retarded by rains and other mishaps.—general despondency.—death of edward pocock.—a change for the better.—a land of plenty.—arrival at victoria lake.—native song.—afloat on the great lake.—terrible tales of the inhabitants.—encounters with the natives.—the victoria nile.—ripon falls.—speke's explorations.—the alexandra nile.—arrival at king mtesa's court.—a magnificent reception.—in the monarch's presence.—stanley's first opinions of mtesa.
when the audience assembled in the evening frank turned rapidly several pages of the book and said that mr. stanley's expedition was greatly retarded by the heavy rains which fell frequently and converted the ground into a water-soaked marsh, through which it was very difficult to proceed. christmas day was a day of gloom, as everybody was wet and cold and hungry; the natives had little grain to sell, and the expedition was reduced to half-rations of food.
an african blacksmith's-shop.
mr. stanley wrote in his diary that he weighed one hundred and eighty pounds when he left zanzibar, but his sufferings and lack of nourishing food had brought him down to one hundred and thirty-four pounds in thirty-eight days; and the young englishmen that accompanied him were similarly reduced. in every new territory they entered[pg 54] they were obliged to pay tribute to the ruler, according to the custom of africa, and the settlement of the question of tribute required a great deal of bargaining. there were frequent desertions of men, and in many instances they had not the honesty to leave behind them their loads and guns. at one place it was discovered that fifty men had formed a conspiracy to desert in a body, but the scheme was stopped by arresting the ringleaders and disarming their followers.
"some twenty or more men were on the sick-list and too ill to walk," said frank, "several were carried in hammocks, and others were left at the native villages, in accordance with the arrangements made at zanzibar. the expedition halted four days at suna, in the warimi country, where grain was purchased at a high price, and the people seemed inclined to make trouble. the leader of the expedition was obliged to use a great deal of tact to conciliate the chiefs of this people, who are numerous and well-armed, so that an attack would have been no easy matter to resist. edward pocock was taken seriously ill at suna, and carried in a hammock to chiwyu—four hundred miles from the coast, and at an elevation of five thousand four hundred feet above the sea. in spite of all the attentions he received, he died soon after their arrival at the latter place. i will read stanley's account of the burial of his faithful companion and friend:
funeral of edward pocock: view of our camp.
"we excavated a grave, four feet deep, at the foot of a hoary acacia with wide-spreading branches; and on its ancient trunk frank engraved a deep cross, the emblem of the faith we all believe in; and, when folded in its shroud, we laid the body in its final resting-place, during the last gleams of sunset. we read the beautiful prayers of the church-service for the dead, and, out of respect for the departed—whose frank, sociable, and winning manners had won their friendship and regard—nearly all the wangwana were present, to pay a last tribute of sighs to poor edward pocock.
"when the last solemn prayer had been read, we retired to our tents, to brood, in sorrow and silence, over our irreparable loss."
"by the 21st of january," said frank, "eighty-nine men had deserted, twenty had died, and there were many sick or disabled. mr. stanley would have been justified in fearing that he would be obliged to abandon his expedition and retreat to the coast. the loads were reduced as much as possible, every article that could in any way be spared being thrown out and destroyed. on the 24th the natives attacked the camp, but were driven back; and another battle followed on the 25th, with the same result. on the 26th the march was resumed, and the hostile region was left behind. new men were engaged at some of the villages, the weather improved, provisions were abundant, and in the early days of[pg 55]
[pg 56] february the halting-places of the expedition presented a marked contrast to those of a month earlier.
an african lamb.
"the country in which they were now travelling," frank continued, "was a fertile region, with broad pastures, and occasional stretches of forest—a land of plenty and promise. the natives had an abundance of[pg 57] cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens, which they sold at low prices; they were entirely friendly to the travellers, and whenever the expedition moved away from its camps, it was urged to come again. mr. stanley gives the following list of prices, which he paid in this land of abundance:
"1 ox 6 yards of sheeting.
1 goat 2 yards of sheeting.
1 sheep 2 yards of sheeting.
1 chicken 1 necklace.
6 chickens 2 yards of sheeting."
"on the 26th of february it was reported that another day's march would bring them to the shore of the great nyanza, the victoria lake. i will now read you what mr. stanley says about this march, and his first view of the lake.
