J?
THE DISCOV
THE SOURCE OF
JOIIX E.
CAPTAIN H. H.
FELLOW AMD GOLD MEDALIST OP TBK Y UOJki SOC1KTY,
GOLD KSDAIJST OF THS ntZSOR -r-
HARPER &
JOURNAL
OF
THE DISCOVERY
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
JOHN BANNING SPEKE,
CAPTAIN H. M. INDIAN ARMY,
FELLOW AND GOLD MEDALIST OP THE EOTAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, HON. COEB. MEMBEB AND GOLD MEDALIST OF TEE FBENCH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
®g?ftf) |8ap airt> portraits, airtr Numerous Jjllustratfons,
CHIEFLY FROM DRAWINGS BY CAPTAIN GRANT.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
PBANKLIN S Q U A E E.
1864.
I
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
LONDON TO ZANZIBAR, 1859.
The Design. — The Preparations. — Departure.— The Cape. — The Zulu Kafirs — Turtle-turning. — Capture of a Slaver. — Arrive at Zanzibar. — Local Politics and News since last Visit. — Organization of the Expedition Page 31
CHAPTER II.
UZAKAMO.
The Nature of the Country. — The Order of March. — The Beginning of our Taxa- tion.— Sultan Lion's Claw and Sultan Monkey's Tail. — The Kingani.— Jealousies and Difficulties in the Camp. — The Murderer of M. Maizan 43
CHAPTER III.
TJSAGARA.
Nature of the Country. — Resumption of the March. — A Hunt. — Bombay and Baraka. — The Slave-hunters. — The Ivory-merchants. — Collection of Natural-history Spec- imens.— A frightened Village. — Tracking a Mule 56
CHAPTER IV.
UGOGO, AND THE WILDERNESS OP MGUNDA MKHALI.
The Lie of the Country. — Rhinoceros-stalking. — Scuffle of Villagers over a Carcass. — Chief "Short-legs" and his Successor. — Buffalo-shooting. — Getting Lost. — A Troublesome Sultan. — Desertions from the Camp. — Getting Plundered. — Wilder- ness March. — Diplomatic Relations with the Local Powers. — Manua Sera's Story. — Christmas. — The Relief from Kaze.. 73
CHAPTER V.
.U-N-TA-MUEZI.
The Country and People of U-n-ya-muezi. — Kaze, the Capital.— Old Mflsa. — The naked Wakidi. — The N'yanza, and the Question of the River running in or out. — The Contest between Mohinna and "Short-legs." — Famine. — The Arabs and Local Wars.— The Sultana of Unyambe'wa.— Ungurfie "the Pig."— Pillage... 98
CHAPTER VI.
TTZINZA.
The Politics of Uzinza. — The Wahttma.— "The Pig's" Trick.— First Taste of UsOi Taxation. — Pillaged by Mffimbi. — Pillaged by Makaka. — Pillaged by Lflmdre'si. — Grant stripped by M'yonga. — Stripped again by Rube". — Terrors and Defec- tions in the Camp. — Driven back to Kaze with new Tribulations and Impedi- ments..., .. 137
x CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
USUI.
Taxation recommenced. — A great Doctor. — Suwarora Pillaging. — The Arabs. — Conference with an Embassador from Uganda. — Disputes in Camp. — Rivalry of Bombay and Baraka. — Departure from the inhospitable Districts Page 178
CHAPTER VIH.
KAKAGUE.
Relief from Protectors and Pillagers. — The Scenery and Geology. — Meeting with the friendly King Rflmanika. — His Hospitalities and Attention. — His Services to the Expedition. — Philosophical and Theological Inquiries. — The Royal Fam- ily of Karagne. — The M-fumbiro Mountain.— Navigation of "The Little Winder- mere." — The New-moon Levfe. — Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus Hunting. — Measurement of a fattened Queen. — Political Polygamy. — Christmas. — Rumors of Petherick's Expedition. — Arrangements to meet it. — March to Uganda. ... 197
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORY OF THE WAHUMA.
The Abyssinians and Gallas. — Theory of Conquest of inferior by superior -Races. — The Wahuma and the Kingdom of Kittara. — Legendary History of the Kingdom of Uganda. — Its Constitution, and the Ceremonials of the Court 241
CHAPTER X.
KARAGVE AND UGANDA.
Escape from Protectors. — Cross the Kitangule', the first Affluent of the Nile. — Enter Uddtt. — Uganda. — A rich Country. — Driving away the Devil. — A Conflict in the Camp. — A pretending Prince. — Three Pages with a diplomatic Message from the King of Uganda. — Crime in Uganda 255
CHAPTER XI.
PALACE, UGANDA.
Preparations for the Reception at the Court of Mte"sa, King of Uganda. — The Cere- monial.— African Diplomacy and Dignity. — Feats with the Rifle. — Cruelty, and Wastefulness of Life. — The Pages. — The Queen-dowager of Uganda. — Her Court Reception.— I negotiate for a Palace. — Conversations with the King and Queen. — The Queen's grand Entertainment. — Royal Dissipation 280
CHAPTER XII.
% PALACE, UGANDA — Continued.
Continue.! diplomatic Difficulties.— Negro Chaffing.— The King in a new Costume. — Adjutant and Heron Shooting at Court.— My Residence changed.— Scenes nt Court.— The Kamraviona, or Commander-in-chief.— Quarrels.— Confidential Communications with the King.— Court Executions and Executioners.— Another Day with the Queen 310
CHAPTER Xin. PALACE, UGANDA— Continued.
A Viiit to ft distinguished 8utesinan.-A Visit from the King.-Royal Sport.-The Queen's Present of Wires. —The Court Beauties and their Reverses.— Judicial
CONTENTS. xi
Procedure in Uganda. — Buffalo-hunting. — A Musical Party. — My Medical Prac- tice.— A Royal Excursion on the N'yanza. — The Canoes of Uganda. — A Regatta. — Rifle Practice. — Domestic Difficulties. — Interference of a Magician. — The King's Brothers Page 342
CHAPTER XIV. PALACE, UGANDA — Continued.
Reception of a victorious Army at Court. — Royal Sport. — A Review of the Troops. — Negotiations for the Opening of the Road along the Nile. — Grant's Return. — Pillagings. — Court Marriages. — The King's Brothers. — Divinations and Sacri- fices.— The Road granted at last. — The Preparations for continuing the Expedi- tion.— The Departure 373
CHAPTER XV.
MARCH DOWN THE NORTHERN SLOPES OP AFRICA.
Kari. — Tragic Incident there. — Renewal of Troubles. — Quarrels with the Natives. — Reach the Nile. — Description of the Scene there. — Sport. — Church Estate. — As- cend the River to the Junction with the Lake. — Ripon Falls. — General Account of the Source of the Nile. — Descend again to Urondogani. — The truculent Saki- bobo 416
CHAPTER XVI.
BAHR EL ABIAD.
First Voyage on the Nile. — The Starting. — Description of the River and the Coun- try.— Meet a hostile Vessel. — A naval Engagement. — Difficulties and Dangers. — Judicial Procedure. — Messages from the King of Uganda. — His Efforts to get us back. — Desertion. — The Wanyoro Troops. — Kamrasi. — Elephant-stalking. — Dia- bolical Possessions 435
CHAPTER XVII.
UNTORO.
Invitation to the Palace at last. — Journey to it. — Bombay's Visit to King Kamrasi. — Our Reputation as Cannibals. — Reception at Court. — Acting the Physician again. — Royal Mendicancy 455
CHAPTER XVIII.
UNTORO — Continued.
The Ceremonies of the New Moon. — Kamrasi's Rule and Discipline. — An Embassy from Uganda, and its Results. — The rebellious Brothers. — An African Sorcerer and his Incantations. — The Kamraviona of Unyoro. — Burial Customs. — Ethio- pian Legends. — Complicated Diplomacy for our Detention. — Proposal to send Princes to England. — We get away 474
CHAPTER XLX.
THE MARCH TO MADI.
Sail down the Kafii. — The navigable Nile. — Fishing and Sporting Population. — The Scenery on the River. — An inhospitable Governor. — Karuma Falls. — Native Superstitions. — Thieveries. — Hospitable Reception at Koki by Chongi 506
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
MADI.
Junction of the two Hemispheres. — The first Contact with Persons acquainted with European Habits. — Interruptions and Plots. — The mysterious Mahamed. — Native Revelries. — The Plundering and Tyranny of the Turks. — The Rascalities of the Ivory Trade. — Feeling for the Nile, — Taken to see a Mark left by a European. — Buffalo, Eland, and Rhinoceros Stalking. — Meet Baker. — Petherick's Arrival at Gondokoro Page 521
CONCLUSION , ,. 548
APPENDIX 553
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PORTRAIT OP CAPTAIN SPEKE in Dress worn in Africa (Frontispiece)
from Photograph, by Southwell Brothers. 38(5. POETEAIT OF CAPTAIN GfiAXT in Dress worn in Africa
from Photograph by Urquhart, DmgwaJl. 34. ZULU KAFIB, DELAGOA BAT Grant.
37. BANYAN CONTEMPLATING HIS ACCOUNT-BOOK Liettt. Suther.
38. SAID MAJTD, SULTAN OF ZANZIBAR .from Photograph by Col. Play fair.
43. MZARAMO, OR NATIVE OF UZARAMO Grant.
44. WAZARAMO, PEOPLE OF UZARAMO do.
56. MSAGARA, OR NATIVE OF USAGARA do.
61. MKAMBAKU HILL, VIEWED FROM ZUNGOMERO Speke.
65. HILL VIEW FROM EASTERN MBUIGA Jo.
70. BUGU, CALABASH, OR GOUTY-LIMBED TREES do.
73. MGOGO, OR NATIVE OF UGOQO Grant.
74. VIEW OF EAST COAST RANGE FROM MARENGA MKHALI Speke.
76. OCR CAMP IN UGOGO Grant.
79. NEW ANTELOPE — UGOGO .from Specimen, Wolff.
83. THREE BUFFALO-CHARGES IN ONE DAY — MGUNDA MKHALI
Zwecker, from Sketch by Speke. 91. THE TEMBE,OR MUD VILLAGE, AT JIWA LA MKOA Speke.
97. VIEW IN EASTERN UNYANYEMBE do.
98. MTAMUEZI, OR NATIVE OF UNYAMUEZI.. , Grant.
100. FRONT VIEW OF MUSA'S TEMBE AT KAZE do.
101. WANYAMUEZI ORNAMENTS, ETC do.
103. Do. IMPLEMENTS do.
117. SIRBOKO'S SLAVES CARRYING FUEL AND CUTTING RICE
Zwecker, from Sketch by do.
129. UNYAMUEZI HARVEST Grant.
132. UKULIMA'S VILLAGE do.
137. MZINZA, OR NATIVE OF UZINZA do.
149. GRANT DANCING WITH UKULIMA do.
154. LUMERESI'S RESIDENCE do-
xiy ILLUSTRATIONS.
r«;«
169. BLACKSMITH'S SHOP
184. UTHCNOU VALLEY do-
186. OCE CAMP IN THE UTHUNGU VALLEY— THE WASUI BRINGING PRO- VISIONS FOB SALE Zwecker, from Sketch by do.
197. ONB OF THE WAHUMA • do-
204. OUR CAMP OCTSIDE THE PALACE, KARAGUE... Zwecker, from Sketch by do.
210. MUSICIANS-KARAGUE Zwecker, from Sketch by do.
•J 1 1 . VIEW OF MOUNT MFUMBIRO, AND DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF THE MONTES
220. Nzoi ANTELOPES— LITTLE WINDERMERE, KARAGUE
Wolff, from Sketch by do.
222. THE KING'S NEW-MOON LEVEE : Grant,
227. PRESENTING MY HCNTING SPOILS TO RUMANIKA
Zwecker, from Sketches by Speke $ Grant.
247. WAOANDA WAR-INSTRUMENTS Grant.
256. FERRY ON THE KITANGULE RIVER do.
260. BARAZA AND RESIDENCE OF KAMRASI'S UNCLE — NGAMBEZI do.
269. WAOANDA BREWING POMBE do.
277. VIEW OF KING MTESA'S PALACE FROM MY HUT — UGANDA do.
280. MOAN-DA, OR NATIVE OF UGANDA do.
285. KING OF UGANDA RETIRING do.
297. KAMBARI FISH Speke.
887. A QUEEN DRAGGED TO EXECUTION— UGANDA Grant.
360. VIEW OF THE MCRCHISON CREEK do.
862. UGANDA BOAT Speke.
370. CAPTAIN GRANT LEAVING KARAGUE Grant.
382. KING OF UGANDA REVIEWING COL. CONGO'S REGIMENT
Zwecker, from Sketch by Speke.
888. Knco MTESA HOLDING A LEVEE Zwecker, from Sketch by Grant.
8tt. SPEKE INTRODUCES GRANT TO THE QUEEN-DOWAGER OF UGANDA.... do.
400. PALACE GUARDS AT DINNER — UGANDA do.
407. WAOANDA OFFICERS DRINKING POMBE do.
4 n. GOATSUCKER (Cosmetornis Spckii) : from Specimen, Wolff.
THE RIPOM FALLS— the Nile flowing out of Victoria N'yanza Speke.
452. N'BAMMA ANTELOPE— UGANDA Wolff, from Sketch by do.
Tar ELEPHANTS' CHARGE Zwecker,from Sketch by do.
4*6. Kwo KAMRASI'* PALACE FROM MY HUT— UNYORO Grant.
481. STUB'S Mm KILLING A Cow, WITH MAGICIAN, ETC., LOOKING ON
Zwecker, from Sketch by do.
4M. KAMRAM'H FIRST LKMON IN THE BIBLE do.
4W. KIMEXTA THE DWARF ^
OROCT OF KIDI MEN ON A VISIT TO KINO KAMRASI do.
»t*. THE KARUMA FALLS— KIDI do
ILLUSTRATIONS. xv
PAGE
517. GROUP OF GANI MEN Grant.
523. TURKS' WIVES AND CHILDREN do.
528. REMOVING A VILLAGE — MADI do.
529. TYING UP IVORIES FOR THE MARCH do.
532. MAHAMED'S PARTY ON THE MARCH do.
534. THE NILE AND JBL KUKU do.
541. MISSION-HOUSE, GONDOKORO do.
546. THE NILE BELOW THE JUNCTION OF THE ASUA RIVER do.
550. SPEKE'S ' ' FAITHFULS" from Photograph by Royer of Cairo.
552. WOMEN OF THE EXPEDITION from Photograph by do.
MAP OF EASTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA (at end of the Volume) Speke.
MAP OF THE NILE FROM ITS SOURCE, according to the ancient Hindfl Books, page 30.
INTRODUCTION.
IN th*e following pages I have endeavored to describe all that appeared to me most important and interesting among the events and the scenes that came under my notice during my sojourn in the interior of Africa. If my account should not entirely harmo- nize with preconceived notions as to primitive races, I can not help it. I profess accurately to describe naked Africa — Africa in those places where it has not received the slightest impulse, whether for good or for evil, from European civilization. If the picture be a dark one, we should, when contemplating these sons of Noah, try and carry our mind back to that time when our poor elder brother Ham was cursed by his father, and condemned to be the slave of both Shem and Japheth ; for as they were then, so they appear to be now — a strikingly existing proof of the Holy Scriptures. But one thing must be remembered: "While the people of Europe and Asia were blessed by communion with God through the medium of His prophets, and obtained divine laws to regulate their ways and keep them in mind of Him who made them, the Africans were excluded from this dispensation, and consequently have no idea of an overruling Providence or a future state ; they therefore trust to luck and to charms, and think only of self-preservation in this world. Whatever, then, may be said against them for being too avaricious or too destitute of fel- low-feeling, should rather reflect on ourselves, who have been so much better favored, yet have neglected to teach them, than on those who, while they are sinning, know not what they are doing. To say a negro is incapable of instruction is a mere absurdity, for those few boys who have been educated in our schools have proved themselves even quicker than our own at learning; while, among themselves, the deepness of their cunning and their power of repartee are quite surprising, and are especially shown in their proficiency for telling lies most appropriately in preference to truth, and with an off-handed manner that makes them most amusing.
B
INTRODUCTION.
With these remarks, I now give, as an appropriate introduction to my narrative, (1.) An account of the general .geographical fea- tures of the countries we are about to travel in, leaving the details to be treated under each as we successively pass through them : (2.) A general view of the atmospheric agents which wear down and so continually help to reduce the continent, yet at the same time assist to clothe it with vegetation ; (3.) A general view of the Flora; and, lastly, that which consumes it, (4.) Its Fauna: ending with a few special remarks on the Wanguana, <or men freed from slavery.
GEOGRAPHY.
The continent of Africa is something like a dish turned upside down, having a high and flat central plateau, with a higher rim of hills surrounding it ; from below which, exterially, it suddenly slopes down to the flat strip of land bordering on the sea. A dish, however, is generally uniform in shape — Africa is not. For instance, we find in its centre a high group of hills surrounding the head of the Tanganyika Lake, composed chiefly of argiDa- ceous sandstones, which I suppose to be the Lunse Montes of Ptolemy, or the Soma Giri of the ancient Hindus. Farther, in- stead of a rim at the northern end, the country shelves down from the equator to the Mediterranean Sea ; and on the general surface of the interior plateau there are basins full of water (lakes), from which, when rains overflow them, rivers are formed, that, cutting through the flanking rim of hills, find their way to the sea.
ATMOSPHERIC AGENTS.
On the east coast, near Zanzibar, we find the rains following the track of the sun, and lasting not more than forty days on any part that the sun crosses, while the winds blow from southwest or northeast toward the regions heated by its vertical position. But in the centre of the continent, within 5° of the equator, we find the rains much more lasting. For instance, at 5° south lati- tude, for the whole six months that the sun is in the south, rain continues to fall, and I have heard that the same takes place at 5° north ; while on the equator, or rather a trifle to northward of it, it rains more or less the whole year round, but most at the equinoxes, as shown in the table on the following page. The winds, though somewhat less steady, are still very determinate. With an easterly tending, they deflect north and south, following
INTRODUCTION.
XIX
THE NUMBER OF DATS ON WHICH RAIN FELL (more or less) during the March of the East African Expedition from Zanzibar to Gondokoro.
|
1860. |
Days on which rain fell. |
1SG1. |
Days on which rain fell. |
1862. |
Days on which rain fell. |
||
|
January |
19 |
January |
H |
||||
|
February |
21 |
February* |
12 |
||||
|
March |
17 |
March |
21 |
||||
|
April |
17 |
April |
27 |
||||
|
May |
3 |
May |
26 |
||||
|
June |
0 |
June |
20 |
||||
|
July |
1 |
July |
22 |
||||
|
August |
1 |
August |
20 |
||||
|
September |
9 |
September |
18 |
||||
|
October |
2 |
October |
11 |
October |
27 |
||
|
November |
0 |
November |
17 |
November |
20 |
||
|
December |
20 |
December |
16 |
December |
-6 |
* The equator was crossed on the Sth of February, 1862.
the sun. In the dryer season they blow so cold that the sun's heat is not distressing ; and in consequence of this, and the aver- age altitude of the plateau, which is 3000 feet, the general tem- perature of the atmosphere is very pleasant, as I found from ex- perience ; for I walked every inch of the journey dressed in thick woolen clothes, and slept every night between blankets.*
FLORA.
From what has been said regarding the condition of the atmos- phere, it may readily be imagined that Africa, in those parts, after all, is not so bad as people supposed it was ; for, when so much moisture falls under a vertical sun, all vegetable life must grow up almost spontaneously. It does so on the equator in the most profuse manner ; but down at 5° south, where there' are six months' drought, the case is somewhat different, and the people would be subject to famines if they did not take advantage of their rainy season to lay in sufficient stores for the fine : and here we touch on the misfortune of the country ; for the negro is too lazy to do so effectively, owing chiefly, as we shall see presently, to want of a strong protecting government. One substantial fact has been established, owing to our having crossed over ten degrees of latitude in the centre of the continent, or from 5° south to 5° north latitude, which is this : There exists a regular gradation of fertility, surprisingly rich on the equator, but decreasing syste- matically from it; and the reason why this great fertile zone is confined to the equatorial regions is the same as that which has
* See climate for one year bordering on the Victoria N'yanza, deduced from the observations of Captain Grant by Francis Galton, F.R.S., in the Appendix.
XX
INTRODUCTION.
constituted it the great focus of water or lake supply, whence issue the principal rivers of Africa. On the equator lie the rain- bearing influences of the Mountains of the Moon. The equato- rial line is, in fact, the centre of atmospheric motion.*
FAUNA.
