when the Wavuma paddles were seen to strike
the water with foam, and, lo! into the midst of
the mass from either flank the gallant islanders
dashed, sending dismay and consternation into
the whole Uganda army.
What work those desperate Wavuma might
have done, I know not, but Mtesa at the sight
leaped up high, and shouted his war-cry, “ Kavya,
k a v y a ! ” and the army, men, women, and children,
screamed Kavya, k a v y a ! ” and the approaching
fleet, hearing the cry , echoed it fiercely, and
turned itself on the enemy with spirit But the
Wavuma, having made fourteen go od prizes, did
not wish, so unequally matched, to meet the
Waganda in a pitched fight, and accordingly
hastened aw ay— contented for the time-—into
deeper water, whither, strangely enough, the
Waganda fleet did not dare to follow them.
This short but spirited scene caused me to
reflect d eeply, and to ask myself w h y, if the
Wavuma were so courageous, I was permitted
to escape from their hands; and wh y one boat
and a double-barrelled elephant-rifle were sufficient
to release us, in our v o y a g e o f discovery,
from thirteen well-manned Wavuma canoes. Some
answers to this question were derived subsequently
from observation o f events.
A pause o f two or three days without incident
followed the arrival o f Sekebobo’s legion and
Mtesa s fleet. Then Mtesa sent for me, and was
pleased to impart some o f his ideas on the
probable issue o f the war to me, in something
like the following w o rd s :—
“ Standee, I want your advice. A ll white men
are ve ry clever, and appear to know everything.
I want to know from yo u what yo u think I may
expect from this war. Shall I have victory or
not? It is my opinion We must b e clever, and
m a k e headwork take that island.”
Smiling at his naive, candid manner, I replied
that it would require a prophet to be able to
foretell the issue o f the war, and that I was far
from being a prophet; that headwork, were it
the best in the world, could not take Ingira
Island unassisted b y valour.
He then said, “ I know that the Waganda will
not fight well on the water; they are not accustomed
to it. T h e y are always victorious on
land, but when th ey go in canoes, they are
afraid o f being upset; and most of the warriors
come from the interior, and do not know how
to SWim. T h e Wavuma and Wasoga are v e ry
expert in the water, and swim like fish. If we
could devise some means to take the Waganda
over to the island without risking them in the
canoes, I should be sure o f victory.”
I replied, “ Y o u have men, women, and children
here in this camp as numerous as grass. Command
every soul able to walk tp take up a
stone and cast into the water, and yo u will
H i