The Discovery of The Source of the Nile [111]
and Bombay was lectured for his folly, as he had a thousand times before abjured his belief in such magical follies; moreover, to punish him for the future, I took Baraka, whenever I could, with me to visit the king, which, little as it may appear to others, was of the greatest consequence to the hostile parties.
15th and 16th.--When I next called on Rumanika I gave him a Vautier's binocular and prismatic compass; on which he politely remarked he was afraid he was robbing me of everything. More compliments went round, and then he asked if it was true we could open a man's skull, look at his brains, and close it up again; also if it was true we sailed all round the world into regions where there was no difference between night and day, and how, when he ploughed the seas in such enormous vessels as would carry at once 20,000 men, we could explain to the sailors what they ought to do; for, although he had heard of these things, no one was able to explain them to him.
After all the explanations were given, he promised me a boat-hunt after the nzoe in the morning; but when the time came, as difficulties were raised, I asked him to allow us to anticipate the arrival of Kachuchu, and march on to Kitangule. He answered, with his usual courtesy, That he would be very glad to oblige us in any way that we liked; but he feared that, as the Waganda were such superstitious people, some difficulties would arise, and he must decline to comply with our request. "You must not," he added, "expect ever to find again a reasonable man like myself." I then gave him a book on "Kafir laws," which he said he would keep for my sake, with all the rest of the presents, which he was determined never to give away, though it was usual for him to send novelties of this sort to Mtesa, king of Uganda, and Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, as a friendly recognition of their superior positions in the world of great monarchies.
17th.--Rumanika next introduced me to an old woman who came from the island of Gasi, situated in the little Luta Nzige. Both her upper and lower incisors had been extracted, and her upper lip perforated by a number of small holes, extending in an arch from one corner to the other. This interesting but ugly old lady narrated the circumstances by which she had been enslaved, and then sent by Kamrasi as a curiosity to Rumanika, who had ever since kept her as a servant in his palace. A man from Ruanda then told us of the Wilyanwantu (men-eaters), who disdained all food but human flesh; and Rumanika confirmed the statement. Though I felt very sceptical about it, I could not help thinking it a curious coincidence that the position they were said to occupy agreed with Petherick's Nyam Nyams (men-eaters).
Of far more interest were the results of a conversation which I had with another of Kamrasi's servants, a man of Amara, as it threw some light upon certain statements made by Mr Leon of the people of Amara being Christians. He said they bore single holes in the centres both of their upper and lower lips, as well as in the lobes of both of their ears, in which they wear small brass rings. They live near the N'yanza--where it is connected by a strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river to the northward- -in comfortable houses, built like the tembes of Unyamuezi. When killing a cow, they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with both hands together, held palm upwards, and utter Zu, a word the meaning of which he did not know. I questioned him to try if the word had any trace of a Christian meaning--for instance, a corruption of Jesu--but without success. Circumcision is not known amongst them, neither have they any knowledge of God or a soul. A tribe called Wakuavi, who are white, and described as not unlike myself, often came over the water and made raids on their cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief weapon of war. These attacks were as often resented, and sometimes led the Wamara in pursuit a long way into their enemy's country, where, at a place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red cloths. Beads were
15th and 16th.--When I next called on Rumanika I gave him a Vautier's binocular and prismatic compass; on which he politely remarked he was afraid he was robbing me of everything. More compliments went round, and then he asked if it was true we could open a man's skull, look at his brains, and close it up again; also if it was true we sailed all round the world into regions where there was no difference between night and day, and how, when he ploughed the seas in such enormous vessels as would carry at once 20,000 men, we could explain to the sailors what they ought to do; for, although he had heard of these things, no one was able to explain them to him.
After all the explanations were given, he promised me a boat-hunt after the nzoe in the morning; but when the time came, as difficulties were raised, I asked him to allow us to anticipate the arrival of Kachuchu, and march on to Kitangule. He answered, with his usual courtesy, That he would be very glad to oblige us in any way that we liked; but he feared that, as the Waganda were such superstitious people, some difficulties would arise, and he must decline to comply with our request. "You must not," he added, "expect ever to find again a reasonable man like myself." I then gave him a book on "Kafir laws," which he said he would keep for my sake, with all the rest of the presents, which he was determined never to give away, though it was usual for him to send novelties of this sort to Mtesa, king of Uganda, and Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, as a friendly recognition of their superior positions in the world of great monarchies.
17th.--Rumanika next introduced me to an old woman who came from the island of Gasi, situated in the little Luta Nzige. Both her upper and lower incisors had been extracted, and her upper lip perforated by a number of small holes, extending in an arch from one corner to the other. This interesting but ugly old lady narrated the circumstances by which she had been enslaved, and then sent by Kamrasi as a curiosity to Rumanika, who had ever since kept her as a servant in his palace. A man from Ruanda then told us of the Wilyanwantu (men-eaters), who disdained all food but human flesh; and Rumanika confirmed the statement. Though I felt very sceptical about it, I could not help thinking it a curious coincidence that the position they were said to occupy agreed with Petherick's Nyam Nyams (men-eaters).
Of far more interest were the results of a conversation which I had with another of Kamrasi's servants, a man of Amara, as it threw some light upon certain statements made by Mr Leon of the people of Amara being Christians. He said they bore single holes in the centres both of their upper and lower lips, as well as in the lobes of both of their ears, in which they wear small brass rings. They live near the N'yanza--where it is connected by a strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river to the northward- -in comfortable houses, built like the tembes of Unyamuezi. When killing a cow, they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with both hands together, held palm upwards, and utter Zu, a word the meaning of which he did not know. I questioned him to try if the word had any trace of a Christian meaning--for instance, a corruption of Jesu--but without success. Circumcision is not known amongst them, neither have they any knowledge of God or a soul. A tribe called Wakuavi, who are white, and described as not unlike myself, often came over the water and made raids on their cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief weapon of war. These attacks were as often resented, and sometimes led the Wamara in pursuit a long way into their enemy's country, where, at a place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red cloths. Beads were