In treating of this branch of natural history, we will first take man — the true curly -head, flab-nosed, pouch-mouthed negro — not the Wahuma.t They are well distributed all over these lati- tudes, but are not found any where in dense communities. Their system of government is mostly of the patriarchal character. Some are pastorals, but most are agriculturists ; and this differ- ence, I believe, originates solely from want of a stable govern- ment, to enable them to reap what they produce ; for where the negro can save his cattle, which is his wealth, by eating grain, he will do it In the same way, as all animals, whether wild or tame, require a guide to lead their flocks, so do the negroes find it necessary to have chiefs over their villages and little commu- nities, who are their referees on all domestic or political questions. They have both their district and their village chiefs, but, in the countries we are about to travel over, no kings such as we shall find that the Wahiima have. The district chief is absolute, though guided in great measure by his " graybeards," who con- stantly attend his residence, and talk over their affairs of state. These commonly concern petty internal matters, for they are too selfish and too narrow-minded to care for any thing but their own private concerns. The graybeards circulate the orders of the chief among the village chiefs, who are fined when they do not comply with them; and hence all orders are pretty well obeyed. 4
One thing only tends to disorganize the country, and that is war, caused, in the first instance, by polygamy, producing a fam- ily of half-brothers, who, all aspiring to succeed their father, fight continually with one another, and make their chief aim slaves and cattle ; while, in the second instance, slavery keeps them ever fighting and reducing their numbers. The government revenues are levied, on a very small scale, exclusively for the benefit of the chief and his graybeards. For instance, as a sort of land-tax, the chief has a right to drink free from the village brews of
• Captain Grant's collection of the flora of Africa will be found in the Appendix, t The Wahflma are treated of in Chapter IX.
INTRODUCTION.
pombe' (a kind of beer made by fermentation), which are made in turn by all the villagers successively. In case of an elephant be- ing killed,, he also takes a share of the meat, and claims one of its tusks as his right ; farther, all leopard, lion, or zebra skins are his by right. On merchandise brought into the country by traders, he has a general right to make any exactions he thinks he has the power of enforcing, without any regard to justice or a regu- lated tariff. This right is called Hongo, in the plural Mahongo. Another source of revenue is in the effects of all people con- demned for sorcery, who are either burnt, or speared and cast into the jungles, and their property seized by the gray beards for their chief.
As to punishments, all irreclaimable thieves or murderers are killed and disposed of in the same manner as these sorcerers, while on minor thieves a penalty equivalent to the extent of the depredation is levied. Illicit intercourse being treated as petty larceny, a value is fixed according to the value of the woman — for it must be remembered all women are property. Indeed, marriages are considered a very profitable speculation, the girl's hand being in the father's gift, who marries her to any one who will pay her price. This arrangement, however, is not considered a simple matter of buying and selling, but delights in the high- sounding title of " dowry." Slaves, cows, goats, fowls, brass wire, or beads, are the usual things given for this species of dowry. The marriage-knot, however, is never irretrievably tied; for if the wife finds a defect in her husband, she can return to her father by refunding the dowry; while the husband, if he objects to his wife, can claim half price on sending her home again, which is considered fair, because as a second-hand article her future value would be diminished by half. By this system, it must be ob- served, polygamy is a source of wealth, since a man's means are measured by the number of his progeny ; but it has other advant- ages besides the dowry, for the women work more than the men do, both in and out of doors; and, in addition to the females, the sons work for the household until they marry, and in after life take care of their parents in the same way as in the first instance the parents took care of them.
Twins are usually hailed with delight, because they swell the power of the family, though in some instances they are put to death. Albinos are valued, though their color is not admired. If death occurs in a natural manner, the body is usually either
INTRODUCTION.
buried in the village or outside. A large portion of the negro races affect nudity, despising clothing as effeminate; but these are chiefly the more boisterous, roving pastorals, who are too lazy either to grow cotton or strip the trees of their bark. Their young women go naked ; but the mothers suspend a little tail both before and behind. As the hair of the negro will not grow long, a barber might be dispensed with, were it not that they de- light in odd fashions, and are therefore continually either shaving it off altogether, or else fashioning it after the most whimsical de- signs. No people in the world are so proud and headstrong as the negroes, whether they be pastoral or agriculturists. "With them, as with the rest of the world, " familiarity breeds con- tempt;" hospitality lives only one day; for, though proud of a rich or white visitor — and they implore him to stop, that they may keep feeding their eyes on his curiosities — they seldom give more than a cow or a goat, though professing to supply a whole camp with provisions.
Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or much difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it is true. For instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in a different manner from the others ; but, by the constant intermar- riage with slaves, much of this effect is lost, and it is farther lost sight of owing to the prevalence of migrations caused by wars and the division of governments. As with the tribal marks, so with their weapons ; those most commonly in use are the spear, assegai, shield, bow and arrow. It is true, some affect one, some the other; but in no way do we see that the courage of tribes can be determined by the use of any particular weapon ; for the brav- est use the arrow, which is the more dreaded, while the weakest confine themselves to the spear. Lines of traffic are the worst tracks (there are no roads in the districts here referred to) for a traveler to go upon, not only because the hospitality of the peo- ple has been damped by frequent communication with travelers, but, by intercourse with the semi-civilized merchant, their natural honor and honesty are corrupted, their cupidity is increased, and the show of fire-arms ceases to frighten them.
Of paramount consideration is the power held by the magician (Mganga), who rules the minds of the kings as did the old popes of Europe. They, indeed, are a curse to the traveler ; for if it suite their inclinations to keep him out of the country, they have merely to prognosticate all sorts of calamities — as droughts, fam-
INTRODUCTION.
ines, or wars — in the event of his setting eyes on the soil, and the chiefs, people, and all, would believe them ; for, as may be im- agined, with men unenlightened, supernatural and imaginary pre- dictions work with more force than substantial reasons. Their implement of divination, simple as it may appear, is a cow's or antelope's horn (TJganga), which they stuff with magic powder, also called Uganga. Stuck into the ground in front of the vil- lage, it is supposed to have sufficient power to ward off the at- tacks of an enemy.
By simply holding it in the hand, the magician pretends he can discover any thing that has been stolen or lost ; and instances have been told of its dragging four men after it with irresistible impetus up to a thief, when it belabored the culprit and drove him out of his senses. So imbued are the natives' minds with belief in the power of charms, that they pay the magician for sticks, stones, or mud, which he has doctored for them. They be- lieve certain flowers held in the hand will conduct them to any thing lost ; as also that the voice of certain wild animals, birds, or beasts, will insure them good luck, or warn them of danger. With the utmost complacency, our sable brother builds a dwarf hut in his fields, and places some grain on it to propitiate the evil spirit, and suffer him to reap the fruits of his labor, and this, too, they call their TJganga, or church.
These are a few of the more innocent alternatives the poor ne- groes resort to in place of a "Savior." They have also many other and more horrible devices. For instance, in times of tribu- lation, the magician, if he ascertains a war is projected by inspect- ing the blood and bones of a fowl which he has flayed for that purpose, flays a young child, and, having laid it lengthwise on a path, directs all the warriors, on proceeding to battle, to step over his sacrifice and insure themselves victory. Another of these extra barbarous devices takes place when a chief wishes to make war on his neighbor, by his calling in a magician to- discover a propitious time for commencing. The doctor places a large earthen vessel, half full of water, over a fire, and over* its mouth a grating of sticks, whereon he lays a small child and a fowl side by side, and covers them over with a second large earthen vessel, just like the first, only inverted, to keep the steam in, when he sets fire below, cooks for a certain period of time, and then looks to see if his victims are still living or dead — when, should they be dead, the war must be deferred, but otherwise commenced at once.
XXIV
INTRODUCTION.
These extremes, however, are not often resorted to, for the na- tives are usually content with simpler means, such as flaying a goat, instead of a child, to be walked over ; while, to prevent any evil approaching their dwellings, a squashed frog, or any other such absurdity, when placed on the track, is considered a spe- cific.
How the negro has lived so many ages without advancing seems marvelous, when all the countries surrounding Africa are so forward in comparison ; and, judging from the progressive state of the world, one is led to suppose that the African must soon either step out from his darkness, or be superseded by a be- ing superior to himself. Could a government be formed for them like ours in India, they would be saved ; but without it, I fear there is very little chance ; for at present the African neither can help himself nor will he be helped by others, because his country is in such a constant state of turmoil he has too much anxiety on hand looking out for his food to think of any thing else. As his fathers ever did, so does he. He works his wife, sells his chil- dren, enslaves all he can lay hands upon, and, unless when fight- ing for the property of others, contents himself with drinking, singing, and dancing like a baboon, to drive dull care away. A few only make cotton cloth, or work in wood, iron, copper, or salt; their rule being to do as little as possible, and to store up nothing beyond the necessities of the next season, lest their chiefs or neighbors should covet and take it from them.
Slavery, I may add, is one great cause of laziness, for the mas- ters become too proud to work, lest they should be thought slaves themselves. In consequence of this, the women look after the household work, such as brewing, cooking, grinding corn, making pottery and baskets, and taking care of the house and the children, besides helping the slaves while cultivating, or even tending the cattle sometimes.
Now, descending to the inferior order of creation, I shall com- mence with the domestic animals first, to show what the traveler may expect to find for his usual support. Cows, after leaving the low lands near the 'coast, are found to be plentiful every where, and to produce milk in small quantities, from which butter is made. Goats are common all over Africa ; but sheep are not so plentiful, nor do they show such good breeding, being generally lanky, with long fat tails. Fowls, much like those in India, are abundant every where. A few Muscovy ducks are imported,
!
INTRODUCTION. xxv
also pigeons and cats. Dogs, like the Indian pariah, are very plentiful, only much smaller ; and a few donkeys are found in certain localities. Now, considering this goodly supply of meat, while all tropical plants will grow just as well in central equato- rial Africa as they do in India, it surprises the traveler there should be any famines ; yet such is too often the case ; and the negro, with these bounties within his reach, is sometimes found eating dogs, cats, rats, porcupines, snakes, lizards, tortoises, locusts, and white ants, or is forced to seek the seeds of wild grasses, or to pluck wild herbs, fruits, and roots, while at the proper seasons they hunt the wild elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, pigs, and ante- lopes, or, going out with their arrows, have battues against the Guinea-fowls and small birds.
The frequency with which collections of villages are found all over the countries we are alluding to leaves but very little scope for the runs of wild animals, which are found only in dense jungles, open forests, or prairies, generally speaking, where hills can protect them, and near rivers whose marshes produce a thick growth of vegetation to conceal them from their most dreaded enemy — man. The prowling, restless elephant, for instance, though rarely seen, leaves indications of his nocturnal excursions in every wilderness by wantonly knocking down the forest-trees. The morose rhinoceros, though less numerous, are found in every thick jungle. So is the savage buffalo, especially delighting in dark places, where he can wallow in the mud and slake his thirst without much trouble ; and here also we find the wild pig.
The gruff hippopotamus is as wide-spread as any, being found wherever there is water to float him ; while the shy giraffe and zebra affect all open forests and plains where the grass is not too long ; and antelopes, of great variety in species and habits, are found wherever man will let them alone and they can find water. The lion is, however, rarely heard — much more seldom seen. Hyenas are numerous, and thievishly inclined. Leopards, less common, are the terror of the villagers. Foxes are riot numer- ous, but frighten the black traveler by their ill-omened bark. Hares, about half the size of English ones — there are no rabbits — are widely spread, but not numerous; porcupines the same. Wild-cats, and animals of the ferret kind, destroy game. Monk- eys of various kinds, and squirrels, harbor in the trees, but are rarely seen. Tortoises and snakes, in great variety, crawl over the ground, mostly after the rains. Rats and lizards — there are
INTRODUCTION.
but few mice — are very abundant, and feed both in the fields and on the stores of the men.
The wily ostrich, bustard, and florikan affect all open places. The Guinea-fowl is the most numerous of all game-birds. Par- tridges come next, but do not afford good sport ; and quails are rare. Ducks and snipe appear to love Africa less than any other country ; and geese and storks are only found where water most abounds. Vultures are uncommon; hawks and crows much abound, as in all other countries ; but little birds, of every color and note, are discoverable in great quantities near water and by the villages. Huge snails and small ones, as well as fresh-water shells, are very abundant, though the conchologist would find but little variety to repay his labors; and insects, though innumer- able, are best sought for after the rains have set in.*
THE WA-N-GUANA, OR FREED MEN.
The Wa-n-guana, as their name implies, are men freed from slavery ; and as it is to these singular negroes acting as hired servants that I have been chiefly indebted for opening this large section of Africa, a few general remarks on their character can not be out of place here.
Of course, having been born in Africa, and associated in child- hood with the untainted negroes, they retain all the superstitious notions of the true aborigines, though somewhat modified, and even corrupted, by that acquaintance with the outer world which sharpens their wits.
Most of these men were doubtless caught in wars, as may be seen every day in Africa, made slaves of, and sold to the Arabs for a few yards of common cloth, brass wire, or beads. They would then be taken to the Zanzibar market, resold like horses to the highest bidder, and then kept in bondage by their new masters, more like children of his family than any thing else. In this new position they were circumcised to make Mussulmans of them, that their hands might be " clean" to slaughter their mas- ter's cattle, and extend his creed ; for the Arabs believe the day must come when the tenets of Mohammed will be accepted by all men.
The slave in this new position finds himself much better off than he ever was in his life before, with this exception, that as a
• The list of my fauna collection will be found in an early number of the "Pro- ceedings of the Zoological Society of London."
INTRODUCTION. xxvii
slave he feels himself much degraded in the social scale of society, and his family ties are all cut off from him — probably his rela- tions have all been killed in the war in which he was captured. Still, after the first qualms have worn off, we find him much at- tached to his master, who feeds him and finds him in clothes in return for the menial services which he performs. In a few years after capture, or when confidence has been gained by the attach- ment shown by the slave, if the master is a trader in ivory, he will intrust him with the charge of his stores, and send him all over the interior of the continent to purchase for him both slaves and ivory ; but should the master die, according to the Moham- medan creed the slaves ought to be freed. In Arabia this would be the case, but at Zanzibar it more generally happens that the slave is willed to his successor.
The whole system of slaveholding by the Arabs in Africa, or rather on the coast or at Zanzibar, is exceedingly strange ; for the slaves, both in individual physical strength and in numbers, are so superior to the Arab foreigners, that if they chose to rebel, they might send the Arabs flying out of the land. It happens, however, that they are spell-bound, not knowing their strength any more than domestic animals, and they even seem to consider that they would be dishonest if they ran away after being pur- chased, and so brought pecuniary loss on their owners.
There are many positions into which the slave may get by the course of events, and I shall give here, as a specimen, the ordinary case of one who has been freed by the death of his master, that master having been a trader in ivory and slaves in the interior. In such a case, the slave so freed in all probability would com- mence life afresh by taking service as a porter with other mer- chants, and in the end would raise sufficient capital to commence trading himself — first in slaves, because they are the most easily got, and then in ivory. All his accumulations would then go to the Zanzibar market, or else to slavers looking out off the coast. Slavery begets slavery. To catch slaves is the first thought of every chief in the interior ; hence fights and slavery impoverish the land, and that is the reason both why Africa does not improve, and why we find men of all tribes and tongues on the coast. The ethnologist need only go to Zanzibar to become acquainted with all the different tribes to the centre of the continent on that side, or to Congo to find the other half south of the equator there.
Some few freed slaves take service in vessels, of which they are
xxviii INTRODUCTION.
especially fond, but most return to Africa to trade in slaves and ivory. All slaves learn the coast language, called at Zanzibar Kisfiahili; and therefore the traveler, if judicious in his selections, could find there interpreters to carry him throughout the eastern half of South Africa. To the north of the equator the system of language entirely changes.
Laziness is inherent in these men, for which reason, although extremely powerful, they will not work unless compelled to do so. Having no God, in the Christian sense of the term, to fear or worship, they have no love for truth, honor, or honesty. Con- trolled by no government, nor yet by home ties, they have no reason to think of or look to the future. Any venture attracts them when hard-up for food; and the more roving it is, the better they like it The life of the sailor is most particularly attractive to the freed slave ; for he thinks, in his conceit, that he is on an equality with all men when once on the muster-rolls, and then he calls -all his fellow-Africans "savages." Still, the African's peculiarity sticks to him; he has gained no permanent good. The association of white men and the glitter of money merely dazzle him. He apes like a monkey the jolly Jack Tar, and spends his wages accordingly. If chance brings him back again to Zanzibar, he calls his old Arab master his father, and goes into slavery with as much zest as ever.
I have spoken of these freed men as if they had no religion. This is practically true, though theoretically not so; for the Arabs, on circumcising them, teach them to repeat the words Allah and Mohammed, and perhaps a few others ; but not one in ten knows what a soul means, nor do they expect to meet with either reward or punishment in the next world, though they are taught to regard animals as clean and unclean, and some go through the form of a pilgrimage to Mecca. Indeed, the whole of their spiritual education goes into oaths and ejaculations, Allah and Mohammed being as common in their mouths as damn and blast are with our soldiers and sailors. The long and short of this story is, that the freed men generally turn out a loose, roving, reckless set of beings, quick-witted as the Yankee,, from the simple fact that they imagine all political matters affect them, and there- fore they must have a word in every debate. Nevertheless, they are seldom wise ; and lying being more familiar to their constitu- tion than truth-saying, they are forever concocting dodges with the view, which they glory in, of successfully cheating people.
INTRODUCTION.
Sometimes they will show great kindness, even bravery amount- ing to heroism, and proportionate affection ; at another time, with- out any cause, they will desert and be treacherous to their sworn friends in the most dastardly manner. Whatever the freak of the moment is, that they adopt in the most thoughtless manner, even though they may have calculated on advantages beforehand in the opposite direction. In fact, no one can rely upon them even for a moment. Dog wit, or any silly remarks, will set them giggling. Any toy will amuse them. Highly conceited of their personal appearance, they are forever cutting their hair in differ- ent fashions to surprise a friend; or if a rag be thrown away, they will all in turn fight for it, to bind on their heads, then on their loins or spears, peacocking about with it before their admir- ing comrades. Even strange feathers or skins are treated by them in the same way.
Should one happen to have any thing specially to communicate to his master in camp, he will enter giggling, sidle up to the pole of a hut, commence scratching his back with it, then stretch and yawn, and gradually, in bursts of loud laughter, slip down to the ground on his stern, when he drums with his hands on the top of a box until summoned to know what he has at heart, when he delivers himself in a peculiar manner, laughs and yawns again, and, saying it is time to go, walks off in the same way as he came. At other times, when he is called, he will come sucking away at the spout of a tea-pot, or scratching his naked arm-pits with a table-knife, or, perhaps, polishing the plates for dinner with his dirty loin-cloth. If sent to market to purchase a fowl, he comes back with a cock tied by the legs to the end of a stick, swinging and squalling in the most piteous manner. Then, arrived at the cook-shop, he throws the bird down on the ground, holds its head between his toes, plucks the feathers to bare its throat, and then, raising a prayer, cuts its head off.
But enough of the freed man in camp ; on the march he is no better. If you give him a gun and some ammunition to protect him in case of emergencies, he will promise to save it, but forth- with expends it by firing it off in the air, and demands more, else he will fear to venture among the " savages." Suppose you give him a box of bottles to carry, or a desk, or any thing else that re- quires great care, and you caution him of its contents, the first thing he does is to commence swinging it round and round, or putting it topsy-turvy on the top of his head, when he will run
XXX
INTRODUCTION.
off at a jog-trot, singing and laughing in the most provoking •manner, and thinking no more about it than if it were an old stone ; even if rain were falling, he would put it in the best place to get wet through. Economy, care, or forethought never enters his head ; the first thing to hand is the right thing for him ; and, rather than take the trouble even to look for his own rope to tie up his bundle, he would cut off his master's tent-ropes or steal his comrade's. His greatest delight is in the fair sex, and when he can't get them, next comes beer, song, and a dance.
Now this is a mild specimen of the " rowdy" negro, who has contributed more to open Africa to enterprise and civilization than any one else. Possessed of a wonderful amount of loquac- ity, great risibility, but no stability — a creature of impulse — a grown child, in short — at first sight it seems wonderful how he can be trained to work ; for there is no law, no home to bind him: he could run away at any moment; and, presutning on this, he sins, expecting to be forgiven. Great forbearance, occasionally tinctured with a little fatherly severity, is, I believe, the best dose for him ; for he says to his master, in the most childish manner, after sinning, " You ought to forgive and to forget ; for are you not a big man who should be above harboring spite, though for a moment you may be angry ? Flog me if you like, but don't keep count against me, else I shall run away ; and what will you do then?"
The language of this people is just as strange as they are them- selves. It is based on euphony, from which cause it is very com- plex, the more especially so as it requires one to be possessed of a negro's turn of mind to appreciate the system, and unravel the secret of its euphonic concord. A Kisiiahili grammar, written by Dr. Krapf, will exemplify what I mean. There is one peculiarity, however, to which I would direct the attention of the reader most particularly, which is, that Wa prefixed to the essential word of a country means men or people; M prefixed means man or indi- vidual ; U, in the same way, means place or locality ; and Ki pre- fixed indicates the language. Example : Wagogo is the people of Gogo; Mgogo is a Gogo man ; Ugogo is the country of Gogo; and Kigogo the language of Gogo.
The only direction here necessary as regards pronunciation of native words refers to the M, which represents a sound correspond- ing to that of the oo in woo.
The Course of the
RIVER CALI
GREAT KRISHNA
through
Cusha-Dwip , without
and.
