intention of moving, said lie liad orders to see N’yam-
yonjo, and until lie did so lie -would not budge. “ Well,”
said the people, “ you have got your warning, now look
out.for yourselves;” and Bombay, with his Waganda
escort, was left again. Drums then began to beat, and
men to hurry to and fro with spears and shields, until
at last our guns were heard, and, guessing the cause,
Bombay with his Waganda escort rushed out of the hut
into the jungle, and, without daring to venture on . the
beaten track, through thorns and thicket worked his way
back to me, lame, and scratched all over with thorns.
Crowds of Waganda, all armed as if for war, came to con-
H etum to Kiwii- gratulate us in the morning, jumping, jabbering,
and shaking their spears at us, denoting
a victory gained—for we had shot Wanyoro and no harm
had befallen us. “ But the road,” I cried, “ has that been
gained ? I am not going to show my back. We must go
again, for there is some mistake; Grant is with Kamrasi,
and N’yamyonjo cannot stop us. If you won’t go in boats,
let us go by land to N’yamyonjo’s, and the boats will follow
after.” Not a soul, however, would stir. . N’yamyonjo was
described as an independent chief, who listened to Kamrasi
only when he liked. He did not like strange eyes toe see
his secret lodges on the N’yanza; and if he did not wist
us to go down the river, Kamrasi’s orders would go for
nothing. His men had now been shot; to go within Lis
reach would be certain death. Argument was useless,
boating slow, to send messages worse; so I gave in, turned
my back on the Nile, and the following day (16th) came
on the Luajerri.
Here, to my intense surprise, I heard that. Grant’s camp
was not far off, on its return from Kamrasi’s. I could not,
rather would not, believe it, suspicious as it now appeared
after my reverse. The men, however, were positive, and
advised my going to king Mtdsa’s—a ridiculous proposition,
at once rejected; for I had yet to receive Kamrasi’s
answer to our Queen, about opening a trade with England.
I must ascertain why he despised Englishmen without
speaking with them, and I could not believe Kamr a s i
would prove less avaricious than either Rumanika or
Mt^sa, especially as Rumanika had made himself responsible
for our actions. We slept that night near Kari, the
Waganda eating two goats which had been drowned in the
Luajerri; and the messenger-page, having been a third time
to the palace and back again, called to ask after our welfare,
on behalf of his king, and remind us about the gun
and brandy promised.
1*7 th and 18 ¿A—The two following days were spent
wandering about without guides, trying to keep the track
Grant had taken after leaving us, crossing at first a line
of small hills, then traversing grass and jungle, like the
dak of India. Plantain-gardens were frequently met, and
the people seemed very hospitably inclined, though they
complained sadly of the pages rudely rushing into every
hut, seizing everything they could lay their hands on, and
■even eating the food which they had just prepared for
their own dinners, saying, in a mournful manner, “ If it
were not out of respect for you we should fight those little
rascals, for it is not the king’s guest nor his men who do
us injury, but the king’s own servants, without leave or
licence.” I observed that special bomas or fences were
■erected to protect these villages against the incursions of
Hons. Buffaloes were about, but the villagers cautioned
us not to shoot them, holding them as sacred animals;
and, to judge from the appearance of the country, wild
animals should abound, were it not for the fact that every
Uganda seems by instinct to be a sportsman.
At last, after numerous and various reports about Grant,
To N’yakinyama, we heard his drums last night, but we arrived
this morning just in time to be too late. He
was on his march back to the capital of Uganda, as the
2 H