FLAG OF UGUNDA.
The flag of Ugunda proved to be of white and red, there being three times as much of the latter as of the former; and it was ornamented at the end with tassels of monkey-skin, cut from those parts where the hair was longest. This was probably the first occasion of the American flag being carried with that of Ugunda, and the boys were naturally proud of the event.
The horses attracted more attention than did their riders, for the simple reason that they were far more interesting as curiosities. White men were not uncommon in Ugunda, especially since the residence there of two English missionaries, but horses were rarely seen. Colonel Long was the first to ride a horse into Ugunda; and probably, up to the date of Doctor Bronson's visit, not more than half a dozen in all had escaped the dreaded tsetse and reached the region of the Victoria N'yanza. Many of the people had never seen a horse, and some of them believed that horse and man were one, and expressed great astonishment when the riders dismounted.
LONG'S FIRST VISIT TO M'TESA.
When Colonel Long visited Ugunda and approached the palace, the king sent a messenger to ask that he would ride to the gate, in order that his majesty might see the animal on which he was mounted. The colonel gathered his reins and dashed down the slope of a hill to where the king was standing with his harem, who fled in terror at the apparition. The horse slipped and stumbled in a depression of the road, but quickly recovered; the colonel rode by at full speed and returned to the hill, amid the shouts of the assembled crowd. When he dismounted there was a rush of frightened men, as they had supposed till then that he was a Centaur.
Since that event the king and his people have been enlightened to some extent, but horses are still regarded with veneration, and are more strange in the eyes of the people than the elephant is in ours.
On the arrival of our friends the king was in front of his palace, which stands on the top of a gently sloping hill, commanding a fine view of the country for a considerable distance. At the foot of the slope a messenger requested the party to halt till the royal group had taken its position. The delay enabled the crowd to have a good look at the strangers, and it is fair to suppose that Frank and Fred returned the inspection with interest. The boys were favorably impressed with the intelligent appearance of the faces around them; they said they could readily understand why Ugunda was the most advanced of the Central African countries, and had been the first to welcome the missionary and his work.
A messenger came from the king to request the party to advance, and, amid the renewed din of horns and drums, it moved on once more. About fifty yards from where the king stood it halted, and then the Doctor and the boys dismounted, and left their horses in charge of the grooms. Under the guidance of the court interpreter they walked forward; their names were shouted in loud tones; they advanced to the king and bowed; the king inclined his head very slightly, in recognition of their obeisance, and the ceremony was over.
The formal presentation was to take place the next day, in the king's palace, and in the mean time the strangers were to be allowed to rest. The presents intended for the king were deposited in the zeriba prepared for the Doctor, to which the entire party was immediately conducted by the kahotah, who now showed himself for the first time.
UGUNDA BOY.
Several attendants were sent by the king to wait upon the Doctor and his young friends. Abdul said the best use to be made of them was to lodge them in one of the huts, and require as little service as possible from them. Their real office was to see and report upon everything that the strangers had and did, and particularly to tell what they possessed which could be of use to the king. Consequently, whatever the Doctor had which he did not wish to be called on to present to his majesty was kept carefully out of sight; and though the attendants repeatedly intimated that they would like to examine the contents of certain boxes and bales, they were not accommodated.
The zeriba prepared for the Doctor was on the side of a hill fronting the one on which the palace stood. It was the same which was occupied by Stanley, Long, and others, and is supposed to be in readiness at any time for the reception of distinguished visitors. There were a dozen or more huts inside a palisade: one, larger than the rest, was the special residence of the Doctor, and two others close by had been hastily thrown together for the boys. The other huts were for the dragoman, servants, and escort; and the attendants, who had been sent to keep watch, were instructed to order more huts erected if necessary. The construction of a house in Central Africa is an affair of only an hour or two, and the number could be multiplied indefinitely till all the space was occupied.
VIEW OF M'TESA'S PALACE FROM DOCTOR BRONSON'S ZERIBA.
Frank busied himself in the afternoon in making a sketch of the scene from the front of their encampment. The picture included the slope of the hill, covered with conical huts, and divided into little gardens. A broad road led up the hill and around to the summit, and in order to reach the entrance of the palace it was necessary to follow this bend of the road.
