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

the accounts I had just received, that the real

Kamrasi was not far from this village, the name of which was “Kisoona.”

I told M’Gambi that I did not wish to see his brother the king, as I

should perhaps be again deceived and be introduced to some impostor like

himself; and that as I did not choose to be made a fool of, I should

decline the introduction. This distressed him exceedingly; he said, that

the “king was really so great a man that he, his own brother, dared not

sit on a stool in his presence, and that he had only kept in retirement

as a matter of precaution, as Debono’s people had allied themselves with

his enemy Rionga in the preceding year, and he dreaded treachery.” I

laughed contemptuously at M’Gambi, telling him that if a woman like my

wife dared to trust herself far from her own country among such savages

as Kamrasi’s people, their king must be weaker than a woman if he dare

not show himself in his own territory. I concluded by saying, that I

should not go to see Kamrasi, but that he should come to visit me.

M’Gambi promised to send a good cow on the following morning, as we had

not tasted milk for some months, and we were in great want of

strengthening food. He took his leave, having received a small present

of minute beads of various colours.

 

I could not help wondering at the curious combination of pride and

abject cowardice that had been displayed by the redoubted Kamrasi ever

since our first entrance to his territory. Speke when at Gondokoro had

told me how he had been kept waiting for fifteen days before the king

had condescended to see him. I now understood that this delay had been

occasioned more by fear than pride, and that, in his cowardice, the king

fell back upon his dignity as an excuse for absenting himself.

 

With the addition of the Turks’ party we were now twenty-four armed men.

Although they had not seen the real king Kamrasi, they had been well

treated since Ibrahim’s departure, having received each a present of a

young slave girl as a wife, while, as a distinguishing mark of royal

favour, the vakeel Eddrees had received two wives instead of one; they

had also received regular supplies of flour and beef—the latter in

the shape of a fat ox presented every seventh day, together with a

liberal supply of plantain cider.

 

On the following morning after my arrival at Kisoona, M’Gambi appeared,

beseeching me to go and visit the king. I replied that “I was hungry and

weak from want of food, and that I wanted to see meat, and not the man

who had starved me.” In the afternoon a beautiful cow appeared with her

young calf, also a fat sheep, and two pots of plantain cider, as a

present from Kamrasi. That evening we revelled in milk, a luxury that we

had not tasted for some months. The cow gave such a quantity that we

looked forward to the establishment of a dairy and already contemplated

cheese-making. I sent the king a present of a pound of powder in

canister, a box of caps and a variety of trifles, explaining that I was

quite out of stores and presents, as I had been kept so long in his

country that I was reduced to beggary, as I had expected to have

returned to my own country long before this.

 

In the evening, M’Gambi appeared with a message from the king, saying

that I was his greatest friend, and that he would not think of taking

anything from me, as he was sure that I must be hard up; that he desired

nothing, but would be much obliged if I would give him the “little

double rifle that I always carried, and my watch and compass!” He wanted

“nothing,” only my Fletcher rifle, that I would as soon have parted with

as the bone of my arm: and these three articles were the same for which

I had been so pertinaciously bored before my departure from M’rooli. It

was of no use to be wroth; I therefore quietly replied that “I should

not give them, as Kamrasi had failed in his promise to forward me to

Shooa; but that I required no presents from him, as he always expected a

thousandfold in return.” M’Gambi said that all would be right if I would

only agree to pay the king a visit. I objected to this, as I told him

the king, his brother, did not want to see me, but only to observe what

I had, in order to beg for all that he saw. He appeared much hurt, and

assured me that he would be himself responsible that nothing of the kind

should happen, and that he merely begged as a favour that I would visit

the king on the following morning, and that people should be ready to

carry me if I were unable to walk. Accordingly I arranged to be carried

to Kamrasi’s camp at about 8 A.M.

 

At the hour appointed M’Gambi appeared, with a great crowd of natives.

My clothes were in rags,—and as personal appearance has a certain

effect, even in Central Africa, I determined to present myself to the

king in as favourable a light as possible. I happened to possess a

full-dress Highland suit that I had worn when I lived in Perthshire many

years ago; this I had treasured as serviceable upon an occasion like the

present; accordingly I was quickly attired in kilt, sporran, and

Glengarry bonnet, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, the

ragged-looking object that had arrived in Kisoona now issued from the

obscure hut, with plaid and kilt of Athole tartan. A general shout of

exclamation arose from the assembled crowd; and taking my seat upon an

angarep, I was immediately shouldered by a number of men, and attended

by ten of my people as escort, I was carried towards the camp of the

great Kamrasi.

