coming with Rumanika’s officers was not sufficient to
satisfy him on this point, he hung down his head, and
evaded the question, saying he had been the making
of king Mtdsa of Uganda; but he had turned out a bad
fellow, and now robbed him right and left* The Gani
letter, supposed to be from Petheriek, was now asked
for, and a suggestion made about opening a trade with
Gani, but all with the provoking result we had been so
well accustomed to. No letter like that referred to had
ever been received, so that Frij’s ( interpretation about
Grant’s letter-dream was right; and if we wished to go
to Gani, the king would send men travelling by night,
for his brothers at war with him lay upon the road.
As to the Uganda question, and my desiring him to
make friends with Mte'sa, in hopes that the influence
of trade would prevent any plundering in future, he
merely tossed his head. He often said he did not know
what to think about his guests, now he had got them; to
which Bombay, in rather successful imitation of what he
had heard me say on like occasions, replied, “ If you do
not like them after you have seen them, cut their heads
off, for they are all in your hands.”
11th.—With great apparent politeness Kamrasi sent
in the morning to inquire how we had slept. He had
“ heard our cry”—an expression of regal condescension—
and begged we would not be alarmed, for next morning
he would see us, and after the meeting change our residence,
when, should we not approve of wading to his
palace, he would bridge all the swamps leading up to it;
but for the present he wanted two rounds of ball-cartridge
—one to fire before his women, and the other before Ms
officers and a large number of Kidi men who were there
on a visit. To please this childish king, Bombay was
* This obviously was an allusion to the way in which the first king of
Uganda was countenanced by the great king of Kittara, according to the
tradition given in Chapter IX.
sent with two other of my men, and no sooner arrived
than a cow was placed before them to be shot. Bombay,
however, thinking easy compliance would only lead to
continued demands on our short store of powder, said he
had no order to shoot cows, and declined. A strong
debate ensued, which Bombay, by his own account, turned
to advantage by saying, “ What use is there in shooting
cows ? we have lots of meat; what we want is flour to
eat with it.” To which the great king retorted, “ If you
have not got flour, that is not my fault, for I ordered your
master to come slowly, and to bring provisions along with
him.”
Then getting impatient, as all his visitors wanted sport,
he ordered the cow out again, and insisted on my men
shooting at it, saying at the same time to his Kidi visitors,
boastfully, “Now I will show you what devils these Wan-
guana a re: with firearms they can kill a cow with one
bullet; and as they are going to Gani, I advise you not to
meddle with them.” The Kidi visitors said, “ Nonsense;
we don’t believe in their power, but we will see.” Irate
at his defeat, Bombay gave orders to the men to fire over
the cow, and told Kamrasi why he had done so—Bana
would be angry with him. “ Well,” said the king of kings,
| if that is true, go back to your master, tell him you have
disappointed me before these men, and obtain permission
to shoot the cow in the morning; after which, should you
succeed, your master can come after breakfast to see me—
but for the present, take him this pot of pombe.”
12 th.—To back Bombay in what he had said, I gave
him two more cartridges to shoot the cow with, and
orders as well to keep Kamrasi to his word about the
oft-promised interview and change of residence. He
gave me the following account on his return ‘-‘—Upwards
of a thousand spectators were present when he killed the
cow, putting both bullets into her, and all in a voice,
as soon as they saw the effect of the shot, shouted in