A few trees were scattered along the sides of the hill, but the vegetation was not abundant. Abdul explained that the most of the wood had been cut away for fuel, and the king was not inclined to have many trees around his residence, as they would give shelter to an enemy in case of hostilities. Wood was a scarce article in the capital of Ugunda, and Doctor Bronson soon found it necessary to ask the king for a detail of men to supply them with fuel. In spite of the position of the place (less than thirty miles from the equator), the nights were cool, in consequence of the great elevation above the level of the sea.
The instruments were set up, and the latitude and longitude of Rubaga, the name of M'tesa's capital, was obtained by the Doctor as follows: Lat., 0° 21' 19" north; long., 32° 44' 30" east; elevation by barometer, not far from forty-five hundred feet. Atmosphere humid, and climate unhealthy for Europeans.
Frank found his sketch was a work of difficulty, as the natives crowded around and watched each stroke of the pencil with feverish anxiety, and with many expressions of wonder. Two of the attendants, armed with spears, were in front of the hut where he was occupied with his drawing; they kept up an incessant chatter in a language he could not understand, but their frequent glances in his direction showed that he was the subject of conversation. When he had finished one of them examined the sketch with great care, and immediately started for the palace, with the intention, no doubt, of informing his royal master what the young man had been doing.
The natives displayed a great deal of curiosity: they not only examined all inanimate things belonging to the party, but pulled at their clothing, took their caps from their heads, and were never weary of pulling at their hair, as if wishing to ascertain what made it so free from kinks. It was frequently necessary to repress their eagerness; but everything was done with such good-nature that it was difficult to get angry with them. Frank suggested that they shut the gates of their zeriba and admit nobody unless he had business inside; but the Doctor said it would be best not to do so. There would be a better chance of studying the people if they could come and go as they liked, and, besides,it would make a more favorable impression on the king, who would certainly be informed of all that occurred.
A WARRIOR OF UGUNDA.
While Frank made his sketch of the hill of Rubaga, Fred induced one of the warriors to stand for his portrait, which the youth put upon paper, the man remaining motionless as a statue for at least half an hour.
Under the drawing he wrote the following notes:
"He is a handsome, well-formed negro, not an inch less than six feet in height, and with a head that resembles John M'Cullough dressed for Othello. His left arm is quite bare, and supports the triangular shield which is a part of his military equipment. It is a light frame, covered with dried hide and decorated with pieces of monkey-skin, to which the hair still clings. Knotted and fastened over his right shoulder he has two garments like cloaks; one is made of bark-cloth of a yellowish color, and the other of the skins of very young antelopes, sewn together as skilfully as the best operator of New York or London could perform the work. His ankles are encircled with rings of brass wire, his hair is closely cut, with a parting on one side, and his feet are without shoes. He has two spears over his right shoulder, as his official position requires him to be armed in this way. The customary weapon of the Wagunda, as the people of the country are called, is a single spear; and a person of any rank whatever would injure his reputation if he went abroad without it."
The king sent presents of bananas, rice, fruit, and jars of pombé, together with a large jar of milk, as he knew from experience that the foreigners were fond of that article. He sent a high official to ask if anything else was wanted. Doctor Bronson thanked the officer, both in words and with a present, and told him their needs were all supplied. The officer hid the Doctor's present under his cloak and went away,but soon returned with the announcement that the king would hold court the following morning and receive the strangers. As they were already informed of this arrangement, the Doctor suspected that it was a device to extort another present, and therefore paid no farther attention to it.
VIEW OF RUBAGA FROM THE GREAT ROAD.
The ceremonies at court on the following day proved to be of a most interesting character, and were thus described by Frank in his journal:
"We were ready at the appointed time, each of us wearing a suit of spotless white. We were accompanied by Abdul and three servants, the latter carrying our chairs. The officer who came to escort us said the king was engaged in hearing the reports of his ministers, and would be pleased to receive us. Of course we took that as a hint to move, and were off at once.
"The audience-chamber may be described as an exaggerated hut of the Ugunda pattern, with a broad opening at one side. It has a double roof over the entrance, the outer one projecting like the eaves of a house, and supported by posts, that somewhat impede the view, though not to any great extent. Both roofs are covered with thatch, and a fire would make sad havoc in a short time.
