hail. Returning to more open cover, a female elephant
was coming diagonally towards me, and she passed so
close that I saw her wink her eye; but the bullet behind
the shoulder, though delivered at eleven paces,
only frightened her into a bowling amble with her tail
half cocked. A low whistle now announced Speke
close by. He had been trying their heads as well as
shoulders, and had no better luck than myself. The
Wanyoro guides joined us, as all the elephants had left,
and kept saying to us in compliment, “ Weewaleh,
muzoongoo m’sseja”—You white men are men. The
same compliments on our bravery awaited us on our
arrival in camp, where we were looked upon as wonderful
sportsmen for having gone so near elephants.
Tin ring the night we heard their wild music, first to o o '
the west, then to the north, gradually dying away in
the distance. The herd had very wisely marched,
taking their wounded along with them. O O
C H A P T E R XII.
THE CAPITAL OE PALACE OE UNYOEO, SEPTEMBER 9 TO NOVEMBER
9, 1862, LATITUDE 1° 37' NORTH, LONGITUDE 32° 19' EAST
— TOPOGRAPHY OE THE COUNTRY— ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, AND
ANIMALS— KING KAMARASI AND HIS WIVES— CLASS OF MENDICANTS—
ARMS USED BY THE WANYORO— THEIR FOOD AND
DRINK— A BLACKSMITH’S SHOP— AMUSEMENTS OF THE NATIVES—
THE EXPEDITION EMBARK ON THE NILE.
T h e country, for a few marches before reaching the
residence of King Kamarasi of Unyoro, was gently
undulating and evergreen, with tall grass and trees.
On the light and higher grounds the grasses grew six
feet high, with large panicles which adhered to one’s
dress. Where the richer soil had been washed down
to the low grounds the vegetation was shorter but
more luxuriant. Nothing could be more desolate than
our encampment at the capital of Unyoro. I can
only compare it to a bare and dreary common—not a
tree nor a garden to relieve the eye or afford shade
from the equatorial sun. The vast plain was covered
with tall grass, through which at this season we could
not walk without wading, so that we were completely
hemmed in by water. The northern half of the horizon