|
John Hanning Speke - The Discovery of the Source of the Nile
dealings with such men before, have thought that I had a first-rate set of followers. I lastly gave Sheikh
Said a double- barrelled 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 retain possession of them for ever if they carried them through the journey to my
satisfaction.
On the 21st, as everything 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 mainland. Colonel Rigby,
with Captain Grant and myself, then called on the Sultan, to bid him adieu, when he graciously offered
me, as a guard of honour to escort me through Uzaramo, one jemadar and twenty-five Beluch soldiers.
These I accepted, more as a government security in that country against the tricks of the natives, than for
any accession they made to our strength. His highness then places his 22-gun corvette, "Secundra Shah,"
at our disposal, and we went all three over to Bagamoyo, arriving on the 25th. Immediately 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 country) 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 anything 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 bazaar before they could get even tobacco at the same rate as other men, because they were
the servants of the big man, who could afford to give higher wages than any one else. The Hottentots,
too, began to fall sick, which my Wanguana laughingly 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 September, as things were looking more orderly, I sent forward half of the property, and all
the men I had then collected, to Ugeni, a shamba, or garden, two miles off; and on the 2nd October, after
settling with Ladha for my "African money," as my pagazis were completed to a hundred and one, we
wished Rigby adieu, and all assembled together at Ugeni, which resembles the richest parts of Bengal.
Chapter II. Uzaramo
The Nature of the Country - The Order of March - The Beginning of our Taxation - 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-za-Ramo, which may mean the country of Ramo, though I have never found any
natives who could enlighten me on the derivation of this obviously triple word. The extent of the country,
roughly speaking, stretches from the coast to the junction or bifurcation of the Kingani and its upper
branch the Mgeta river, westwards; and from the Kingani, north, to the Lufigi river, south; though in the
southern portions several subtribes 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, consists of
|