"Places had been reserved for us on both sides of the oblong block which served as a royal seat. Doctor Bronson and myself were motioned to sit on the right of his majesty, while Fred and Abdul were placed to the left. They were a little farther back than we, so that the side of the door-way hid a good deal of the outside spectacle from their sight. The Doctor, Fred, and I were seated on our camp-chairs, while Abdul remained standing by Fred's side, and close to where the courtiers and cup-bearers came when they had anything to offer to the king.
A RECEPTION AT THE COURT OF KING M'TESA.
"M'tesa sat on a block of wood that resembled a large door-step, and was covered with skins of several wild animals, that of a leopard being uppermost and in the centre. His feet just touched the matting which lay upon the ground in front of him, and he sat for the most of the time as motionless as though being photographed, and with his hands folded on his lap. A little distance from him were several attendants squatted on the mat and waiting for his orders.
"On the ground outside, and seated in the same way as the slaves, was a semicircular group of courtiers, perhaps a hundred in all. At the left of the king, and just outside the door of the audience-room, were three or four men, wearing red caps, like the Turkish fez. They were ferocious-looking fellows, and each had a small cord twisted round his cap, which told plainly what their duties were.
"I looked at them carefully out of the corner of one eye as they kept their gaze rigidly on the face of M'tesa. What do you suppose they were?
"These ferocious men were the court executioners, and down to the time of Stanley's visit, in 1876, their duty was to strangle such persons as were designated by their royal master. These victims were taken from the group of courtiers or by-standers, and every man who went to the ceremonies at M'tesa's court was liable to be offered up as a sacrifice at the end of the performance. Sometimes ten victims, sometimes five, and sometimes as many as thirty, were strangled in a single morning by the king's order, as an offering to the gods who presided over the destinies of the kingdom of Ugunda.
"All is changed now since M'tesa has embraced Christianity, thanks to the labors of Stanley. The executioners have little to do in their former profession, and their service now is in the less ferocious work of serving as messengers or pages. Occasionally a criminal is put to death by royal command, but the custom of sacrifices has been abandoned, and probably forever.
"Speke found M'tesa a savage, with all the horrid rites of paganism in full sway. Stanley found him a Moslem, wearing the Arab dress, and requiring his court-officers to do likewise, but still retaining some of his pagan customs. We find him a Christian, and with Christian missionaries at work in his dominions. He has abandoned much of his former haughtiness and acquired the manners of Europe far more than we had reason to expect. His courtiers are no longer in the habit of rubbing their necks when they wake in the morning, to ascertain if their heads are still on their shoulders.
"Formerly it was the custom for everybody who approached the king to lie prostrate on the ground and wriggle up to his place, taking care not to expose the soles of the feet either in advancing or retiring. To do this was to offer great indignity to his majesty, and many a man has lost his head in punishment for not being handy with his foot.
"The prostration is no longer required. The courtiers advance, with the head bowed slightly, very much as they might approach a sovereignin Europe, and they deliver what they have to say without any sign of cringing. The courtiers squat or sit on the ground as they used to, and they continue to be particular about the soles of their feet. You cannot expect a complete change in manners in a single decade.
A TREE OF UGUNDA.
"When the king had finished the ordinary business of the court he turned to his minister of state and asked about the strangers. The minister explained, what the king probably had learned already, that the strangers had come from a far country to look upon the ruler of the kingdom of Ugunda. They had brought presents of great value for this mighty king, and it gave them great pleasure to be present at his court.
"Then the king turned toward us, but continued to address the minister, saying he was glad to welcome the strangers, and hoped they would enjoy their stay in his dominions.
"Abdul translated the king's words, and thanked his majesty on behalf of Doctor Bronson and his two companions—rather, I should say, he thanked the kahotah who delivered the speech to the king. The latter then gave the signal, the drums sounded, and the ceremonies were over. The courtiers rose from their sitting postures and backed away from the enclosure in front of the hall, and only the guards and a few of the high officials remained.
"As soon as the place was cleared the king rose and stepped down from his throne. We immediately rose from our seats and waited his pleasure.
"He gave a slight nod to his prime-minister; the latter advanced, and introduced us, very much as we might be introduced to a private gentleman in his residence. We bowed as he did so. The king took Doctor Bronson's hand for an instant, and just glanced at Fred and myself, as we were probably too young for him to give us any serious attention.