"on the morning of the 27th of february we rose up early, and braced ourselves for the long march of nineteen miles, which terminated at 4 p.m. at the village of kagehyi.
"the people were as keenly alive to the importance of this day's march, and as fully sensitive to what this final journey to kagehyi promised their wearied frames, as we europeans. they, as well as ourselves, looked forward to many weeks of rest from our labors and to an abundance of good food.
"when the bugle sounded the signal to 'take the road,' the wanyamwezi and wangwana responded to it with cheers, and loud cries of 'ay indeed, ay indeed, please god;' and their good-will was contagious. the natives, who had mustered strongly to witness our departure, were affected by it, and stimulated our people by declaring that the lake was not very far off—'but two or three hours' walk.'
"we dipped into the basins and troughs of the land, surmounted ridge after ridge, crossed water-courses and ravines, passed by cultivated fields, and through villages smelling strongly of cattle, by good-natured groups of natives, until, ascending a long, gradual slope, we heard, on a sudden, hurrahing in front, and then we too, with the lagging rear, knew that those in the van were in view of the great lake! the lake which speke discovered in 1858.
unyamwezi porter.
"frank pocock impetuously strode forward until he gained the brow of the hill. he took a long, sweeping look at something, waved his hat, and came down towards us, his face beaming with joy, as he shouted out enthusiastically, with the fervor of youth and high spirits, 'i have seen the lake, sir, and it is grand!'[pg 58] frederick barker, riding painfully on an ass, and sighing wearily from illness and the length of the journey, lifted his head to smile his thanks to his comrade.
"presently we also reached the brow of the hill, where we found the expedition halted, and the first quick view revealed to us a long, broad arm of water, which a dazzling sun transformed into silver, some six hundred feet below us, at the distance of three miles.
"a more careful and detailed view of the scene showed us that the hill on which we stood sloped gradually to the broad bay or gulf edged by a line of green, wavy reeds and thin groves of umbrageous trees scattered along the shore, on which stood several small villages of conical huts. beyond these, the lake stretched like a silvery plain far to the eastward, and away across to a boundary of dark-blue hills and mountains, while several gray, rocky islets mocked us at first with an illusion of arab dhows with white sails. the wanyamwezi struck up the song of triumph:
"'sing, o friends, sing; the journey is ended:
sing aloud, o friends, sing to the great nyanza.
sing all, sing loud, o friends, sing to the great sea;
give your last look to the lands behind and then turn to the sea.
"'long time ago you left your lands,
your wives and children, your brothers and your friends:
tell me, have you seen a sea like this
since you left the great salt sea?
"chorus.
"'then sing, o friends, sing; the journey is ended:
sing aloud, o friends: sing to this great sea.
this sea is fresh, is good, and sweet;
your sea is salt, and bad, unfit to drink.
this sea is like wine to drink for thirsty men;
the salt sea—bah! it makes men sick.'
"i have in the above (as literal a translation as i can render it) made no attempt at rhyme—nor, indeed, did the young, handsome, and stalwart corypheus who delivered the harmonious strains with such startling effect. the song, though extemporized, was eminently dramatic, and when the chorus joined in it made the hills ring with a wild and strange harmony. reanimated by the cheerful music, we flung the flags to the breeze, and filed slowly down the slopes towards the fields of kagehyi.
"about half a mile from the villages we were surprised by seeing hundreds of warriors decked with feathered head-dresses and armed to the teeth, advancing on the run towards us, and exhibiting, as they came, their dexterity with bows and arrows and spears. they had at first been alarmed at the long procession filing down the hill, supposing we were bent on hostilities, but, though discovering their error, they still thought it too good an opportunity to be lost for showing their bravery, and therefore amused us with this by-play. sungoro tarib, an arab resident at kagehyi, also despatched a messenger with words of welcome, and an invitation to us to make kagehyi our camp, as prince kaduma, chief of kagehyi, was his faithful ally.
[pg 59]
view of kagehyi from the edge of the lake.
(from a photograph.)