Si i ai ikl i ;i I )\vi 1 1 , proper from the
P TJR A IT S
Lieut. Francis \Vilford .
Vote The Chart printed, ai blue
is a reduction, of the Map of Eastern. £quatarial Africa by Cap?1 Spekt
Soma Gjri or ? of tkf Moon
er A Ar-o thfr-s, Jf. Y
JOURNAL OF THE DISCOVERY
OP
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE,
CHAPTER I.
LONDON TO ZANZIBAR, 1859.
The Design. — The Preparations. — Departure. — The Cape. — The Zulu Kafirs. — Turtle-turning. — Capture of a Slaver. — Arrive at Zanzibar. — Local Politics and News since last Visit. — Organization of the Expedition.
MY third expedition in Africa, which was avowedly for the purpose of establishing the truth of my assertion that the Victoria N'yanza, which I discovered on the 30th of July, 1858, would eventually prove to be the source of the Nile, may be said to have commenced on the 9th of May, 1859, the first day after my return to England from my second expedition, when, at the invi- tation of Sir E. I. Murchison, I called at his house to show him my map for the information of the Eoyal Geographical Society. Sir Roderick, I need only say, at once accepted my views ; and, knowing my ardent desire to prove to the world, by actual in- spection of the exit, that the Victoria N'yanza was the source of the Nile, seized the enlightened view that such a discovery should not be lost to the glory of England and the society of which he was president ; and said to me, " Speke, we must send you there again." I was then officially directed, much against my own in- clination, to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society on the geography of Africa, which I had, as the sole surveyor of the second expedition, laid down on our maps.* A council of the Geographical Society was now convened to ascertain what proj-
* Captain Burton, on receiving his gold medal at the hands of Sir Roderick I. Murchison, said, "You have alluded, sir, to the success of the last expedition. Jus- tice compels me to state the circumstances under which it attained that success. To Captain Speke are due those geographical results to which you have alluded in such flattering terms. While I undertook the history and ethnography, the languages, and the peculiarity of the people, to Captain Speke fell the arduous task of delinea- ting an exact topography, and of laying down our positions by astronomical ob-
32 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1859.
ects I had in view for making good my discovery by connect- ing the lake with the Nile, as also what assistance I should want for that purpose.
Some thought my best plan would be to go up the Nile, which seemed to them the natural course to pursue, especially as the Nile was said, though nobody believed it, to have been navigated by expeditions sent out by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, up to 3° 22' north latitude. To this I objected, as so many had tried it and failed, from reasons which had not transpired ; and, at the same time, I said that if they would give me £5000 down at once, I would return to Zanzibar at the end of the year, march to Kaze again, and make the necessary investigations of the Victoria Lake. Although, in addition to the journey to the source of the river, I also proposed spending three years in the country, looking up tributaries, inspecting watersheds, navigating the lake, and mak- ing collections on all branches of natural history, yet £5000 was thought by the Geographical Society too large a sum to expect from the government ; so I accepted the half, saying that, what- ever the expedition might cost, I would make good the rest, as, under any circumstances, I would complete what I had begun, or die in the attempt.
My motive for deferring the journey a year was the hope that I might, in the mean while, send on fifty men, carrying beads and brass wire, under charge of Arab ivory -traders, to Karague', and fifty men more, in the same way, to Raze* ; while I, arriving in the best season for traveling (May, June, or July), would be able to push on expeditiously to my depots so formed, and thus escape the great disadvantages of traveling with a large caravan in a country where no laws prevail to protect one against deser- tions and theft. Moreover, I knew that the negroes who would have to go with me, as long as they believed I had property in advance, would work up to it willingly, as they would be the gainers by doing so ; while, with nothing before them, they would be always endeavoring to thwart my advance, to save them from a trouble which their natural laziness would prompt them to es- cape from.
This beautiful project, I am sorry to say, was doomed from the first ; for I did not get the £2500 grant of money or appointment to the command until fully nine months had elapsed, when I
serrations — a labor to which, at times, even the undaunted Livingstone found him- self unequal."
1859-60.] LONDON TO ZANZIBAR. 33
wrote to Colonel Rigby, our consul at Zanzibar, to send on the first installment of property toward the interior.
As time then advanced, the Indian branch of the government very graciously gave me fifty artillery carbines, with belts and sword-bayonets attached, and 20,000 rounds of ball ammunition. They lent me as many surveying instruments as I wanted ; and, through Sir George Clerk, put at my disposal some rich presents, in gold watches, for the chief Arabs who had so generously as- sisted us in the last expedition. Captain Grant, hearing that I was bound on this journey, being an old friend and brother sportsman in India, asked me to take him with me, and his ap- pointment was settled by Colonel Sykes, then chairman of a com- mittee of the Eoyal Geographical Society, who said it would only be a " matter of charity" to allow me a companion.
Much at the same time, Mr. Petherick, an ivory merchant, who had spent many years on the Nile, arrived in England, and gra- tuitously offered, as it would not interfere with his trade, to place boats at Gondokoro, and send a party of men up the White River to collect ivory in the mean while, and eventually to assist me in coming down. Mr. Petherick, I may add, showed great zeal for geographical exploits ; so, as I could not get money enough to do all that I wished to accomplish myself, I drew out a project for him to ascend the stream now known as the Usua River (report- ed to be the larger branch of the Nile), and, if possible, ascertain what connection it had with my lake. This being agreed to, I did my best, through the medium of Earl de Grey (then Presi- dent of the Royal Geographical Society), to advance him money to carry out this desirable object.
The last difficulty I had now before me was to obtain a passage to Zanzibar. The Indian government had promised me a vessel of war to convey me from Aden to Zanzibar, provided it did not interfere with the public interests. This doubtful proviso in- duced me to apply to Captain Playfair, Assistant Political at Aden, to know what government vessel would be available ; and should there be none, to get for me a passage by some American trader. The China war, he assured me, had taken up all the government vessels, and there appeared no hope left for me that season, as the last American trader was just then leaving for Zanzibar. In this dilemma, it appeared that I must inevitably lose the traveling season, and come in for the droughts and fam- ines. The tide, however, turned in my favor a little ; for I ob-
C
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1859-60.
tained, by permission of the Admiralty, a passage in the British screw steam-frigate Forte, under orders to convey Admiral Sir H. Keppel to his command at the Cape ; and Sir Charles Wood most obligingly made a request that I should be forwarded thence to Zanzibar in one of our slaver-hunting cruisers by the earliest opportunity.
On the 27th of April, Captain Grant and I embarked on board the new steam-frigate Forte, commanded by Captain E. W. Tur- nour, at Portsmouth ; and after a long voyage, touching at Ma- deira and Eio $e Janeiro, we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of July. Here Sir George Grey, the governor of the colony, who took a warm and enlightened interest in the cause of the expedition, invited both Grant and myself to reside at his house. Sir George had been an old explorer himself — was once wounded by savages in Australia, much in the same manner as I had been in the Somali country — and, with a spirit of sympathy, he called me his son, and said he hoped I would succeed. Then, thinking how best he could serve me, he induced the Cape Parli- ament to advance to the expedition a sum of £300, for the pur- pose of buying baggage-mules; and induced Lieut. Gen. Wynyard, the commander-in-chief, to detach 10 volunteers from the Cape Mounted Rifle Corps to accompany me. When this addition was made to my force of 12 mules and 10 Hottentots, the admiral
of the station placed the screw steam-corvette Brisk at my dis- posal, and we all sailed for Zan- zibar July 16th, under the com- mand of Capt. A. F. de Horsey, the admiral himself accompany- ing us on one of his annual in- spections to visit the east coast of Africa and the Mauritius. In five days more we touched at East London, and, thence pro- ceeding north, made a short stay at Delagoa Bay, where I first be- came acquainted with the Zulu Kafirs, a naked set of negroes, whose national costume princi- pally consists in having their hair trussed up like a hoop on
'
Zaia Kafir, DeUgot B»y.
AUG.] LONDON TO ZANZIBAR. 35
the top of the head, and an appendage like a thimble, to which they attach a mysterious importance. They wear additional or- naments, charms, etc., of birds' claws, hoofs and horns of wild an- imals tied on with strings, and sometimes an article like a kilt, made of loose strips of skin, or the entire skins of vermin strung close together. These things I have nferely noticed in passing, because I shall hereafter have occasion to allude to a migratory people, the Watiita, who, dressing much in the same manner, ex- tend from Lake N'yassa to Uzinza, and may originally have been a part of this same Kafir race, who are themselves supposed to have migrated from the regions at present occupied by the Gallas. Next day (the 28th) we went on to Europa, a small island of cor- alline, covered with salsolaceous shrubs, and tenanted only by sea-birds, owls, finches, rats, and turtles. Of the last we succeeded in turning three, the average weight of each being 360 Ibs., and we took large numbers of their eggs.
We then went to Mozambique, and visited the Portuguese gov- ernor, John Travers de Almeida, who showed considerable inter- est in the prospects of the expedition, and regretted that, as it cost so much money to visit the interior from that place, his officers were unable to go there. One experimental trip only had been accomplished by Mr. Soares, who was forced to pay the Makua chiefs $120 footing to reach a small hill in view of the sea, about twenty-five miles off.
Leaving Mozambique on the 9th of August, bound for Johanna, we came the next day, at 11 30 A. M., in sight of a slaver, ship- rigged, bearing on us full sail, but so distant from us that her mast-tops were only just visible. As quick as ourselves, she saw who we were, and tried to escape by retreating. This manoeuvre left no doubt what she was, and the Brisk, all full of excitement, gave chase at full speed, and in four hours more drew abreast of her. A great commotion ensued on board the slaver. The sea- pirates threw overboard their colors, bags, and numerous boxes, but would not heave-to, although repeatedly challenged, until a gun was fired across her bows. Our boats were then lowered, and in a few minutes more the " prize" was taken by her crew being exchanged for some of our men, and we learned all about her from accurate reports furnished by Mr. Frere, the Cape Slave Commissioner. Cleared from Havana as "the Sunny South," professing to be destined for Hong-Kong, she changed her name to the Manuela, and came slave-hunting in these regions. The
36 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
slaver's crew consisted of a captain, doctor, and several sailors, mostly Spaniards. The vessel was well stored with provisions and medicines, but there was scarcely enough room in her, though she was said to be only half freighted, for the 5-i-l creatures they were transporting. The next morning, as we entered Pamoni Harbor by an intricate approach to the rich little island hill Jo- hanna, the slaver, as she followed us, stranded, and for a while caused considerable alarm to every body but her late captain. He thought his luck very bad, after escaping so often, to be taken thus; for his vessel's powers of sailing were so good, that, had she had the wind in her favor, the Brisk, even with the assistance of steam, could not have come up with her. On going on board her, I found the slaves to be mostly Wahiyow. A few of them were old women, but all the rest children. They had been captured during wars in their own country, and sold to Arabs, who brought them to the coast, and kept them half starved until the slaver ar- rived, when they were shipped in dhows and brought off to the slaver, where for nearly a week, while the bargains were in prog- ress, they were kept entirely without food. It was no wonder, then, every man of the Brisk who first looked upon them did so with a feeling of loathing and abhorrence of such a trade. All over the vessel, but more especially below, old women, stark naked, were dying in the most disgusting "ferret-box" atmos- phere, while all those who had sufficient strength were pulling up the hatches, and tearing at the salt fish they found below, like dogs in a kennel.
On the 15th the Manuela was sent to the Mauritius, and we, after passing the Comoro Islands, arrived at our destination, Zan- zibar— called Lunguja by the aborigines, the Wakhadim, and Ungiija by the present Wasuahili.
On the 17th, after the anchor was cast, without a moment's de- lay I went off to the British Consulate to see my old friend Col- onel Rigby. He was delighted to see us, and, in anticipation of our arrival, had prepared rooms for our reception, that both Cap- tain Grant and myself might enjoy his hospitality until arrange- ments could be made for our final start into the interior. The town, which I had left in so different a condition sixteen months before, was in a state of great tranquillity, brought about by the energy of the Bombay government on the Muscat side, and Colo- nel Rigby's exertions on this side, in preventing an insurrection Sultan Majid's brothers had created with a view of usurping his government.
AUG.]
LONDON TO ZANZIBAR.
37
The news of the place was as follows : In addition to the for- merly constituted consulates — English, French, and American — a fourth one, representing Hamburg, had been created. Dr. Koscher, who during my absence had made a successful journey to the N'yinyezi N'yassa, or Star Lake, was afterward murdered by some natives in Uhiyow ; and Lieutenant Colonel Baron van der Decken, another enterprising German, was organizing an expedi- tion with a view to search for the relics of his countryman, and, if possible, complete the project poor Eoscher had commenced.
Slavery had received a severe blow by the sharp measures Colonel Eigby had taken in giving tickets of emancipation to all those slaves whom our Indian subjects the Banyans had been se- cretly keeping, and by fining the masters and giving the money to the men to set them up in life. The inte- rior of the continent had been greatly dis- turbed, owing to con- stant war between the natives and Arab ivo- ry merchants. Mguru Mfupi (or Short-legs), the chief ofKhokoin Ugogo, for instance, had been shot, and Manua Sera (the Tip- pler), who succeeded the old Sultan Fiindi Kira, of TJnyanyembe', on his death, shortly after the late expe- dition left Kaze', was out in the field fighting the Arabs. Eecent letters from the Arabs in the interior, however, gave hopes of peace being shortly restored. Finally, in compliance with my request — and this was the most important item of news to myself — Colonel Eigby had sent on, thirteen days previously, fifty-six loads of cloth and beads, in charge of two of Eamji's men, con- signed to Miisa at Rase*.
To call on the sultan, of course, was our first duty. He re- ceived us in his usually affable manner; made many trite re- marks concerning our plans ; was surprised, if my only object in view was to see the great river running out of the lake, that I did not go by the more direct route across the Masai country
Banyan contemplating his Account-book.
38
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
andllsoga; and then, finding I wished to see Karague, as well as to settle many oth- er great points of in- terest, he offered to assist me with all the means in his power.
The Hottentots, the mules, and the bag- gage having been landed, our prepara- tory work began in earnest. It consisted in proving the sex- tants ; rating the watches ; examining the compasses and boiling thermometers ; making tents and pack-saddles; order- ing supplies of beads, cloth, and brass wire ; and collecting servants and porters.
Sheikh Said bin Salem, our late Cafila Bashi, or caravan cap- tain, was appointed to that post again, as he wished to prove his character for honor and honesty ; and it now transpired that he had been ordered not to go with me when I discovered the Vic- toria N'yanza. Bombay and his brother Mabriiki were bound to me of old, and the first to greet me on my arrival here ; while my old friends the Beluchs begged me to take them again. The Hottentots, however, had usurped their place. I was afterward sorry for this, though, if I ever travel again, I shall trust to none but natives, as the climate of Africa is too trying to foreigners. Colonel Rigby, who had at heart as much as any body the suc- cess of the expedition, materially assisted me in accomplishing my object — that men accustomed to discipline and a knowledge of English honor and honesty should be enlisted, to give confidence to the rest of the men ; and he allowed me to select from his boat's crew any men I could find who had served in men-of-war, and had seen active service in India.
Said Majid, Sultan of Zanzibar.
AUG.] LONDON TO ZANZIBAR. QQ
ou
For this purpose, my factotum, Bombay, prevailed on Baraka, Frij, and Kahan — all of them old sailors, who, like himself, knew Hindustani — to go with me. With this nucleus to start with I gave orders that they should look out for as many Wanguana (freed men — i. e., men emancipated from slavery) as they could enlist, to carry loads, or do any other work required of them, and to follow me in Africa wherever I wished, until our arrival in Egypt, when I would send them back to Zanzibar. Each was to receive one year's pay in advance, and the remainder when their work was completed.
"While this enlistment was going on here, Ladha Damji, the customs' master, was appointed to collect a hundred pagazis (Wanyamiiezi porters) to carry each a load of cloth, beads, or brass wire to Kaze', as they do for the ivory merchants. Mean- while, at the invitation of the admiral, and to show him some sport in hippopotamus-shooting, I went with him in a dhow over to Kiisiki, near which there is a tidal lagoon, which at high tide is filled with water, but at low water exposes sand islets covered with mangrove shrub. In these islets we sought for the animals, knowing they were given to lie wallowing in the mire, and we bagged two. On my return to Zanzibar, the Brisk sailed for the Mauritius, but fortune sent Grant and myself on a different cruise. Sultan Majid, having heard that a slaver was lying at Pangani, and being anxious to show his good faith with the English, begged me to take the command of one of his vessels of war and run her down. Accordingly, embarking at noon, as soon as the vessel could be got ready, we lay-to that night at Tombat, with a view of surprising the slaver next morning; but next day, on our arrival at Pangani, we heard that she had merely put in to pro- vision there three days before, and had left immediately after- ward. As I had come so far, I thought we might go ashore and look at the town, which was found greatly improved since I last saw it, by the addition of several coralline houses and a dock- yard. The natives were building a dhow with Lindi and Mada- gascar timber. On going ashore, I might add, we were stranded on the sands, and, coming off again, nearly swamped by the in- creasing surf on the bar of the river; but this was a trifle; all we thought of was to return to Zanzibar, and hurry on our prepara- tions there. This, however, was not so easy ; the sea current was running north, and the wind was too light to propel our vessel against it;, so, after trying in vain to make way in her, Grant and
4-0 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [I860.
I, leaving her to follow, took to a boat, after giving the captain, who said we would get drowned, a letter, to say we left the vessel against his advice.
We had a brave crew of young negroes to pull us ; but, pull as they would, the current was so strong that we feared, if we persisted, we should be drawn into the broad Indian Ocean ; so, changing our line, we bore into the little coralline island Maziwa, where, after riding over some ugly coral surfs, we put in for the night There we found, to our relief, some fishermen, who gave us fish for our dinner, and directions how to proceed.
Next morning, before daylight, we trusted to the boat and our good luck. After passing, without landmarks to guide us, by an intricate channel, through foaming surfs, we arrived at Zanzibar in the night, and found that the vessel had got in before us.
Colonel Rigby now gave me a most interesting paper, with a map attached to it, about the Nile and the Mountains of the Moon. It was written by Lieutenant Wilford, from the " Piirans" of the ancient Hindus. As it exemplifies, to a certain extent, the sup- position I formerly arrived at concerning the Mountains of the Moon being associated with the country of the Moon, I would fain draw the attention of the reader of my travels to the volume of the "Asiatic Researches" in which it was published.* It is remarkable that the Hindus have christened the source of the Nile Amara, which is the name of a country at the northeast cor- ner of the Victoria N'yanza. This, I think, shows clearly that the ancient Hindus must have had some kind of communication with both the northern and southern ends of the Victoria N'yanza.
Having gone to work again, I found that Sheikh Said had brought ten men, four of whom were purchased for one hundred dollars, which I had to pay ; Bombay, Baraka, Frij, and Rahan had brought twenty-six more, all freed men ; while the Sultan Majid, at the suggestion of Colonel Rigby, gave me thirty-four men more, who were all raw laborers taken from his gardens. It was my intention to have taken one hundred of this description of men throughout the whole journey ; but as so many could not be found in Zanzibar, I still hoped to fill up the complement in Unyamue'zi, the land of the Moon, from the large establishments of the Arab merchants residing there. The payment of these men's wages for the first year, as well as the terms of the agree- ment made with them, by the kind consent of Colonel Rigby were
* Vol. iii. of A.D. 1801.
SEPT.] LONDON TO ZANZIBAR. 4j
now entered in the Consular Office books as a security to both parties, and a precaution against disputes on the way.* Any one who saw the grateful avidity with which they took the money, and the warmth with which they pledged themselves to serve me faithfully through all dangers and difficulties, would, had he had no dealings with such men before, have thought that I had a first- rate set of followers. I lastly gave Sheikh Said a double-barreled rifle by Blissett, and distributed fifty carbines among the seniors of the expedition, with the condition that they would forfeit them to others more worthy if they did not behave well, but would re- tain possession of them forever if they carried them through the journey to my satisfaction.
On the 21st, as every thing was ready on the island, I sent Sheikh Said and all the men, along with the Hottentots, mules, and baggage, off in dhows to Bagamoyo, on the opposite main land. Colonel Eigby, with Captain Grant and myself, then called on the sultan to bid him adieu, when he graciously offered me, as a guard of honor to escort me through Uzaramo, one jemadar and twenty-five Beliich soldiers. These I accepted, more as a govern- ment security in that country against the tricks of the natives than for any accession they made to our strength. His highness then placed his 22-gun corvette, " Secundra Shah," at our disposal, and we went all three over to Bagamoyo, arriving on the 25th. Im- mediately on landing, Ladha and Sheikh Said showed us into a hut prepared for us, and all things looked pretty well. Ladha's hundred loads of beads, cloths, and brass wire were all tied up for the march, and seventy -five pagazis (porters from the Moon coun- try) had received their hire to carry these loads to Kaze, in the land of the Moon. Competition, I found, had raised these men's wages, for I had to pay, to go even as far as Kaze, nine and a quarter dollars a head ! as Masudi and some other merchants were bound on the same line as myself, and all were equally in a hurry to be off, and avoid as much as possible the famine we knew we should have to fight through at this late season. Little troubles, of course, must always be expected, else these blacks would not be true negroes. Sheikh Said now reported it quite impossible to buy any thing at a moderate rate ; for, as I was a " big man," I ought to " pay a big price ;" and my men had all been obliged to fight in the bazar before they could get even tobacco at the same rate as other men, because they were the servants of the big
* In Appendix A will be found a detailed list.
