good hearty maimer, that indeed was a very proper request,
which showed my good sense, and ought to have
been complied with at once; hut Mt&sa was only a Kijana
or stripling, and as she influenced all the government of
the country, she would have it carried into effect. Compliments
were now passed, my presents given and approved
of; and the queen, thinking I must be hungry,
for she wanted to eat herself, requested me to refresh myself
in another hut. I complied, spread my bedding, and
ordered in my breakfast; but as the hut was full of men,
I suspended a Scotch plaid, and quite eclipsed her mbiigu
curtain.
Reports of this magnificence at once flew to the queen,
who sent to know how many more blankets I had in my
possession, and whether, if she asked for one, she would
get it. She also desired to see my spoons, fork, and pipe
—an English meerschaum, mounted with silver; so, after
breakfast, I rettirned to see her, showed her the spoons and
forks, and smoked my pipe, but told her I had no blankets
left but what formed my bed. She appeared very happy
and very well, did not say another word about the blankets,
but ordered a pipe for herself, and sat chatting, laughing,
and smoking in concert with me.
I told her I had visited all the four quarters of the globe,
and had seen all colours of people, but wondered where
she got her pipe from, for it was much after the Rumish
(Turkish) fashion, with a long stick. Greatly tickled at
the flattery, she said, “ We hear men like yourself come to
Amara from the other side, and drive cattle away.” “ The
Gallas, or Abyssinians, who are tall and fair, like Ru-
manika,” I said, “ might do so, for they live not far off on
the other side of Amara, but we never fight for such
paltry objects. If cows fall into our hands when fighting,
we allow our soldiers to eat them, while we take the
government of the country into our own hands.” She
then said, “We hear you don’t like the Unyamuezi route,
we will open the Ukori one for you.” “ Thank your majesty,”
said I, in a figurative kind of speech to please
Waganda ears; and turning the advantage of the project
on her side, “You have indeed hit the right nail on the
head. I do not like the Unyamuezi route, as you may
well imagine when I tell you I have lost so much property
there by mere robbery of the people and their
kings. The Waganda do not see me in a true lig h t; but
if they have patience for a year or two, until the Ukori
road is open, and trade between our respective countries
shall commence, they will then see the fruits of my advent
; so much so, that every Mganda will say the first
Uganda year dates from the arrival of the first Mzungu
(white) visitor. As one coffee-seed sown brings forth fruit
in plenty, so my coming here may be considered.” All
appreciated this speech, saying, “ The white man, he even
speaks beautifully! beautifully! beautifully! beautifully!”
and, putting their hands to their mouths, they looked
askance at me, nodding their admiring approval.
The queen and her ministers then plunged into pombb
and became uproarious, laughing with all their might and
main. Small bugu cups were not enough to keep up the
excitement of the time, so a large wooden trough was
placed before the queen and filled with liquor. If any
was spilt, the Wakungii instantly fought over it, dabbing
their noses on the ground, or grabbing it with their hands,
that not one atom of the queen’s favour might be lost';
for everything must be adored that comes from royalty,
whether by design or accident. The queen put her head
to the trough and drank like a pig from it, and was followed
by her ministers. The band, by order, then struck
up a tune called the MiMd, playing on a dozen reeds,
ornamented with beads and cow-tips, and five drums, of
various tones and sizes, keeping time. The musicians
dancing with zest, were led by four bandmasters, also
dancing, but with their backs turned to the company to