The Discovery of The Source of the Nile [262]
Beyond lay the land of Kidi, a forest of mimosa trees, rising gently away from the water in soft clouds of green. This, the governor of the place, Kija, described as a sporting-field, where elephants, hippopotami, and buffalo are hunted by the occupants of both sides of the river. The elephant is killed with a new kind of spear, with a double- edged blade a yard long, and a handle which, weighted in any way most easy, is pear-shaped.
With these instruments in their hands, some men climb into trees and wait for the herd to pass, whilst others drive them under. The hippopotami, however, are not hunted, but snared with lunda, the common tripping-trap with spike-drop, which is placed in the runs of this animal, described by every South African traveller, and generally known as far as the Hametic language is spread. The Karuma Falls, if such they may be called, are a mere sluice or rush of water between high syenitic stones, falling in a long slope down a ten-feet drop. There are others of minor importance, and one within ear-sound, down the river, said to be very grand.
The name given to the Karuma Falls arose from the absurd belief that Karuma, the agent or familiar of a certain great spirit, placed the stones that break the waters in the river, and, for so doing, was applauded by his master, who, to reward his services by an appropriate distinction, allowed the stones to be called Karuma. Near this is a tree which contains a spirit whose attributes for gratifying the powers and pleasures of either men or women who summon its influence in the form appropriate to each, appear to be almost identical with that of Mahadeo's Ligna in India.
20th.--We halted for the men to collect and lay in a store of food for the passage of the Kidi wilderness. Presents of fish, caught in baskets, were sent us by Kija. They were not bad eating, though all ground animals of the lowest order. At the Grand Falls below this, Kidgwiga informs us, the king had the heads of one hundred men, prisoners taken in war against Rionga, cut off and thrown into the river.
21st and 22d.--The governor, who would not let us go until we saw him, called on the 22d with a large retinue, attended by a harpist, and bringing a present of one cow, two loads flour, and three pots of pombe. He expected a chair to sit upon, and got a box, as at home he has a throne only a little inferior to Kamrasi's. He was very generous to Bombay on his former journey to Gani; and then said he thought the white men were all flocking this way to retake their lost country; for tradition recorded that the Wahuma were once half-black and half-white, with half the hair straight and the other half curly; and how was this to be accounted for, unless the country formerly belonged to white men with straight hair, but was subsequently taken by black men? We relieved his apprehensions by telling him his ancestors were formerly all white, with straight hair, and lived in a country beyond the salt sea, till they crossed that sea, took possession of Abyssinia, and are now generally known by the name of Hubshies and Gallas; but neither of these names was known to him.
On the east, beyond Kidi, he only knew of one clan of Wahuma, a people who subsist entirely on meat and milk. The sportsmen of this country, like the Wanyamuezi, plant a convolvulus of extraordinary size by the side of their huts, and pile the jaw- bones and horns of their spoils before, as a means of bringing good-luck. This same flower, held in the hand when a man is searching for anything that he has lost, will certainly bring him to the missing treasure. In the evening, Kidgwiga, at the head of his brave army, made one of their theatrical charges on "Bana" with spear and shield, swearing they would never desert him on the march, but would die to a man if it were necessary; and if they deserted him, then might they be deprived of their heads, or of other personal possessions not much less valuable.
Just as we were ready for crossing the river, a line of Kidi men was descried filing through the jungle on the
With these instruments in their hands, some men climb into trees and wait for the herd to pass, whilst others drive them under. The hippopotami, however, are not hunted, but snared with lunda, the common tripping-trap with spike-drop, which is placed in the runs of this animal, described by every South African traveller, and generally known as far as the Hametic language is spread. The Karuma Falls, if such they may be called, are a mere sluice or rush of water between high syenitic stones, falling in a long slope down a ten-feet drop. There are others of minor importance, and one within ear-sound, down the river, said to be very grand.
The name given to the Karuma Falls arose from the absurd belief that Karuma, the agent or familiar of a certain great spirit, placed the stones that break the waters in the river, and, for so doing, was applauded by his master, who, to reward his services by an appropriate distinction, allowed the stones to be called Karuma. Near this is a tree which contains a spirit whose attributes for gratifying the powers and pleasures of either men or women who summon its influence in the form appropriate to each, appear to be almost identical with that of Mahadeo's Ligna in India.
20th.--We halted for the men to collect and lay in a store of food for the passage of the Kidi wilderness. Presents of fish, caught in baskets, were sent us by Kija. They were not bad eating, though all ground animals of the lowest order. At the Grand Falls below this, Kidgwiga informs us, the king had the heads of one hundred men, prisoners taken in war against Rionga, cut off and thrown into the river.
21st and 22d.--The governor, who would not let us go until we saw him, called on the 22d with a large retinue, attended by a harpist, and bringing a present of one cow, two loads flour, and three pots of pombe. He expected a chair to sit upon, and got a box, as at home he has a throne only a little inferior to Kamrasi's. He was very generous to Bombay on his former journey to Gani; and then said he thought the white men were all flocking this way to retake their lost country; for tradition recorded that the Wahuma were once half-black and half-white, with half the hair straight and the other half curly; and how was this to be accounted for, unless the country formerly belonged to white men with straight hair, but was subsequently taken by black men? We relieved his apprehensions by telling him his ancestors were formerly all white, with straight hair, and lived in a country beyond the salt sea, till they crossed that sea, took possession of Abyssinia, and are now generally known by the name of Hubshies and Gallas; but neither of these names was known to him.
On the east, beyond Kidi, he only knew of one clan of Wahuma, a people who subsist entirely on meat and milk. The sportsmen of this country, like the Wanyamuezi, plant a convolvulus of extraordinary size by the side of their huts, and pile the jaw- bones and horns of their spoils before, as a means of bringing good-luck. This same flower, held in the hand when a man is searching for anything that he has lost, will certainly bring him to the missing treasure. In the evening, Kidgwiga, at the head of his brave army, made one of their theatrical charges on "Bana" with spear and shield, swearing they would never desert him on the march, but would die to a man if it were necessary; and if they deserted him, then might they be deprived of their heads, or of other personal possessions not much less valuable.
Just as we were ready for crossing the river, a line of Kidi men was descried filing through the jungle on the