24th.—The army still thronged the highways, some going, others coming, like a swarm of ants, the whole day long. Kidgwiga paid another visit, and I went to the palace without my gun, wishing the king to fancy all my powder was done, as he had nearly consumed all my store; but the consequence was that, after waiting the whole day, I never saw him at all. In the evening pages informed me that Grant had arrived at N'yama Goma, one march distant.
25th.—I prepared twenty men, with a quarter of mutton for Grant to help him on the way, but they could not go without a native officer, lest they should be seized, and no officer would lead the way. The king came shooting close to my hut and ordered me out. I found him marching Rozaro about in custody with four other Wanyambo, who, detected plundering by Kitunzi, had set upon and beaten him severely. The king, pointing them out to me, said, he did not like the system of plundering, and wished to know if it was the practice in Karague. Of course I took the opportunity to renew my protest against the plundering system; but the king, changing the subject, told me the Wazungu were at Gani inquiring after us, and wishing to come here. To this I proposed fetching them myself in boats, but he objected, saying he would send men first, for they were not farther off to the northward than the place he sent boats to, to bring Grant. He said he did not like Unyoro, because Kamrasi hides himself like a Neptune in the Nile, whenever his men go on a visit there, and instead of treating his guests with respect, he keeps them beyond the river. For this reason he had himself determined on adopting the passage by Kidi.
I was anxious, of course, to go on with the subject thus unexpectedly opened, but, as ill-luck would have it, an adjutant was espied sitting on a tree, when a terrible fuss and excitement ensued. The women were ordered one way and the attendants another, whilst I had to load the gun on the best way I could with the last charge and a half left in the king's pouch. Ten grains were all he would have allowed himself, reserving the residue, without reflecting that a large bird required much shot; and he was shocked to find me lavishly use the whole, and still say it was not enough.
The bird was then at a great height, so that the first shot merely tickled him, and drove him to another tree. "Woh! woh!" cried the king, "I am sure he is hit; look there, look there;" and away he rushed after the bird; down with one fence, then with another, in the utmost confusion, everybody trying to keep his proper place, till at last the tree to which the bird had flown was reached, and then, with the last charge of shot, the king killed his first nundo. The bird, however, did not fall, but lay like a spread eagle in the upper branches. Wasoga were called to climb the tree and pull it down; whilst the king, in ecstasies of joy and excitement, rushed up and down the potato-field like a mad bull, jumping and plunging, waving and brandishing the gun above his head; whilst the drums beat, the attendants all woh-wohed, and the women, joining with their lord, rushed about lullalooing and dancing like insane creatures. Then began congratulations and hand-shakings, and, finally, the inspection of the bird, which, by this time, the Wasoga had thrown down. Oh! oh! what a wonder! Its wings outspread reached further than the height of a man; we must go and show it to the brothers. Even that was not enough—we must show it to the mother; and away we all rattled as fast as our legs could carry us.
Arrived at the queen's palace, out of respect to his mother, the king changed his European clothes for a white kid-skin wrapper, and then walked in to see her, leaving us waiting outside. By this time Colonel Congow, in his full-dress uniform, had arrived in the square outside, with his regiment drawn up in review order. The king, hearing the announcement, at once came out with spears and shield, preceded by the bird, and took post, standing armed, by the entrance, encircled by his staff, all squatting, when the adjutant was placed in the middle of the company. Before us was a large open square, with the huts of the queen's Kamraviona or commander-in-chief beyond. The battalion, consisting of what might be termed three companies, each containing 200 men, being drawn up on the left extremity of the parade-ground, received orders to march past in single file from the right of companies, at a long trot, and re-form again at the other end of the square.
