the north-west of the Mbara cones, where a sheet of
water or small lake made a bald conspicuous place—
and here it was, by native report, that elephants and
other large game abounded.
Having now completed the survey, we proceeded
along the shoulder of the hill just ascended, and passing
by a ferruginous spring, soon arrived unexpectedly
to its inhabitants at Fuga, the capital of Usumbara,
and presented ourselves to the astonished Fugaites,
who naturally began to question what could possibly
be the meaning of this stolen march on them; for,
contrary to the laws of the land, no permission to
enter their citadel had been asked, and consequently
no one was prepared to see or receive us. Access to
the village was strictly forbidden to us strangers,
until at least the king, whose palace is situated some
distance from it, had been consulted with in a certain
form of ridiculous ceremony, which, for politeness’ sake,
we felt ourselves bound to assent to, but in the meanwhile
we took possession of some huts close to it,
where Mr Krapf, our Church missionary, had some
years previously, when visiting this place, taken up
his abode.
A deputation was now sent with our compliments
to the king, Kimueri, soliciting an audience; and just
before sunset they returned to say we must remain
where we were for the present, as the king was in doubt
about our intentions, regarding us with suspicion, as we
had come through the territories of his enemies, the
Wazegura, which was tantamount to a hostile declaration
; and, moreover, he required leisure for his
mganga or magic-man to divine what time would be
propitious for an interview. The old man was in the
wane of life, being upwards, it was said, of one hundred
years of age, and his people thought he must die.
Hearing this, Captain Burton, playing with his superstitious
credulity, devised a plan by which he at
once gained access to him. The king was lying on a
cartel in a small round hut, encompassed on his near
side by swarthy-looking counsellors, who smoked small
pipes and sat on low three-legged stools. Sultan
Majid’s introductory letter was now read, and all
seemed .satisfied as to who we were. We then returned
to our lodgings, and found a bullock and some meal
of Indian corn and plantains sent as a honorarium
after us. Next morning, agreeably to promise, at the
king’s direction, a guide came to show us about the
place, in order that Captain Burton might be able
to pick some leaves or herbs to make a certain decoction
which would insure longevity; but as none
such could be found, and the old king had seen
through the trick, entrance to the C town ” was still
forbidden.
Whilst wandering about, however, we chanced to
see a number of negroes turn out and chase down an
antelope. I t was a very small rufous-brown animal,
much about the size and shape of the Kakur deer of
the Himalayas; but what struck me most was, the
peculiarity of its having, unlike all hitherto known
African species, four points of horns. * In consequence