was resolved that no massacre o f the submissive
should take place while I was present.
T he redoubtable Sekebobo, commanding twenty-
four Watongoleh, or colonels, and a force of
about 50,000, occupied Namagongo, and the fleet
o f Mtesa was under his charge, waiting orders
to cross the b a y with them.
The Uganda war fleet numbered 325 large
and small canoes, out o f which only 230 might
be said to be really effective for war. One-half
o f these were manned b y Wasessé, natives of
the large island o f Sessé; the other half b y the
courageous natives o f the Irwaji and Lulamba
Islands, b y picked men collected from the coast
between Usavara and Buka B a y under the command
o f Chikwata, the Vice-Admiral, b y crews
o f Unjaku under Vice-Admiral Jumba, and b y
the naval brigade o f Gabunga, the Admiral of
the Fleet.
Gabunga, though entitled to be called Grand
Admiral o f the Fleet, because under his charge
were placed all the canoes o f Uganda, numbering
perhaps 500 altogether, must not be supposed
to exercise supreme command in action.
His duty was simply to convey the orders of
the fighting general to his captains and lieutenants,
for the sailors, as in England in former
times— except in desperate extremity— seldom
fight.
T he fighting men o f each canoe owe obedience
only to their General-in-chief; the sailors
or paddlers ob ey Gabunga, the Grand Admiral
of the Fleet, who, again, is controlled b y the
General-in-chief.
Many readers, unless detained to consider the
naval force o f Mtesa, might be contented with
the mere figures giving the numerical strength
of his war-vessels. But let us for the sake o f
curiosity calculate the number o f men required
to man these 230 effective war-canoes.
The largest canoe seen b y me in this fleet
measured 72 feet in length, 7 feet 3 inches in
breadth, and was 4 feet deep within, from keel
to gunwale. T h e thwarts were 32 in number,
to seat 64 paddlers besides the pilot. There
were probably over 100 canoes between 50 and
70 feet in length, and about 50 between 30 and
50 feet long; the remaining 80 fighting-boats
were o f all sizes, from 18 to 30 feet long. The
rest o f the fleet consisted o f small boats fit only
to carry from three to s ix men.
The largest class— 100 in number— would require
on an average fifty men each to man them,
which would be equal in the aggregate to 5000.
The second class would require on an average
forty men each, or 2000 to man ¿he fifty canoes.
The third class would average twenty men each,
and being eighty in number, would require 1600
men to man them, thé sum total standing therefore
at 8600.