"I can't do better, nor even as well, in the way of a personal description, than Stanley has done in his book, 'The Dark Continent.' Therefore I will quote from page 195 of the first volume:
"'April7, 1876.—In person M'tesa is tall, probably six feet one inch, and slender. He has very intelligent and agreeable features, reminding me of some of the faces of the great stone images at Thebes, and of the statues in the museum at Cairo. He has the same fulness of lips, but their grossness is relieved by the general expression of amiability, blended with dignity, that pervades his face, and the large, lustrous, lambent eyes that lend it a strange beauty, and are typical of the race from which I believe him to have sprung. His color is of a dark-red brown, of a wonderfully smooth surface. When not engaged in council, he throws off unreservedly the bearing that characterizes him when on the throne and gives rein to his humor, indulging in hearty peals of laughter. He seems to be interested in the discussion of the manners and customs of European courts, and to be enamored of hearing of the wonders of civilization. He is ambitious to imitate as much as lies in his power the ways of the white man. When any piece of information is given him he takes upon himself the task of translating it to his wives and chiefs.'
"'April7, 1876.—In person M'tesa is tall, probably six feet one inch, and slender. He has very intelligent and agreeable features, reminding me of some of the faces of the great stone images at Thebes, and of the statues in the museum at Cairo. He has the same fulness of lips, but their grossness is relieved by the general expression of amiability, blended with dignity, that pervades his face, and the large, lustrous, lambent eyes that lend it a strange beauty, and are typical of the race from which I believe him to have sprung. His color is of a dark-red brown, of a wonderfully smooth surface. When not engaged in council, he throws off unreservedly the bearing that characterizes him when on the throne and gives rein to his humor, indulging in hearty peals of laughter. He seems to be interested in the discussion of the manners and customs of European courts, and to be enamored of hearing of the wonders of civilization. He is ambitious to imitate as much as lies in his power the ways of the white man. When any piece of information is given him he takes upon himself the task of translating it to his wives and chiefs.'
A DAUGHTER OF KING M'TESA.
"The above description will answer perfectly for to-day. Stanley saw much more of the king than we have seen, not only in an official but in a social way, and he makes a pleasing picture of the court of Ugunda at the time of his visit.
"Stanley says the king could not sound the letter 'n' distinctly, and consequently made the explorer's name into 'Stamlee.' Though pronouncing the name of his guest repeatedly, he could never hit the proper sound. But if the king has trouble with foreign words, he may console himself with the thought that the foreigners have equal difficulty with the language of Ugunda. It is full of consonant sounds, and its vowels are few. The name of the king requires two consonants to be sounded together, and it is no slight task forthe European tongue to get through "M'Tesa" without danger of choking. As far as we can observe, there are many words in the language which present the same difficulties, and Fred says anybody who comes to Ugunda to stay ought to bring some iron clasps to hold his jaws in place while talking.
"When the king stepped from his throne he dropped his own language and spoke in Arabic, and we saw at once there was no farther need of an interpreter. In a few polite phrases he said he was glad we had come to Ugunda, and hoped many of our countrymen would follow our example.
"'It is a long and difficult journey,' he added, 'and we have not much besides our lakes and hills to show you. We appreciate it when you come so far, and if there is anything you specially wish to see, it shall be shown.'
"Doctor Bronson mastered all the Arabic he could speak, and thanked the king for his offer.
"'We wish to see the Victoria N'yanza,' said the Doctor, 'and to learn what we can about your majesty's country.'
"The king answered that we should have all we wished, nodded his head just the least in the world, and looked away. Then he suddenly turned around toward the Doctor again, and said he would send him any provisions he might need for his men.
KING OF UGUNDA RETIRING.
"He walked away, followed by his court officers. He has a dignified, almost haughty, manner of walking, and reminded me of Captain Speke's description of his striding off with two spears in his right hand, while with his left he led his favorite dog, which seemed to imitate the walk of his master. This peculiar step is supposed to represent the walk of the lion, which is the beast to which the king loves to be compared.
"We walked slowly back to our zeriba, followed by a large crowd that pressed curiously around us. Their attentions were sometimes inconvenient, but nobody intentionally offered any affront.
"We had not reached our quarters more than ten or fifteen minutes before the presents which the king had promised us began to arrive.