42 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
man, who could afford to give higher wages than any one else. The Hottentots, too, began to fall sick, which my Wangiiana laugh- ingly attributed to want of grog to keep their spirits up, as these little creatures, the "Tots," had frequently at Zanzibar, after heavy potations, boasted to the more sober free men that they " were strong, because they could stand plenty drink." The first step now taken was to pitch camp under large, shady mango-trees, and to instruct every man in his particular duty. At the same time, the Wanguana, who had carbines, were obliged to be drilled in their use and formed into companies, with captains of ten, headed by General Baraka, who was made commander-in-chief.
On the 30th of September, as things were looking more order- B«g«noyoto ly> I ^^ forward half of the property, and all the men I had then collected, to Ug£ni, a shamba, or gar- den, two miles off; and on the 2d of October, after settling with Ladha for my " African money,"* as my pagazis were completed to a hundred and one, we wished Eigby adieu, and all assembled together at Uge'ni, which resembles the richest parts of Bengal. * See Appendix B.
OCT.]
UZARAMO.
CHAPTER EL
UZAKA1TO.
The Nature of the Country.— The Order of March.— The Beginning of our Taxa- tion.—Sultan Lion's Claw and Sultan Monkey's Tail.— The Kingani. — Jealousies and Difficulties in the Camp. — The Murderer of M. Maizan.
WE were now in U-zsi-Ramo, which may mean the country of Kamo, though I have never found any natives who could enlight- en me on the derivation of this obviously triple word. The ex- tent of the country, roughly speaking, stretches from the coast to the junction or bifurca- tion of the Kingani and its up- per branch, the Mgeta Eiver, westward; and. from the Kin- gani, north, to the Lufigi River, south; though in the southern portions several sub-tribes have encroached upon the lands. There are no hills in Uzaramo ; but the land in the central line, formed like a ridge between the two rivers, furrow fashion, con- sists of slightly elevated flats and terraces, which, in the rainy season, throw off their surplus waters to the north and south by nullahs into these rivers. The country is uniformly well covered with trees and large grasses, which, in the rainy season, are too thick, tall, and green to be pleasant ; though in the dry season, after the grasses have been burnt, it is agreeable enough, though not pretty, owing to the flatness of the land. The villages are not large or numerous, but widely spread, consisting generally of conical grass huts, while others are gable-ended, after the coast- fashion — a small collection of ten or twenty comprising one vil- lage. Over these villages certain head men, titled Phanze', hold
Mzaramo, or Native of Uzaramo.
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[I860.
jurisdiction, who take black-mail from travelers with high pre- sumption when they can. Generally speaking, they live upon the coast, and call themselves Diwans, headsmen, and subjects of the Sultan Majid ; but they no sooner hear of the march of a cara- van than they transpose their position, become sultans in their own right, and levy taxes accordingly.
The Wazaramo are strictly agriculturists ; they have no cows, and but few goats. They are of low stature and thick set, and
Wazaramo, People of Uz&ramo.
their nature tends to the boisterous. Expert slave-hunters, they mostly clothe themselves by the sale of their victims on the coast, though they do business by the sale of goats and grain as well. Nowhere in the interior are natives so well clad as these creatures. In dressing up their hair, and otherwise smearing their bodies with ochreish clay, they are great dandies. They always keep their bows and arrows, which form their national arm, in excel- lent order, the latter well poisoned, and carried in quivers nicety carved. To intimidate a caravan and extort a hongo or tax, I have seen them drawn out in line as if prepared for battle ; but a few soft words were found sufficient to make them all withdraw and settle the matter at issue by arbitration in some appointed place. A few men without property can cross their lands fear- lessly, though a single individual with property would stand no chance, for they are insatiable thieves. But little is seen of these people on the journey, as the chiefs take their taxes by deputy, partly out of pride, and partly because they think they can ex- tort more by keeping in the mysterious distance. At the same
OCT.] UZAEAMO. 45
time, the caravan prefers camping in the jungles beyond the vil- lages to mingling with the inhabitants, where rows might be en- gendered. We sometimes noticed albinos with grayish-blue eyes and light straw-colored hair. Not unfrequently we would pass on the track-side small heaps of white ashes, with a calcined bone or two among them. These, we were told, were the relics of burnt witches. The caravan track we had now to travel on leads along the right bank of the Kingani valley, overlooking Uzegura, which, corresponding with Uzaramo, only on the other side of the Kingani, extends northward to the Pangani Eiver, and is in- tersected in the centre by the Wami Eiver, of which more here- after.
Starting on a march with a large mixed caravan, consisting of 1 corporal and 9 privates, Hottentots — 1 jemadar and 25 privates, Beliichs — 1 Arab Cafila Bashi and 75 freed slaves — 1 kirangozi or leader, and 100 negro porters — 12 mules untrained, 3 donkeys, and 22 goats — one could hardly ex- pect to find every body in his place at the proper time for break- ing ground ; but, at the same time, it could hardly be expected that ten men, who had actually received their bounty-money, and had sworn fidelity, should give one the slip the very first day. Such, however, was the case. Ten out of the thirty -six given by the sultan ran away, because they feared that the white men, whom they believed to be cannibals, were only taking them into the interior to eat them; and one pagazi, more honest than the freed men, deposited his pay upon the ground, and ran away too. Go we must, however, for one desertion is sure to lead to more ; and go we did. Our procession was in this fashion : The kiran- gozi, with a load on his shoulder, led the way, flag in hand, fol- lowed by the pagazis carrying spears or bows and arrows in their hands, and bearing their share of the baggage in the shape either of bolster-shaped loads of cloth and beads covered with matting, each tied into the fork of a three-pronged stick, or else coils of brass or copper wire tied in even weights to each end of sticks which they laid on the shoulder; then helter-skelter came the Wanguana, carrying carbines in their hands, and boxes, bundles, tents, cooking-pots — all the miscellaneous property on their heads; next the Hottentots, dragging the refractory mules laden with ammunition-boxes, but very lightly, to save the animals for the future ; and, finally, Sheikh Said and the Beluch escort, while the goats, sick women, and stragglers brought up the rear. From
46 THE SOUBCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
first to last, some of the sick Hottentots rode the hospital donkeys, allowing the negroes to tug their animals ; for the smallest ail- ment threw them broadcast on their backs.
In a little while we cleared from the rich gardens, mango clumps, and cocoa-nut-trees, which characterize the fertile coast- line. After traversing fields of grass well clothed with green trees, we arrived at the little settlement of Bomani, where camp was formed, and every body fairly appointed to his place. The process of camp-forming would be thus: Sheikh Said, with Bom- bay under him, issues cloths to the men for rations at the rate of one fourth load a day (about 15 Ibs.) among 165 ; the Hottentots cook our dinners and their own, or else lie rolling on the ground overcome by fatigue; the Beliichs are supposed to guard the camp, but prefer gossip and brightening their arms. Some men are told off to look after the mules, donkeys, and goats while out grazing ; the rest have to pack the kit, pitch our tents, cut boughs for huts and for fencing in the camp — a thing rarely done, by-the- by. After cooking, when the night has set in, the everlasting dance begins, attended with clapping of hands and jingling small bells strapped to the legs, the whole being accompanied by a constant repetition of senseless words, which standi in place of the song to the negroes ; for song they have none, being mentally in- capacitated for musical composition, though as timists they are not to be surpassed.
"What remains to be told is the daily occupation of Captain Grant, myself, and our private servants. Beginning at the foot : Rahan, a very peppery little negro, who had served in a British man-of-war at the taking of Rangoon, was my valet ; and Baraka, who had been trained much in the same manner, but had seen engagements at Multan, was Captain Grant's. They both knew Hindustani ; but while Rahan's services at sea had been short Baraka had served nearly all his life with Englishmen — was the smartest and most intelligent negro I ever saw — was invaluable to Colonel Rigby as a detector of slave-traders, and enjoyed his confidence completely ; so much so, that he said, on parting with him, that he did not know where he should be able to find an- other man to fill his post These two men had now charge of our tents and personal kit, while Baraka was considered the general of the Wanguana forces, and Rahan a captain of ten.
My first occupation was to map the country. This is done by timing the rate of march with a watch, taking compass-bearings
OCT.] UZARAMO. 47
along the road or on any conspicuous marks — as, for instance hills off it — and by noting the watershed — in short, all topograph- ical objects. On arrival in camp every day came the ascertain- ing, by boiling a thermometer, of the altitude of the station above the sea-level ; of the latitude of the station by the meridian alti- tude of a star taken with a sextant ; and of the compass variation by azimuth. Occasionally there was the fixing of certain crucial stations, at intervals of sixty miles or so, by lunar observations, or distances of the moon either from the sun or from certain giv- en stars, for determining the longitude, by which the original- timed course can be drawn out with certainty on the map by pro- portion. Should a date be lost, you can always discover it by taking a lunar distance and comparing it with the Nautical Al- manac, by noting the time when a star passes the meridian if your watch is right, or by observing the phases of the moon, or her rising or setting, as compared with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of my work, besides sketching and keeping a diary, which was the most troublesome of all, consisted in making geological and zoological collections. With Captain Grant rested the botan- ical collections and thermometrical registers. He also boiled one of the thermometers, kept the rain-gauge, and undertook the pho- tography ; but after a time I sent the instruments back, consider- ing this work too severe for the climate, and he tried instead sketching with water-colors, the results of which form the chief part of the illustrations in this book. The rest of our day went in breakfasting after the march was over — a pipe, to prepare us for rummaging the fields and villages to discover their contents for scientific purposes — dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe before turning in at night.
A short stage brought us to Ikambu.ru, included in the district of Nzasa, where there is another small village pre-
. UT>i t TT\. V 1 CT "U
sided over by Phanze Khombe la Simba, meaning Claw of Lion. He, immediately after our arrival, sent us a pres- ent of a basket of rice, value one dollar, of course expecting a re- turn, for absolute generosity is a thing unknown to the negro. Not being aware of the value of the offering, I simply requested the sheikh to give him four yards of American sheeting, and thought no more about the matter, until presently I found the cloth returned. The "sultan" could not think of receiving such a paltry present from me, when on the former journey he got so much ; if he showed this cloth at home, nobody would believe
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
him, but would say he took much more and concealed it from his family, wishing to keep all his goods to himself. I answered that my footing in the country had been paid for on the last journey, and unless he would accept me as any other common traveler, he had better walk away ; but the little sheikh, a timid, though very gentlemanly creature, knowing the man, and dreading the conse- quences of too high a tone, pleaded for him, and proposed as a fit- ting hongo one dubuani, one sahari, and eight yards merikani,* as the American sheeting is called here. This was pressed by the jemadar, and acceded to by myself, as the very utmost I could afford. Lion's Claw, however, would not accept it ; it was too far below the mark of what he got last time. He therefore returned the cloths to the sheikh, as he could get no hearing from myself, and retreated in high dudgeon, threatening the caravan with a view of his terrible presence on the morrow. Meanwhile the lit- tle sheikh, who always carried a sword fully two thirds the length of himself, commenced casting bullets for his double-barreled rifle, ordered the Wanguana to load their guns, and came wheedling up to me for one more cloth, as it was no use hazarding the expe- dition's safety for four yards of cloth. This is a fair specimen of tax-gathering, within twelve miles of the coast, by a native who claims the protection of Zanzibar. We shall soon see what they are farther on. The result of experience is, that, ardent as the traveler is to see the interior of Africa, no sooner has he dealings with the natives than his whole thoughts tend to discovering some road where he won't be molested, or a short cut, but long march, to get over the ground.
Quite undisturbed, we packed and marched as usual, and soon -r L-- ... passed Nzasa close to the river, which is onlv indi-
I ).;/. • , ..'A.. ' •>
cated by a line of trees running through a rich allu- vial valley. We camped at the little settlement of Kizoto, inhos- pitably presided over by Phanze* Mukia ya Nyani, or Monkey's Tail, who no sooner heard of our arrival than he sent a demand for his " rights." One dubuani was issued, with orders that no one need approach me again, unless he wanted to smell my pow- <l<-r. Two taxes in five miles was a thing unheard of; and I heard no more about the matter until Bombay in the evening told me how Sheikh Said, fearing awkward consequences, had settled to give two dubuani, one being taken from his own store. Lion's Claw also turned up again, getting his cloths of yesterday — one
* Sec Appendix B.
OCT.] UZAKAMO. 49
more being added from the sheikh's stores — and he was then ad- vised to go off quietly, as I was a fire-eater whom nobody dared approach after my orders had been issued. This was our third march in Uzaramo ; we had scarcely seen a man of the country, and had no excessive desire to do so.
Deflecting from the serpentine course of the Kingani a little, TO Kiranga we crossed a small bitter rivulet, and entered on the Ranga,6«A. elevated cultivation of Kiranga Kanga, under Phanze Mkungu-par6, a very mild man, who, wishing to give no offense, begged for a trifling present. He came in person, and his man- ner having pleased us, I gave him one sahari, four yards merikani, and eight yards kiniki, which pleased our friend so much that he begged us to consider his estate our own, even to the extent of ad- ministering his justice, should any Mzaramo be detected stealing from us. Our target-practice, while instructing the men, aston- ished him not a little, and produced an exclamation that, with so many guns, we need fear nothing, go where we would. From this place a good view is obtained of Uzegura. Beyond the flat alluvial valley of the Kingani, seven to eight miles broad, the land rises suddenly to a table-land of no great height, on which trees grow in profusion. In fact, it appeared, as far as the eye could reach, the very counterpart of that where we stood, with the ex- ception of a small hill, very distant, called Phongiie'.
A very welcome packet of quinine and other medicines reached us here from Rigby, who, hearing our complaints that the Hotten- tots could only be kept alive by daily potions of brandy and qui- nine, feared our supplies were not enough, and sent us more.
We could not get the sultan's men to chum with the Wanguana proper; they were shy, like wild animals — built their huts by themselves, and ate and talked by themselves, for they felt them- selves inferiors ; and I had to nominate one of their number to be their immediate chief, answerable for the actions of the whole. Being in the position of " boots" to the camp, the tending of goats fell to their lot. Three goats were missing this evening, which the goatherds could not account for, nor any of their men. Sus- pecting that they were hidden for a private feast, I told their chief to inquire farther and report. The upshot was, that the man was thrashed for intermeddling, and came back only with his scars. This was a nice sort of insubordination, which of course could not be endured. The goatherd was pinioned and brought to trial, for the double offense of losing the goats and
D
50 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
rough-handling his chief. The tricking scoundrel — on quietly saying he could not be answerable for other men's actions if they stole goats, and he could not recognize a man as his chief whom the sheikh, merely by a whim of his own, thought proper to ap- point— was condemned to be tied up for the night, with the pros- pect of a flogging in the morning. Seeing his fate, the cunning vagabond said, " Now I do see it was by your orders the chief was appointed, and not by a whim of Sheikh Said's ; I will obey him for the future;" and these words were hardly pronounced than the three missing goats rushed like magic into camp, nobody of course knowing where they came from.
Skirting along the margin of the rising ground overlooking TO ThamNi tne river, through thick woods, cleared in places for cultivation, we arrived at Thumba Lhe're'. The chief here took a hongo of three yards merikani and two yards kiniki without much fuss, for he had no power. The pagazis struck, and said they would not move from this unless I gave them one fundo or ten necklaces of beads each daily, in lieu of rations, as they were promised by Ladha on the coast that I would do so as soon as they had made four marches. This was an obvious invention, concocted to try my generosity ; for I had given the kirangozi a goat, which is customary, to "make the journey prosperous" — had suspended a dollar to his neck in rec- ognition of his office, and given him four yards merikani, that he might have a grand feast with his brothers; while neither the sheikh, myself, nor any one else in the camp had heard of such a compact With high words the matter dropped, African fash- ion.
The pagazis would not start at the appointed time, hoping to ToMahBgfiA, enforce their demands of last night; so we took the lead and started, followed by the Wangiiana. See- ing this, the pagazis cried out with one accord, " The master is gone, leaving the responsibility of his property in our hands ; let us follow, let us follow, for verily he is our father ;" and all came hurrying after us. Here the river, again making a bend, is lost to sight, and we marched through large woods and cultivated fields to Muhugue*, observing, as we passed along, the ochreish color of the earth, and numerous pits which the copal-diggers had made searching for their much-valued gum. A large coast-bound caravan, carrying ivory tusks with double-toned bells suspended to them, ting-tonging as they moved along, was met on the way ;
OCT.] UZAKAMO. 51
and as some of the pagazis composing it were men who had for- merly taken me to the Victoria N'yanza, warm recognitions passed between us. The water found here turned our brandy and tea as black as ink. The chief, being a man of small preten- sions, took only one sahari and four yards merikani.
Instead of going on to the next village, we halted in this jungly ToMShonyera, P^6 f°r ^e ^aJ> ^^ * might comply with the de- sire of the Eoyal Geographical Society to inspect Miihonye'ra, and report if there were really any indications of a "raised sea-beach" there, such as their maps indicate. An in- spection brought me to the conclusion that no mind but one prone to discovering sea-beaches in the most unlikely places could have supposed for a moment that one existed here. The form and ap- pearance of the land are the same as we have seen every where since leaving Bomani — a low plateau subtended by a bank cut down by the Kingani Kiver, and nothing more. There are no pebbles; the soil is rich reddish loam, well covered with trees, bush, and grass, in which some pigs and antelopes are found. From the top of this embankment we gain the first sight of the East Coast Eange, due west of us, represented by the high ele- phant's-back hill Mkambaku, in Usagara, which, joining Uragiiru, stretches northward across the Pangani Eiver to Usiimbara and the Kilimandjaro, and southward, with a westerly deflection, across the Liifiji to Southern N'yassa. What course the range takes beyond those two extremes the rest of the world knows as well as I. Another conspicuous landmark here is Kidiinda (the little hill), which is the southernmost point of a low chain of hills, also tending northward, and representing an advance-guard to the higher East Coast Eange in its rear. At night, as we had no local " sultans" to torment us, eight more men of Sultan Majid's donation ran away, and, adding injury to injury, took with them all our goats, fifteen in number. This was a sad loss. We could keep ourselves on Guinea-fowls or green pigeons, doves, etc. ; but the Hottentots wanted nourishment much more than ourselves, and as their dinners always consisted of what we left, " short commons" was the fate in store for them. The Wanguana, in- stead of regarding these poor creatures as soldiers, treated them like children ; and once, as a diminutive Tot — the common name they go by — was exerting himself to lift his pack and place it on his mule, a fine Herculean Mgiiana stepped up behind, grasped Tot, pack and all, in his muscular arms, lifted the whole over his
52 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
head, paraded the Tot about, struggling for release, and put him down amid the laughter of the camp, then saddled his mule and patted him on the back.
After sending a party of Beluch to track down the deserters Tos»g6e6 an^ Soatsj iQ which they were not successful, we 1W*- passed through the village of Sage'se'ra, and camped
one mile beyond, close to the river. Phanzd Kirongo (which means Mr. Pit) here paid us his respects, with a presentation of rice. In return, he received four yards merikani and one dubu- ani, which Bombay settled, as the little sheikh, ever done by the sultans, pleaded indisposition, to avoid the double fire he was al- ways subjected to on these occasions, by the sultans grasping on the one side, and my resisting on the other ; for I relied on my strength, and thought it wry inadvisable to be generous with my cloth to the prejudice of future travelers, by decreasing the value of merchandise, and increasing proportionately the expectations of these negro chiefs. From the top of the bank bordering on the valley a good view was obtainable of the Uragu.ru Hills, and the top of a very distant cone to its northward ; but I could see no signs of any river joining the Kingani on its left, though on the former expedition I heard that the Mukondokua River, which was met with in Usagara, joined the Kingani close to Sagesdra, and actually formed its largest head branch. Neither could Mr. Pit inform me what became of the Mukondokua, as the Waza- ramo are not given to traveling. He had heard of it from the traders, but only knew himself of one river beside the Kingani. It was called Warni in Uzegura, and mouths at Utondue', between the ports of Whindi and Saadani. To try and check the deser- tions of Sultan Majid's men, I advised — ordering was of no use — that their camp should be broken up, and they should be amal- gamated with the Wanguana; but it was found that the two would not mix. In fact, the whole native camp consisted of so many clubs of two, four, six, or ten men, who originally belonged. to one village or one master, or were united by some other fajnily tie which they preferred keeping intact ; so they cooked togeth- er, ate together, slept together, and sometimes mutinied together. The amalgamation having failed, I wrote some emancipation tickets, called the sultan's men all up together, selected the best, gave them these tickets, announced that their pay and all rewards would be placed for the future on the same conditions as those of the Wanguana, and as soon as I saw any signs of improvement
OCT.] UZARAMO. 53
in the rest, they would all be treated in the same manner ; but, should they desert, they would find my arm long enough to ar- rest them on the coast and put them into prison.
