former days, I knew, the kings of Uganda were in the
habit of sending men to Karagiiti when they heard that
Arabs wished to visit them—even as many as two hundred
at a time—to carry their k it; so I now begged Irungu
to tell Mttsa that I should want at least sixty men ; and
then, on his promising he would be my commissioner, I
gave him the beads he had begged for himself.
4 th to 6t h —Karambiile' now told us to string our
beads on the fibre of the Mwald tree, which was sold here
by the Wasui, as he intended to live in the palace for a
couple of days, arranging with Stiwarora what tax we
should have to pay, after which he would come and take
it from u s ; but we must mind and be ready, for whatever
Suwarora said, it must be done instantly. There was no
such thing as haggling with him ; you must pay and be
ofi at once, failing which, you might be detained a whole
month before there would be an opportunity to speak on
the subject again. Beads were then served out to all my
inen to be strung, a certain quantity to every khambi or
mess, and our work was progressing; but next day we
heard that Karambiile was sick, or feigning to be so, and
therefore had never gone to the palace at all. On the 6th,
provoked at last by the shameful manner in which we
were treated, I sent word to him to say, if he did not go
at once I would go myself, and force my way in with my
guns, for I could not submit to being treated like a slave,
stuck out here in the jungle with nothing to do but shoot
for specimens, or make collections of rocks, See. This
brought on another row; for he said both Virembo and
Vikora had returned their hongos, and until their tongues
were quieted he could not speak to Stiwarora.
To expedite matters (7th), as our daily consumption in
camp was a tax of itself, I gave these tormenting creatures
one wire, one pretty cloth, and five hundred necklaces of
white beads, which were no sooner accepted than Karambiile,
in the same way as Sirhid had done, said it would
be greatly to my advantage if I gave him something
worth having before he saw the Mkama. Only too glad
to begin work, I gave him a red blanket, called joho, and
five strings of mzizima beads, which were equal to fifty of
the common white.
8 th and 9 ¿A—All this time nothing but confusion
reigned in camp, khambi fighting against khambi. Both
men and women got drunk, whilst from outside we were
tormented by the Wasiii, both men and women pertinaciously
pressing into our hut, watching us eat, and begging
in the most shameless manner. They did not know the
word bakhshish, or present; but, as bad as the Egyptians,
they held out their hands, patted their bellies, and said
Kaniwani (my friend), until we were sick of the sound of
that word. Still it was impossible to dislike these simple
creatures altogether, they were such perfect children. If
we threw water at them to drive them away, they came
back again, thinking it fun.
Ten days now had elapsed since we came here, still
nothing was done (10th), as Karambiile said, because
Stiwarora had been so fully occupied collecting an army to
punish an officer who had refused to pay his taxes, had
ignored his authority, and had set himself up as king of
the district he was appointed to superintend. After this,
at midnight, Karambiile, in an excited manner, said he
had seen Stiwarora, and it then was appointed that, not
he, but Virembo should take the royal hongo, as well as
the Wahinda, or princes’ shares, the next morning—after
which, we might go as fast as we liked, for Stiwarora was
so fully occupied with his army, he could not see us this
time. Before, however, the hongo could be paid, I must
give the Sirhid and himself twenty brass wires, three joho,
three barsati, twenty strings of mzizima, and one thousand
strings of white beads. They were given.
A fearful row now broke out between Bombay and
Baraka (11th). Many of my men had by this time been