"There were bags and jars, bundles and baskets, almost without number. They contained samples, and large ones, too, of nearly all the edible things produced in the country. There were potatoes, yams, bananas (green and ripe), eggs, chickens, milk, melons, tomatoes, cocoa-nuts, cassava flour, banana flour, pombé, and several varieties of fruits unknown to us. We have the products of the tropics and some of those of the temperate zone, and if the king's bounty continues there is no danger that we will starve in Ugunda.
"Now was the time to send our presents to the king, the etiquette of the court requiring that they shall be made as soon as possible after an interview. Accordingly we despatched Abdul with the cloth, beads, jewellery, hatchets, knives, and other things of that nature which we had intended for M'tesa, and with the announcement that we had some other things to deliver in person and explain their uses, whenever it pleased his majesty to receive them.
NATIVE OF UGUNDA, WITH HUNTING SPEAR.
"Abdul returned with a message from the prime-minister that the king would receive us and our presents the next morning, at a less formal assemblage than the one we had attended that day. Soon after his return there came an additional present, in the shape of five cows, twenty sheep, and as many goats, which were intended to supply our camp with fresh provisions.
"The cattle resemble the Durham breed of England, and are the finest animals of the kind we have seen in Africa. They are keptmainly for their milk, as the Wagunda rarely eat beef; their diet is principally vegetable, with the occasional addition of the flesh of sheep, goats, and chickens. The king has large herds of cattle, and he sometimes sells them to the Arab traders, who take them to regions where such animals bring higher prices than in Ugunda.
"The next morning we went to deliver the presents, having received notice that his majesty was ready to receive us. We found him in the open space in front of his audience-hall, accompanied by his wives and court officials—about fifty of the latter, and at least a hundred of the former. Fred and I thought that a hundred wives was a good many, but Abdul said there were at least as many more whom we did not see.
"M'tesa is a very pleasant man when in the midst of his family, and he laughed and talked with them as freely as if he had not beenking at all, but only an ordinary citizen. Of course we could not understand what he said, as we don't know ten words of the language; but, to judge by the laughter that followed his remarks, there must have been a good deal of fun in them.
"Our porters deposited the presents in a spot indicated by the prime-minister and then retired. We opened the parcels, and Doctor Bronson gave the things to M'tesa one after the other as the wrappings were removed.
"He was particularly desirous to obtain fire-arms, and we gave him a double-barrelled sporting gun of the Remington system, loading at the breech, and capable of being fired very rapidly. Then we gave him a rifle, with a case of explosive balls, which he immediately proceeded to test by firing one of them into a tree, where it exploded with great force and threw splinters of wood in every direction.
THE KING'S MUSICIANS.
"A music-box was wound and set in operation. The king was familiar with music-boxes, as they had been brought by previous travellers. His wives showed the greatest delight at the sound which the instrument produced, and two or three of his little daughters could hardly remain quiet while the tunes were being played.
"We couldn't show the magic lantern, as it was in the daytime, but we brought out the telephone, and stretched about a hundred yards of wire from one side of the open space to the other. When the connections had been made and everything was ready, we asked his majesty to make an experiment with the strange machine.
"Doctor Bronson and Abdul went with the king to one end of theline, while Fred and I stood by the prime-minister at the other, with Ali to serve as our interpreter.
VISITORS IN THE ZERIBA.
"Under the directions of the Doctor, M'tesa spoke through the instrument, and immediately received a response from our end of the wire. The voice of the minister seemed to be close to his ear, and he looked around, with an angry expression on his face, as if he believed there was some trick about it.
"The kahotah was so far off that he could only be heard by shouting, and then the king spoke again through the telephone.
"The kahotah responded immediately. To say the king was astonished is to express very mildly his mental condition.
"In some doubt as to what was going on, he called one of his daughters, a little girl about eight or nine years old, who spoke Arabic fluently, and sent her to our end of the line. Evidently he thought it possible that the minister might be in collusion with us, and therefore he called the girl, as he knew she had not seen us till that morning, and had not spoken a word to any of our party.
"She talked with her father both in their native language and in Arabic. As soon as they began speaking Doctor Bronson walked awaya few yards from the king's side, so as not to overhear the conversation; and Fred and I walked away from the little girl in the same manner.
"They talked there for nearly half an hour, and then the king asked if we could do the same thing at a greater distance.
"We told him we could talk that way farther than he could possibly travel in a whole day.
