seemed to be populous. Finding, however, that I could not
get a sufficient number for that purpose, I directed those
who wished for employment to go off at once and take
service with Grant.
I found many people assembled here from all parts of
To Rahf 11 d is tr ic t> f°r the purpose of fighting M’y o n -
g a ; but the chief Ruhd, having heard of my
arrival, called me to his palace, which, he said, was on my
way, that he might see me, for he never in all his life had
a white man for his gpest, and was so glad to hear of my
arrival that he would give orders for the dispersing of
his forces. I wished to push past him, as I might be subjected
to such calls every day; but Unguriie, in the most
piggish manner—for he was related to Rtihe—insisted
that neither himself nor any of his children would advance
one step farther with me unless I complied with
their wish, which was a simple conformity with the laws
of their country, and therefore absolute. At length giving
in, I entered Ruhe’s boma, the p o le s o f which were
decked with the skulls of his enemies stuck upon them.
Instead, however, of seeing him myself, as he feared my
evil eye, I conducted the arrangements for the hongo
through Baraka, in the same way as I did at M’yonga’s,
directing that it should be limited to the small sum of one
barsati and four yards kiniki.
The drum was beaten, as the public intimation of the
ToMihambo, payment of the hongo, and consequently of
12a. our reiease, and we went on to Mihambo, on
the west border of the eastern division of Uzinza, which
is called Ukhanga. It overlooks the small district of
Sorombo, belonging to the great western division, known
as Usui, and is presided over by a Sorombo chief, named
Makaka, whose extortions had been so notorious that
no Arabs now ever went near him. I did not wish to
do so either, though his palace lay in the direct route.
It was therefore agreed we should skirt round by the east
of this district, and I even promised the Pig I would
give him ten necklaces a-day in addition to his wages,
if he would avoid all the chiefs, and march steadily ten
miles every day. By doing so, we should have avoided
the wandering Watuta, whose depredations had laid waste
nearly all of this country; but the designing blackguard,
in opposition to my wishes, to accomplish some object of
his own, chose to mislead us all, and quietly took us
straight into Sorombo to Kagiid, the boma of a sub-chief,
called Mfumbi, where we no sooner arrived than the inhospitable
brute forbade any one of his subjects to sell
us food until the hongo was paid, for he was not sure
that we were not allied with the Watuta to rob his country.
After receiving what he called his dues—one barsati,
two yards merikani, and two yards kiniki—the drums beat,
and all was settled with him; but I was told the head
chief Makaka, who lived ten miles to the west, and so
much out of my road, had sent expressly to invite me to
see him. He said it was his right I should go to him as
the principal chief of the district. Moreover, he longed
for a sight of a white man ; for though he had travelled
all across Uganda and Usoga into Masawa, or the Masai
country, as well as to the coast, where he had seen both
Arabs and Indians, he had never yet seen an Englishman
If I would oblige him, he said he would give me guides
to Suwarora, who was his mkama or king. Of course I
knew well what all this meant; and at the same time that
I said I could not comply, I promised to send him a present
of friendship by the hands of Baraka.
This caused a halt. Makaka would not hear of such an
arrangement. A present, he said, was due to him of course,
but of more importance than the present was. his wish to
see me. Baraka and all the men begged I would give in,
as they were sure he must be a good man to send such a
kind message. I strove in vain, for no one would lift a
load unless I complied; so, perforce, I went there, in com