make a great difference in its depth; but if each
person carries fifty stones a day, I will warrant
yo u that in a few days yo u will walk on dry
land to Ingira.”
Mtesa at this slapped his thighs in approval,
and forthwith commanded the Katekiro to muster
two legions and set them to work , and very
soon the face o f the ro ck y mountain was covered
with about 40,000 warriors, or about a
sixth o f the multitude at the cape, toiling at
the unusual work o f making a ro c k y causeway
to connect Nakaranga with Ingira Island. After
th ey had been at work three hours, I proceeded
to view the progress th ey were making, and saw
that they were expending their energies in making
a causeway about 100 feet wide. I told the Katekiro
that it would take a year to finish such a j
work, but if he would limit the width to 10 feet, I
and form the people into rows, he would have
the satisfaction o f setting foot on Ingira-Island j
without danger. But though the Premier and 1
first lord, o f Uganda lost none o f his politeness,
and never forgot that Mtesa, his master, was
pleased to call me his friend, I was not slow
in perceiving that he would not accept friendly
advice from a stranger and a foreigner. It was
not b y words, or even a hint or unfriendly
gesture, that the fact was betrayed, but simply
b y inattention to my advice. T he most courtly
European could not have excelled the Uganda
premier. He offered in the same friendly manner
a gourdful o f the honey-sweet wine o f the plantain,
talked sociably upon various matters, invited
verbal sketches o f European life, and smiled
in an aristocratically insolent manner. Nevertheless,
under this urbane mask, I detected a
proud spirit, unbending as steel. With such an
unruffled, composed, smiling patrician o f Uganda,
What could I do but groan inwardly that good,
brave, excellent Mtesa should be served b y such
men? A t the same time, I could not help smiling
at the diplomatic insouciance o f this man, who
indeed represented in only a too perfect degree
the character o f the Waganda chiefs.
For two days the work was carried on in the
way I had described, namely, with rocks, and
then Mtesa thought that filling the passage with
trees would be a speedier method, and the Ka>
tekiro was so instructed. For three days the
Waganda were at work felling trees, and a whole
forest was levelled and carried to Nakaranga
Point, where they were lashed to one another
with bark-rope, and sunk.
On the morning o f the fifth day Mtesa came
down to the point to view the causeway, and
was glad to See that we were nearer b y 130
yards to Ingira Island. While viewing the island,
he asked me what I thought o f sending a
peace party over to ascertain the feeling o f the
Wavuma. I replied that it would be a good and