by catching hold of my beard as fhe rolling of the boat
unsteadied him.
We started early in the usual manner; but after work-
■ x ing up and down the creek, inspecting the
inlets for hippopotami, and tiring from want
of sport, the king changed his tactics, and, paddling and
steering himself with a pair of new white paddles, finally
directed the boats to an island occupied by the Mgussa, or
Neptune of the N’yanza, not in person;—for Mgussa is a
spirit—but by his familiar or deputy, the great medium
who communicates the secrets of the deep to the king of
Uganda. In another sense, he might be said to be the
presiding priest of the source of the mighty Nile, and as
such was, of course, an interesting person for me to meet
The first operation on shore was picnicking, when many
large bugus of pombd were brought for the k ing; next,
the whole party took a walk, winding through the trees,
and picking fruit, enjoying themselves amazingly, till,
by some unlucky chance, one of the royal wives, a most
charming creature, and truly one of the best of the lot,
plucked a fruit and offered it to the king, thinking, doubtless,
to please him greatly; but he, like a madman, flew
into a towering passion, said it was the first time a woman
ever had the impudence to offer him anything, and
ordered the pages to seize, bind, and lead her off to
execution.
These words were no sooner uttered by the king than
the whole bevy of pages slipped their cord turbans from
their heads, and rushed like a pack of cupid beagles upon
the fairy queen, who, indignant at the little urchins daring
to touch her majesty, remonstrated with the king, and
tried to beat them off like flies, but was soon captured,
overcome, and dragged away, crying, in the names of the
Kamraviona and Mzungfi (myself), for help and protection
; whilst Lfibiiga, the pet sister, and all the other
women, clasped the king by his legs, and, kneeling, implored
forgiveness for'their sister. The more they craved
for mercy, the more brutal he became, till at last he took
a heavy stick and began to belabour the poor victim on
the head.
Hitherto I had been extremely careful not to interfere
with any of the king’s acts of arbitrary cruelty, knowing
that such interference, at an early stage, would produce
more harm than good. This last act of barbarism, however,
was too much for my English blood to stand; and
as I heard my name, Mzungu, imploringly pronounced,
I rushed at the king, and, staying his uplifted arm,
demanded from him the woman’s life. Of course I ran
imminent risk of losing my own in thus thwarting the
capricious ty ra n t; but his caprice proved the friend of
both. The novelty of interference even made him smile,
and the woman was instantly released.
Proceeding on through the trees of this beautiful island,
we next turned into the hut of the Mgussa’s familiar,
which at the farther end was decorated with many mystic
symbols—amongst others a paddle, the badge of his high
office—and for Some time we sat chatting, when pombd
was brought, and the spiritual medium arrived. He was
dressed Wichwezi fashion, with a little white goat-skin
apron, adorned with numerous charms, and used a paddle
for a mace or walking-stick. He was not an old man,
though he affected to be so—walking very slowly and
deliberately, coughing asthmatically, glimmering with his
eyes, and mumbling Ik e a witch. With much affected
difficulty he sat at the end of the hut beside the symbols
alluded to, and continued his coughing full half an hour,
when his wife came in in the same manner, without saying
a word, and assumed the same affected style. The
king jokingly looked at me and laughed, and then at
these strange creatures, by turn, as much as to say, What
do you think of them ? but no voice was heard save that
of the old wife, who croaked Ik e a frog for water, and,