up breathless from the imperial camp— which I
could see covering many miles o f ground— with
y e t an additional welcome, and pointed out on
the opposite side Mtesa and his chiefs, most
picturesque in their white dresses and red caps,
with a large concourse of attendants, waiting
to see my party cross the channel. Five large
canoes were iff readiness at the ferry, and also
soldiers o f the royal guard to escort us through
the vast crowds on the other side o f the channel.
Far different was the scene on this day around
the Falls to that which S p ek e had gazed upon
in 1863, and to that which I had seen five months
before when I entered this channel after a skirmish
with the Wavuma. F o r now the channel
swarmed with large canoes, and the shores of
Ugungu and Jinja were covered with thousands
o f men, women, and children; while then all was
silent and lonely, and the monotonous noise of
the falling waters was the on ly sound that Was
heard.
Crossing the channel amid the noise and bustle
o f many thousands* we soon found ourselves in
the midst o f the vast army that Mtesa had collected
from all parts o f his empire. Natives of
Karagw e , lean, lank-bodied, and straight-nosed,
with their deficiencies o f calf made up for b y a
preposterous fulness o f ankle, caused b y huridreds
o f coils o f fine iron wire, gathered round us with
as much curiosity as the ferocious Wakedi, who
[August^, 1875.] MTESA’S ARMY. 79
in t r u d e d their bodies, naked as when they were
born, among the clean-robed Waganda, reckless
of the laughter and jeering which their nudity
provoked. T he vain Wa so g a also seemed to
forget, while they gazed on us, that they were
as much objects o f curiosity to the rustic y e t
unabashed natives o f Sesse, who stood b y them,
as we were to them; for, indeed, lo o k where I
might, the undisguised vanity o f the Wasoga
made them extremely conspicuous. Though
am id s t such a large army o f sable warriors, a
solah topee, European complexion, and boots
wonderfully created o f some kind o f leather,
might well b e deemed curiosities; y e t lambskins
of all colours, stuffed with grass, and standing
erect on men’s heads, and long white-haired
goat-skins for robes and loin-coverings, were
not a whit less curious to the canoe-building
natives o f S e s s e , who until now had never, it
seemed, witnessed such things. But, taking advantage
o f the quiet complacency with which
we permitted these warriors to gaze on us, they
began to press on us more closely than was
convenient, until th ey were scattered b y the
mighty sticks o f the guards, who felled them to
right and left without remorse, and Wasoga,
Wanyambu, Wakedi, Wazongora, and Waganda
were compelled to be more careful o f their bones
than curious to see us.
A short time afterwards, near the imperial