"in a short time we had entered the wretched-looking village, and kaduma was easily induced by sungoro to proffer hospitalities to the strangers. a small conical hut, about twenty feet in diameter, badly lighted, and with a strong smell of animal matter—its roof swarmed with bold rats, which, with a malicious persistence, kept popping in and out of their nests in the straw roof, and rushing over the walls—was placed at my disposal as a store-room. another small hut was presented to frank pocock and fred barker as their quarters.
"in summing up, during the evening of our arrival at this rude village on the nyanza, the number of statute miles travelled by us, as measured by two rated pedometers and pocket watch, i ascertained it to be seven hundred and twenty. the time occupied—from november 17, 1874, to february 27, 1875, inclusive—was one hundred and three days, divided into seventy marching and thirty-three halting days, by which it will be perceived that our marches averaged a little over ten miles per day. but as halts are imperative, the more correct method of ascertaining the rate of travel would be to include the time occupied by halts and marches, and divide the total distance by the number of days occupied. this reduces the rate to seven miles per diem.
"we all woke on the morning of the 28th of february with a feeling of intense relief. there were no more marches, no more bugle-calls to rouse us up for another fatiguing day, no more fear of hunger—at least for a season.
"at 9 a.m. a burzah, or levee, was held. first came frank and fred—now quite recovered from fever—to bid me good-morning, and to congratulate themselves and me upon the prospective rest before us. next came the wangwana and wanyamwezi chiefs, to express a hope that i had slept well, and after them the bold youths of the expedition; then came prince kaduma and sungoro, to whom we were bound this day to render an account of the journey and to give the[pg 60] latest news from zanzibar; and, lastly, the princess and her principal friends—for introductions have to be undergone in this land as in others. the burzah lasted two hours, after which my visitors retired to pursue their respective avocations, which i discovered to be principally confined, on the part of the natives, to gossiping, making or repairing fishing-nets, hatchets, canoes, food-troughs, village fences, and huts, and on the part of our people to arranging plans for building their own grass-huts, being perfectly content to endure a long stay at kagehyi.
frank pocock.
(from a photograph taken at kagehyi.)
"though the people had only their own small domestic affairs to engage their attentions, and frank and fred were for this day relieved from duty, i had much to do—observations to take to ascertain the position of kagehyi, and its altitude above the sea; to prepare paper, pens, and ink for the morrow's report to the journals which had despatched me to this remote and secluded part of the globe; to make calculations of the time likely to be occupied in a halt at kagehyi, in preparing and equipping the lady alice for sea, and in circumnavigating the great 'nianja,' as the wasukuma call the lake.[3] it was also incumbent upon me to ascertain the[pg 61] political condition of the country before leaving the port and the camp, that my mind might be at rest about its safety during my contemplated absence. estimates were also to be entered upon as to the quantity of cloth and beads likely to be required for the provisioning of the expeditionary force during my absence, and as to the amount of tribute and presents to be bestowed upon the king of uchambi—of which kagehyi was only a small district, and to whom prince kaduma was only a subordinate and tributary. in brief, my own personal work was but begun, and pages would not suffice to describe in detail the full extent of the new duties now devolving upon me.
african arms and ornaments.
"the village of kagehyi, in the uchambi district and country of usukuma, became after our arrival a place of great local importance. it attracted an unusual number of native traders from all sides within a radius of twenty or thirty miles. fishermen from ukerewé, whose purple hills we saw across the arm of the lake, came in their canoes, with stores of dried fish; the people of igusa, sima, and magu, east of us in usukuma, brought their cassava, or manioc, and ripe bananas; the herdsmen of usmau, thirty miles south of kagehyi, sent their oxen; and the tribes of muanza—famous historically as being the point whence speke first saw[pg 62] this broad gulf of lake victoria—brought their hoes, iron wire, and salt, besides great plenty of sweet potatoes and yams.
"within seven days the lady alice was ready, and strengthened for a rough sea-life. provisions of flour and dried fish, bales of cloth and beads of various kinds, odds and ends of small possible necessaries were boxed, and she was declared at last to be only waiting for her crew. 'would any one volunteer to accompany me?' a dead silence ensued. 'not for rewards and extra pay?' another dead silence: no one would volunteer.
"'yet i must,' said i, 'depart. will you let me go alone?'
"'no.'
"'what then? show me my braves—those men who freely enlist to follow their master round the sea.'
