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Updated: June 16, 2025
He said that Mohammed, the Cairo dragoman, was several shades lighter since I had supplied him with soap; this was true, as he had been very filthy before my arrival; but Umbogo was persuaded that the difference between white and black people was caused by the fact of our ancestors having always used soap, while the blacks used only plain water.
This ethnological fact having been established, I gave him a small piece, to his great delight, as he expressed his intention to become a white man. I was always chatting with Umbogo and the various chiefs, especially with my favourite, Kittakara, who was Kabba Rega's most confidential counsellor.
The jars were therefore returned. About sunset Matonse again appeared, accompanied by Umbogo and natives with SEVEN jars of cider, and two large packages of flour, which he assured me had been borrowed from Rahonka.
This man, Umbogo, declares that Abou Saood wrote to Suleiman, instructing him to wait until I should have passed on, and then to bring all his slaves to Fabbo. "I immediately sent Captain Mohammed Deii with fifty men, including twenty-five of the 'Forty Thieves, with orders to liberate all slaves that might be discovered within the zareeba.
It was the height of the rainy season, and the grass was about nine or ten feet high, throughout a country of dense and tangled forest. I had no interpreter of my own; Umbogo was Kabba Rega's slave, and although I fancied that he was fond of us, I had no faith in any one of these detestable people.
I immediately sent Monsoor to find Umbogo. On arrival at the camp, which was about 120 yards distant, my first order was to double all the sentries. I found the men in a terrible state. Several lay insensible, while about thirty were suffering from violent constriction of the throat, which almost prevented them from breathing.
"I immediately released and examined the captive sheiks, who one and all declared that the fault lay with Suleiman, who had previously arranged the plan with Rahonka: that when I should be led away a distance of two days' journey, he would assemble his men and attack Rionga in conjunction with Rahonka's army. "The report of Umbogo, the dragoman, is thus corroborated by overwhelming evidence.
It is difficult to conceive the brutality of these brigands, who, thus relieved from the fear of a government, exhibit their unbridled passions by every horrible crime. Umbogo, the interpreter, was now regularly installed in a hut within call of my tent. This man appeared to be exceedingly fond of us, and he was the main source of information.
It was explained that the men were not accustomed to labour in the fields, as agricultural work was performed by the women, all of whom were now absent and engaged in preparing their own land. Although Masindi was a large town, I was struck by the absence of females. The only women that I saw were two, one of whom was the pretty wife of Umbogo the dragoman.
On the other hand, this attempt at murder might have been only the revenge of an individual who had perhaps lost his house and property in the conflagration of Masindi. The evening arrived without tidings of either Ramadan or Umbogo. I was now without an interpreter. The troops, and their wives and effects, occupied the fort, and the officers' quarters and camp had been abandoned.
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