of his huts—clean, extensive, and tidily kept—facing the
river, and felt as if a residence here would do one good.
Delays and subterfuges, however, soon came to damp our
spirits. The acting officer was sent for, and asked for
the boats; they were all scattered, and could not he collected
for a day or tw o; but, even if they were at hand,
no boat ever went up or down the river. The chief was
away and would he sent for, as the king often changed
his orders, and, after all, might not mean what had been
said. The district belonged to the Sakibobo, and no representative
of his had come here. These excuses, of
course, would not satisfy us. The boats must be collected,
seven, if there are not ten, for we must try them, and
come to some understanding about them, before we march
up stream, when, if the officer values his life, he will let
us have them, and acknowledge Kasoro as the king’s
representative, otherwise a complaint will be sent to the
palace, for we won’t stand trifling.
We were now confronting Usoga, a country which may
be said to be the very counterpart of Uganda in its richness
and beauty. Here the people use such huge ironheaded
spears with short handles, that, on seeing one today,
my people remarked that they were better fitted for
digging potatoes than piercing men. Elephants, as we
had seen by their devastations during the last two
marches, were very numerous in this neighbourhood.
Till lately, a party from Unyoro, ivory-hunting, had
driven them away. Lions were also described as very
numerous and destructive to human life. Antelopes were
common in the jungle, and the hippopotami, though frequenters
of -the plantain-garden and constantly heard,
were seldom seen on land in consequence of their unsteady
habits.
The king s page again came, begging I would not forget
the gun and stimulants, and bringing with him the
things I asked for—two spears, one shield, one dirk, two
leopard-cat skins, and two sheets of small antelope skins.
I told my men they ought to shave their heads and bathe
in the holy river, the cradle of Moses—the waters of
which, sweetened with sugar, men carry all the way from
Egypt to Mecca, and sell to the pilgrims. But Bombay,
who is a philosopher of the Epicurean school, said, “ We
don’t look on those things in the same fanciful manner
that you d o ; we are contented with all the commonplaces
of life, and look for nothing beyond the present.
If things don’t go well, it is God’s will; and if they do
go well, that is His will also.”
22c?.—The acting chief brought a present of one cow,
one goat, and pombd, with a mob of his courtiers to pay
his respects. He promised that the seven boats, which
are all the station could muster, would be ready next
day, and in the meanwhile a number of men would conduct
me to the shooting-ground. He asked to be shown
the books of birds and animals, and no sooner saw some
specimens of Wolf’s handiwork, than, in utter surprise, he
exclaimed, “ I know how these are done; a bird was
caught and stamped upon the paper,” using action to his
words, and showing what he meant, while all his followers
n’yanzigged for the favour of the exhibition.
In the evening I strolled in the antelope parks, enjoying
the scenery and sport excessively. A noble buck
nsunnii, standing by himself, was the first thing seen on
this side, though a herd of hartebeests were grazing on
the Usoga banks. One bullet rolled my fine friend over,
but the rabble looking on no sooner saw the hit than they
rushed upon him and drove him off", for he was only
wounded. A chase ensued, and he was tracked by his
blood, when a pongo (bush boc) was started and divided
the party. I t also brought me to another single buck
nsunnii, which was floored at once, and left to be carried
home by some of my men in company with Waganda,
whilst I went on, shot a third nsunnii buck, and tracked