"all were again dumb. appealed to individually, each said he knew nothing of sea life; each man frankly declared himself a terrible coward on water.
"'then what am i to do?'
"manwa sera said:
"'master, have done with these questions. command your party. all your people are your children, and they will not disobey you. while you ask them as a friend, no one will offer his services. command them, and they will all go.'
view near victoria lake.
"so i selected a chief, wadi safeni—the son of safeni—and told him to pick out the elect of the young men. wadi safeni chose men who knew nothing of boat-life. then i called kachéché, the detective, and told him to ascertain the names of those young men who were accustomed to sea-life, upon which kachéché informed me that the young guides first selected by me at bagamoyo were the sailors of the expedition. after reflecting upon the capacities of the younger[pg 63] men, as they had developed themselves on the road, i made a list of ten sailors and a steersman, to whose fidelity i was willing to intrust myself and fortunes while coasting round the victoria sea.
"accordingly, after drawing up instructions for frank pocock and fred barker, on about a score of matters concerning the well-being of the expedition during my absence, and enlisting for them, by an adequate gift, the good-will of sungoro and prince kaduma, i set sail on the 8th of march, 1875, eastward along the shores of the broad arm of the lake which we first sighted, and which henceforward is known, in honor of its first discoverer, as 'speke gulf.'
dwellers on the shore of the lake.
"the reluctance of my followers to venture upon lake victoria was due to what they had heard about it from prince kaduma's people. 'there were,' they said, 'a people dwelling on its shores who were gifted with tails; another who trained enormous and fierce dogs for war; another a tribe of cannibals, who preferred human flesh to all other kinds of meat. the lake was so large it would take years to trace its shores, and who then at the end of that time would remain alive?' its opposite shores, from their very vagueness of outline, and its people, from the distorting fogs of misrepresentation through which we saw them, only heightened the fears of my men as to the dangers which filled the prospect."
"mr. stanley explored the shores of speke gulf," said frank, after a short pause, "and then proceeded to follow the eastern shore of the great lake, which stretched out to the east and north apparently as limitless as the ocean. on the islands of speke gulf he found great numbers of crocodiles, and at almost every step he took among the reeds, on the shore of one of the islands, a huge crocodile rushed past him into the water. hippopotami were numerous, some of them coming disagreeably near to his boat, and evidently desiring to make his acquaintance. the natives around the gulf were not hostile, but caused despondency in the hearts of stanley's men by predicting that it would take him eight years to circumnavigate the lake.
"but on the shores of the lake itself the people showed signs of hostility,[pg 64] and came to the water's edge with their spears and shields. on such occasions the party kept away from land and parleyed at a safe distance. once a war-canoe carrying some forty men armed with spears and slings came close alongside the lady alice; the men in the canoe were insolent and evidently wanted to fight. before beginning, however, they exhibited their skill by throwing stones with their slings, and whenever they made good shots the strangers applauded and smiled. in fact, they had been smiling all the time since the canoe came alongside.
"when he considered the time had come to put an end to their insolence, mr. stanley drew his revolver and fired rapidly into the water in the direction where the last stone had been flung. the effect was ludicrous in the extreme, as none of the fellows had ever before heard the sound of a firearm. they sprang into the water and swam away for dear life, leaving their canoe in the hands of the strangers. they were finally coaxed back, but were more respectful in their demeanor.
"at another time," said frank, "the natives came with a large fleet of canoes and attacked the lady alice, but were driven off without serious difficulty. mr. stanley's plan was, in fights of this sort, to use his large rifle with explosive shells, which he aimed just at the water-line of the canoes. the craft would thus be sunk or disabled, while the crew, who are all good swimmers, ran no risk of being drowned. pursuit would thus be stopped, and the lady alice have plenty of time to escape.
the "lady alice" at bridge island, victoria nyanza.
"without accident, the adventurous party reached the outlet of the lake and visited ripon falls, the head of the victoria nile, which flows[pg 65]
[pg 66] into the albert nyanza. the latter lake is the source of the white nile—the nile of egypt, and one of the historic rivers of the world."
view of the bay leading to rugedzi channel from kigoma, near kisorya, south side of ukerewé, coast of speke gulf.