During this march we crossed three deep nullahs which drain TO Makutaniro, the TJzaramo plateau, and arrived at the Makutaniro, or junction of this line with those of Mboamaji and Konduchi, which traverse central Uzaramo, and which, on my former return journey, I went down. The gum-copal diggings here cease. The dum palm is left behind ; the large, rich green- leaved trees of the low plateau give place to the mimosa ; and now, having ascended the greater decline of the Kingani Eiver, instead of being confined by a bank, we found ourselves on flat, open park-land, where antelopes roam at large, buffalo and zebra are sometimes met with, and Guinea-fowl are numerous. The water for the camp is found in the river, but supplies of grain come from the village of Kipora farther on.
A march through the park took us to a camp by a pond, from ToMatamombo, which, by crossing the Kingani, rice and provisions for the men were obtained on the opposite bank. One can seldom afford to follow wild animals on the line of march, otherwise we might have bagged some antelopes to-day, which, scared by the interminable singing, shouting, bell-jingling, horn- blowing, and other,such merry noises of the moving caravan, could be seen disappearing in the distance.
Leaving the park, we now entered the richest part of TJzaramo, TO o<5g6 ia Mho- affording crops as fine as any part of India. Here it was, in the district of Degd la Mhora, that the first expedition to this country, guided by a Frenchman, M. Maizan, came to a fatal termination, that gentleman having been barbar- ously murdered by the sub-chief Hembe*. The cause of the affair was distinctly explained to me by Hembe' himself, "who, with his cousin Dariinga, came to call upon me, presuming, as he was not maltreated by the last expedition, that the matter would now be forgotten. The two men were very great friends of the little sheikh, and as a present was expected, which I should have to pay, we all talked cheerfully and confidentially, bringing in the fate of Maizan for no other reason than to satisfy curiosity. Hembe, who lives in the centre of an almost impenetrable thicket, confessed that he was the murderer, but said the fault did not rest with him, as he merely carried out the instructions of his father, Mziinge'ra, who, a diwan on the coast, sent him a letter directing
54 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
his actions. Thus it is proved that the plot against Maizan was concocted on the coast by the Arab merchants — most likely from the same motive which has induced one rival merchant to kill another as the best means of checking rivalry or competition. When Arabs — and they are the only class of people who would do such a deed — found a European going into the very middle of their secret trading-places, where such large profits were to be obtained, they would never suppose that the scientific Maizan went for any other purpose than to pry into their ivory stores, bring others into the field after him, and destroy their monopoly. The Sultan of Zanzibar, in those days, was our old ally Said Said, commonly called the Imam of Muscat ; and our consul, Colonel Hamerton, had been M. Maizan's host as long as he lived upon the coast Both the imam and consul were desirous of seeing the country surveyed, and did every thing in their power to assist Maizan, the former even appointing the Indian Musa to conduct him safely as far as Unyamue'zi ; but their power was not found sufficient to damp the raging fire of jealousy in the ivory-trader's heart Musa commenced the journey with Maizan, and they traveled together a march or two, when one of Maizan's domestic establishment fell sick and stopped his progress. Musa remained with him eight or ten days, to his own loss in trade and expense in keeping up a large establishment, and then they parted by mu- tual consent, Maizan thinking himself quite strong enough to take care of himself. This separation was, I believe, poor Maizan's death-blow. His power, on the imam's side, went with Musa's going, and left the Arabs free to carry out their wicked wills.
The presents I had to give here were one sahari and eight yards merikani to Hernbe*, and the same to Darunga, for which they gave a return in grain.
Still following close to the river — which, unfortunately, is so TO Kidond*, enshrouded with thick bush that we could seldom see it — a few of the last villages in Uzaramo were passed. Here antelopes reappear among the tall mimosa, but we let them alone in prosecution of the survey, and finally encamped opposite the little hill of Kidiinda, which, lying on the left bank of the Kingani, stretches north, a little east, into Uze'gura. The hill crops out through pisolitic limestone, in which marine fossils were observable. It would be interesting to ascertain whether this lime formation extends down the east coast of Africa from the Somali country, where also, on my first expedition, I found marine
OCT.] UZARAMO. 55
shells in the limestone, especially as a vast continuous band of limestone is known to extend from the Tagus, through Egypt and the Somali country, to the Burrampootra. To obtain food, it was necessary here to ferry the river and purchase from the Wazaramo, who, from fear of the passing caravans, had left their own bank and formed a settlement immediately under this pretty little hill — rendered all the more enchanting to our eyes as it was the first we had met since leaving the sea-coast. The diwan, or head man, was a very civil creature ; he presented us freely with two fine goats— a thing at that time we were very much in want of— and took, in return, without any comments, one dubuani and eight yards merikani.
The next day, as we had no farther need of our Beluch escort, a halt was made to enable me to draw up a •" Progress Report," and pack all the specimens of natural his- tory collected on the way for the Eoyal Geographical Society. Captain Grant, taking advantage of the spare time, killed for the larder two buck antelopes,* and the Tots brought in, in high ex- cited triumph, a famous pig.
This march, which declines from the Kingani a little, leads TotheMgSta through rolling, jungly ground, full of game, to the River, iQtk. tributary stream Mgeta. It is fordable in the dry season, but has to be bridged by throwing a tree across it in the wet one. Eising in the Usagara Hills to the west of the hog- backed Mkambakii, this branch intersects the province of .Ukhutu in the centre, and circles round until it unites with the Kingani about four miles north of the ford. Where the Kingani itself rises I never could find out, though I have heard that its source lies in a gurgling spring on the eastern face of the Mkambaku, by which account the Mge'ta is made the longer branch of the two.
* See Game List, Appendix C. •
66
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
CHAPTER m.
USAGARA.
Nature of the Country. — Resumption of the March. — A Hunt. — Bombay and Baraka. — The Slave-hunters. — The Ivory-merchants. — Collection of Natural-history Spec- imens.— A frightened Village. — Tracking a Mule.
UNDER U-Sagara, or, as it might be interpreted, U-sa-Gara — country of Gara — is included all the country lying between the
bifurcation of the Kingani and Mg£- ta Rivers east, and Ugogo, the first country on the interior plateau west, a distance of a hundred miles. On the north it is bounded by the Mu- kondokua, or upper course of the Wami River, and on the south by .the Ruaha, or northern great branch of the Lufiji River. It forms a link of the great East CoaSt Range ; but, though it is generally comprehend- ed under the single name Usagara, many sub-tribes occupy and apply j their own names to portions of it ; as, for instance, the people on whose ground we now stood at the foot or Native of usagara. of the hills are Wa-Khutu, and their possessions consequently arc
U-Khutu, which is by far the best producing land hitherto alluded to since leaving the sea-coast line. Our ascent by the river, though quite imperceptible to the eye, has been 500 feet. From this level the range before us rises in some places to 5000 or 6000 feet, not as one grand mountain, but in two detached lines, lying at an angle of 45° from N.E. to S.W., and separated one from the other by elevated valleys, tables, and crab-claw spurs of hill which in- cline toward the flanking rivers. The whole, having been thrown up by volcanic action, is based on a strong foundation of granite and other igneous rocks, which are exposed in many places in the
OCT.] USAGABA. 57
shape of massive blocks ; otherwise the hill-range is covered in the upper part with sandstone, and in the bottoms with alluvial clay. This is the superficial configuration of the land as it strikes the eye ; but, knowing the elevation of the interior plateau to be only 2500 feet above the sea immediately on the western flank of these hills, while the breadth of the chain is 100 miles, the mean slope or incline of the basal surface must be on a gradual rise of twenty feet per mile. The hill tops and sides, where not cultivated, are well covered with bush and small trees, among which the bamboo is conspicuous ; while the bottoms, having a soil deeper and richer, produce fine large fig-trees of exceeding beauty, the huge calabash, and a variety of other trees. Here, in certain places where water is obtainable throughout the year, and wars, or slave-hunts more properly speaking, do not disturb the industry of the people, cultivation thrives surprisingly ; but such a boon is rarely granted them. It is in consequence of these con- stantly-recurring troubles that the majority of the Wasagara vil- lages are built on hill-spurs, where the people can the better resist attack, or, failing, disperse and hide effectually. The normal hab- itation is the small conical hut of grass. These compose villages, varying in number according to the influence of their head men. There are, however, a few mud villages on the table-lands, each built in a large irregular square of chambers, with a hollow yard in the centre, known as tembe.
As to the people of these uplands, poor, meagre-looking wretch- es, they contrast unfavorably with the lowlanders on both sides of them. Dingy in color, spiritless, shy, and timid, they invite attack in a country where every human being has a market value, and are little seen by the passing caravan. • In habits they are semi-pastoral agriculturists, and would be useful members of so- ciety were they left alone to cultivate their own possessions, rich and beautiful by nature, but poor and desolate by force of cir- cumstance. Some of the men can afford a cloth, but the greater part wear an article which I can only describe as a grass kilt. In one or two places throughout the passage of these hills a caravan may be taxed, but if so, only to a small amount; the villagers more frequently fly to the hill-tops as soon as the noise of the ad- vancing caravan is heard, and no persuasions will bring them down again, so much ground have they, from previous experi- ence, to fear treachery. It is such sad sights, and the obvious want of peace and prosperity, that weary the traveler, and make
58 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
him ever think of pushing on to his journey's end from the instant he enters Africa until he quits the country.
Knowing by old experience that the beautiful green park in iiait,iwiand tne f°r^ °f these rivers abounded in game of great variety and in vast herds, where no men are ever seen except some savage hunters sitting in the trees with poison- ed arrows, or watching their snares and pitfalls, I had all along determined on a hunt myself, to feed and cheer the men, and also to collect some specimens for the home museums. In the first object we succeeded well, as "the. bags" we made counted two brindled gnu, four water-boc, one pallah-boc, and one pig — enough to feed abundantly the whole camp round. The feast was all the better relished as the men knew well that no Arab master would have given them what he could sell ; for if a slave shot game, the animals would be the master's, to be sold bit by bit among the porters, and compensated from the proceeds of their pay. In the variety and number of our game we were disappointed, partly be- cause so many wounded got away, and partly because we could not find what we knew the park to contain, in addition to what we killed — namely, elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, zebra, and many varieties of antelopes, besides lions and hyenas. In fact, " the park," as well as all the adjacent land at the foot of the hills, is worth thinking of, with a view to a sporting tour as well as scientific investigation.
A circumstance arose here, which, insignificant though it ap- peared, is worth noting, to show how careful one must be in un- derstanding and dealing with negro servants. Quite unaccount- ably to myself, the general of my Wangiiana, Baraka, after show- ing much discontent with his position as head of Captain Grant's establishment, became so insolent that it was necessary to displace him, and leave him nothing to do but look after the men. This promoted Frij, who enjoyed his rise as much as Baraka, if his pro- fession was to be believed, enjoyed his removal from that office. Though he spoke in this manner, still I knew that there was something rankling in his mind which depressed his spirits as long as he remained with us, though what it was I could not com- prehend, nor did I fully understand it till months afterward. It was ambition, which was fast making a fiend of him ; and had I known it, he would, and with great advantage too, have been dis- missed upon the spot. The facts were these : He was exceeding- ly clever, and he knew it. His command over men was surpris-
OCT.] USAGARA. RQ
IJV
ing. At Zanzibar he was the consul's right-hand man : he rank- ed above Bombay in the consular boat's crew, and became a ter- ror even to the Banyans who kept slaves. He seemed, in fact in his own opinion, to have imbibed all the power of the British con- sul who had instructed him. Such a man was an element of dis- cord in our peaceful caravan. He was far too big-minded for the sphere which he occupied ; and my surprise now is that he ever took service, knowing what he should, at the time of enlistment, have expected, that no man would be degraded to make room for him. But this was evidently what he had expected, though he dared not say it. He was jealous of Bombay, because he thought his position over the money department was superior to his own over the men ; and he had seen Bombay, on one occasion, pay a tax in Uzaramo — a transaction which would give him consequence with the native chiefs. Of Sheikh Said he was equally jealous, for a like reason; and his jealousy increased the more that I found it necessary to censure the timidity of this otherwise worthy little man. Baraka thought, in his conceit, that he could have done all things better, and gained signal fame, had he been cre- ated chief. Perhaps he thought he had gained the first step to- ward this exalted rank, and hence his appearing very happy for the time. I could not see through so deep a scheme, and only hoped that he would shortly forget, in the changes of the march- ing life, those beautiful wives he had left behind him, which Bom- bay in his generosity tried to persuade me was the cause of his mental distraction.
Our halt at the ford here was cut short by the increasing sick- To KirBru,i9«fc ness of the Hottentots, and the painful fact that Cap- tain Grant was seized with fever.* We had to change camp to the little village of Kiru.ru, where, as rice was grown — an article not to be procured again on this side of Unyamuezi — we stopped a day to lay in supplies of this most valuable of all traveling food. Here I obtained the most consistent accounts of the river system, which, within five days' journey, trends through Uze'gura ; and I concluded, from what I heard, that there is no doubt of the Mukondokiia and Wami Kivers being one and the same stream. My informants were the natives of the settlement, and they all concurred in saying that the Kingani above the
* It was such an attack as I had on my former journey ; but, while mine ceased to trouble me after the first year, his kept recurring every fortnight until the journey ended.
60 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
junction is called the Rufu, meaning the parent stream. Beyond it, following under the line of hills, at one days' journey distant, there is a smaller river called Msongd At an equal distance be- yond it, another of the same size is known as Lunge'renge'ri ; and a fourth river is the Warni, which mouths in the sea at Utondue', between the ports of Whindi and Saadani. In former years, the ivory-merchants, ever seeking for an easy road for their trade, and knowing they would have no hills to climb if they could only gain a clear passage by this river from the interior plateau to the sea, made friends with the native chiefs of Uzegura, and succeeded in establishing it as a thoroughfare. Avarice, howev- er, that fatal enemy to the negro chiefs, made them overreach themselves by exorbitant demands of taxes. Then followed con- tests for the right of appropriating the taxes, and the whole end- ed in the closing of the road, which both parties were equally anxious to keep open for their mutual gain. This foolish disrup- tion having at first only lasted for a while, the road was again opened and again closed, for the merchants wanted an easy pas- sage, and the native chiefs desired cloths. But it was shut again ; and now we heard of its being for a third time opened, with what success the future only can determine, for experience will not teach the negro, who thinks only for the moment. Had they only sense to see, and patience to wait, the whole trade of the in- terior would inevitably pass through their country instead of Uzaramo ; and instead of being poor in cloths, they would be rich and well dressed like their neighbors. But the curse of Noah sticks to these his grandchildren by Ham, and no remedy that has yet been found will relieve them. They require a govern- ment like ours in India ; and without it, the slave-trade will wipe them off the face of the earth.
Now leaving the open parks of pretty acacias, we followed up TO Dathomi, tne Mgazi branch of the Mge'ta, traversed large tree- jungles, where the tall palm is conspicuous, and drew up under the lumpy Mkambaku, to find a residence for the day. Here an Arab merchant, Khamis, bound for Zanzibar, obliged us by agreeing for a few dollars to convey our recent spoils in nat- ural history to the coast.
My plans for the present were to reach Zungomero as soon as
TO u<wii sad possible, as a few days' halt would be required there
to fix the longitude of the eastern flank of the East
Coast Range by astronomical observation ; but, on ordering the
OCT.]
USAGARA.
61
morning's march, the porters — too well fed and lazy — thought our marching-rate much too severe, and resolutely refused to move. They ought to have made ten miles a day, but preferred doing five. Argument was useless, and I was reluctant to apply the stick, as the Arabs would have done when they saw their por- ters trifling with their pockets. Determining, however, not to be frustrated in this puerile manner, I ordered the bugler to sound the march, and started with the mules and coast-men, trusting to Sheikh and Baraka to bring on the "Wanyamuezi as soon as they could move them. The same day we crossed the Mgazi, where we found several Wakhutu spearing fish in the muddy hovers of its banks.
We slept under a tree, and this morning found a comfortable residence under the eaves of a capacious hut. The
Znngomero, 23i. .^ * f • . , .
Wanyamuezi porters next came in at their own time, and proved to us how little worth are orders in a land where ev- ery man, in his own opinion, is a lord, and no laws prevail. Zun- gome'ro, bisected by the Mgeta, lies on flat ground, in a very pret- ty amphitheatre of hills, S. lat. 7° 26' 53", and E. long. 37° 36'
Mkambaku Hill, viewed from Znngomero.
45". It is extremely fertile, and very populous, affording every- thing that man can wish, even to the cocoa and papwa fruits ; but the slave-trade has almost depopulated it, and turned its once flourishing gardens into jungles. As" I have already said, the people who possess these lands are cowardly by nature, and that is the reason why they are so. much oppressed. The Wasuahili, taking advantage of their timidity, flock here in numbers to live
62 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
upon the fruits of their labors. The merchants on the coast, too, though prohibited by their sultan from interfering with the nat- ural course of trade, send their hungry slaves, as touters, to entice all approaching caravans to trade with their particular ports, au- thorizing the touters to pay such premiums as may be necessary for the purpose. Where they came from we could not ascertain ; but during our residence, a large party of the Wasuahili marched past, bound for the coast, with one hundred head of cattle, fifty slaves in chains, and as many goats. Halts always end disastrous- ly in Africa, giving men time for mischief; and here was an ex- ample of it. During the target-practice, which was always insti- tuted on such occasions to give confidence to our men, the little pepper-box Ea.han, my head valet, challenged a comrade to a duel with carbines. Being stopped by those around him, he vented his wrath in terrible earths, and swung about his arms, until his gun accidentally went off, and blew his middle finger off.
Baraka next, with a kind of natural influence of affinity when a row is commenced, made himself so offensive to Bombay as to send him running to me so agitated with excitement that I thought him drunk. He seized my hands, cried, and implored me to turn him off. What could this mean ? I could not di- vine ; neither could he explain, farther than that he had come to a determination that I must send either him or Baraka to the right-about; and his first idea was that he, and not Baraka, should be the victim. Baraka's jealousy about his position had not struck me yet. I called them both together, and asked what quarrel they had, but could not extract the truth. Baraka pro- tested that he had never given, either by word or deed, the slight- est cause of rupture ; he only desired the prosperity of the march, and that peace should reign throughout the camp ; but Bombay was suspicious of him, and malignantly abused him, for what rea- son Baraka could not tell. When I spoke of this to Bombay, like a bird fascinated by the eye of a viper, he shrank before the slippery tongue of his opponent, and could only say, " No, Sahib — oh no, that is not it ; you had better turn me off, for his tongue is so long, and mine so short, you never will believe me." I tried to make them friends, hoping it was merely a passing ill wind which would soon blow over; but before long the two disputants were tonguing it again, and I distinctly heard Bombay ordering Baraka out of camp, as he could not keep from intermeddling, saying, which was true, he had invited him to join the expedi-
OCT.] TJSAGARA. gg
tion, that his knowledge of Hindustani might be useful to us- he was not wanted for any other purpose, and unless he was satisfied with doing that alone, we would get on much better without him. To this provocation Baraka mildly made the retort, " Pray don't put yourself in a passion ; nobody is hurting you ; it is all in your own heart, which is full of suspicions and jealousy without the slightest cause."
This complicated matters more than ever. I knew Bombay to be a generous, honest man, entitled by his former .services to be in the position he was now holding as fundi, or supervisor in the camp. Baraka, who never would have joined the expedition ex- cepting through his invitation, was indebted to him for the rank he now enjoyed — a command over seventy men, a duty in which he might have distinguished himself as a most useful accessory to the camp. Again I called the two together, and begged them to act in harmony like brothers, noticing that there was no cause for entertaining jealousy on either side, as every order rested with myself to reward for merit or to punish. The relative position in the camp was like that of the senior officers in India, Bombay representing the Mulki lord, or governor general, and Baraka the Jungi lord, or commander-in-chief. To the influence of this dis- tinguished comparison they both gave way, acknowledging my- self their judge, and both protesting that they wished to serve in peace and quietness for the benefit of the march.
Zungomero is a terminus or junction of two roads leading to the interior — one, the northern, crossing over the Goma Pass, and trenching on the Mukondokiia Eiver, and the other crossing over the Mabriiki Pass, and edging on the Eiiaha Eiver. They both unite again at Ugogi, the western terminus on the present great Unyamuezi line. On the former expedition I went by the north- ern line and returned by the southern, finding both equally easy, and, indeed, neither is worthy of special and permanent prefer- ence. In fact, every season makes a difference in the supply of water and provisions ; and with every year, owing to incessant wars, or rather slave-hunts, the habitations of the wretched in- habitants become constantly changed — generally speaking, for the worse. Our first and last object, therefore, as might be supposed, from knowing these circumstances, was to ascertain, before mount- ing the hill-range, which route would afford us the best facilities for a speedy march now. No one, however, could or would ad- vise us. The whole country on ahead, especially Ugogo, was op-
(J4 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
pressed by drought and famine. To avoid this latter country, then, we selected the southern route, as by doing so .it was hoped we might follow the course of the Ruaha Kiver from Maroro to Use'nga and Usanga, and thence strike across to Unyanyembe', sweeping clear of Ugogo.
