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Updated: June 4, 2025
This announcement made the king reflect; for he had been privately primed by his mother's attendants, that we both wished to go to Gani, and therefore shrewdly inquired if Rumanika knew we wished to visit Kamrasi, and whether he was aware we should attempt the passage north from Uganda. "Wrote! what does that mean?" and I was called upon to explain.
We heard that Bombay had shot a cow before Kamrasi and would not be allowed to return until he had eaten it. At last we made a move, but only of two hours' duration, through the usual forest, in which elephants walked about as if it were their park. We hoped at starting to reach the palace, but found we must stop here until the king should send for us.
The king's cows, even, are kept in the palace enclosure, the calves actually entering the hut, where, like a farmer, Kamrasi walks amongst them up to his ankles in filth, and, inspecting them, issues his orders concerning them. What has to be selected for his guests he singles out himself.
At one time the old enemy tempted me sorely to join Fowooka against Kamrasi; but, discarding the idea, generated in a moment of passion, I determined to resist his proposals to the last. It was perfectly true that the king was within thirty miles of us, that he was aware of our misery, and made use of our extremity to force us to become his allies.
Curiously enough, the woman Bacheeta, who had accompanied us to visit these unfortunate captives, now recognised her former mistress, who was the wife of the murdered Sali; she had been captured with the wives and daughters of Rionga. Bacheeta immediately fell on her knees and crept towards her on all fours, precisely as the subjects of Kamrasi were accustomed to approach his throne.
There were no preparations made, however, and after some delay we were honored by a visit from Kamrasi, who promised we should start on the following day. He concluded, as usual, by asking for my watch and for a number of beads; the latter I gave him, together with a quantity of ammunition for his guns. He showed me a beautiful double-barrelled rifle that Speke had given him.
"Don't you remember me" he exclaimed; "was it not I who many years ago carried the travelling-bag for the lady on your journey to Fatiko? Was it not you that shot the antelopes on the march, and gave me meat to eat when I was hungry?" Here was an extraordinary piece of good luck! My men had actually captured an old friend in the thickets, who had formerly marched with us in the reign of Kamrasi!
In their justification, Dr K'yengo's men said that had they not been in the country before us, Kamrasi would not have had such guests at all; for when he asked them if the Waganda reports about our cannibalism and other monstrosities were true, their head man denied it all, offered to stand security for our actions, and told the king if he found us cannibals he might make a Mohammedan of him, and sealed the statement with his oath by throwing down his shield and bow and walking over them.
He continued, "You shall have supplies tomorrow; I will go to my brother, who is the great M'Kammaa Kamrasi, and he will send you all you require. I am a little man, he is a big one; I have nothing; he has everything, and he longs to see you; you must go to him directly, he lives close by." I hardly knew whether he was drunk or sober "my brother the great M'Kamma Kamrasi!"
One night, at about eight o'clock, Ibrahim came to my hut looking very mysterious, and after assuring himself that no one was present, he confided to me that he had received orders from Kamrasi to attack Kalloe's village before daybreak on the following morning, to surround his dwelling, and to shoot him as he attempted to escape; Ibrahim was further instructed to capture the women and children of the village as his perquisites.
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