The Discovery of The Source of the Nile [264]
of Koko, to apprise the people of our advance, and be ready with their pombe ere our arrival. Shortly after, towards the close of the day's work, as a solitary buffalo was seen grazing by a brook, I put a bullet through him, and allowed the savages the pleasure of despatching him in their own wild fashion with spears.
It was a sight quite worthy of a little delay. No sooner was it observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with springing bounds, the men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till, as they neared the maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to meet his assailants with the best charge his exhausted body could muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he knew his disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water,--the worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank above him soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained their victory. Now, what was to be done with this huge carcass? No one could be induced to leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe on reaching camp; but no, the buffalo was bigger than a cow, and must be quartered on the spot; so, to gain our object, we went ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus saving a cow in rations, for we required to slaughter one every day.
By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the same downs of tall grass with occasional swamps. We saw a herd of hartebeest, and reached at night a place within easy run of Koki in Gani.
The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the habitations of men--a collection of conical huts on the ridge of a small chain of granitic hills lying north-west. As we approached the southern extremity of this chain, knots of naked men, perched like monkeys on the granite blocks were anxiously awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the usages of the country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and look out for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were visitors from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and forward us to our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty welcome; for Chongi had been appointed governor by Kamrasi of this district, which appears to have been the extreme northern limit of the originally vast kingdom of Kittara. All the elite of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair, charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and invited us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us-- one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a little twig.
Chongi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the ground in front of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony had been also repeated by the familiar, Chongi then took the gourd and twig, and sprinkled the contents all over us; retired to the Uganga, or magic house--a very diminutive hut--sprinkled pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a cow-skin under a tree, bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making many apologies that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had reduced his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!! Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress consisted of bead, iron, or brass ornaments, with some feathers or cowrie-beads on the head. Even the women contented themselves with a few fibres hung like tails before and behind. Some of our men who had seen the Watuta in Utambara, declared these savages to resemble them in every particular, save one small specialty in their costume, alluded to in the description of the Zulu Kafir's dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same fantastic fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it rode on its mother's
It was a sight quite worthy of a little delay. No sooner was it observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with springing bounds, the men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till, as they neared the maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to meet his assailants with the best charge his exhausted body could muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he knew his disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water,--the worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank above him soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained their victory. Now, what was to be done with this huge carcass? No one could be induced to leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe on reaching camp; but no, the buffalo was bigger than a cow, and must be quartered on the spot; so, to gain our object, we went ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus saving a cow in rations, for we required to slaughter one every day.
By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the same downs of tall grass with occasional swamps. We saw a herd of hartebeest, and reached at night a place within easy run of Koki in Gani.
The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the habitations of men--a collection of conical huts on the ridge of a small chain of granitic hills lying north-west. As we approached the southern extremity of this chain, knots of naked men, perched like monkeys on the granite blocks were anxiously awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the usages of the country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and look out for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were visitors from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and forward us to our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty welcome; for Chongi had been appointed governor by Kamrasi of this district, which appears to have been the extreme northern limit of the originally vast kingdom of Kittara. All the elite of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair, charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and invited us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us-- one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a little twig.
Chongi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the ground in front of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony had been also repeated by the familiar, Chongi then took the gourd and twig, and sprinkled the contents all over us; retired to the Uganga, or magic house--a very diminutive hut--sprinkled pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a cow-skin under a tree, bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making many apologies that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had reduced his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!! Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress consisted of bead, iron, or brass ornaments, with some feathers or cowrie-beads on the head. Even the women contented themselves with a few fibres hung like tails before and behind. Some of our men who had seen the Watuta in Utambara, declared these savages to resemble them in every particular, save one small specialty in their costume, alluded to in the description of the Zulu Kafir's dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same fantastic fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it rode on its mother's