With this determination, after dispatching a third set of speci- TO Kbcngtt, mens, consisting of large game animals, birds, snakes, insects, land and fresh-water shells, and a few rock specimens, of which one was fossiliferous, we turned southward, penetrating the forests which lie between the greater range and the little outlying one. At the foot of this is the Maji ya Whdta, a hot, deep-seated spring of fresh water, which bubbles up through many apertures in a large, dome-shaped heap of soft lime — an ac- cumulation obviously thrown up by the force of the spring, as the rocks on either side of it are of igneous character. We arrived at the deserted village of Kirengue*. This was not an easy go- ahead march, for the halt had disaffected both men and mules. Three of the former bolted, leaving their loads upon the ground ; and on the line of march, one of the mules, a full-conditioned ani- mal, gave up the ghost after an eighteen hours' sickness. What his disease was I never could ascertain ; but, as all the remaining animals died afterward much in the same manner, I may state for once and for all, that these attacks commenced with general swell- ing, at first on the face, then down the neck, along the belly, and down the legs. It proved so obstinate that fire had no effect upon it; and although we cut off the tails of some to relieve them by bleeding, still they died.
In former days Kirengud was inhabited, and we reasonably luiLStt*. hoped to find some supplies for the jungly march be- fore us. But we had calculated without our host, for the slave-hunters had driven every vestige of humanity away ; and now, as we were delayed by our three loads behind, there was nothing left but to send back and purchase more grain. Such was one of the many days frittered away in do-nothingness.
This day, all together again, we rose the first spurs of the well- To c.mp,«w*. wo°de<l Usagara Hills, among which the familiar bamboo was plentiful, and at night we bivouacked in the jungle.
Rising betimes in the morning, and starting with a good will,
T* R. Mbtup, we soon reached the first settlements of Mbuiga, from
which could be seen a curious blue mountain, stand-
OCT.]
USAGARA.
65
ing up like a giant overlooking all the rest of the hills. The scenery here formed a strong and very pleasing contrast to any we had seen since leaving the coast. Emigrant Waziraha, who had been driven from their homes across the Kingani Eiver by the
Hill View from Eastern Mbuiga.
slave-hunters, had taken possession of the place, and disposed their little conical-hut villages on the heights of the hill-spurs in such a picturesque manner that one could not help hoping they would here at least be allowed to rest in peace and quietness. ' The val- leys, watered by little brooks, are far richer, and even prettier, than the high lands above, being lined with fine trees and ever- green shrubs ; while the general state of prosperity was such that the people could afford, even at this late season of the year, to turn their corn into malt to brew beer for sale ; and goats and fowls were plentiful in the market.
Passing by the old village of Mbuiga, which I occupied on my TO w.Muiga, former expedition, we entered some huts on the west- ern flank of the Mbuiga district ; and here, finding a coast-man, a great friend of the little sheikh's, willing to take back to Zanzibar any thing we might give him, a halt was made, and I drew up my reports. I then consigned to his charge three of the most sickly of the Hottentots in a deplorable condition — one of the mules, that they might ride by turns — and all the speci- mens that had been collected. With regret I also sent back the
E
66 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
camera, because I saw, had I allowed my companion to keep working it, the heat he was subjected to in the little tent while preparing and fixing his plates would very soon have killed him. The number of Guinea-fowl seen here was most surprising. A little lighter and much more comfortable for the good rid- dance of those grumbling " Tots," we worked up to and soon breasted the stiff ascent of the Mabruki Pass, which we surmounted without much difficulty. This con- cluded the first range of these Usagara Hills ; and once over, we dropped down to the elevated valley of Maketa, where we halted two days to shoot. As a traveling Arab informed me that the whole of the Maroro district had been laid waste by the maraud- ing Wahe'he', I changed our plans again, and directed our atten- tion to a middle and entirely new line, which in the end would lead us to Ugogi. The first and only giraffe killed upon the journey was here shot by Grant, with a little 40-gauge Lancaster rifle, at 200 yards' distance. Some smaller animals were killed ; but I wasted all my time in fruitlessly stalking some wounded striped eland — magnificent animals, as large as Delhi oxen — and some other animals, of which I wounded three, about the size of hartebeest, and much their shape, only cream-colored, with a con- spicuous black spot in the centre of each flank. The eland may probably be the animal first mentioned by Livingstone, but the other animal is not known.
Though reluctant to leave a place where such rare animals were to be found, the fear of remaining longer on the
ToXgoto,KA. . &
road induced us to leave Kikobogo, and at a good stride we crossed the flat valley of Makata, and ascended the high- er lands beyond, where we no sooner arrived than we met the laet down trader from Unyamue'zi, well known to all my men as the great Mamba or Crocodile. Mamba, dressed in a dirty Arab gown, with coronet of lion's nails decorating a threadbare cutch cap, greeted us with all the dignity of a savage potentate surround- ed by his staff of half-naked officials. As usual, he had been the last to leave the Unyamue'zi, and so purchased all his stock of ivory at a cheap rate, there being no competitors left to raise the value of that commodity ; but his journey had been a very try- ing one. With a party, at his own estimate, of two thousand souls — we did not see any thing like that number — he had come from Ugogo to this, by his own confession, living on the products of the jungle, and by boiling down the skin aprons of his porters
Nov.] USAGAKA. ^
occasionally for a soup. Famines were raging throughout the land, and the Arabs preceding him had so harried the country that every village was deserted. On hearing our intention to march upon the direct line, he frankly said he thought we should never get through, for my men could not travel as his had done, and therefore he advised our deflecting northward from New Mbumi to join the track leading from Rumuma to Ugogi. This was a sad disappointment ; but, rather than risk a failure, I re- solved to follow his advice.
After reaching the elevated ground, we marched over rolling tops, covered with small trees and a rich variety of
ToMnhandaand in T -, i t i -, • •
M-yombo, 6th pretty bulbs, and reached the habitations of Muhanda,
and 1th. , i T i
where we no sooner appeared than the poor villagers, accustomed only to rough handling, immediately dispersed in the jungles. By dint of persuasion, however, we induced them to sell us provisions, though at a monstrous rate, such as no mer- chant could have afforded ; and having spent the night quietly, we proceeded on to the upper courses of the M'yombo River, which trends its way northward to the Mukondokua River. The scenery was most interesting, with every variety of hill, roll, pla- teau, and ravine, wild and prettily wooded ; but we saw nothing of the people. Like frightened rats, as soon as they caught the sound of our advancing march, they buried themselves in the jun- gles, carrying off their grain with them. Foraging parties, of ne- cessity, were sent out as soon as the camp was pitched, with cloth for purchases, and strict orders not to use force ; the upshot of which was, that my people got nothing but a few arrows fired at them by the lurking villagers, and I was abused for my squeam- ishness. Moreover, the villagers, emboldened by my lenity, vauntingly declared they would attack the camp by night, as they could only recognize in us such men as plunder their houses and steal their children. This caused a certain amount of alarm among my men, which induced them to run up a stiff bush fence round the camp, and kept them talking all night.
This morning we marched on as usual, with one of the Hotten- TO Ne-w Mbumi, tots lashed on a donkey ; for the wretched creature,
after lying in the sun asleep, became so sickly that he could not move or do any thing for himself, and nobody else would do any thing for him. The march was a long one, but un- der ordinary circumstances would have been very interesting, for we passed an immense lagoon, where hippopotami were snorting
(Jg THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
as if they invited an attack. In the larger tree-jungles the traces of elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceros, and antelopes were very nu- merous ; while a rich variety of small birds, as often happened, made me wish I had come on a shooting rather than on a long ex- ploring expedition. Toward sunset we arrived at New Mbumi, a very pretty and fertile place, lying at the foot of a cluster of steep hills, and pitched camp for three days to lay in supplies for ten, as this was reported to be the only place where we could buy corn until we reached Ugogo, a span of 140 miles. Mr. Mbumi, the chief of the place, a very affable negro, at once took us by the hand, and said he would do any thing we desired, for he had oft- en been to Zanzibar. He knew that the English were the ruling power in that land, and that they were opposed to slavery, the terrible effects of which had led to his abandoning Old Mbumi, on the banks of the Mukondokua River, and residing here.
The sick Hottentot died here, and we buried him with Chris- Hait.fttMotA, tian honors. As his comrades said, he died because he had determined to die — an instance of that obsti- nate fatalism in their mulish temperament which no kind words or threats can cure. This terrible catastrophe made me wish to send all the remaining Hottentots back to Zanzibar ; but, as they all preferred serving with me to returning to duty at the Cape, I selected two of the most sickly, put them under Tahib, one of Rigby's old servants, and told him to remain with them at Mbumi until such time as he might find some party proceeding to the coast; and, in the mean while, for board and lodgings I gave Mbumi beads and cloth. The prices of provision here being a good specimen of what one has to pay at this season of the year, I give a short list of them : sixteen rations corn, two yards cloth ; three fowls, two yards cloth ; one goat, twenty yards cloth ; one cow, forty yards cloth — the cloth being common American sheet- ing. Before we left Mbumi, a party of forty men and women of the Waquiva tribe, pressed by famine, were driven there to pur- chase food. The same tribe had, however, killed many of Mbii- mi's subjects not long since, and therefore, in African revenge, the chief seized them all, saying he would send them off for sale to the Zanzibar market unless they could give a legitimate reason for the cruelty they had committed. These Waquiva, I was given to understand, occupied the steep hills surrounding this place. They were a squalid-looking set, like the generality of the inhab- itants of this mountainous region.
Nov.] USAGARA. gg
This march led us over a high hill to the Mdunhwi Eiver an- TO Mdunhwi, otner tributary to the Mukondokiia. It is all clad in the upper regions with the slender pole-trees which characterize these hills, intermingled with bamboo ; but the bot- toms are characterized by a fine growth of fig-trees of great vari- ety, along with high grasses ; while near the villages were found good gardens of plantains, and numerous Palmyra-trees. The rainy season being not far off, the villagers were busy in burning rubble and breaking their ground. Within their reach every where is the sarsaparilla vine, but growing as a weed, for they know nothing of its value.
Eising up from the deep valley of Mdunhwi, we had to cross .another high ridge before descending to the also deer)
To Tzanzi, 13th. °
valley of Chongue, as picturesque a country as the middle heights of the Himalayas, dotted on the ridges and spur- slopes by numerous small conical-hut villages, but all so poor that we could not, had we wanted it, have purchased provisions for a day's consumption.
Leaving this valley, we rose to the table of Manyovi, overhung TO Manyongs, with rnuch higher hills, looking, according to the ac- counts of our Hottentots, as they eyed the fine herds of cattle grazing on the slopes, so like the range in Kafr*aria, that they formed their expectations accordingly, and appeared, for the first time since leaving the coast, happy at the prospect before them, little dreaming that such rich places were seldom to be met with. The Wanyamiie'zi porters even thought they had found a paradise, and forthwith threw down their loads as the villagers came to offer them grain for sale ; so that, had I not had the Wangiiana a little under control, we should not have completed our distance that day, and so reached Manyonge, which reminded me, by its ugliness, of the sterile Somali land.
Proceeding through the semi-desert rolling table-land — in one ToRumuma, place occupied by men who build their villages in large open squares of flat-topped mud huts, which, when I have occasion to refer to them in future, I shall call by their native name tembe — we could see on the right hand the massive mountains overhanging the Miikondokua Eiver, to the front the western chain of these hills, and to the left the high crab-claw shaped ridge, which, extending from the western chain, circles round conspicuously above the swelling knolls which lie between the two main rocky ridges. Contorted green thorn-trees,
70
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
" elephant-foot" stumps, and aloes, seem to thrive best here, by their very nature indicating what the country is, a poor stony
To Camp, 16th.
m.
Bugti, Calabash, or Gouty-limbed Trees.
•
land. Our camp was pitched by the River Rumuma, where, shel- tered from the winds and enriched by alluvial soil, there ought to have been no scarcity ; but still the villagers had nothing to sell.
On we went again to Marenga Mkhali, the " Salt "Water," to breakfast, and camped in the crooked green thorns by night, carrying water on for our supper. This kind of traveling — forced marches — hard as it may appear, was what we liked best, for we felt that we were shortening the jour- ney, and in doing so, shortening the risks of failure by disease, by war, by famine, and by mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us for presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and truculent, concoct devices for stopping the way, or fight among themselves.
On again, and at last we arrived at the foot of the western chain, but not all together. Some porters, overcome by heat and thirst, lay scattered along the road, while the corporal of the, Hottentots allowed his mule to stray from him, never dreaming the animal would travel far from his comrades,
Nov.] USAGARA. 7l
and, in following after him, was led such a long way into the bush that my men became alarmed for his safety, knowing as they did that the " savages" were out living like monkeys on the calabash fruit, and looking out for any windfalls, such as stragglers worth plundering, that might come in their way. At first the Wangu ana attempted to track down the corporal ; but, finding he would not answer their repeated shots, and fearful for their own safety, they came into camp and reported the case. Losing no time, I ordered twenty men, armed with carbines, to carry water for the distressed porters, and bring the corporal back as soon as possible. They all marched off, as they always do on such exploits, in high good-humor with themselves for the valor which they intended to show ; and in the evening came in, firing their guns in the most reckless manner, beaming with delight, for they had the corporal in tow, two men and two women captives, and a spear as a trophy. Then in high impatience, all in a breath, they began a recital of the great day's work. The corporal had followed on the spoor of the mule, occasionally finding some of his things that had been torn from the beast's back by the thorns, and, picking up these one by one, had become so burdened with the weight of them that he could follow no farther. In this fix the twenty men came up with him, but not until they had had a scrimmage with the "savages," had secured four, and taken the spear which had been thrown at them. Of the mule's position no one could give an opinion, save that they imagined, in consequence of the thickness of the bush, he would soon become irretrievably entangled in the thicket, where the savages would find him, and bring him in as a ransom for the prisoners.
What with the diminution of our supplies, the famished state of the country, and the difficulties which frpwned
Halt,18(A. Y . . , .,,.
upon us in advance, together with unwillingness to give up so good a mule, with all its gear and ammunition, I must say I felt doubtful as to what had better be done, until the corpo- ral, who felt confident he would find the beast, begged so hard that I sent him in command of another expedition of sixteen men, ordering him to take one of the prisoners with him to pro- claim to his brethren that we would give up the rest if they re- turned us the mule. The corporal then led off his band to the spot where he last saw traces of the animal, and tracked on till sundown; while Grant and myself went out pot- hunting, and brought home a bag consisting of one striped eland, one saltiana
72 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
antelope, four Guinea-fowl, four ringdoves, and one partridge — a welcome supply, considering we were quite out of flesh. Next day, as there were no signs of the trackers, I went again to the place of the elands, wounded a fine male, but gave up the chase, as I heard the unmistakable gun- firing return of the party, and straightway proceeded to camp. Sure enough, there they were; they had tracked the animal back to Marenga Mkhali, through jungle — for he had not taken to the footpath. Then, finding he had gone on, they returned quite tired and famished. To make the most of a bad job, I now sent Grant on to the Robe'ho (or windy) Pass, on the top of the western chain, with the mules and heavy baggage, and directions to pro- ceed thence across the brow of the hill the following morning, while I remained behind with the tired men, promising to join him by breakfast-time. I next released the prisoners, much to their disgust, for they had not known such good feeding before, and dreaded being turned adrift again in the jungles to live on calabash seeds ; and then, after shooting six Guinea-fowl, turned in for the night.
Betimes in the morning we were off, mounting the Robe'ho, a good stiff ascent, covered with trees and large blocks
To Camp, ZOUt. °
of granite, excepting only where cleared for villages; and on we went rapidly, until at noon the advance party was reached, located in a village overlooking the great interior pla- teau— a picture, as it were, of the common type of African scenery. Here, taking a hasty meal, we resumed the march all together, descended the great western chain, and, as night set in, camped in a ravine at the foot of it, not far from the great junc- tion-station Ugogi, where terminate the hills of Usagara.
Nov.]
UGOGO.
73
CHAPTER IV.
UGOGO, AND THE WILDERNESS OF MGUNDA MKHALI.
The Lie of the Country.— Rhinoceros-stalking.— Scuffle of Villagers over a Carcass. —Chief "Short-legs" and his Successor.— Buffalo-shooting.— Getting Lost.— A Troublesome Sultan.— Desertions from the Camp.— Getting Plundered.— Wilder- ness March. — Diplomatic Relations with the Local Powers. — Mantta Sdra's Story.— Christmas.— The Relief from Kaze'.
THIS day's work led us from the hilly Usagara range into the TO camp in the more level lands of the interior. Making a double 22d- march of it, we first stopped to breakfast at the quiet little settlement of Inenge, where cattle were abundant, but grain so scarce that the villagers were living on calabash seeds. Pro- ceeding thence across fields delightfully checkered with fine calabash and fig trees, we marched, carrying water through thorny jungles, until dark, when we bivouacked for the night, only to rest and push on again next morning, arriving at Ma- renga Mkhali (the saline water) to breakfast. Here a good view of the Usagara Hills is obtained. Carrying water with us, we next marched half way to the first settlement of Ugogo, and bivou- acked again, to eat the last of our store of Mbumi grain.
At length the greater famine lands had been spanned ; but we TO E. ugogo, were not in lands of plenty, for the "Wagogo we found, like their neighbors Wasagara, eating the seed of the calabash, to save their small stores of grain.
The East Coast Range having been passed, no more hills had Halt, 24«ft and to be crossed, for the land we next entered on is a plateau of rolling ground, sloping southward to the
Mgogo, or Native of Ugogo.
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
Ruaha River, which forms a great drain running from west to east, carrying off all the rain-waters that fall in its neighborhood through the East Coast Range to the sea. To the northward can
View of East Coast Range from Marenga Mkbali.
be seen some low hills which are occupied by Wahumba, a sub- tribe of the warlike Masai ; and on the west is the large forest- wilderness of Mgiinda Mkhali. Ugogo, lying under the lee side of the Usagara Hills, is comparatively sterile. Small outcrops of granite here and there poke through the surface, which, like the rest of the rolling land, being covered with bush, principally aca- cias, have a pleasing appearance after the rains have set in, but are too brown and desert-looking during the rest of the year. Large prairies of grass also are exposed in many places, and the villagers have laid much ground bare for agricultural purposes.
Altogether, Ugogo has a very wild aspect, well in keeping with the natives who occupy it, who, more like the Wazaramo than the "VVasagara, carry arms, intended for use rather than show. The men, indeed, are never seen without their usual arms — the spear, the shield, and the assegai. They live in flat-topped, square, tembe* villages, wherever springs of water are found, keep cattle in plenty, and farm enough generally to supply not only their own wants, but those of the thousands who annually pass in cara- vans. They are extremely fond of ornaments, the most common of which is an ugly tube of the gourd thrust through the lower lobe of the ear. Their color is a soft ruddy brown, with a slight infusion of black, not unlike that of a rich plum. Impulsive by nature, and exceedingly avaricious, they pester travelers beyond all conception by thronging the road, jeering, quizzing, and point-
Nov.] UGOGO. 75
ing at them ; and in camp, by intrusively forcing their way into the midst of the kit, and even into the stranger's tent. Caravans, in consequence, never enter their villages, but camp outside, gen- erally under the big " gouty -limbed" trees, encircling their entire jamp sometimes with a ring-fence of thorns to prevent any sud- Jen attack.
To resume the thread of the journey : we found, on arrival in Ugogo, very little more food than in Usagara, for the Wagogo were mixing their small stores of grain with the monkey-bread seeds of the gouty -limbed tree. Water was so scarce in the wells at this season that we had to buy it at the normal price of coun- try beer ; and, as may be imagined where such distress in food was existing, cows, goats, sheep, and fowls were also selling at high rates.
Our mules here gave us the slip again, and walked all the way back to Marenga Mkhali, where they were found and brought back by some Wagogo, who took four yards of merikani in ad- vance, with a promise of four more on return, for the job, their chief being security for their fidelity. This business detained us two days, during which time I shot a new variety of florikan, pe- culiar in having a light blue band stretching from the nose over the eye to the occiput. Each day, while we resided here, cries were raised by the villagers that the Wahumba were coming, and then all the cattle out in the plains, both far and near, were driven into the village for protection.
At last, on the 26th, as the mules were brought in, I paid a TO camp in hongo or tax of four barsati and four yards of chintz to the chief, and departed, but not until one of my porters, a Mhe'he', obtained a fat dog for his dinner ; he had set his heart on it, and would not move until he had killed it, and tied it .on to his load for the evening's repast. Passing through the next villages — a collection called Kifiikuro — we had to pay another small tax of two barsati and four yards of chintz to the chief. There we breakfasted, and pushed on, carrying water to a bivouac in the jungles, as the famine precluded our taking the march more easily.
