kept brooding over the message sent to tbe Waganda, to
the effect that they might come or not as they liked, and
considering us with himself to have all been treated “ like
dogs,” begged me to give him my opinion as to what
course he had better pursue; for he must, in the first
instance, report the whole circumstances to the king, and
could not march at once. This was a blight on our prospects,
and appeared very vexatious, in the event of Budja
waiting for an answer, which, considering Mtdsa had
ordered his Wakungu to accompany us all the way to
Gani, might stop our march altogether.
I therefore argued that Kamrasi’s treatment of us was
easily accounted for: he heard of us coming by two
routes from an enemy’s country, and was naturally suspicious
of u s ; that had now been changed by our withdrawing,
and he invited us to him. Without doubt, his
commander-in-chief was never very far away, and followed
on our heels. Such precaution was only natural and reasonable
on Kamrasi’s part, and what had been done need not
alarm any one. “ If you do your duty properly, you will
take us at once into Unyoro, make your charge over to
these men, and return or not as you like; for in doing so
you will have fulfilled both Mtesa’s and Kamrasi’s orders
at once.” “ Very good,” says Budja, “ let it be so; for
there is great wisdom in your words; but I must first
send to my king, for the Waganda villagers have struck
two of your men with weapons” (this had happened just
before my afrival here), “ and this is a most heinous offence
in Uganda, which cannot be overlooked. Had it been
done with a common stick, it could have been overlooked;
but the use of weapons is an offence, and both parties
must go before the king.” This, of course, was objected
to on the plea that it was my own affair. I was king of
the Wangiiana, and might choose to dispense with the
attendance. The matter was compromised, however, on
the condition that Budja should march across the border
to-morrow, and wait for the return of these men and for
further orders on the Unyoro side.
The bait took. Budja lost sight of the necessity there
was for his going to Gani to bring back a gun, ammunition,
and some medicine—that is to say, brandy—for
his king; and sent his men off with mine to tell Mtesa
all our adventures—our double repulse, the intention to
wait on the Unyoro side for further orders, and the account
of some Waganda having wounded my men. I added
my excuses for Kamrasi, and laid a complaint against
Mtesa’s officers for having defrauded us out of ten cows,
five goats, six butter, and sixty mbfigu. It was not that
we required these things, but I knew that the king had
ordered them to be given to us, and I thought it right we
should show that his officers, if they professed to obey his
orders, had peculated. After these men had started, some
friends of the villager who had been apprehended on the
charge of assailing my men, came and offered Budja five
cows to overlook the charge; and Budja, though he could
not overlook it when I pleaded for the man, asked me to
recall my men. Discovering that the culprit was a queen’s
man, and that the affair would cause bad blood at court
should the king order the man’s life to be taken, I tried
to do so, but things had gone too far.
Again the expedition marched on in the right direction.
We reached the last village on the Uganda To North Frontier 53 TT
station, Uganda, frontier, and there spent the night. Here
Grant shot a nsunnti buck. The Wangiiana
mutinied for ammunition, and would not lift a load until
they got it, saying, “ Unyoro is a dangerous country,”
though they had been there before without any more than
they now had in pouch. The fact was> my men, in consequence
of the late issues on the river, happened to have
more than Grant’s men, and every man must have alike.
The ringleader, unfortunately for himself, had lately fired
at a dead lion, to astonish the Unyoro, and his chum had