 

In about half an hour we arrived. The camp, composed of grass huts,

extended over a large extent of ground, and the approach was perfectly

black with the throng that crowded to meet me. Women, children, dogs,

and men all thronged at the entrance of the street that led to Kamrasi’s

residence. Pushing our way through this inquisitive multitude, we

continued through the camp until at length we reached the dwelling of

the king. Halting for the moment, a message was immediately received

that we should proceed; we accordingly entered through a narrow passage

between high reed fences, and I found myself in the presence of the

actual king of Unyoro, Kamrasi. He was sitting in a kind of porch in

front of a hut, and upon seeing me he hardly condescended to look at me

for more than a moment; he then turned to his attendants and made some

remark that appeared to amuse them, as they all grinned as little men

are wont to do when a great man makes a bad joke.

 

I had ordered one of my men to carry my stool; I was determined not to

sit upon the earth, as the king would glory in my humiliation. M’Gambi,

his brother, who had formerly played the part of king, now sat upon the

ground a few feet from Kamrasi, who was seated upon the same stool of

copper that M’Gambi had used when I first saw him at M’rooli. Several of

his chiefs also sat upon the straw with which the porch was littered. I

made a “salaam,” and took my seat upon my stool. Not a word passed

between us for about five minutes, during which time the king eyed me

most attentively, and made various remarks to the chiefs who were

present; at length he asked me why I had not been to see him before? I

replied, “Because I had been starved in his country, and I was too weak

to walk.” He said—I should soon be strong, as he would now give me a

good supply of food, but that he could not send provisions to Shooa

Moru, as Fowooka held that country. Without replying to this wretched

excuse for his neglect, I merely told him that I was happy to have seen

him before my departure, as I was not aware until recently that I had

been duped by M’Gambi. He answered me very coolly, saying that although

I had not seen him he had nevertheless seen me, as he was among the

crowd of native escort on the day that we left M’rooli. Thus he had

watched our start at the very place where his brother M’Gambi had

impersonated the king.

 

Kamrasi was a remarkably fine man, tall and well proportioned, with a

handsome face of a dark brown colour, but a peculiarly sinister

expression; he was beautifully clean, and instead of wearing the bark

cloth common among the people, he was dressed in a fine mantle of black

and white goatskins, as soft as chamois leather. His people sat on the

ground at some distance from his throne; when they approached to address

him on any subject they crawled upon their hands and knees to his feet,

and touched the ground with their foreheads.

 

True to his natural instincts, the king commenced begging, and being

much struck with the Highland costume, he demanded it as a proof of

friendship, saying, that if I refused I could not be his friend. The

watch, compass, and double Fletcher rifle were asked for in their turn,

all of which I refused to give him. He appeared much annoyed, therefore

I presented him with a pound canister of powder, a box of caps, and a

few bullets. He replied, “What’s the use of the ammunition if you won’t

give me your rifle?” I explained that I had already given him a gun, and

that he had a rifle of Speke’s. Disgusted with his importunity I rose to

depart, telling him that “I should not return to visit him, as I did not

believe he was the real Kamrasi. I had heard that Kamrasi was a great

king, but that he was a mere beggar, and was doubtless an impostor, like

M’Gambi.” At this he seemed highly amused, and begged me not to leave so

suddenly, as he could not permit me to depart empty handed. He then gave

certain orders to his people, and after a little delay, two loads of

flour arrived, together with a goat and two jars of sour plantain cider.

These presents he ordered to be forwarded to Kisoona. I rose to take

leave, but the crowd, eager to see what was going forward, pressed

closely upon the entrance of the approach; seeing which, the king gave

certain orders, and immediately four or five men with long heavy

bludgeons rushed at the mob and belaboured them right and left, putting

the mass to flight pell-mell through the narrow lanes of the camp.

 

I was then carried back to my camp at Kisoona, where I was received by a

great crowd of people.

 

CHAPTER XIV.

 

AT HOME IN KISOONA.

 

IT appeared that Kisoona was to be headquarters until I should have an

opportunity of quitting the country for Shooa. Therefore I constructed a

comfortable little hut surrounded by a courtyard strongly fenced, in

which I arranged a Rakooba, or open shed, in which to sit during the

hottest hours of the day.

 

My cow that I had received from Kamrasi gave plenty of milk, and every

second day we were enabled to make a small cheese about the size of a

six-pound cannon-shot. The abundance of milk made a rapid change in our

appearance; and Kisoona, although a place of complete “ennui,” was a

delightful change after