I was not altogether unprepared for this result
o f his promotion; still it chilled me, angered
me a little, I must confess, and induced me
to ask him if anything was wrong. “ No,” he
said, “ nothing was wrong.”
“ Then w h y are you so stiff with your friend?”
I asked. “ Do you not like the idea o f going to
Muta Nzige? If you regret your appointment,
I can apply for another man.”
“ My liking or not liking the journey will not
alter the command o f Kabaka,” he replied. “ I
have received my commands to take yo u to
Muta Nzige, and I will take yo u there. I am
not a child, I am a man, and my name is known
pretty well in Unyoro, for the Wanyoro and]
Wasongora have felt the sharpness o f my spear,
and it is not like ly that they can turn me back
before I bring you to the lake. I stand in the
place o f Kabaka now, for I represent him here,
and the army is under my command. Sambuzi,
your friend at Uvuma, is changed now to Sambuzi
the general. You understand,me?”
“ Perfectly,” I answered; “ I have a few words ]
to sa y in reply, and yo u will then understand
me as well as I understand you. I wish |
to g o to Muta Nzige lake. So long as yo u take
me there and do exactly as the Emperor has I
commanded you, yo u shall have as much honour I
and respect from me as though you were the 1
Emperor himself, and besides that yo u shall have I
(■Dec. 23,'• >875-1 WE COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING. 241
L Laugurwe J
so rich a reward that the Katekiro o f Uganda
himself will envy you. With your mode o f
marching and camping I have nothing to do so
long as we are in Uganda, but when we enter
Unyoro, I would advise yo u as a friend, since
we are about to enter the country against the
will o f the people, that you keep the army to gether,
that one camp be made and g o o d positions
occupied, and that when any trouble
threatens us, yo u do not act without the advice
of others, able and willing to give advice. That
is all.”
“ It is well,” he said, “ we understand one
another now. W e will march b y slow degrees
as far as the frontier, that the other chiefs may
have time to come up, and yo u shall then judge
for yourself whether the Waganda know how
to march.”
Considered as we would consider of things
European, Sambuzi could not be blamed for
assuming dignity, and I therefore excused what
otherwise might be called gross behaviour on
his part. Sambuzi’s force would be quite twenty
times stronger in numbers than mine, and he
was my only means o f pushing through Unyoro.
Prudence counselled, me therefore not to let false
pride be an obstacle to the accomplishment and
success o f the enterprise, and I determined to
listen to its counsel.
Our journey to Kawanga, on the frontier o f
THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. VOL. II. R