ice, and would act up to it, allowing Budja only
to approach with one woman; we need, however, be under no apprehensions,
for Kamrasi's power was infinite; the Gani road should be opened even at
the spear's point; he had been beating the big drum in honour of us the
whole day; he would not allow any beggars to come and see us, for he
wanted us all to himself, and for this reason had ordered a fence to
be built all round our house; but he had got no present from Grant yet,
though all he wanted was his mosquito-curtains, whilst he wished my
picture-books to show his women, and he returned. We sent a picture of
Mtesa as a gift, the two books to look at and an acknowledgement that
the mosquito-curtains were his, only he must have patience until Bombay
arrived; but his proposition about the fence we rejected with scorn.
The king had been raising an army to fight Rionga--the true reason, we
suspect, for the beating of the drums.

27th and 28th.--There was drumming and music all day and night, and the
army was being increased to a thousand men, but we poor prisoners could
see nothing of it. Frij was therefore sent to inspect the armament and
brings us all the news. Some of N'yamyonjo's men, seeing mine armed with
carbines, became very inquisitive about them, and asked if they were
the instruments which shot at their men on the Nile--one in the arm,
who died; the other on the top of the shoulder, who was recovering.
The drums were kept in private rooms, to which a select few only were
admitted. Kamrasi conducts all business himself, awarding punishments
and seeing them carried out. The most severe instrument of chastisement
is a knob-stick, sharpened at the back, like that used in Uganda, for
breaking a man's neck before he is thrown into the N'yanza; but this
severity is seldom resorted to, Kamrasi being of a mild disposition
compared with Mtesa, whom he invariably alludes to when ordering men
to be flogged, telling them that were they in Uganda, their heads would
suffer instead of their backs. In the day's work at the palace, army
collecting, ten officers were bound because they failed to bring a
sufficient number of fighting men, but were afterwards released on their
promising to bring more.

Nothing could be more filthy than the state of the palace and all
the lanes leading up to it: it was well, perhaps, that we were never
expected to go there, for without stilts and respirators it would have
been impracticable, such is t