The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, Samuel White Baker [inspirational novels .TXT] 📗

The natives are much amused at our trying the eggs in water

before purchase. Plantains, three for one small bead. The headman is

expected today. A polite message arrived last night from Kamrasi

inviting us to his capital, and apologizing for being unable to come in

person. This morning the force, sent by Kamrasi, is reported to be

within an hour’s march of Atada. “In midday the headman arrived with a

great number of men, accompanied by three of Speke’s deserters, one of

whom has been created a chief by Kamrasi, and presented with two wives.

 

“I received them standing; and after thorough inspection I was

pronounced to be ‘Speke’s own brother,’ and all were satisfied. However,

the business was not yet over: plenty of talk, and another delay of four

days, was declared necessary until the king should reply to the

satisfactory message about to be sent. Losing all patience, I stormed,

declaring Kamrasi to be mere dust; while a white man was a king in

comparison. I ordered all my luggage to be conveyed immediately to the

canoe, and declared that I would return immediately to my own country;

that I did not wish to see any one so utterly devoid of manners as

Kamrasi, and that no other white man would ever visit his kingdom.

 

“The effect was magical! I rose hastily to depart. The chiefs implored,

declaring that Kamrasi would kill them all if I retreated: to prevent

which misfortune they secretly instructed the canoe to be removed. I was

in a great rage; and about 400 natives, who were present, scattered in

all quarters, thinking that there would be a serious quarrel. I told the

chiefs that nothing should stop me, and that I would seize the canoe by

force unless my whole party should be brought over from the opposite

side that instant. This was agreed upon. One of Ibrahim’s men exchanged

and drank blood from the arm of Speke’s deserter, who was Kamrasi’s

representative; and peace thus firmly established, several canoes were

at once employed, and sixty of our men were brought across the river

before sunset. The natives had nevertheless taken the precaution to send

all their women away from the village.”

 

“JAN. 30th.—This morning all remaining men and baggage were brought

across the river, and supplies were brought in large quantities for

sale. We are to march tomorrow direct to Kamrasi’s capital; they say he

will give me a guide to the lake.

 

“The natives of this country are particularly neat in all they do; they

never bring anything to sell unless carefully packed in the neatest

parcels, generally formed of the bark of the plantain, and sometimes of

the inner portions of reeds stripped into snow-white stalks, which are

bound round the parcels with the utmost care. Should the plantain cider,

‘maroua,’ be brought in a jar, the mouth is neatly covered with a

fringe-like mat of these clean white rushes split into shreds. Not even

tobacco is brought for sale unless most carefully packed. During a

journey, a pretty, bottle-shaped, long-necked gourd is carried with a

store of plantain cider: the mouth of the bottle is stopped with a

bundle of the white rush shreds, through which a reed is inserted that

reaches to the bottom: thus the drink can be sucked up during the march

without the necessity of halting; nor is it possible to spill it by the

movement of walking.

 

“The natives prepare the skins of goats very beautifully, making them as

soft as chamois leather; these they cut into squares, and sew together

as neatly as would be effected by a European tailor, converting them

into mantles which are prized far more highly than bark cloth, on

account of their durability: they manufacture their own needles, not by

boring the eye, but by sharpening the end into a fine point and turning

it over, the extremity being hammered into a small cut in the body of

the needle to prevent it from catching.

 

“Clothes of all kinds are in great demand here, and would be accepted to

any amount in exchange for ivory. Beads are extremely valuable, and

would purchase ivory in large quantities, but the country would, in a

few years, become overstocked. Clothes being perishable articles would

always be in demand to supply those worn out; but beads, being

imperishable, very soon glut the market. Here is, as I had always

anticipated, an opportunity for commencing legitimate trade.”

 

“JAN. 31st.—Throngs of natives arrived to carry our luggage GRATIS by

the king’s orders. Started at 7 A.M. and marched ten miles and a half

parallel with the Nile, south; the country thickly populated, and much

cultivated with sesame, sweet potatoes, beans, tullaboon, dhurra, Indian

corn, and plantains.

 

“The native porters relieved each other at every village, fresh men

being always in readiness on the road. The river is here on a level with

the country, having no high banks; thus there is a great fall from

Karuma towards the west. Halted in a grove of plantains near a village.

The plantains of this country are much higher than those of Ceylon, and

the stems are black, rising to 25 or 30 feet. The chief of the district

came to meet us, and insisted upon our remaining at his village today

and tomorrow to ‘eat and drink,’ or Kamrasi would kill him; thus we are

delayed when time is precious. The chief’s name is ‘Matta-Goomi.’ There

is now no secret about the lake. Both he and all the natives say that

the Luta N’zige lake is larger than the Victoria N’yanza, and that both

lakes are fed by rivers from the great mountain Bartooma. Is that

mountain the M’fumbiro of Speke? the difference of name being local.

According to the position of the mountain pointed out by the chief, it

bears from this spot S. 45 degrees W. Latitude of this place by meridian

altitude of Capella, 2 degrees 5 minutes 32 seconds.

