and day the inmates could observe, without being
observed.
T he next day an answer was brought that
the inhabitants were not accustomed to strangers,
and did not like our coming into their
country; that Uzimba and Unyampaka belonged
to U n y o ro ; that as the king o f Unyoro was
fighting with white men, how could the white
man come behind him and expect peace? that
our words were good, but our purposes, they
were assured, were none the less wicked; and that
we must, therefore, expect war on the morrow.
This answer was brought b y about 300 natives,
who, while they delivered their message, were
observed to have taken precautions not to be
caught at a disadvantage. Having announced
their object, they withdrew in the direction of
Mount Uzimba.
This declaration o f war unsettled the nerves
o f the Waganda chiefs, principally the inferior
chiefs and the bodyguards o f Mtesa, and a stormy
meeting was the result. Sabadu and Bugomba,
the brother o f the Premier, used their , utmost
eloquence to persuade Sambuzi to return; while
Sekajugu- and Lukoma cunningly held out strong
reasons w h y they should return immediately.
A t the same time th ey said th ey were quite
willing to stay b y Sambuzi to the death.
The danger o f a panic was imminent, when
I begged that Sambuzi would listen to a few
[unyampLka6.'] A DELAY OF TWO DAYS GRANTED. 257
words from me. I explained to him that, though
we were only a bullet’s flight from the Nyanza,
we had not y e t seen the lake, and that Mtesa
had ordered him to take me to the Nyanza;
that, before we had even looked for a strong
camp, we were talking o f returning; that, if
they were all resolved to return, I required
them to give me two days only, at the end o f
which I would give them a letter to Mtesa,
which would absolve them from all blame; that,
in the meantime, five hundred o f the Waganda
and fifty o f my people should be sent out to
select a path to the lake b y which the boat,
canoe, and loads could be let down the plateau
wall without injury, and to endeavour to discover,
on their arrival at the la k e , whether canoes
were procurable, to embark the expedition.
This advice pleased the chiefs; and, as no time
was to be lost, at 8. A.M. five hundred Waganda
and fifty o f our Expedition were sent, under
Lukoma and Manwa Sera, my captain, to the
lake, with instructions to proceed cautiously,
and b y no means to alarm the natives o f the
lake shore. I also led a party o f fifty men to
explore the plateau edge for a feasible and safe
descent to the lake. T h e lake la y below us
like a vast mirror, tranquil and blue, except
along the shore, which was marked with a thin
line o f sputtering surf. T h e opposite coast was
the high ridge o f Usongora, which I should
THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. VOL. II. S