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The love of good beer of course made our men all too tired to march again; so I sent off Bombay with Nasib to make our excuses, and in the evening found them returning with a huge pot of pombe and some royal tobacco, which Rumanika sent with a notice that he intended it exclusively for our own use, for though there was abundance for my men, there was nothing so good as what came from the palace; the royal tobacco was as sweet and strong as honey-dew, and the beer so strong it required a strong man to drink it.
7th. To-day I called at the queen's, but had to wait five hours in company with some attendants, to whom she sent pombe occasionally; but after waiting for her nearly all day, they were dismissed, because excess of business prevented her seeing them, though I was desired to remain. I asked these attendants to sell me food for beads, but they declared they could not without obtaining permission.
No one, however, dared enter his cabinet, where he had been practising "Uganga" all day, and so the pombe turned sour and useless. Such are the ways of Uganda all over. 11th. The king was out shooting; and as nothing else could be done, I invited Uledi's pretty wife Guriku to eat a mutton breakfast, and teach my child Meri not to be so proud.
We were scarcely inside our new dwelling when Kamrasi sent a cheer of two pots pombe, five fowls, and two bunches of plantains, hoping we were now satisfied with his favour; but he damped the whole in a moment again, by asking for a many-bladed knife which his officers had seen in Grant's possession.
I sent Frij to the palace to ask once more for leave to visit the Luta Nzige river-lake to the westward, and to request Kamrasi would send men to fetch my property from Karague. He sent four loads of small fish and one pot of pombe, to say he would see me on the morrow, when every arrangement would be made.
In the evening a pot of pombe was brought, when the man in charge, half-drunk, amused us with frantic charges, as if he were fighting with his spear; and after settling the supposed enemy, he delighted in tramping him under foot, spearing him repeatedly through and through, then wiping the blade of the spear in the grass, and finally polishing it on this tufty head, when, with a grunt of satisfaction, he shouldered arms and walked away a hero.
All last night, until nine A.M. this morning, my soldiers danced and sang to the names of their dead comrades, whose bones now bleach in the forests of Wilyankuru. Two or three huge pots of pombe failed to satisfy the raging thirst which the vigorous exercise they were engaged in, created. So, early this morning, I was called upon to contribute a shukka for another potful of the potent liquor.
The first operation on shore was picnicking, when many large bugus of pombe were brought for the king; next, the whole party took a walk, winking through the trees, and picking fruit, enjoying themselves amazingly, till, by some unlucky chance, one of the royal wives, a most charming creature, and truly one of the best of the lot, plucked a fruit and offered it to the king, thinking, doubtless, to please him greatly; but he, like a madman, flew into a towering passion, said it was the first time a woman ever had the impudence to offer him anything, and ordered the pages to seize, bind, and lead her off to execution.
But Ali was of a different mould; small and slight and anxious to please, he was nevertheless swift to leave his work when once my back was turned. Forsaken in love for he had been deserted by his wife he had forsworn the sex and buried his sorrows in "Pombe," the Kaffir beer that effectually deprived him of what little intelligence he had.
All appreciated this speech, saying, "The white man, he even speaks beautifully! beautifully! beautifully! beautifully!" and, putting their hands to their mouths, they looked askance at me, nodding their admiring approval. The queen and her ministers then plunged into pombe and became uproarious, laughing with all their might and main.
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