"'Can you talk from my palace to your zeriba?'
"'Certainly,' the Doctor answered. 'We will do so to-morrow, if it is your majesty's pleasure.'
"It was agreed that the next morning, at the same hour, we should have a conversation between the king's palace and the zeriba, and with this understanding the interview came to an end. The king was going to review one of his regiments, and asked us to see it, and of course we accepted.
CAPTAIN SPEKE ATTENDING A REVIEW OF THE UGUNDA TROOPS.
"We found the troops just outside the palace yard, where the hill slopes away to the south. There were eight or nine hundred men, armed with spears and shields; they stood in a sort of irregular line, and at a signal from their officers a dozen soldiers came forward and went through the exercise of handling their spears in an imaginary battle. It was the same performance as described by Captain Speke at the time of his visit. The king would like to have an army of soldiers drilled and armed after the European fashion, but thus far he has not been able to obtain the weapons. He has about five hundred muskets, bought from Arab traders and others, and has formed a body-guard, commanded by a former soldier of the Egyptian army. These men are armed with the muskets just referred to, and as they have been fairly drilled they make a creditable appearance.
"The two missionaries who have been living in Ugunda, but happen to be absent at this time, say that their efforts to teach the king the principles of Christianity have been somewhat retarded by his eagerness to obtain a plentiful supply of arms and ammunition. He thinks that to be a good Christian he ought to be able to shoot all his enemies, and some of his arguments have puzzled the missionaries not a little to answer.
"'You want me to be Christian,' he says to them, 'and you don't give me what belongs to a Christian king. The countries that you come from and tell about have great armies, with the best kind of guns, and plenty of them; and why shouldn't I have the same? You say your queen is a good woman and a true Christian, and you told me the other day that she has a great army and navy, to do just what she wishes; and you told methat other countries had just the same, and they are all Christian. I want to be Christian too, and be able to conquer the whole of Africa with my army.'
"It is easy to see that this line of argument must have been a troublesome one to the missionaries. We shall try our best to explain the matter if the king speaks to us about it, but are not altogether sure that we can remove his perplexity.
"When the review was over we returned to our zeriba. The afternoon was devoted to arranging for the telephone performance, and for this purpose we asked the prime-minister to have some poles erected where the wire could be stretched. He made some difficulty about it; but when we told him that the performance could not come off without it, he sent for the poles, and had them put up as we desired. We stretched the wire about twelve feet above the ground, and asked to have orders that no one should touch the poles or the wire. Abdul said there was not the slightest fear of a disturbance of our apparatus, as the natives believed it was something supernatural, and not one would go near it, through fear that his life would pay the forfeit.
"In the morning the king was ready at the appointed time, and sent word that he would commence the 'magic talk.' We made the same division of our numbers as at the first experiment, Doctor Bronson and Abdul attending to one end of the line, while Fred and I, with Ali, managed the other. It was necessary to do this in order to prevent any derangement of the apparatus through the eagerness or ignorance of the natives.
"About half the number of the officials of the court were sent to the zeriba, together with a dozen or more of the king's wives and daughters. The king, at his end of the line, talked a few moments with one and then with another, until he was completely satisfied that there was no trickery about the mysterious wire and the boxes at the ends. The teachings of his childhood returned to him in contemplating the telephone: he at once attributed it to the spirits, and evidently regarded us as magicians of the highest rank.
"When the performance was over he ordered a fresh supply of presents to be sent to our zeriba. We were fearful that he would want to retain the telephone; but he was evidently afraid of it, and felt relieved when the wire was removed, and the whole apparatus had been packed away in the cases where it belonged."
Continuing our acquaintance with M'tesa, King of Ugunda, it will be interesting to hear the story of the conversion of that monarch to the religion of Europe and America.
HENRY M. STANLEY.