Pushing on again, we cleared out of the woods, and arrived at
TO E. Kanyenye, tne eastern border of the largest clearance of Ugogo,
Kanyenye. Here we were forced to halt a day, as
the mules were done up, and eight of the Wanyamiie'zi porters
absconded, carrying with them the best part of their loads. There
76
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
was also another inducement for stopping here ; for, after stack- ing the loads, as we usually did on arriving in camp, against a large gouty-limbed tree, a hungry Mgogo, on eying our guns, of- fered his services to show us some bicornis rhinoceros, which, he said, paid nightly visits to certain bitter pools that lay in the nul- lah bottoms not far off. This exciting intelligence made me in- quire if it was not possible to find them at once ; but, being as-
Our Camp in L'gogo.
sured that they lived very far off, and that the best chance was the night, I gave way, and settled on starting at ten, to arrive at the ground before the full moon should rise.
I set forth with the guide and two of the sheikh's boys, each carrying a single rifle, and ensconced myself in the nullah, to hide until our expected visitors should arrive, and there remained until midnight. When the hitherto noisy villagers turned into bed, the silvery moon shed her light on the desolate scene, and the Mgogo guide, taking fright, bolted. He had not, however, gone long, when, looming above us, coming over the horizon line, was the very animal we wanted.
In a fidgety manner, the beast then descended, as if he expect- ed some danger in store — and he was not wrong ; for, attaching a bit of white paper to the fly-sight of my Blissett, I approached him, crawling under cover of the banks until within eighty yards of him, when, finding that the moon shone full on his flank, I raised myself upright and planted a bullet behind his left shoul- der. Thus died my first rhinoceros.
To make the most of the night, as I wanted meat for my men
Nov.] UGOGO. 77
to cook, as well as a stock to carry with them, or barter with the villagers for grain, I now retired to my old position, and waited again.
After two hours had elapsed, two more rhinoceros approached me in the same stealthy, fidgety way as the first one. They came even closer than the first, but, the moon having passed beyond their meridian, I could not obtain so clear a mark. Still they were big marks, and I determined on doing my best before they had time to wind us ; so, stepping out, with the sheikh's boys be- hind me carrying the second rifle to meet all emergencies, I plant- ed a ball in the larger one, and brought him round with a roar and whooh-whooh, exactly to the best position I could wish for receiving a second shot ; but, alas ! on turning sharply round for the spare rifle, I had the mortification to see that both the black boys had made off, and were scrambling like monkeys up a tree. At the same time, the rhinoceros, fortunately for me, on second consideration turned to the right-about, and shuffled away, leav- ing, as is usually the case when conical bullets are used, no traces of blood.
Thus ended the night's work. We now went home by dawn to apprise all the porters that we had flesh in store for them, when the two boys who had so shamelessly deserted me, instead of hid- ing their heads, described all the night's scenes with such capital mimicry as set the whole camp in a roar. We had all now to hurry back to the carcass before the Wagogo could find it ; but, though this precaution was quickly taken, still, before the tough skin of the beast could be cut through, the Wagogo began assem- bling like vultures, and fighting with my men. A more savage, filthy, disgusting, but, at the same time, grotesque scene than that which followed can not be conceived. All fell to work, armed with swords, spears, knives, and hatchets, cutting and slashing, thumping and bawling, fighting and tearing, tumbling and wrest- ling up to their knees in filth and blood in the middle of the car- cass. When a tempting morsel fell to the possession of any one, a stronger neighbor would seize and bear off the prize in triumph. All right was now a matter of pure might, and lucky it was that it did not end in a fight between our men and the villagers. These might be afterward seen, one by one, covered with blood, scamper- ing home each with his spoil — a piece of tripe, or liver, or lights, or whatever else it might have been his fortune to get off with.
We were still in great want of men ; but, rather than stop a
78
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
To Magotnba's
day, as all delays only lead to more difficulties, I pushed on to Magomba's palace with the assistance of some Wagogo carrying our baggage, each taking one cloth as his hire. The chief wazir at once came out to meet me on the way, and in an apparently affable manner, as an old friend, beg- ged that I would live in the palace — a bait which I did not take, as I knew my friend by experience a little too well. He then, in the politest possible manner, told me that a great dearth of food was oppressing the land — so much so, that pretty cloths only would purchase grain. I now wished to settle my hongo, but the great chief could not hear of such indecent haste.
The next day, too, the chief was too drunk to listen to any one, iuit,3WA,w, and I must have patience. I took out this time in the jungles very profitably, killing a fine buck and doe antelope, of a species unknown. These animals are much about the same size and shape as the common Indian antelope, and, like them, roam about in large herds. The only marked dif- ference between the two is in the shape of their horns, as may be seen by the opposite engraving ; and in their color, in which, in both sexes, the Ugogo antelopes resemble the picticandata gazelle of Tibet, except that the former have dark markings on the face. At last, after thousands of difficulties much like those I encoun- tered in Uzaramo, the honga was settled by a pay- ment of one kisutu, one dubuani, four yards benddra, four yards kiniki, and three yards merikani. The wazir then thought he would do some business on his own account, and com- menced work by presenting me with a pot of ghee and flour, say- ing at the same time " empty words did not show true love," and hoping that I would prove mine by making some slight return. To get rid of the animal, I gave him the full value of his present in cloth, which he no sooner pocketed than he had the audacity to accuse Grant of sacrilege for having shot a lizard on a holy stone, and demanded four cloths to pay atonement for this offense against the " Church." As yet, he said, the chief was not aware of the damage done, and it was well he was not ; for he would himself, if I only paid him the four cloths, settle matters quietly, otherwise there would be no knowing what demands might be made on my cloth. It was necessary to get up hot temper, else there was no knowing how far he would go ; so I returned him his presents, and told the sheikh, instead of giving four, to fling six cloths in his face, and tell him that the toly-stone story was
To Camp in
it:-:..::-.
DEC.]
UGOGO.
New Antelope, Ugogo.
merely a humbug, and I would take care no more white men ever came to see him again.
Some Wanyamuezi porters, who had been left sick here by for- mer caravans, now wished to take service with me as far as Kazd ,• but the "Wagogo, hearing of their desire, frightened them off it. A report also at this time was brought to us that a caravan had just arrived at our last ground, having come up from Whindi direct by the line of the Wami Eiver, in its upper course called Mukondokua, without crossing a single hill all the way ; I there- fore sent three men to see if they had any porters to spare, as it was said they had ; but the three men, although they left their bows and arrows behind, never came back.
Another mule died to-day. This was perplexing indeed, but to stop longer was useless; so we pushed forward as best we could to a pond at the western end of the district, where we found a party of Makiia sportsmen who had just killed an elephant.
80
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
limit, KA.
To Khoko, 6th,
They had lived in Ugogo one year and a half, and had killed in all seventeen elephants, half the tusks of which, as well as some portion of the flesh, they gave to Magomba for the privilege of re- siding there. There were many antelopes there, some of which both Grant and I shot for the good of the pot, and he also killed a crocuta hyena. From the pond we went on to the middle of a large jungle, and bivouacked for the night in a shower of rain, the second of the season.
During a fierce down-pour of rain, the porters all quivering and quaking with cold, we at length emerged from the jungle, and entered the prettiest spot in Ugogo — the populous district of TJsekhd — where little hills and huge columns of granite crop out. Here we halted.
Next day came the hongo business, which was settled by pay- ing one dubuani, one kitambi, one msutu, four yards merikani, and two yards kiniki ; but, while we were doing it, eight porters ran away, and four fresh ones were engaged (Wanyamuezi) who had run away from Kanyenye'.
With one more march from this we reached the last district in Ugogo, Khoko. Here the whole of the inhabitants turned out to oppose us, imagining we had come there to revenge the Arab Mohinna; because the "Wagogo attack- ed him a year ago, plundered his camp, and drove him back to Kaze', for having shot their old chief "Short-legs." They, how- ever, no sooner found out who we were than they allowed us to pass on and encamp in the outskirts of the Mgiinda Mkhali wil- derness. To this position in the bush I strongly objected, on the plea that guns could be best used against arrows in the open ; but none would go out in the field, maintaining that the Wagogo would fear to attack us so far from their villages as we now were, lest we might cut them off in their retreat.
Hori Hori was now chief in Short-legs's stead, and affected to be much pleased that we were English, and not Arabs. He told us we might, he thought, be able to recruit all the men that we were in want of, as many Wanyamuezi who had been left there sick wished to go to their homes ; and I would only, in addition to their wages, have to pay their " hotel bills" to the Wagogo. This, of course, I was ready to do, though I knew the Wanya- mue'zi had paid for themselves, as is usual, by their work in the fields of their hosts. Still, as I should be depriving these of hands, I could scarcely expect to get off for less than the value of
DEC.] UGOGO. QJ
a slave for each, and told Sheikh Said to look out for some men at once, while at the same time he laid in provisions of grain to last us eight days in the wilderness, and settle the hongo.
For this triple business I allowed three days, during which Hait,7tfi. time' alwavs eaSer to snoot something, either for sci-
ence or the pot, I killed a bicornis rhinoceros, at a distance of five paces only, with my small 40-gauge Lancaster as the beast stood quietly feeding in the bush; and I also shot a bitch fox of the genus Oiocyon Lalandii, whose ill-omened cry oft- en alarms the natives by forewarning them of danger. This was rather tame sport ; but next day I had better fun.
Starting in the early morning, accompanied by two of Sheikh Halt sth. Said's boys, Suliman and Faraj, each carrying a rifle, while I carried a shot-gun, we followed a footpath to the westward in the wilderness of Mgiinda Mkhali. There, after walking a short while in the bush, as I heard the grunt of a buf- falo close on my left, I took "Blissett" in hand, and walked to where I soon espied a large herd quietly feeding. They were quite unconscious of my approach, so I took a shot at a cow, and wounded her ; then, after reloading, put a ball in a bull, and stag- gered him also. This caused great confusion among them ; but, as none of the animals knew where the shots came from, they simply shifted about in a fidgety manner, allowing me to kill the first cow, and even fire a fourth shot, which sickened the great bull, and induced him to walk off, leaving the herd to their fate, who, considerably puzzled, began moving off also.
I. now called up the boys, and determined on following the herd down before either .skinning the dead cow or following the bull, who I knew could not go far. Their footprints being well defined in the moist sandy soil, we soon found the herd again ; but, as they now knew they were pursued, they kept moving on in short runs at a time, when, occasionally gaining glimpses of their large dark bodies as they forced through the bush, I repeated my shots and struck a good number, some more and some less severely. This was very provoking; for all of them, being stern shots, were not likely to kill, and the jungle was so thick I could not get a front view of them. Presently, however, one with her hind leg broken pulled up on a white-ant hill, and, tossing her horns, came down with a charge the instant I showed myself close to her. One crack of the rifle rolled her over, and gave mo free scope to improve the bag, which was very soon done ; for on
F
82 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [ISGO.
following the spoors, the traces of blood led us up to another one as lame as the last. He then got a second bullet in the flank, and, after hobbling a little, evaded our sight and threw himself into a bush, where we no sooner arrived than he plunged head- long at us from his ambush, just, and only just, giving me time to present my small 40-gauge Lancaster.
It was a most ridiculous scene. Suliman by my side, with the instinct of a monkey, made a violent spring and swung himself by a bough immediately over the beast, while Faraj bolted away and left me single-gunned to polish him off. There was only one course to pursue, for in one instant more he would have been into me; so, quick as thought, I fired the gun, and, as luck would have it, my bullet, after passing through the edge of one of his korns, stuck in the spine of his neck, and rolled him over at my feet as dead as a rabbit. Now, having cut the beast's throat to make him " hilal," according to Mussulman usage, and thinking we had done enough if I could only return to the first wounded bull and settle him too, we commenced retracing our steps, and by accident came on Grant. He was passing by from another quarter, and became amused by the glowing description of my boys, who never omitted to narrate their own cowardice as an excellent tale. He begged us to go on in our course, while he would go back and send us some porters to carry home the game.
Now, tracking back again to the first point of attack, we fol- lowed the blood of the first bull, till at length I found him stand- ing like a stuck pig in some bushes, looking as if he would like to be put out of his miseries. Taking compassion, I leveled my Blissett ; but, as bad luck would have it, a bough intercepted the flight of the bullet, and it went " pinging" into the air, while the big bull went off at a gallop. To follow on was no difficulty, the spoor was so good ; and in ten minutes more, as I opened on a small clearance, Blissett in hand, the great beast, from the thicket on the opposite side, charged down like a mad bull, full of feroc- ity— as ugly an antagonist as ever I saw, for the front of his head was all shielded with horn. A small mound fortunately stood between us, and as he rounded it, I jumped to one side and let fly at his flank, but without the effect of stopping him ; for, as quick as thought, the huge monster was at my feet, battling with the impalpable smoke of my gun, which fortunately hung so thick on the ground at the height of his head that he could not see me, though I was so dole that I might, had I been possessed of a
THItEE BUFFALO CUARGF.S IN OXE DAY. MOttTDA MKHALL
DEC.] UGOGO. g£
hatchet, have chopped off his head. This was a predicament which looked very ugly, for my boys had both bolted, taking with them my guns ; but suddenly the beast, evidently regarding the smoke as a phantom which could not be mastered, turned round in a bustle, to my intense relief, and galloped off at full speed, as if scared by some terrible apparition.
Oh what would I not then have given for a gun, the chance was such a good one ! Still, angry though I was, I could not help laughing as the dastardly boys came into the clearance full of their mimicry, and joked over the scene they had witnessed in security, while my life was in jeopardy because they were too frightened to give me my gun. But now came the worst part of the day ; for, though rain was falling, I had not the heart to re- linquish my game. Tracking on through the bush, I thought every minute I should come up with the brute ; but his wounds ceased to bleed, and in the confusion of the numerous tracks which scored all the forest we lost our own. _
Much disappointed at this, I now proposed to make for the track we came by in the morning, and follow it down into camp ; but this luxury was not destined to be our lot that night, for the rain had obliterated all our footprints of the morning, and we passed the track, mistaking it for the run of wild beasts. It struck me we had done so ; but, say what I would, the boys thought they knew better; and the consequence was, that, after wander- ing for hours no one knew where — for there was no sun to guide us — I pulled up, and swore I would wait for the stars, else it might be our fate to be lost in the wilderness, which I did not much relish. We were all at this time " hungry as hunters," and beginning to feel very miserable from being wet through. What little ammunition I had left I fired off as signals, or made tinder of to get up a fire, but the wood would not burn. In this hapless condition the black boys began murmuring, wishing to go on, pretending, though both held opposite views, that each knew the way, for they thought nothing could be worse than their present state of discomfort. ,
Night with its gloom was then drawing on, heightened by thunder and lightning, which set in all around us. At times we thought we heard musketry in camp, knowing that Grant would be sure to fire signals for us ; and doubtless we did so, but its sound and the thunder so much resembled one another that we distrusted our ears. At any rate, the boys mistook the west for
86
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1860.
limit, 9th.
the east ; and as I thought they had done so, I stood firm to one spot, and finally lay down with them to sleep upon the cold wet ground, where we slept pretty well, being only disturbed occa- sionally by some animals sniffing at our feet. As the clouds broke toward morning, my obstinate boys still swore that west was east, and would hardly follow me when tracking down Venus; next up rose the moon, and then followed the sun, when, as good luck would have it, we struck on the track, and walked straight into camp.
Here every one was in a great state of excitement : Grant had been making the men fire volleys. Th'e little sheikh was warmly congratulatory as he spoke of the num- bers who had strayed away and had been lost in that wilderness; while Bombay admitted he thought we should turn up again if I did not listen to the advice of the boys, which was his only fear. Nothing as yet, I now found, had been done to further our march. The hongo, the sheikh said, had to precede every thing ; yet that had not been settled, because the chief deferred it the day of our arrival, on the plea that it was the anniversary of Short-legs's death ; and he also said that till then all the Wagogo had been in mourning by ceasing to wear all their brass bracelets and other ornaments, and they now wished to solemnize the occasion by feasting and renewing their finery. This being granted, the next day another pretext for delay was found by the Wahumba hav- ing made a raid on their cattle, which necessitated the chief and all his men turning out to drive them away ; and to-day nothing could be attended to, as a party of fugitive Wanyamue'zi had ar- rived and put them all in a fright. These Wanyamue'zi, it then transpired, were soldiers of Manua Sera, " the Tippler," who was at war with the Arabs. He had been defeated at Ngu.ru, a dis- trict in Unyamue'zi, by the Arabs, and had sent these men to cut off the caravan route, as the best way of retaliation that lay in his power.
At last, the tax having been settled by the payment of one ciunge ground, dubuani, two barsati, one sahari, six yards merikani, and three yards kiniki (not, however, until I had our tents struck, and threatened to march away if the chief would not take it), I proposed going on with the journey, for our provisions were stored. But when the loads were being lifted, I found ten more men were missing ; and as nothing now could be done but throw ten loads away, which seemed too great a sacrifice to be
DEC.] UGOGO. gy
made in a hurry, I simply changed ground to show we were ready to march, and sent my men about, either to try to induce the fugitive Wanyamuezi to take service with me, or else to buy donkeys, as the chief said he had some to sell.
We had already been here too long. A report was now spread that a lion had killed one of the chief's cows: and
Halt, lith.
the Wagogo, suspecting that our being here was the cause of this ill luck, threatened to attack us. This no sooner got noised over the camp than all my Wanyamuezi porters, who had friends in TJgogo, left to live with them, and would not come back again even when the "storm had blown over," because they did not like the incessant rains that half deluged the camp. The chief, too, said he would not sell us his donkeys, lest we should give them back to Mohinna, from whom they were taken during his fight here. Intrigues of all sorts I could see were brewing, possibly at the instigation of the fugitive Wanyamuezi, who sus- pected we were bound to side with the Arabs — possibly from some other cause, I could not tell what ; so, to clear out of this pandemonium as soon as possible, I issued cloths to buy double rations, intending to cross the wilderness by successive relays in double the ordinary number of days. I determined at the same time to send forward two freed men to Raze* to ask Miisa and the Arabs to send me out some provisions and men to meet us half way.
Matters grew worse and worse. The sultan, now finding me unable to move, sent a message to say if I would not give him some better cloths to make his hongo more respectable, he would attack my camp; and advised all the Wan- yamuezi who regarded their lives not to go near me if I resisted. This was by no means pleasant; for the porters showed their un- easiness by extracting their own cloths from my bundles, under the pretext that they wished to make some purchases of their own. I ought, perhaps, to have stopped this ; but I thought the best plan was to show total indifference; so, at the same time that they were allowed to take their cloths, I refused to comply with the chief's request, and begged them to have no fear as long as they saw I could hold my own ground with my guns.
The Wanyamuezi, however, were panic-stricken, and half of them bolted, with the kirangozi at their head, carrying off all the double-ration cloths as well as their own. At this time, the sul- tan, having changed tactics, as he saw us all ready to stand on
88 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1860.
the defensive, sent back his hongo ; but, instead of using threats, said he .would oblige us with donkeys or any thing else if we would only give him a few more pretty cloths. With this cring- ing, perfidious appeal I refused to comply, until the sheikh, still more cringing, implored me to give way, else not a single man would remain with me. I then told him to settle with the chief himself, and give me the account, which amounted to three bar- sati, two sahari, and three yards merikani; but the donkeys were never alluded to. With half my men gone, I still ordered the march, though
strongly opposed to the advice of one of old Mamba's TO c*mp, uth. D j rr .
men, who was then passing by on his way to the
coast, in command of his master's rear detachment. He thought it impossible for us to pull through the wilderness, with its jungle grasses and roots, depending for food only on Grant's gun and my own ; still we made half way to the Mdaburu nullah, taking some of Mamba's out to camp with us, as he promised to take letters and specimens down to the coast for us, provided I paid him some cloths as ready money down, and promised some more to be paid at Zanzibar. These letters eventually reached home, but not the specimens.
The rains were so heavy that the whole country was now flooded, but we pushed on to the nullah by relays,
To Camp, 14th. .
and pitched on its left bank. In the confusion of the march, however, we lost many more porters, who at the same time relieved us of their loads, by slipping off stealthily into the bush.
The fifteenth was a forced halt, as the stream was so deep and
so violent we could not cross it. To make the best
Halt five days.
of this very unfortunate interruption, I now sent on two men to Kazd, with letters to Musa and Sheikh Snay, both old friends on the former expedition, begging them to send me sixty men, each carrying thirty rations of grain, and some country tobacco. The tobacco was to gratify my men, who said of all things they most wanted to cheer them was something to smoke. At the same time I sent back some other men to Khoko, with cloth to buy grain for present consumption, as some of my por- ters were already reduced to living on wild herbs and white ants. I then set all the remaining men, under the directions of Bombay and Baraka, to fell a tall tree with hatchets, on the banks of the nullah, with a view to bridging it ; but the tree dropped to the
DEC.] MGUNDA MKHALI. gg
wrong side, and thwarted the plan. The rain ceased on the 17th, just as we put the rain-gauge out, which was at once interpreted to be our Uganga, or religious charm, and therefore the cause of its ceasing. It was the first fine day for a fortnight, so we were only too glad to put all our things out to dry, and rejoiced to think of the stream's subsiding. My men who went back to Khoko for grain having returned with next to nothing — though, of course, they had spent all the cloths — I sent back another batch with pretty cloths, as it was confidently stated that grain was so scarce there, nothing but the best fabrics would buy it. This also proved a dead failure ; but, although animals were very scarce, Grant relieved our anxiety by shooting a zebra and an antelope.