(from a photograph by mr. stanley.)
one of the youths asked how the ripon falls received that name.
"the name was given by captain speke, the first white man who ever saw the falls," replied frank. "he may be called their discoverer, as the visit to the falls was made during his exploration of the victoria nyanza. at the time his expedition was fitted out, the marquis of ripon was the president of the royal geographical society, and hence the name that captain speke gave to the falls."
"i suppose, then, that the victoria nyanza, or victoria lake, is the source of the nile," another of frank's auditors remarked.
frank looked inquiringly at doctor bronson, who immediately came to the youth's assistance.
"for all practical purposes," said the doctor, "captain speke's claim that he had discovered the source of the nile when he found the stream which drained the lake, was a just one. but by common consent of geographers the source of a river is the brook or rivulet, however tiny, that rises farthest from its mouth. adopting this as a rule, the source of the nile was not the victoria lake itself, but its longest affluent, and this is a question not yet fully determined, though it is fairly well settled that the honor belongs to the alexandra nile, or kagera river, which is certainly the longest affluent of the lake. the kagera river flows from alexandra lake, which lies nearly due west from the southern end of victoria lake; the distance is about one hundred and fifty miles in a direct line, but much greater according to the african routes of travel."
"did mr. stanley visit alexandra lake and find out what streams flowed into it?" one of the youths inquired, as doctor bronson paused.
"he was unable to do so," was the reply, "and no other traveller has yet completed the exploration. some geographers think that the longest affluent of lake victoria will yet prove to be one of the streams coming in from the eastward, and having its source at the base of mount kilima-njaro; but until this is shown to be an established fact, we may assume that the alexandra nile is the head of the great river of egypt, as it certainly is the largest stream that flows into victoria lake."
view of ripon falls from the uganda side.
(from a photograph by mr. stanley.)
"are there any other falls on the victoria nile besides the ripon falls just mentioned?" was the next inquiry from the audience.
"there are several falls and rapids on the stream," the doctor answered, "the most important being murchison falls, not far from where the victoria nile emerges into albert lake. lake albert is more than a thousand feet below the level of lake victoria, and therefore you may[pg 67]
[pg 68] expect a rapid descent of the river that connects these two bodies of water.
dressed for cold weather.
"during the time that egypt had partial control of the lake region of central africa, its government established a military station at foueira, on the victoria nile, just above the kuruma falls. the river was explored from one end to the other, and it was ascertained that, though there were several places where for many miles the current was comparatively placid, there were so many falls and rapids that navigation was practically impossible. consequently no use was made of the stream, and all expeditions through that region travel by land. unless an expedition is sufficiently powerful to force its way, travellers avoid the villages and keep as much as possible in the wilderness, to escape the extortionate demands of its petty chiefs, who invariably demand a high tribute. whatever they see they want, and it requires a great deal of diplomacy to escape from them without being stripped of everything of any value.
"but we are wandering from the route where we left mr. stanley," said doctor bronson, "and will now turn back to see where he went after visiting ripon falls. frank will inform us."
under this hint frank continued:
"where the lake narrows at the head of the victoria nile, or just above the falls, there is a v-shaped bay which is called napoleon channel. on the east of this channel is the country of usoga, and on the west that of uganda. the latter is the territory of the famous king mtesa, or rather it was his territory at the time of mr. stanley's visit, as he has since died and left the kingdom to his son.
"mr. stanley found the people of uganda friendly; and by one of the local chiefs he sent a message to the king to announce his coming. then he waited at one of the islands until the chief returned with mtesa's reply, which was that stanley should come and see him. escorted by a small fleet of war-canoes, commanded by a native named magassa, he proceeded on his journey to usavara, the port of mtesa's capital, about ten miles farther inland. i will read mr. stanley's account of his reception.
