after passing between Uganda and Usoga, went through Unyoro, and then all round the Tanganyika lake into the Indian Ocean, south of Zanzibar. Kiganda, he also said, he knew as well as his own tongue; and as I wanted an interpreter, he would gladly take service with me. This was just what I wanted—a heaven-born stroke of luck. I seized at his offer with avidity, gave him a new suit of clothes, which made him look quite a gentleman, and arranged to send him next day with a letter to Grant.

1st and 2d.—A great hubbub and confusion now seized all the place, for the Watuta were out, and had killed a woman of the place who had formerly been seized by them in war, but had since escaped and resided here. To avenge this, Lumeresi headed his host, and was accompanied by my men; but they succeeded in nothing save in frightening off their enemies, and regaining possession of the body of the dead woman. Then another hubbub arose, for it was discovered that three Wahuma women were missing (2d); and, as they did not turn up again, Lumeresi suspected the men of the caravan, which left with Saim, must have taken them off as slaves. He sent for the chief of the caravan, and had him brought back to account for this business. Of course the man swore he knew nothing about the matter, whilst Lumeresi swore he should stop there a prisoner until the women were freed, as it was not the first time his women had been stolen in this manner. About the same time a man of this place, who had been to Sorombo to purchase cows, came in with a herd, and was at once seized by Lumeresi; for, during his absence, one of Lumeresi's daughters had been discovered to be with child, and she, on being asked who was the cause of it, pointed out that man. To compensate for damage done to himself, as his daughter by this means had become reduced to half her market-value, Lumeresi seized all the cattle this man had brought with him.

3d to 10th.—When two days had elapsed, one of the three missing Wahuma women was discovered in a village close by. As she said she had absconded because her husband had ill-treated her, she was flogged, to teach her better conduct. It was reported they had been seen in M'yonga's establishment; and I was at the same time informed that the husbands who were out in search of them would return, as M'yonga was likely to demand a price for them if they were claimed, in virtue of their being his rightful property under the acknowledged law of buni, or findings-keepings.

For the next four days nothing but wars and rumours of wars could be heard. The Watuta were out in all directions plundering cattle and burning villages, and the Wahuma of this place had taken such fright, they made a stealthy march with all their herds to a neighbouring chief, to whom it happened that one of Lumeresi's grey-beards was on a visit. They thus caught a Tartar; for the grey-beard no sooner saw them than he went and flogged them all back again, rebuking them on the way for their ingratitude to their chief, who had taken them in when they sought his shelter, and was now deserted by them on the first alarm of war.

10th.—Wishing now to gain further intelligence of Grant, I ordered some of my men to carry a letter to him; but they all feared the Watuta meeting them on the way, and would not. Just then a report came in that one of Lumeresi's sons, who had gone near the capital of Ukhanga to purchase cows, was seized by Rohinda in consequence of the Isamiro chief telling him that Lumeresi had taken untold wealth from me, and he was to be detained there a prisoner until Lumeresi either disgorged, or sent me on to be fleeced again. Lumeresi, of course, was greatly perplexed at this, and sought my advice, but could get nothing out of me, for I laughed in my sleeve, and told him such was the consequence of his having been too greedy.

11th to 15th.—Masudi with his caravan arrived from Mchimeka—Ungurue "the Pig," who had led me astray, was, by the way, his kirangozi or caravan-leader. Masudi told us he had suffered most severely from losses by his men running away, one after the other, as soon as they received their pay. He thought Grant would soon join me, as, the harvest being all in, the men about Rungua would naturally be anxious for service. He had had fearful work with M'yonga, having paid him a gun, some gunpowder, and a great quantity of cloth; and he had to give the same to Ruhe, with the addition of twenty brass wires, one load of mzizima, and one load of red coral beads. This was startling, and induced me to send all the men I could prudently spare off to Grant at once, cautioning him to avoid Ruhe's, as Lumeresi had promised me he would not allow one other thing to be taken from me. Lumeresi by this time was improving, from lessons on the policy of moderation which I had been teaching him; for when he tried to squeeze as much more out of Masudi as Ruhe had taken, he gave way, and let him off cheaply at my intercession. He had seen enough to be persuaded that this unlimited taxation or plunder system would turn out a losing game, such as Unyamyembe and Ugogo were at that time suffering from. Moreover, he was rather put to shame by my saying, "Pray, who now is biggest—Ruhe or yourself? for any one entering this country would suspect that he was, as he levies the first tax, and gives people to understand that, by their paying it, the whole district will be free to them; such at any rate he told me, and so it appears he told Masudi. If you are the sultan, and will take my advice, I would strongly recommend your teaching Ruhe a lesson, by taking from him what the Arabs paid, and giving it back to Masudi.