After five halts we forded the stream, middle deep, and pushed Eight successive forward again, doing short stages of four or five miles
marches in the , . , ., , „
wilderness. a day, in the greatest possible confusion ; for, while Grant and I were compelled to go out shooting all day for the pot, the sheikh and Bombay went on with the first half of the property, and then, keeping guard over it, sent the men back again to Baraka, who kept rear-guard, to have the rest brought on. Order there was none ; the men hated this " double work ;" all the Wanyamuezi but three deserted, with the connivance of the coast-men, carrying off their loads with them, under a mutual understanding, as I found out afterward, that the coast-men were to go shares in the plunder as soon as we reached Unyamuezi. The next great obstacle in this tug-and-pull wilderness-march presented itself on the 24th, when, after the first half of the prop- erty had crossed the Mabunguru. nullah, it rose in flood and cut off the rear half. It soon, however, subsided ; and the next day we reached "the Springs," where we killed a pig and two rhinoc- eros. Not content, however, with this fare — notwithstanding the whole camp had been living liberally on zebra's and antelope's flesh every day previously — some of my coast-men bolted on to the little settlement of Jiwa la Mkoa, contrary to orders, to pur- chase some grain, and in doing so increased our transport diffi- culties.
Pulling on in the same way again — when not actually engaged in shooting, scolding and storming at the men, to keep them up to the mark, and prevent them from shirking their work, which they were forever trying to do — we arrived on the 28th at the " Boss," a huge granite block, from the top of which the green
90
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1861.
foliage of the forest-trees looked like an interminable cloud, soft and waving, fit for fairies to dwell upon. Here the patience of my men fairly gave way, for the village of Jiwa la Mkoa was only one long march distance from us, and they, in consequence, smelt food on in advance much sweeter than the wild game and wild grasses they had been living on ; and many more of them could not resist deserting us, though they might, had we all pulled to- gether, have gone more comfortably in, as soon as the rear prop- erty arrived next day with Baraka.
All the men who deserted on the 25th, save Johur and Mut- wana, now came into camp, and told us they had heard from travelers that those men who had been sent on for reliefs to Kaz6 were bringing us a large detachment of slaves to help us on. My men had brought no food either for us or their friends, as the cloths they took with them, " which were their own," were scarcely sufficient to purchase a meal — famines being as bad where they had been as in Ugogo. To try and get all the men together again, I now sent off a party loaded with cloths to see what they could get for us ; but they returned on the 30th grinning and joking, with nothing but a small fragment of goat-flesh, telling lies by the dozens. Johur then came into camp, unconscious that Baraka by my orders had, during his ab- sence, been inspecting his kit, where he found concealed seventy- three yards of cloth, which could only have been my property, as Johur had brought no akaba or reserve fund from the coast.
The theft having been proved to the satisfaction of every one, I ordered Baraka to strip him of every thing and give him three dozen lashes ; but after twenty -one had been given, the rest were remitted on his promising to turn queen's evidence, when it tran- spired that Mutwana had done as much as himself. Johur, it turned out, was a murderer, having obtained his freedom by kill- ing his master. He was otherwise a notoriously bad character ; so, wishing to make an example, as I knew all my men were rob- bing me daily, though I could not detect them, I had him turned out of camp. Baraka was a splendid detective, and could do every thing well when he wished it, so I sent him off now with cloths to see what he could do at Jiwa la Mkoa, and next day he returned triumphantly driving in cows and goats. Three Wanyamudzi, also, who heard we were given to shooting wild animals continually, came with him to offer their services as por- ters.
JAN.]
MGUNDA MKHALI.
Q-.
As nearly all the men had now returned, Grant and I spent TojiwaiaMkoa, New Year's Day with the first detachment at Jiwa la Mkoa, or Round Rock— a single temb^ village occu- pied by a few Wakimbu settlers, who, by their presence and do- mestic habits, made us feel as though we were well out of the wood. So indeed we found it ; for, although this wilderness was formerly an entire forest of trees and wild animals, numerous Wa- kimbu, who formerly occupied the banks of the Ruaha to the
The Tembti, or Mud Village, at Jivra la Mkoa.
southward, had been driven to migrate here, wherever they could find springs of water, by the boisterous naked pastorals the Wa- rori.
At night three slaves belonging to Sheikh Salem bin Saif stole into our camp, and said they had been sent by their master to seek for porters at Kaze, as all the "Wanyamuezi porters of four large caravans had deserted in Ugogo, and they could not move. I was rather pleased by this news, and thought it served the mer- chants right, knowing, as I well did, that the Wanyamuezi, being naturally honest, had they not been defrauded by foreigners on the down march to the coast, would have been honest still. Some provisions were now obtained by sending men out to distant vil- lages ; but we still supplied the camp with our guns, killing rhi- noceros, wild boar, antelope, and zebras. The last of our prop- erty did not come up till the 5th, when another thief, being caught, got fifty lashes, under the superintendence of Baraka, to show that punishment was only inflicted to prevent farther crime.
The next day my men came from Kaze with letters from Sheikh
92 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1861.
Snay and Musa. They had been detained there some days after arrival, as those merchants' slaves had gone to Utambara to settle some quarrel there ; but as soon as they re- turned, Musa ordered them to go and assist us, giving them beads to find rations for themselves on the way, as the whole country about Kaz£ had been half starved by famines, though he did send a little rice and tobacco for me. The whole party left Raze* to- gether ; but on arrival at Tiira the slaves said they had not enough beads and would return for some more, when they would follow my men. This bit of news was the worst that could have be- fallen us ; my men were broken-hearted enough before, and this drove the last spark of spirit out of them. To make the best of a bad job, I now sent Bombay with two other men off to Musa to see what he could do, and ordered my other men to hire Wakimbu from village to village. On the 7th, a nervous excitement was produced in the camp by some of my men running in and calling all to arm, as the fugitive chief Manua Se*ra was coming, with thirty armed followers carrying muskets. Such was the case; and by the time my men were all under arms, with their, sword- bayonets fixed, drawn up by my tent, the veritable " Tippler" arrived ; but, not liking the look of such a formidable array as my men presented, he passed on a short way, and then sent back a deputation to make known his desire of calling on me, which was no sooner complied with than he came in person, attended by a body-guard. On my requesting him to draw near and sit, his wooden stool was placed for him. He began the conversation by telling me he had heard of my distress from want of porters, and then offered to assist me with some, provided I would take him to Raze*, and mediate between him and the Arabs ; for, through their unjustifiable interference in his government affairs a war had ensued, which terminated with the Arabs driving him from his possessions a vagabond. Manila Se*ra, I must say, was as fine a young man as ever I looked upon. He was very handsome, and looked, as I now saw him, the very picture of a captain of the banditti of the romances. I begged him to tell me his tale, and, in compliance, he gave me the following narrative:
." Shortly after you left Kazd for England, my old father, the late chief Fundi Kira, died, and by his desire I became lawful chief; for, though the son of a slave girl, and not of Fundi Kira's wife, such is the law of inheritance — a constitutional policy estab- lished to prevent any chance of intrigues between the sons born
JAN.] MGUNDA MKHALI. 93
in legitimate wedlock. Well, after assuming the title of chief I gave presents of ivory to all the Arabs with a liberal hand but most so to Miisa, which caused great jealousy among the other merchants. Then, after this, I established a property tax on all merchandise that entered my country. Fundi Kira had never done so, but I did not think that any reason why I should not, especially as the Arabs were the only people who lived in my country exempt from taxation. This measure, however, exas- perated the Arabs, and induced them to send me hostile messages, to the effect that, if I ever meddled with them, they would de- throne me, and place Mkisiwa, another illegitimate son, on the throne in my stead. This," Manua Sera continued, " I could not stand ; the merchants were living on sufferance only in my coun- try. I told them so, and defied them to interfere with my orders, for I was not a ' woman,' to be treated with contempt ; and this got up a quarrel. Mkisiwa, seizing at the opportunity of the prize held out to him by the Arabs as his supporters, then com- menced a system of bribery. Words led to blows ; we had a long and tough fight ; I killed many of their number, and they killed mine. Eventually they drove me from my palace, and placed Mkisiwa there as chief in my stead. My faithful follow- ers, however, never deserted me ; so I went to Bubiiga, and put up with old Maula there. The Arabs followed — drove me to Ngiiru, and tried to kill Maula for having fostered me. He, how- ever, escaped them ; but they destroyed his country, and then fol- lowed me down to Nguru. There we fought for many months, until all provisions were exhausted, when I defied them to catch me, and forced my way through their ranks. It is needless to say I have been a wanderer since ; and though I wish to make friends, they will not allow it, but do all they can to hunt me to death. Now, as you were a friend of my father, I do hope you will patch up this war for me, which you must think is unjust."
I told Manila Sera I felt very much for him, and I would do my best if he would follow me to Kaze ; but I knew that nothing could ever be done unless he returned to the free-trade principles of his father. He then said he had never taken a single tax from the Arabs, and would gladly relinquish his intention to do so. The whole affair was commenced in too great a hurry ; but, what- ever happened, he would gladly forgive all if I would use my in- fluence to reinstate him, for by no other means could he ever get his crown back again. I then assured him that I would do what
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1861.
I could to restore the ruined trade of his country, observing that, as all the ivory that went out of his country came to ours, and all imports were productions of our country also, this war injured us as well as himself. Manila Se*ra seemed highly delighted, and said he had a little business to transact in Ugogo at present, but he would overtake me in a few days. He then sent me one of my runaway porters, whom he had caught in the woods making off with a load of my beads. We then separated ; and Baraka, by my orders, gave the thief fifty lashes for his double offense of theft and desertion.
On the 9th, having bought two donkeys and engaged several men, we left Jiwa la Mkoa with half our traps, and
To Gara6swi, 9{A. . .. , . , . ,-,
iiait,io//u marched to Garaeswi, where, to my surprise, there
ToZimbo,lltA. ' J r ' ,
Halt, i2«A and were as many as twenty tembes — a recently-formed settlement of Wakimbu. Here we halted a day for the rear convoy, and then went on again by detachments to Zim- bo, where, to our intense delight, Bombay returned to us on the 13th, triumphantly firing guns, with seventy slaves accompanying him, and with letters from Snay and Musa, in which they said they hoped, if I met with Manila Sera, that I would either put a bullet through his head, or else bring him in a prisoner, that they might do for him, for the scoundrel had destroyed all their trade by cutting off caravans. Their fights with him commenced by his levying taxes in opposition to their treaties with his father, Fundi Kira, and then preventing his subjects selling them grain. Once more the whole caravan moved on ; but as I had to pay ToMgongo eaca of the seventy slaves sixteen yards of cloth, by Thembo,i-«A. or(jer of their masters, in the simple matter of ex- penditure it would have been better had I thrown ten loads away at Ugogo, where my difficulties first commenced. On arrival at Mgongo Thembo — the Elephant's Back — called so in conse- quence of a large granitic rock, which resembles the back of that animal, protruding through the ground — we found a clearance in the forest, of two miles in extent, under cultivation. Here the first man to meet me was the fugitive chief of Kubuga, Madia. This poor old man — one of the honestest chiefs in the country — had been to the former expedition a host and good friend. He now gave me a cow as a present, and said he would give me ten more if I would assist him in making friends with the Arabs, who had driven him out of his country, and had destroyed all his be- longings, even putting a slave to reign in his stead, though he
JAN.] MGUNDA MKHALL. .,;,
bad committed no fault or intentional injury toward them. It was true Manila Sera, their enemy, had taken refuge in his palace, but that was not his fault ; for, anticipating the difficulties that would arise, he did his best to keep Manila Sdra out of it ; but Manila Sera, being too strong for him, forced his way in. I need not say I tried to console this unfortunate victim of circumstances as best I could, inviting him to go with me to Kazd, and promis- ing to protect him with my life if he feared the Arabs; but the old man, being too feeble to travel himself, said he would send his son with me.
Next day we pushed on a double march through the forest, and
reached a nullah. As it crosses the track in a south- To Camp, 15th. IT • • •
ernly direction, this might either be the head of the Kululu mongo or river, which, passing through the district of Kiwe'le, drains westward into the Malagarazi Eiver, and thence into the Tanganyika, or else the most westerly tributary to the Ruaha Eiver, draining eastward into the sea. The plateau, how- ever, is apparently so flat here, that nothing but a minute survey, or rather following the water-course, could determine the matter. Then emerging from the wilderness, we came into the open cultivated district of Tura, or " put down" — called so by the natives because it was, only a few years ago, the first cleared space in the wilderness, and served as a good halt- ing-station, after the normal ten days' march in the jungles, where we had now been struggling more than a month.
The whole place, once so fertile, was now almost depopulated and in a sad state of ruin, showing plainly the savage ravages of war; for the Arabs and their slaves, when they take the field, think more of plunder and slavery than the object they started on, each man of the force looking out for himself. The incen- tives, too, are so great — a young woman might be caught (the greatest treasure on earth), or a boy or a girl, a cow or a goat- all of them fortunes, of themselves too irresistible to be overlook- ed when the future is doubtful. Here Sheikh Said broke down in health of a complaint which he formerly had suffered from, and from which I at once saw he would never recover sufficient- ly well to be ever effective again. It was a sad misfortune, as the men had great confidence in him, being the representative of their Zanzibar government; still it could not be helped; for, as a sick man is, after all, the greatest possible impediment to a march, it was better to be rid of him than have the trouble of dragging
96 THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. [1861.
him ; so I made up my mind, as soon as we reached Raze", I would drop him there with the Arabs. He could not be
To W. TOra, nth. . . .
moved on the 16th, so I marched across the plain and put up in some villages on its western side. While waiting for the sheikh's arrival, some villagers at night stole several loads of beads, and ran off with them ; but my men, finding the theft out in time, hunted them down, and recovered all but one load ; for the thieves had thrown their loads down as soon as they found they were hotly pursued.
Early this morning I called all the head men of the village to- gether, and demanded the beads to be restored to me ;
H»H,18.'A. ' ,. . .. '
for, as I was living with them, they were responsible, according to the laws of the country. They acknowledged the truth and force of my demand, and said they would each give me a cow as an earnest, until their chief, who was absent, arrived. This, of course, was objected to, as the chief, in his absence, must have deputed some one to govern for him, and I expected him to settle at once, that I might proceed with the march. Then select- ing five of my head men to conduct the case, with five of their elders, it was considered my losses were equivalent to thirty head of cattle. As I remitted the penalty to fifteen head, these were made over to me, and we went on with the march, all feeling de- lighted with the issue but the Hottentots, who, not liking the loss of the second fifteen cows, said that in Kafirland, where the laws of the country are the same as here, the whole would have been taken, and, as it was, they thought I was depriving them of their rights to beef.
By a double march, the sheikh riding in a hammock slung on TO cam 19/A. a P0^6' we now ma(^e Kuale', or "Partridge" nullah, ToK-Bniog., which, crossing the road to the northward, drains these lands to the Malagarazi Eiver, and thence into the Tanganyika Lake. Thence, having spent the night in the jungle, we next morning pushed into the cultivated district of Rubuga, and put up in some half-deserted tembds, where the rav- ages of war were even more disgusting to witness than at Tura. The chief, as I have said, was a slave, placed there by the Arabs on the condition that he would allow all traders and travelers to help themselves without payment as long as they chose to reside there. In consequence of this wicked arrangement, I found it impossible to keep my men from picking and stealing. They looked upon plunder as their fortune and right, and my interfe- rence as unjustifiable.
JAN.]
MGUNDA MKHALI.
97
To W. RubQga,
2w. E. f-nyan-'
By making another morning and evening march, we then reached the western extremity of this cultivated
. , - , . ' , .
opening, where, alter sleeping the night, we threaded through another forest to the little clearance of Kigue, and in one more march through forest arrived in the large and fertile district of TJnyanyembd, the centre of U-n-ya- mue'zi — the Land of the Moon — within five miles of Kaze, which is the name of a well in the village of Tabora, now constituted the great central slave and ivory merchants' de"pot. My losses up to this date (23d) were as follows : one Hottentot dead and five returned ; one freeman sent back with the Hottentots, and one flogged and turned off; twenty-five of Sultan Majid's garden- ers deserted ; ninety-eight of the original "Wanyamuezi porters deserted ; twelve mules and three donkeys dead. Besides which, more than half of my property had been stolen ; while the trav- eling expenses had been unprecedented, in consequence of the severity of the famine throughout the whole length of the march.
View in Eastern Unyanyembe.
G
98
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1861.
CHAPTER V. U-N-YA-MUEZI.
The Country and People of U-n-ya-mnezi. — Kaze, the Capital. — Old Mttsa. — The naked Wakidi. — The N'yanza, and the Question of the River running in or out. — The Contest between Mohinna and " Short-legs." — Famine. — The Arabs and Local Wars. — The Sultana of Unyambewa. — Ungurfld " the Pig." — Pillage.
U-N-YA-MUEZI — Country of the Moon — must have been one of the largest kingdoms of Africa. It is little inferior in size to En- gland, and of much the same shape, though now, instead of being united, it is cut up into petty states. In its northern extremities it is known by the appellation U-sukuma — country north ; and
Myamficzi, or Native of UnyamiUzi.
in the southern, U-takama — country south. There are no histor- ical traditions known to the people ; neither was any thing ever written concerning their country, as far as we know, until the Hindus, who traded with the east coast of Africa, opened com- mercial dealings with its people in slaves and ivory, possibly some time prior to the birth of our Savior, when, associated with their name, Men of the Moon, sprang into existence the Mountains of the Moon. These Men of the Moon are hereditarily the greatest
JAN.] UNYAMUEZI. j,r,
traders in Africa, and are the only people who, for love of barter and change, will leave their own country as porters and go to the coast, and they do so with as much zest as our country-folk go to a fair. As far back as we can trace they have done this, and they still do it as heretofore. The whole of their country ranges from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level — a high plateau, studded with little outcropping hills of granite, between which, in the val- leys, there are numerous fertilizing springs of fresh water, and rich iron ore is found in sandstone. Generally industrious — much more so than most other negroes — they cultivate extensively, make cloths of cotton in their own looms, smelt iron and work it up very expertly, build tembe's to live in over a large portion of their country, but otherwise live in grass huts, and keep flocks and herds of considerable extent.
The Wanyamiie'zi, however, are not a very well-favored peo- ple in physical appearance, and are much darker than either the Wazaramo or the Wagogo, though many of their men are hand- some and their women pretty ; neither are they well dressed or well armed, being wanting in pluck and gallantry. Their wom- en, generally, are better dressed than the men. Cloths fastened round under the arms are their national costume, along with a necklace of beads, large brass or copper wire armlets, and a pro- fusion of thin circles, called sambo, made of the giraffe's tail-hairs bound round by the thinnest iron or copper wire ; while the men at home wear loin-cloths, but in the field, or while traveling, sim- ply hang a goatskin over their shoulders, exposing at least three fourths of their body in a rather indecorous manner. In all other respects they ornament themselves like the women, only, instead of a long coil of wire wound up the arm, they content themselves with having massive rings of copper or brass on the wrist ; and they carry for arms a spear and bow and arrows. All extract more or less their lower incisors, and cut a A between their two upper incisors. The whole tribe are desperate smokers, and great- ly given to drink.
On the 24th, we all, as many as were left of us, marched into
ToKaze 24'/, the merchants' dep6t, S. lat. 5° 0' 52", and E. long.
33° V 34",* escorted by Musa, who advanced to meet
* It may be as well to remark here, that the figures, both in latitude and longi- tude, representing the potion of Kaze, computed by Mr. Dnnkin, accord with what appeared in "Blackwood's Magazine," computed by myself, and in the R. G. S. Journal Map, computed by Captain George.
100
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.
[1861.
us, and guided us into his tembe', where he begged we would re- side with him until we could find men to carry our property on to Karague'. He added that he would accompany us; for he was on the point of going there when my first installment of prop- erty arrived, but deferred his intention out of respect to myself. He had been detained at Kaz^ ever since I last left it in conse- quence of the Arabs having provoked a war with Manua SeVa, to which he was adverse. For a long time also he had been a chained prisoner ; as the Arabs, jealous of the favor Manua Sera had shown to him in preference to themselves, basely accused him of supplying Manila Sera with gunpowder, and bound him hand and foot " like a slave." It was delightful to see old Miisa's face again, and the supremely hospitable, kind, and courteous man- ner in which he looked after us, constantly bringing in all kind of small delicacies, and seeing that nothing was wanting to make us happy. All the property I had sent on in advance he had stored away ; or rather, I should say, as much as had reached him, for the road expenses had eaten a great hole in it
Front View of Mfoa's Tetntfe at Karc.
Once settled down into position, Sheikh Snay and the whole conclave of Arab merchants came to call on me. They said they had an army of four hundred slaves armed with muskets ready to take the field at once