"when about two miles from usavara we saw what we estimated to be thousands[pg 69]
[pg 70] of people arranging themselves in order on a gently rising ground. when about a mile from the shore magassa gave the order to signal our advance upon it with firearms, and was at once obeyed by his dozen musketeers. half a mile off i saw that the people on the shore had formed themselves into two dense lines, at the ends of which stood several finely-dressed men, arrayed in crimson and black and snowy white. as we neared the beach volleys of musketry burst out from the long lines. magassa's canoes steered outward to right and left, while two or three hundred heavily-loaded guns announced to all around that the white man had landed. numerous kettle and bass drums sounded a noisy welcome, and flags, banners, and bannerets waved, and the people gave a great shout. very much amazed at all this ceremonious and pompous greeting, i strode up towards the great standard, near which stood a short young man, dressed in a crimson robe, which covered an immaculately white dress of bleached cotton, before whom magassa, who had hurried ashore, kneeled reverently, and turning to me begged me to understand that this short young man was the katekiro. not knowing very well who the "katekiro" was, i only bowed, which, strange to say, was imitated by him, only that his bow was far more profound and stately than mine. i was perplexed, confused, embarrassed, and i believe i blushed inwardly at this regal reception, though i hope i did not betray any embarrassment.
the victoria nile, north of ripon falls, rushing towards unyoro, from the usogo side of the falls.
(from a photograph by mr. stanley.)
"a dozen well-dressed people now came forward, and grasping my hand declared in the swahili language that i was welcome to uganda. the katekiro motioned with his head, and amid a perfect concourse of beaten drums, which drowned all conversation, we walked side by side, and followed by curious thousands, to a courtyard, and a circle of grass-thatched huts surrounding a larger house, which i was told were my quarters.
reception by king mtesa's body-guard at usavara.
"the katekiro and several of the chiefs accompanied me to my new hut, and a very sociable conversation took place. there was present a native of zanzibar, named tori, whom i shortly discovered to be chief drummer, engineer, and general jack-of-all-trades for the kabaka (king). from this clever, ingenious man i obtained the information that the katekiro was the prime-minister or the kabaka's deputy, and that the titles of the other chiefs were chambarango, kangau, mkwenda, sekebobo, kitunzi, sabaganzi, kauta, saruti. there were several more present, but i must defer mention of them to other chapters.
"waganda,[4] as i found subsequently, are not in the habit of remaining incurious before a stranger. hosts of questions were fired off at me about my health, my journey and its aim, zanzibar, europe and its people, the seas and the heavens, sun, moon, and stars, angels and devils, doctors, priests, and craftsmen in general; in fact, as the representative of nations who 'know everything,' i was subjected to a most searching examination, and in one hour and ten minutes it was declared[pg 71]
[pg 72] unanimously that i had 'passed.' forthwith, after the acclamation, the stately bearing became merged into a more friendly one, and long, thin, nervous black hands were pushed into mine enthusiastically, from which i gathered that they applauded me as though i had won the honors of a senior wrangler. some proceeded direct to the kabaka and informed him that the white man was a genius, knew everything, and was remarkably polite and sociable, and the kabaka was said to have 'rubbed his hands as though he had just come into the possession of a treasure.'
"the fruits of the favorable verdict passed upon myself and merits were seen presently in fourteen fat oxen, sixteen goats and sheep, a hundred bunches of bananas, three dozen fowls, four wooden jars of milk, four baskets of sweet potatoes, fifty cars of green indian corn, a basket of rice, twenty fresh eggs, and ten pots of mararaba wine. kauta, mtesa's steward or butler, at the head of the drovers and bearers of these various provisions, fell on his knees before me and said:
"'the kabaka sends salaams unto his friend who has travelled so far to see him. the kabaka cannot see the face of his friend until he has eaten and is satisfied. the kabaka has sent his slave with these few things to his friend that he may eat, and at the ninth hour, after his friend has rested, the kabaka will send and call for him to appear at the burzah. i have spoken. twi-yanzi-yanzi-yanzi!' (thanks, thanks, thanks).
"i replied suitably, though my politeness was not so excessive as to induce me to kneel before the courtly butler and thank him for permission to say i thanked him.
waiting orders.
