ment.

cast eyes, went through the same form of acknowledgAnother instance of the honesty of the people may be mentioned. Manua, the cowherd, wished to return to the last camp for a cloth he had forgotten. On telling him that it would be brought to him, he hesitated, but the wild strains of a tambira were heard approaching the camp, and the rag was produced by the party, along with a gourd of wine for the Mazoongoo. In this case the instrument was played as a token of truce, to show that the arrivals were friendly. On the other hand, the natives often betrayed fear. If a few huts were passed by us while out shooting, first the children, then the women, and afterwards the men, armed, would fly from their houses, and conceal themselves in the plantain groves. This order was invariably observed-the children were the first care of the parents. Once, on calling to some men running away, a single man came up and sat by us; others became equally bold, and did so also, till a mob gathered round us, and the women returned to their several vocations in and out of the houses. To test their hospitality, I asked for as much tobacco as would fill my pipe. A handful was given me with the greatest readiness. It was like the coarsestgrained black tea in appearance and consistence; and, after obtaining information about the game to be to be procured in the country, we parted excellent friends-so much so that the day following they paid me a visit at my hut, and brought me some more tobacco, for which they received a present of beads.

Budja, the chief officer or M'koongoo, whom the king had sent in charge to deliver us over to the king of Unyoro, was a very handsome, intelligent man,

244

BUDJA, A KING'S OFFICER.

clean in his dress, and never sitting down unless a carpet of cowskin was laid for him by one of his attendant boys. Like all his race, he was impetuous; if sent for, he would come leisurely with the haughty airs of M'tessa, sit for a moment, pretend to listen to what was said, and before any business about the march could be negotiated, would rise abruptly, making some silly excuse, that the cattle must be looked after, &c., and then disappear. He travelled with three wives-tall, fair women-and about twenty young lads, who anticipated his every wish. One amongst them always looked after the ladies, whether on the march or in camp; another had both ears and fingers cut off for adultery. These men without ears had a very curious appearance-one old man in particular, his head looking like a barber's block, with black holes bored in it; not a fragment of the external ear was left. Whether the operation ultimately affected their hearing we could not ascertain, but apparently it did not; they had the sharp look of pug dogs. As Budja and party will accompany me into Unyoro while Speke goes to look at the exit of the Nile from the lake, his name will appear often in this chapter. He was a great authority on the road, being the mediator between the kings of Uganda and Unyoro. On asking him what relation a certain man was to the queen-dowager of Uganda, he replied by placing his left hand on his own right shoulder, thereby signifying that they were full brother and sister. I had never before seen any race that adopted this mode of expression, and it would imply that they, like ourselves, think the right hand of more importance than the left. Budja, however, could use either hand equally well.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

245

On his arm he carried a reed-whistle three inches long, but it seemed to be more for ornament than use.

In Uganda were both wind and stringed musical instruments, and the natives excelled in whatever they attempted. Night and day, in the palace precincts, the sound of drums was heard from the hill-sides. Every officer who commanded fifty men was allowed a kettle-drum. These were neatly made of wood, and when carried were slung on the back by shoulderstraps; the short drumsticks were stuck in loops outside, and a loose cover protected them from sun and rain. Each party of men had its regimental drumcall. Budja's was a certain number of taps in quick time, which we all soon got to distinguish from any other. But none sounded such a loud tenor "doogoo, doogoo, doogoo," as the king's small drums when he was out for the day. They were beaten so as to make the sounds swell from double piano to forte, and vice versa. At all levees bands of reed and bugle players attended, and also danced. The reeds, held like flageolets, were never without decorations of blue, white, and scarlet beads, with hair at their lower ends, and they sounded sweet and pleasing. Sometimes an enormous kettle-drum, slung over a stout Waganda's neck and shoulder, was allowed to join the wind instruments. It was profusely decorated with shells, beads, brass bells, bouquets of long goat's hair, &c., and beaten by single taps, the drummer throwing back his head and body, and giving a deep long "Bah!" after each tap. The harmonicon has been mentioned, also the stringed "nanga" or tambira, their most elegant instrument, looking, while laid in the lap to be played, like a harp in miniature. The queen generally

had a blind musician performing on the harp, and the king was most expert at all these instruments, sitting for hours playing or listening to others. There was not much singing among the Waganda, though a great deal of instrumental music. During the march they sang in a quivering voice, slurring the notes and words in an odd manner, only heard in Uganda. They could all whistle through their fingers, and snapped them curiously when wanting to speak with emphasis.

On parting with M'tessa, he gave rather indefinite orders to Budja, who was in charge of our march, to take us to the exit of the Nile from Victoria Nyanza, nearly east of his residence. This route was not adhered to by Budja, and for four days, in the most obstinate manner, he led us more north than east. Having got so far out of the line, it became a question whether it was really of importance to visit this point. Speke did not see any great advantage in it, and many would have been of the same opinion, because we had seen the lake daily from above our quarters at Uganda, and knew, from all accounts, that after making a few more miles we should come upon an immense river, with which we were now running parallel. However, in order to avoid any reproach or charge of indifference at home, we resolved-Budja being overruled-to see the river issue from the lake, and thus leave nothing undone. Speke asked me whether I was able to make a flying march of it along with him, while the baggage might be sent on towards Unyoro. At that time I was positively unable to walk twenty miles a-day, especially miles of Uganda marching, through bogs and over rough ground. I therefore yielded reluctantly to the necessity of our parting; and I am anxious to

be explicit on this point, as some have hastily inferred that my companion did not wish me to share in the gratification of seeing the river. Nothing could be more contrary to fact. My state of health alone prevented me from accompanying Speke to set at rest for geographers the latitude of the interesting locality, as to which we were perfectly satisfied from native report.

19.

II. CAMPS SEPARATED, FROM JULY 19 TILL AUGUST

On the 19th July Speke left with a light equipment for what he afterwards named the "Ripon Falls," where the Victoria Nyanza discharges itself to form the main waters of the White Nile. He intended to have joined me at the headquarters of Unyoro by proceeding there by boat, but was repulsed in the attempt. Budja, the majority of the Seedees, the baggage, and myself, struck away in the opposite direction towards the capital of Unyoro. The chief incidents of the first few days' marching have been embodied in the previous part of this chapter. But I will now, to vary the narrative, give the events as they occurred daily during Speke's absence.

22d July.-Marched N.N.W. through nothing but meadows of tall grass from 7.30 till 10 A.M., seven miles-from cultivation to cultivation. Rain during the night. The district is in charge of the queen of Uganda's brother. During the march a large black animal, looking back at us, glancing in the side way that an elephant does, ran fearlessly past some huts occupied by Wahuma in charge of cattle. No one turned out to give chase or showed much alarm; on