naked men and naked women. It may be that
such a monarch and people fascinate me as much
as their land. T h e human figures in the landscape
have, indeed, as much interest for me as
the gracious landscape itself.
The drums sounded. Mtesa had seated himse
lf on the throne, and we hastened to take our
seats.
Since the 5th April, I had enjoyed ten interviews
with Mtesa, and during all I had taken
occasion to introduce topics which would lead up
to the subject o f Christianity. Nothing occurred
in my presence but I contrived to turn it towards
effecting that which had become an object to
me, viz. his conversion. There was no attempt
made to confuse him with the details o f any
particular doctrine. I simply drew for him the
image o f the Son o f God humbling Himself for
the go od o f all mankind, white and black* and
told him how, while He was in mpn’s disguise,
He was seized and crucified b y wicked people
who scorned His divinity, and y e t out o f His
great love for them, while y e t suffering on the
cro ss, He asked His great Father to forgive
them. I showed the difference in character between
Him whom white men love and adore,
and Mohammed, whom the Arabs revere; how
Jesus endeavoured to teach mankind that we
should love all men, excepting none, while Mohammed
taught his followers that the slaying
[April 10, 1875.1 MTESA’S c o n v e r s io n b e g u n . 263
[ R u b a g a . J
o f the pagan and the unbeliever was an act that
merited Paradise. I left it to Mtesa and his
chiefs to decide which was the worthier character.
I also sketched in brief the history o f
religious belief from Adam to Mohammed. I
had also begun to translate to him the Ten
Commandments, and Idi, the Emperor’s writer,
transcribed in Kiganda the words o f the L aw
as given to him in choice Swahili b y Robert
Feruzi, one o f my boat’s crew, and a pupil o f
the Universities Mission at Zanzibar.
T he enthusiasm with, which I launched into
this work o f teaching was soon communicated
to Mtesa and some o f his principal chiefs, who
became so absorbingly interested in the story
as I gave it to them that little o f o ther business
was done. T he political burzah and seat of
justice had now become an a lco v e , where only
the moral and religious laws were discussed.
Before We broke up our meeting Mtesa informed
me that I should meet a white man at
his palace the next day.
“ A white man, or a T u rk ? ”
u A white man like yourself,” repeated Mtesa.
“ No; impossible!”
“ Y e s , yo u will see. He comes from Masr
(Cairo), from Gordoom (Gordon) Pasha.”
“ A h , v e ry well, I shall be glad to see him,
and if he is really a white man, I may probably
s ta y with y o u four o f five days longer,” said I