otherwise were decorated like the Wanyamuezi. It was
difficult to say who were of true breed here, for the intercourse
of the natives with the Wahfima and the Wanya-
miffizi produced a great variety of facial features amongst
the people. Nowhere did I ever see so many men and
women with hazel eyes as at this place.
In the evening, an Uganda man, by name N’yamgundu,
came to pay his respects to us. He was dressed in a large
skin wrapper, made up of a number of very small antelope
skins: it was as soft as kid, and just as well sewn as our
gloves. To our surprise the manners of the man were
quite in keeping with his becoming dress. I was enchanted
with his appearance, and so were my men, though no one
could speak to him but Nasib, who told us he knew him
before. He was the brother of the dowager queen of
Uganda, and, along with a proper body of officers, he had
been sent by Mtesa, the present king of Uganda, to demand
the daughter of Suwarora, as reports had reached his king
that she was surprisingly beautiful. They had been here
more than a year, during which time this beautiful virgin
had died; and now Suwarora, fearful of the great king’s
wrath, consequent on his procrastinations, was endeavouring
to make amends for it, by sending, instead of his
daughter, a suitable tribute in wires. I thought it not
wonderful that we should be fleeced.
Next day (2d) Sirhid paid us a visit, and said he was
the first man in the state. He certainly was a nice-
looking young man, with a good deal of the Waliuma
blood in him. Flashily dressed in coloured cloths and a
turban, he sat down in one of our chairs as if he had been
accustomed to such a seat all his life, and spoke with
great suavity. I explained our difficulties as those of
great men in misfortune; and, after listening to our tale,
he said he would tell Sthvarora of the way we had been
plundered, and impress upon him to deal lightly with us.
I said I had brought with me a few articles of European
manufacture for Stiwarora, which I hoped would be accepted
if I presented them, for they were such things as
only great men like his chief ever possessed. One was a
five-barrelled pistol, another a large block-tin box, and so
forth; but after looking at them, and seeing the pistol
fired, he said: “ No; you must not show these things at
first, or the Mkama might get frightened, thinking them
magic. I might lose my head for presuming to offer
them, and then there is no knowing what might happen
afterwards.” “ Then can I not see him at once and pay
my respects, for I have come a great way to obtain that
pleasure V’ “ No,” said Sirhid, “ I will see him first; for
he is not a man like myself, but requires to be well
assured before he sees anybody.” “ Then why did he
invite me here ?” “ He heard that Makaka, and afterwards
Lumeresi, had stopped your progress; and as he
wished to see what you were like, he ordered, me to send
some men to you, which, as you know, I did twice. He
wishes to see you, but does not like doing things in a
hurry. Superstition, you know, preys on these mens
minds who have not seen the world like you and myself.”
Sirhid then said he would ask Suwarora to grant us an
interview as soon as possible; then, whilst leaving, he
begged for the iron chair he had sat upon; but hearing
we did not know how to sit on the ground, and therefore
could not spare it, he withdrew without any -more words
about it.
Yirembo then said (3d) he must have some more wire
and beads, as his proxy Kariwami had been satisfied with
too little. I drove him off in a huff, but he soon came
back again with half the hongo I had paid to Kariwami,
and said he must have some cloths, or he would not have
anything. As fortune decreed it, just then Sirhid dropped
in, and stopped his importunity for the time by saying
that if we had possessed cloths his men must have known
it, for they had been travelling with us. No sooner, how