"the ninth hour of the day approached. we had bathed, brushed, cleaned ourselves, and were prepared externally and mentally for the memorable hour when we should meet the foremost man of equatorial africa. two of the kabaka's pages, clad in a costume semi-kingwana and semi-kiganda, came to summon us—the kingwana part being the long white shirt of zanzibar, folded with a belt or band about the loins, the kiganda part being the sohari doti cloth depending from the right shoulder to the feet. 'the kabaka invites you to the burzah,' said they. forthwith we issue from our courtyard, five of the boat's crew on each side of me, armed with snider rifles. we reach a short, broad street, at the end of which is a hut. here the kabaka is seated with a multitude of chiefs, wakungu[5] and watongoleh, ranked from the throne in two opposing kneeling or seated lines, the ends being closed in by drummers, guards, executioners, pages, etc., etc. as we approached the nearest group it opened and the drummers beat mighty sounds, tori's drumming being conspicuous from its sharper beat. the foremost man of equatorial africa[pg 73]
[pg 74] rises and advances, and all the kneeling and seated lines rise—generals, colonels, chiefs, cooks, butlers, pages, executioners, etc., etc.
sekebobo, chief of chagwé. pokino, the prime-minister. mtesa, the emperor of uganda. chambarango, the chief.
other chiefs.
(from a photograph by mr. stanley.)
"the kabaka, a tall, clean-faced, large-eyed, nervous-looking, thin man, clad in a tarbush, black robe, with a white shirt belted with gold, shook my hands warmly and impressively, and, bowing not ungracefully, invited me to be seated on an iron stool. i waited for him to show the example, and then i and all the others seated ourselves.
"he first took a deliberate survey of me, which i returned with interest, for he was as interesting to me as i was to him. his impression of me was that i was younger than speke, not so tall, but better dressed. this i gathered from his criticisms, as confided to his chiefs and favorites.
"my impression of him was that he and i would become better acquainted, that i should make a convert of him, and make him useful to africa—but what other impressions i had may be gathered from the remarks i wrote that evening in my diary:
dwarf at the king's court.
"'as i had read speke's book for the sake of its geographical information, i retained but a dim remembrance of his description of his life in uganda. if i remember rightly, speke described a youthful prince, vain and heartless, a wholesale murderer and tyrant, one who delighted in fat women. doubtless he described what he saw, but it is far from being the state of things now. mtesa has impressed me as being an intelligent and distinguished prince, who, if aided in time by virtuous philanthropists, will do more for central africa than fifty years of gospel teaching, unaided by such authority, can do. i think i see in him the light that shall lighten the darkness of this benighted region; a prince well worthy the most hearty sympathies that europe can give him. in this man i see the possible fruition of livingstone's hopes, for with his aid the civilization of equatorial africa becomes feasible. i remember the ardor and love which animated livingstone[pg 75] when he spoke of sekeletu; had he seen mtesa, his ardor and love for him had been tenfold, and his pen and tongue would have been employed in calling all good men to assist him.'
"five days later i wrote the following entry:
"'i see that mtesa is a powerful emperor, with great influence over his neighbors. i have to-day seen the turbulent mankorongo, king of usui, and mirambo, that terrible phantom who disturbs men's minds in unyamwezi, through their embassies kneeling and tendering their tribute to him. i saw over three thousand soldiers of mtesa nearly half civilized. i saw about a hundred chiefs who might be classed in the same scale as the men of zanzibar and oman, clad in as rich robes and armed in the same fashion, and have witnessed with astonishment such order and law as is obtainable in semi-civilized countries. all this is the result of a poor muslim's labor; his name is muley bin salim. he it was who first began teaching here the doctrines of islam. false and contemptible as these doctrines are, they are preferable to the ruthless instincts of a savage despot, whom speke and grant left wallowing in the blood of women, and i honor the memory of muley bin salim—muslim and slave-trader though he be—the poor priest who has wrought this happy change. with a strong desire to improve still more the character of mtesa, i shall begin building on the foundation-stones laid by muley bin salim. i shall destroy his belief in islam, and teach the doctrines of jesus of nazareth.'
"it may easily be gathered from these entries that a feeling of admiration for mtesa must have begun very early, and that either mtesa is a very admirable man, or that i am a very impressionable traveller, or that mtesa is so perfect in the art of duplicity and acted so clever a part, that i became his dupe."
here frank paused, and suggested that they would leave mr. stanley with the king of uganda until the next day, when fred would take up the reading during the afternoon and evening. as it was near the time for retiring, no one made any objection to adjournment, and in a very few minutes the members of the impromptu geographical society had dispersed.
