How I Found Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley [best fantasy books to read txt] 📗

now found

myself.

 

The next morning, having recovered slightly from the fever, when

Mukamba came with a present of an ox, a sheep, and a goat, I was

able to attend to the answers which he gave to the questions about

the Rusizi River and the head of the lake. The ever cheerful and

enthusiastic Mgwana was there also, and he was not a whit abashed,

when, through him, the chief told us that the Rusizi, joined by

the Ruanda, or Luanda, at a distance of two days’ journey by

water, or one day by land from the head of the lake, flowed INTO

the lake.

 

Thus our hopes, excited somewhat by the positive and repeated

assurances that the river flowed out away towards Karagwah,

collapsed as speedily as they were raised.

 

We paid Mukamba the honga, consisting of nine doti and nine fundo

of samsam, lunghio, muzurio n’zige. The printed handkerchiefs,

which I had in abundance at Unyanyembe, would have gone well here.

After receiving his present, the chief introduced his son, a tall

youth of eighteen or thereabouts, to the Doctor, as a would-be son

of the Doctor; but, with a good-natured laugh, the Doctor scouted

all such relationship with him, as it was instituted only for the

purpose of drawing more cloth out of him. Mukamba took it in good

part, and did not insist on getting more.

 

Our second evening at Mukamba’s, Susi, the Doctor’s servant, got

gloriously drunk, through the chief’s liberal and profuse gifts

of pombe. Just at dawn neat morning I was awakened by hearing

several sharp, crack-like sounds. I listened, and I found the

noise was in our hut. It was caused by the Doctor, who, towards

midnight, had felt some one come and lie down by his side on the

same bed, and, thinking it was me, he had kindly made room, and

laid down on the edge of the bed. But in the morning, feeling

rather cold, he had been thoroughly awakened, and, on rising on

his elbow to see who his bed-fellow was, he discovered, to his

great astonishment, that it was no other than his black servant,

Susi, who taking possession of his blankets, and folding them about

himself most selfishly, was occupying almost the whole bed. The

Doctor, with that gentleness characteristic of him, instead of

taking a rod, had contented himself with slapping Susi on the back,

saying, “Get up, Susi, will you? You are in my bed. How dare you,

sir, get drunk in this way, after I have told you so often not to.

Get up. You won’t? Take that, and that, and that.” Still Susi

slept and grunted; so the slapping continued, until even Susi’s

thick hide began to feel it, and he was thoroughly awakened to the

sense of his want of devotion and sympathy for his master in the

usurping of even his master’s bed. Susi looked very much

crestfallen after this exposé of his infirmity before the “little

master,” as I was called.

 

The next day at dusk—Mukamba having come to bid us good-bye, and

requested that as soon as we reached his brother Ruhinga, whose

country was at the head of the lake, we would send our canoe back

for him, and that in the meanwhile we should leave two of our men

with him, with their guns, to help defend him in case Warumashanya

should attack him as soon as we were gone—we embarked and pulled

across. In nine hours we had arrived at the head of the lake in

Mugihewa, the country of Ruhinga; Mukamba’s elder brother. In

looking back to where we had come from we perceived that we had

made a diagonal cut across from south-east to northwest, instead

of having made a direct east and west course; or, in other words,

from Mugere—which was at least ten miles from the northernmost

point of the eastern shore—we had come to Mugihewa, situated at

the northernmost point of the western shore. Had we continued

along the eastern shore, and so round the northern side of the lake,

we should have passed by Mukanigi, the country of Warumashanya,

and Usumbura of Simveh, his ally and friend. But by making a

diagonal course, as just described, we had arrived at the extreme

head of the lake without any difficulty.

 

The country in which we now found ourselves, Mugihewa, is situated

in the delta of the Rusizi River. It is an extremely flat

country, the highest part of which is not ten feet above the lake,

with numerous depressions in it overgrown with the rankest of

matete-grass and the tallest of papyrus, and pond-like hollows,

filled with stagnant water, which emit malaria wholesale. Large

herds of cattle are reared on it; for where the ground is not

covered with marshy plants it produces rich, sweet grass. The sheep

and goats, especially the former, are always in good condition; and

though they are not to be compared with English or American sheep,

they are the finest I have seen in Africa. Numerous villages are

seen on this land because the intervening spaces are not occupied

with the rank and luxuriant jungle common in other parts of Africa.

Were it not for the Euphorbia kolquall of Abyssinia—which some

chief has caused to be planted as a defence round the villages—

one might see from one end of Mugihewa to the other. The waters

along the head of the lake, from the western to the eastern shores,

swarm with crocodiles. From the banks, I counted ten heads of

crocodiles, and the Rusizi, we were told, was full of them.

 

Ruhinga, who came to see us soon after we had taken up our quarters

in his village, was a most amiable man, who always contrived to see

something that excited his risibility; though older by five or

six years perhaps—he said he was a hundred years old—than Mukamba,

he was not half so dignified, nor regarded with so much admiration

by his people as his younger brother. Ruhinga had a better

knowledge, however, of the country than Mukamba, and an admirable

memory, and was able to impart his knowledge of the country

intelligently. After he had done the honours as chief to us—

presented us with an ox and a sheep, milk and honey—we were not

backward in endeavouring to elicit as much information as possible

out of him.