On page 202 of the first volume of "The Dark Continent," Stanley says as follows:
"Since the 5th of April I had enjoyed ten interviews with M'tesa, and during all I had taken occasion to introduce topics which would lead up to the subject of Christianity. Nothing occurred in my presence but I contrived to turn it toward effecting that which had become an object to me—viz., his conversion. There was no attempt made to confuse him with the details of any particular doctrine. I simply drew for him the picture of the Son of God humbling himself for the good of all mankind, white and black; and told him how, when he was in man's disguise, he was seized and crucified by wicked people who scorned his divinity, and yet, out of his great love for them, while yet suffering on the cross, he asked his great Father to forgive them. I showed the difference in character between him whom white men love and adore, and Mohammed, whom the Arabs revere; how Jesus endeavored to teach mankind that we should love all men, excepting none, while Mohammed taught his followers that the slaying of the pagan and the unbeliever was an act that merited Paradise. I left it to M'tesa and his chiefs to decide which was the worthier character. I also sketched in brief the history of religious belief, from Adam to Mohammed. I had also begun to translate to him the Ten Commandments; and Idi, the Emperor's writer, transcribed in Kigandi the words of the Law, as given to him in choice Swahili by Robert Feruzi, one of my boat's crew, and a pupil of the Universities Mission at Zanzibar."
"Since the 5th of April I had enjoyed ten interviews with M'tesa, and during all I had taken occasion to introduce topics which would lead up to the subject of Christianity. Nothing occurred in my presence but I contrived to turn it toward effecting that which had become an object to me—viz., his conversion. There was no attempt made to confuse him with the details of any particular doctrine. I simply drew for him the picture of the Son of God humbling himself for the good of all mankind, white and black; and told him how, when he was in man's disguise, he was seized and crucified by wicked people who scorned his divinity, and yet, out of his great love for them, while yet suffering on the cross, he asked his great Father to forgive them. I showed the difference in character between him whom white men love and adore, and Mohammed, whom the Arabs revere; how Jesus endeavored to teach mankind that we should love all men, excepting none, while Mohammed taught his followers that the slaying of the pagan and the unbeliever was an act that merited Paradise. I left it to M'tesa and his chiefs to decide which was the worthier character. I also sketched in brief the history of religious belief, from Adam to Mohammed. I had also begun to translate to him the Ten Commandments; and Idi, the Emperor's writer, transcribed in Kigandi the words of the Law, as given to him in choice Swahili by Robert Feruzi, one of my boat's crew, and a pupil of the Universities Mission at Zanzibar."
While Stanley was engaged in impressing the truths of the Christian religion upon the mind of this African king, there came one day the announcement that a white man was approaching from the north. The stranger came, and proved to be Colonel Linant de Bellefonds, of the Egyptian army, and at that time attached to the Soudan division, under command of Gordon Pacha. Colonel Linant met Mr. Stanley at M'tesa's palace, and the religious conversations were continued in his presence from time to time. His arrival was a material assistance to Stanley inconverting the king; "for, when questioned," says Stanley, "about the facts which I had uttered, and which had been faithfully transcribed, M. Linant, to M'tesa's astonishment, employed nearly the same words, and delivered the same responses. The remarkable fact that two white men who had never met before, one having arrived from the south-east, the other having emerged from the north, should, nevertheless, both know the same things and respond in the same words, charmed the popular mind without the 'burzah' (court), and was treasured in M'tesa's memory as being miraculous."
In another place Stanley makes honorable mention of the poor Moslem laborer, Muley bin Salim, who converted M'tesa from the paganism in which Speke left him, and taught him the faith of Islam. Believing that one conversion could be followed by another, Stanley determined to build on the foundation laid by Muley bin Salim, by destroying the king's faith in Islam and teaching him the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth. Colonel Linant, in his journal, makes an extended allusion to the good accomplished by Stanley, and the hours which they both devoted to the religious instruction of the king.[5]
Doctor Bronson and his young friends made several excursions in the neighborhood of Rubaga, and from the tops of the hills they enjoyed many charming views of the country. The region is one of the prettiest in Central Africa. There are few open plains or stretches of level land, as in the Unyoro country, and the marshes that make other parts of Africa so unhealthy are practically unknown. There is a succession of low hills, backed in the distance by ranges of mountains, and from mostof the hill-tops the broad surface of the Victoria N'yanza is visible. Between all the ranges of hills there are brooks flowing down to the lakes, and as the rains are frequent in this part of the continent there is rarely any lack of water.
The boys were eager to look upon the Victoria N'yanza, and not only to look upon it, but to ride over its surface. The second day after their exhibition of the powers of the telephone to the king an excursion was made to Usavara, the station of the fleet of King M'tesa, at the head of a small bay which opened out from the lake.
ON THE ROAD TO THE LAKE.
