feared to fire guns lest he should think our store of powder
inexhaustible, and so keep us here until he had extorted the last of
it. I found that the Waganda have the same absurd notion here as the
Wanyambo have in Karague, of Kamrasi's supernatural power in being able
to divide the waters of the Nile in the same manner as Moses did the Red
Sea.

28th.--The king sent a messenger-boy to inform us that he had just heard
from Unyoro that the white men were still at Gani inquiring after us;
but nothing was said of Budja's defeat. I sent Bombay immediately off
to tell him we had changed our plans, and now simply required a large
escort to accompany us through Usoga and Kidi to Gani, as further delay
in communicating with Petherick might frustrate all chance of opening
the Nile trade with Uganda. He answered that he would assemble all his
officers in the morning to consult with them on the subject, when he
hoped we would attend, as he wished to further our views. A herd of
cows, about eighty in number, were driven in from Unyoro, showing that
the silly king was actually robbing Kamrasi at the same time that he was
trying to treat with him. K'yengo informed us that the king, considering
the surprising events which had lately occurred at his court, being
very anxious to pry into the future, had resolved to take a very strong
measure for accomplishing that end. This was the sacrifice of a child by
cooking, as described in the introduction--a ceremony which it fell to
K'yengo to carry out.

29th.--To have two strings to my bow, and press our departure as hotly
as possible, I sent first Frij off with Nasib to the queen, conveying,
as a parting present, a block-tin brush-box, a watch without a key, two
sixpenny pocket-handkerchiefs, and a white towel, with an intimation
that we were going, as the king had expressed his desire of sending us
to Gani. Her majesty accepted the present, finding fault with the watch
for not ticking like the king's, and would not believe her son Mtesa
had been so hasty in giving us leave to depart, as she had not been
consulted on the subject yet. Setting off to attend the king at his
appointed time, I found the Kamraviona already there, with a large court
attendance, patiently awaiting his majesty's advent. As we were all
waiting on, I took a rise out of the Kamraviona by telling him I wanted
a thousand men to march with me through Kidi to Gani. Surprised at the
extent of my requisition, he wished to