 

The summary of the information derived from Ruhinga may be stated

as follows:

 

The country bordering the head of the lake from Urundi proper,

on the eastern shore, to Uvira on the western, is divided into the

following districts:

1st. Mugere, governed by Mukamba, through which issued into the lake

the small rivers of Mugere and Mpanda.

2nd. Mukanigi, governed by Warumashanya, which occupied the whole

of the northeastern head of the lake, through which issued into

the lake the small rivers of Karindwa and Mugera wa Kanigi.

3rd. On the eastern half of the district, at the head of the lake,

was Usumbura, governed by Simveh, ally and friend of Warumashanya,

extending to the eastern bank of the Rusizi.

4th. Commencing from the western bank of the Rusizi, to the extreme

north-western head of the lake, was Mugihewa—Ruhinga’s country.

5th. From Uvira on the west, running north past Mugihewa, and

overlapping it on the north side as far as the hills of Chamati,

was Ruwenga, also a country governed by Mukamba. Beyond Ruwenga,

from the hills of Chamati to the Ruanda River, was the country of

Chamati. West of Ruwenga, comprising all the mountains for two

days’ journey in that direction, was Uashi. These are the

smaller sub-divisions of what is commonly known as Ruwenga and

Usige. Ruwenga comprises the countries of Ruwenga and Mugihewa;

Usige, the countries of Usumbura, Mukanigi, and Mugere. But all

these countries are only part and parcel of Urundi, which

comprises all that country bordering the lake from Mshala River,

on the eastern shore, to Uvira, on the western, extending over

ten days’ journey direct north from the head of the lake, and

one month in a northeastern direction to Murukuko, the capital

of Mwezi, Sultan of all Urundi. Direct north of Urundi is Ruanda;

also a very large country.

 

The Rusizi River—according to Ruhinga—rose near a lake called

Kivo, which he said is as long as from Mugihawa to Mugere, and

as broad as from Mugihewa to Warumashanya’s country, or, say

eighteen miles in length by about eight in breadth. The lake is

surrounded by mountains on the western and northern sides: on the

south-western side of one of these mountains issues the Rusizi—at

first a small rapid stream; but as it proceeds towards the lake it

receives the rivers Kagunissi, Kaburan, Mohira, Nyamagana,

Nyakagunda, Ruviro, Rofubu, Kavimvira, Myove, Ruhuha, Mukindu,

Sange, Rubirizi, Kiriba, and, lastly, the Ruanda River, which seems

to be the largest of them all. Kivo Lake is so called from the

country in which it is situated. On one side is Mutumbi (probably

the Utumbi of Speke and Baker), on the west is Ruanda; on the east

is Urundi. The name of the chief of Kivo is Kwansibura.

 

After so many minute details about the River Rusizi, it only

remained for us to see it. On the second morning of our arrival

at Mugihewa we mustered ten strong paddlers, and set out to explore

the head of the lake and the mouth of the Rusizi. We found that

the northern head of the lake was indented with seven broad bays,

each from one and a half to three miles broad; that long broad

spits of sand, overgrown with matete, separated each bay from the

other. The first, starting from west to east, at the broadest part,

to the extreme southern point of Mugihewa, was about three miles

broad, and served as a line of demarcation between Mukamba’s district

of Ruwenga and Mugihewa of Ruhinga; it was also two miles deep.

The second bay was a mile from the southern extremity of Mugihewa

to Ruhinga’s village at the head of the bay, and it was a mile

across to another spit of sand which was terminated by a small

island. The third bay stretched for nearly a mile to a long spit,

at the end of which was another island, one and a quarter mile

in length, and was the western side of the fourth bay, at the

head of which was the delta of the Rusizi. This fourth bay, at

its base, was about three miles in depth, and penetrated half

a mile further inland than any other. Soundings indicated six

feet deep, and the same depth was kept to within a few hundred

yards of the principal mouth of the Rusizi. The current was

very sluggish; not more than a mile an hour. Though we

constantly kept our binocular searching for the river, we

could not see the main channel until within 200 yards of it,

and then only by watching by what outlet the fishing; canoes came

out. The bay at this point had narrowed from two miles to about

200 yards in breadth. Inviting a canoe to show us the way, a

small flotilla of canoes preceded us, from the sheer curiosity

of their owners. We followed, and in a few minutes were ascending

the stream, which was very rapid, though but about ten yards wide,

and very shallow; not more than two feet deep. We ascended about

half a mile, the current being very strong, from six to eight miles

an hour, and quite far enough to observe the nature of the stream

at its embouchure. We could see that it widened and spread out in

a myriad of channels, rushing by isolated clumps of sedge and

matete grass; and that it had the appearance of a swamp. We had

ascended the central, or main channel. The western channel was

about eight yards broad. We observed, after we