It was about ten miles from Rubaga to Usavara. The king had caused a fine road to be made from his palace to the lake. This road is ten or twelve feet wide, and suitable for carriages, though no wheeled vehicle had ever traversed it up to that time. Our friends made the journey on horseback, and were delighted with their ride. They realized the correctness of Stanley's description, who said it carried him through jungle and garden, forest and field. There were groves of bananas, plantains, and other products of Ugunda agriculture. There were forests of tamarind, mimosa, gum, and other trees; and there were plantations of theficus, from whose bark the cloth for the national dress of the people is made. The villages of dome-like huts formed an almost continuous line, or would have done so if the dense foliage had not concealed the most of them from sight.
Up the slopes and then down again the road took its meandering way, and from each of the hill-tops a nearer view of the lake was obtained. The sky was clear, and the heat at times severe, but it was relieved in some measure by the foliage of the trees and by the breeze that blew from the lake.
They were accompanied by a high officer of M'tesa's court, who was instructed to show everything they wished to see. As they desired to inspect some of the royal canoes, the officer sent an order to the place where they were kept, and in a little while half a dozen boats came dashing through the water.
UGUNDA BOAT.
The boats were of a construction different from anything the youths had ever seen. They were built with high, projecting prows, rising up like the neck of a swan, and ornamented with a tuft of feathers and the horns of an antelope. Some of the boats were hollowed from the trunks of trees, while others were made of strips of planks fastened to frames. In either case the sides were braced by means of cross-pieces, and the largest of the boats had planks and canes laid upon the braces, so as to form a deck. Frank compared the Ugunda boat to the Japanese sampan;but Fred pointed out the difference in the height of the prows, and also the fact that the sampan had a sort of cabin at the stern, which was not so in the Ugunda craft.
The men paddled instead of rowing, and Abdul said the use of oars as we employ them in America was almost unknown in Central Africa. The paddles were neatly cut from thin planks, and each paddle had a straight handle, terminating in a spoon-shaped point, hollowed a little, to give it a better hold on the water.
Evidently the king's rowers knew their business, as they propelled their craft through the water at an astonishing speed. Time was kept by a steersman, who sung a monotonous chant, and the paddles rose and fell in perfect unison. The boats were brought to the side of a little wharf which extended to where the water was six or eight feet deep, and a landing stage, consisting of a raft of reeds, furnished convenient access to the craft.
Doctor Bronson and the youths were invited to enter one of the boats for a ride down the bay. In a few minutes they were under way, at a speed of at least six miles an hour, propelled by the strong arms of the sailors of M'tesa's fleet. Where they entered the boat the bay was quite narrow. Doctor Bronson said it was the body of water to which Speke gave the name of Murchison Creek, while the water farther down was named Murchison Bay, in order to identify it with the creek.
VIEW ON MURCHISON CREEK.
Several boats were out on the water, and the scene was an animated one. All of them were careful to keep out of the way of the king's craft,and therefore the course was kept as straight as a sunbeam, except where it became necessary to make slight deviations in consequence of the winding of the shores. An hour's rowing brought them to a village which, the officer explained, was one of the king's stations when he wanted to enjoy himself on a fishing excursion, or when preparing for a battle with his enemies on the other side of the lake. M'tesa has a powerful enemy on the eastern shore, and not unfrequently they try the strength of their boats against each other. One of these wars was in progress at the time of Stanley's visit, and the great explorer was able to render material assistance to M'tesa, and thereby win his friendship.
They did not go far enough down the bay to get a full view of the lake, as the distance was not less than twelve miles, and time did not permit. Frank and Fred were somewhat disappointed, but Doctor Bronson told them they would doubtless have the opportunity of traversing the lake in a few days, and therefore have all the fresh-water navigation they wanted.
HILLS BACK FROM THE LAKE.
A little before sunset they went back to the point from which they started, and spent the night in some huts the king had ordered set apart for their use. The next morning they returned to Rubaga by another and longer route, which gave them a good view of the country around the capital of Ugunda. Everywhere were the villages, with their conical huts, half-concealed among the trees; and the numerous plantations of bananas and other edible things showed that the natives had no ideaof starving. The boys observed that most of the work in the fields was performed by women. Abdul said the men were required by the king to serve as soldiers or boatmen, but a large number of them had very little to do from one month's end to another.