Nothing conceivable could be more wild or fantastic than the sight which ensued—the men all nearly naked, with goat or cat skins depending from their girdles, and smeared with war colours according to the taste of each individual; one-half of the body red or black, the other blue, not in regular order—as, for instance, one stocking would be red, the other black, whilst the breeches above would be the opposite colours, and so with the sleeves and waistcoat. Every man carried the same arms—two spears and one shield—held as if approaching an enemy, and they thus moved in three lines of single rank and file, at fifteen to twenty paces asunder, with the same high action and elongated step, the ground leg only being bent, to give their strides the greater force. After the men had all started, the captains of companies followed, even more fantastically dressed; and last of all came the great Colonel Congow, a perfect Robinson Crusoe, with his long white-haired goat-skins, a fiddle-shaped leather shield, tufted with white hair at all six extremities, bands of long hair tied below the knees, and a magnificent helmet, covered with rich beads of every colour, in excellent taste, surmounted with a plume of crimson feathers, from the centre of which rose a bent stem, tufted with goat-hair. Next they charged in companies to and fro; and, finally, the senior officers came charging at their king, making violent professions of faith and honesty, for which they were applauded. The parade then broke up, and all went home.
26th.—One of king Mtesa's officers now consenting to go to N'yama Goma with some of my men, I sent Grant a quarter of goat. The reply brought to me was, that he was very thankful for it; that he cooked it and ate it on the spot; and begged I would see the king, to get him released from that starving place. Rozaro was given over to the custody of Kitunzi for punishment. At the same time, the queen, having heard of the outrages committed against her brother and women, commanded that neither my men nor any of Rozaro's should get any more food at the palace; for as we all came to Uganda in one body, so all alike were, by her logic, answerable for the offence. I called at the palace for explanation but could not obtain admittance because I would not fire the gun.
27th.—The king sent to say he wanted medicine to propitiate lightning. I called and described the effects of a lightning-rod, and tried to enter into the Unyoro business, wishing to go there at once myself. He objected, because he had not seen Grant, but appointed an officer to go through Unyoro on to Gani, and begged I would also send men with letters. Our talk was agreeably interrupted by guns in the distance announcing Grant's arrival, and I took my leave to welcome my friend. How we enjoyed ourselves after so much anxiety and want of one another's company, I need not describe. For my part, I was only too rejoiced to see Grant could limp about a bit, and was able to laugh over the picturesque and amusing account he gave me of his own rough travels.
28th.—The king in the morning sent Budja, his ambassador, with Kamrasi's Kidgwiga, over to me for my men and letters, to go to Kamrasi's again and ask for the road to Gani. I wished to speak to the king first, but they said they had no orders to stop for that, and walked straight away. I sent the king a present of a double-barrelled gun and ammunition, and received in answer a request that both Grant and myself would attend a levee, which he was to hold in state, accompanied by his bodyguard, as when I was first presented to him. In the afternoon we proceeded to court accordingly, but found it scantily attended; and after the first sitting, which was speedily over, retired to another court, and saw the women. Of this dumb show the king soon got tired; he therefore called for his iron chair, and entered into conversation, at first about the ever-engrossing subject of stimulants, till we changed it by asking him how he liked the gun? He pronounced it a famous weapon, which he would use intensely. We then began to talk in a general way about Suwarora and Rumanika, as well as the road through Unyamuezi, which we hoped would soon cease to exist, and be superseded by one through Unyoro.
It will be kept in view that the hanging about at this court, and all the perplexing and irritating negotiations here described, had always one end in view—that of reaching the Nile where it pours out of the N'yanza, as I was long certain that it did. Without the consent and even the aid of this capricious barbarian I was now talking to, such a project was hopeless. I naturally seized every opportunity for putting in a word in the direction of my great object, and here seemed to be an opportunity. We now ventured on a plump application for boats that we might feel our way to Gani by water, supposing the lake and river to be navigable all the way; and begged Kitunzi might be appointed to accompany us, in order that whatever was done might be done all with good effect in opening up a new line of commerce, by which articles of European manufacture might find a permanent route to Uganda. It was "no go," however. The appeal, though listened to, and commented on, showing that it was well understood, got no direct reply. It was not my policy to make our object appear too important to ourselves, so I had to appear tolerably indifferent, and took the opportunity to ask for my paint-box, which he had borrowed for a day and had kept in his possession for months. I got no answer to that request either, but was immediately dunned for the compass, which had been promised on Grant's arrival. Now, with a promise that the compass would be sent him in the morning, he said he would see what pombe his women could spare us; and, bidding good evening, walked away.