A party of Wanyoro, in twelve or fifteen canoes, made
of single tree trunks, had come up the river to trade with
the Wasoga, and having stored their vessels with mbugti,
dried fish, plantains cooked and raw, pombd, and other
things, were taking their last meal on shore before they
returned to their homes. Kasoro seeing this, and bent
on a boyish spree, quite forgetting we were bound for
the very ports they were bound for, ordered our sailors
to drive in amongst them, landed himself, and sent the
Wanyoro flying before I knew what game was up, and
then set to pillaging and feasting on the property of
those very men whom it was our interest to propitiate,
as we expected them shortly to be our hosts.
The ground we were on belonged to king Mtesa, being
a dependency of Uganda, and it struck me as singular
that Wanyoro should be found here; but I no sooner
discovered the truth than I made our boatmen disgorge
everything they had taken, called back the Wanyoro to
take care of' their things, and extracted a promise from
Kasoro that he would not practise such wicked tricks again,
otherwise we could not travel together. Getting to boat
again, after a very little paddling we pulled in to shore,
on the Uganda side, to stop for the night, and thus allowed
the injured Wanyoro to go down the river before us. I
was much annoyed by this interruption, but no argument
would prevail on Kasoro to go on. This was the last
village on the Uganda frontier, and before we could go
aiiy farther in boats it would be necessary to ask leave of
Kamrasis frontier officer, N’yamyonjo, to enter Unyoro.
The Wanguana demanded ammunition in the most imperious
manner, whilst I, in the same tone, refused to issue
any lest a row should take place and they then would
desert, alluding to their dastardly desertion in Msalala,
when Grant was attacked. If a fight should take place,
I said they must flock to me at once, and ammunition,
which was always ready, would be served out to them.
They laughed at this, and asked, Who would stop with
me. when the fight began? This was making a jest of
what I was most afraid of—that they would all run away.
I held a levee to decide on the best manner of proceed-
Down the Nile The Waganda wanted us to stop for
i4il.back again’ y and fed the way gently, arguing
that etiquette demands it. Then, trying to
terrify me,, they said, N’yamyonjo had a hundred boats,
and would drive us back to a certainty if we tried to
force past them, if he were not first spoken with, as the
Waganda had often tried the passage and been repulsed.
On the other hand, I argued that Grant must have
arrived long ago at Kamrasi’s, and removed all these
difficulties for u s ; but, I said, if they would send men,
let Bombay , start at once by land, and we will follow in
boats, after giving him time to say we are coming. This
point gained after a hot debate, Bombay started at 10
A.M., and we not till 5 p .m ., it being but one hour’s journey
by water. The frontier line was soon crossed; and
then both sides of the river, Usoga as well as Unyoro,
belong to Kamrasi.
I flattered myself all my walking this journey was
over, and there was nothing left but to float quietly
down the Kile, for Kidgwiga had promised boats, on
Kamrasi’s account, from Unyoro to Gani, where Pethe-
rick’s vessels were said to be stationed; but this hope
shared the fate of so many others in Africa. In a little
while an enormous canoe, full of well-dressed and well-
armed men, was seen approaching us. We worked on,
and found they turned, as. if afraid. Our men paddled
faster, they did the same, the pages keeping time playfully
by beat of drum, until at last it became an exciting
chase, won by the Wanyoro by their superior numbers.
The sun was now setting as we approached N’yamyonjo’s.
On a rock by the river stood a number of armed’ men,
jumping, jabbering, and thrusting with their spears, just