 

“F. (my wife) taken seriously ill with bilious fever.”

 

“FEB. 1st.—F. dreadfully ill; all the natives have turned out of their

villages, leaving their huts and gardens at our disposal. This is the

custom of the country should the king give orders that a visitor is to

be conducted through his dominions.

 

“The natives of Unyoro have a very superior implement to the molote used

among the northern tribes; it is an extremely powerful hoe, fitted upon

a handle, similar to those used on the sugar estates in the West Indies,

but the blade is heart-shaped: with these they cultivate the ground very

deep for their beds of sweet potatoes. The temperature during the day

ranges from 80 degrees to 84 degrees, and at night it is cold, 56

degrees to 58 degrees Fahr. It is very unhealthy, owing to the proximity

of the river.”

 

“FEB. 2d.—Marched five miles. F. carried in a litter, very ill. I fell

ill likewise. Halted.”

 

“FEB. 3d.—F. very ill. Carried her four miles and halted.”

 

“FEB. 4th.—F. most seriously ill. Started at 7:30 A.M., she being

carried in a litter; but I also fell ill upon the road, and having been

held on my ox by two men for some time, I at length fell in their arms,

and was laid under a tree for about five hours; getting better, I rode

for two hours, course south. Mountains in view to south and southeast,

about ten miles distant. The country, forest interspersed with villages:

the Somerset generally parallel to the route. There are no tamarinds in

this neighbourhood, nor any other acid fruit; thus one is sorely pressed

in the hours of fever. One of the black women servants, Fadeela, is

dying of fever.”

 

“FEB. 5th.—F. (Mrs. Baker) so ill, that even the litter is too much

for her. Heaven help us in this country! The altitude of the river level

above the sea at this point is 4,056 feet.”

 

“Feb. 6th.—F. slightly better. Started at 7 A.M. The country the same

as usual. Halted at a village after a short march of three miles and a

half. Here we are detained for a day while a message is sent to Kamrasi.

Tomorrow, I believe, we are to arrive at the capital of the tyrant. He

sent me a message today, that the houses he had prepared for me had been

destroyed by fire, and to beg me to wait until he should have completed

others. The truth is, he is afraid of our large party, and he delays us

in every manner possible, in order to receive daily reports of our

behaviour on the road. Latitude by observation at this point, 1 degree

50 minutes 47 seconds N.”

 

“FEB. 7th.—Detained here for a day. I never saw natives so filthy in

their dwellings as the people of Unyoro. Goats and fowls share the but

with the owner, which, being littered down with straw, is a mere

cattle-shed, redolent of man and beast. The natives sleep upon a mass of

straw, upon a raised platform, this at night being covered with a

dressed skin. Yesterday the natives brought coffee in small quantities

to sell. They have no idea of using it as a drink, but simply chew it

raw as a stimulant. It is a small and finely-shaped grain, with a good

flavour. It is brought from the country of Utumbi, about a degree south

of this spot.”

 

“FEB. 8th.—Marched eight miles due south. The river makes a long bend

to E.N.E., and this morning’s march formed the chord of the arc. Halted;

again delayed for the day, as we are not far from the capital, and a

messenger must be sent to the king for instructions before we proceed. I

never saw such abject cowardice as the redoubted Kamrasi exhibits.

Debono’s vakeel having made a razzia upon his frontier has so cowed him,

that he has now left his residence, and retreated to the other side of a

river, from which point he sends false messages to delay our advance as

much as possible. There is a total absence of dignity in his behaviour;

no great man is sent to parley, but the king receives contradictory

reports from the many-tongued natives that have utterly perplexed him.

He is told by some that we are the same people that came with Ras-Galla

(Debono’s captain), and he has neither the courage to repel or to

receive us. Our force of 112 armed men could eat the country in the

event of a fight, provided that a large supply of ammunition were at

hand. The present store is sixty rounds for each man, which would not be

sufficient.”

 

“FEB. 9th.—After endless discussions and repeated messages exchanged

with the king, he at length sent word that I was to come ALONE. To this

I objected; and, upon my starting with my men, the guide refused to

proceed. I at once turned back, and told the chief (our guide) that I no

longer wished to see Kamrasi, who must be a mere fool, and I should

return to my country. This created a great stir, and messengers were at

once despatched to the king, who returned an answer that I might bring

all my men, but that only five of the Turks could be allowed with

Ibrahim. The woman Bacheeta had told the natives that we were separate

parties.

 

“A severe attack of fever prevented me from starting. This terrible

complaint worries me sadly, as I have no quinine.”

 

“FEB. 10th.—The woman Fadeela died of fever. I am rather better, and

the chief is already here to escort us to Kamrasi. After a quick march

of three hours through immense woods, we reached the capital—a large

village of grass huts, situated on a barren slope. We were ferried

across a river in large canoes, capable of carrying fifty men,