and some of the queen’s officers, who waited for the
message to her son about us. To judge from Kaddu, it
must have been very different from what she led us to
expect, as, on joining us, he said there was not the smallest
chance of our getting the road we required, for the queen
was so decided about it no further argument would be
listened to.
2d.—Three goats were stolen, and suspicion falling on
the king’s cooks, who are expert foragers, we sent to the
Kamraviona, and asked him to order out the Mganga;
but his only reply was, that he often loses goats in the
same way. He sent us one of his own for present purposes,
and gave thirty baskets of potatoes to my men.
As the king held a court, and broke it up before 8 A.M.,
and no one would go there for fear of his not appearing
again, I waited till the evening for Bombay, Kaddu,
K’yengo, and Viarungi, when, finding them drunk, I went
by myself, fired a gun, and was admitted to where the
king was hunting guinea-fowl. On seeing me, he took
me affectionately by the hand, and, as we walked along
together, he asked me what I wanted, showed me the
house which was burnt down, and promised to settle the
road question in the morning.
3d.—With Kaddu, K’yengo, and Viarungi all in attendance,
we went to the palace, where there was a large
assemblage prepared for a levee, and fired a gun, which
brought the king out in state. The Sakibobo, or provincial
governor, arrived with a body of soldiers armed with
sticks, made a speech, and danced at the head of his men,
all pointing sticks upwards, and singing fidelity to their
king.
The king then turned to me, and said, “ I have come
out to listen to your request of last night. What is it
you do want ?” I said, “ To open the country to the
north, that an uninterrupted line of commerce might exist
between England and this country by means of the Nile.
I might' go round by Nkoffi ” (K’yengo looked daggers at
me); “ but that is out of the way, and not suitable to
the purpose.” The queen’s deputation was now ordered
to draw near, and questioned in a whisper. As K’yengo
was supposed to know all about me, and spoke fluently
both in Kiganda and Kisttahili, he had to speak first; but
K’yengo, to everybody’s surprise, said, “ One white man
wishes to go to Kamrasi’s, whilst the other wishes to return
through Unyamtiezi.” This announcement made the king
reflect; for he had been privately primed by his mother’s
attendants, that we both wished to go to Gani, and therefore
shrewdly inquired if Rumanika knew we wished to
visit Ka.mrasi, and whether he was aware we should
attempt the passage north from Uganda. “ Oh yes! of
course Bana wrote to Bana Mdogo” (the little master)
“ as soon as he arrived in Uganda, and told him and
Rumanika all about it.” “ Wrote! what does that mean ?”
and I was called upon to explain. Mtesa, then seeing a
flaw in K’yengo’s statements, called him a story-teller;,
ordered him and his party away, and bade me draw
near.
The moment of triumph had come at last, and suddenly
the road was granted! The king presently let us see the
motive by which he had been influenced. He said he
did not like having to send to Rumanika for everything :
he wanted his visitors to come to him direct; moreover,
Rumanika had sent him a message to the effect that we
were not to be shown anything out of Uganda, and
when we had done with it, were to be returned to him.
Rumanika, indeed! who cared about Rumanika ? Was
not Mtdsa the king of the country, to do as he liked? and
we all laughed. Then the king, swelling with pride,
asked me whom I liked best—Riimanika or himself,—an
awkward question, which I disposed of by saying I liked
Riimanika very much because he spoke well, and was
very communicative; but I also liked Mt&a, because his