Ridiculous scenes of drunkenness would sometimes
occur. One Seedee with a gun would in his intoxication
chase another through the fields ; others with
guns would fly to prevent bloodshed. At last the
original offender would have so many guns pointed at
him that he would surrender, and then his gun would
be found not loaded !
The process of making plantain-wine in Karague
takes generally from two to three days. A huge log
scooped out, and looking like a canoe, is essential for
a large quantity. I t is tilted at one end, and dammed
up with grass in the centre. Ripe fruit has clean
grass put amongst it. A woman mashes all at the
upper end with her hands or feet. The liquor strains
through the dam, and is again strained with grass till
clean. All the liquid is then placed for fermentation
in the “ canoe ” freshly cleaned. Some burnt, bruised
sorghum is placed in it; all is covered up from the
air, and allowed to remain in the sun or near a fire
for two or three days, when it is skimmed and fit for
use. Wine is never exported or bottled, and probably
not a drop of the brewing can be obtained after the
lapse of only four days. All, even the youngest children
amongst the peasants, drink it, carrying gourdfuls
of it about with them wherever they go, as regularly
as we carry our purses.
Of the natural products of the equatorial regions,
such as slaves, ivory, salt, copper, iron, bark-cloths,
coffee, and sugar-cane, Karague scarcely yields any,
but it is a great depot for trade. Arabs and coastmen
bring up beads, cloths, and brass wire, and meet people
of all the nations around, and trade with them for
ivory and slaves. Copper and salt are brought from
beyond Paroro to exchange for brass wire. N’kole is
justly celebrated for its tobacco, though every hut
here has its garden of it. Ruanda sends her painted
matting, goat, salt, and iron wire, and requests the
sultan, who drives a stiff bargain, to fix the price of
each article—as, 160 ankle-wires — a single necklace;
a goat = twenty necklaces. The Wanyamuezi carry
salt from their country to exchange it for the ivory
brought by the people of Unyoro, N’kole, and Utumbi
Bark-cloths are not made well in Karague : the people
of Uganda, Kittara, and Uhia excel in them. They
are sewn in four stripes, each a foot to 18 inches broad,
and, when well greased by the Wanyambo, make a most
comfortable, becoming square shawl to keep out the
cold and rain. During the 1861 war in Unyanyembe
(at 5° S.) a slave might be purchased for something
under one shilling sterling, or, if estimated in beads,
ten necklaces. If a number of them were brought up
(as they have been in several instances) to the equator
and beyond it, they would each fetch a frasila, or 36
lb. weight of ivory, equal to £12 in Zanzibar. This
is one of the inducements for Arabs and Africans to
speculate, but the instance is exceptional.
Trade encounters great difficulties in such a country,
where there are no regular laws, no roads, no carriage
conveyance, and the caravan is liable to losses from
heavy taxes, desertions, and attacks. For instance,
two traders, named Sungoro and Joomah, left Karague
while I was there for the south with a considerable
supply of ivory. On reaching the borders of the first
province (Usui), they sent forward to ask the sultan’s
permission to pass through his country. A demur was
made that the party was too strong, but they would