Unyanyembe

“ He was the stuff of which I could make a friend, brave as all his race, prudent, ready to perish for honour, and as honest as he was honourable. At Unyanyembe the merchants expect some delay, because the porters, whether hired at the coast or at Tanganyika, here disperse, and a fresh gang has to be collected. When Snay bin Amir and Musa Mzuri, the Indian, settled at Kázeh, it was only a desert; they built houses, sunk wells, and converted it into a populous place. The Arabs here live comfortably and even splendidly. The houses are single-storied, but large, substantial, and capable of defence. ”

“ In the province of Unyanyembe, if a twin or twins die, they are thrown into water for the same reason as in Nguru; but as their numbers increase the size of the family, their birth is hailed with delight. Still there is a source of fear there in connection with twins, as I have seen myself; for when one dies, the mother ties a little gourd to her neck as a proxy, and puts into it a trifle of everything which she gives the living child, lest the jealousy of the dead spirit should torment her. ”

“ At the central depôt, Unyanyembe, where slaves are considered neither cheap nor dear, the value of a boy ranges between eight and ten doti, or double cloths; a youth, from nine to eleven; a man in prime, from five to ten, and past his prime from four to six. ”

“ And that the presentation of the joined hands has the meaning here suggested is otherwise shown us. In Unyanyembe, "when two of them meet, the Wezee puts both his palms together, these are gently clasped by the Watusi" (a man of a more powerful race) ; and in Sumatra the salutation "consists in bending the body, and the inferior's putting his joined hands between those of the superior, and then lifting them to his forehead." ”

“ Rush Ramji, or any other Hindu who might happen to be at Kaole. But I rejected the suggestion of my companion, who proposed that half the sum agreed upon in Unyanyembe as payment to the porters—nine cloths each—should be given to them. In the first place, this donation would have been equivalent to a final dismissal. Secondly, the Arabs at Kazeh had warned me that it was not their custom to pay in part those who will not complete the journey to the coast; and I could see no reason for departing from a commercial precedent, evidently necessary to curb the Africans’ alacrity in desertion. ”

“ In appearance they are a tall, comely, and comparatively fair people; hence in some parts every “distinguished foreigner” is complimented by being addressed as “Mtosi.” They are said to derive themselves from a single ancestor, and to consider the surrounding tribes as serviles, from whom they will take concubines, but to whom they refuse their daughters. Some lodges of this people were seen about Unyanyembe and Msene, where they live by selling cattle, milk, and butter. Their villages are poor, dirty, and unpalisaded ”

“ No such person could pass there. The third time, being interrogated by one whom I knew to be Ayto Confu's servant, Yasine answered, it is Yagoube, the king's governor of Ras el Feel, with the slave Yasine, the moor, come to do the king homage, and to die for him, if he commands, in the midst of his enemies. We were answered, He is welcome: upon which the servant, going back, brought a drum, and beat it upon the rock, crying, as in a proclamation, "Yagoube is Governor of Ras el Feel, Commander of the king's black horse, Lord of Geesh, and Gentleman of the king's bed-chamber." ”

“ CHAPTER VIII. — MY LIFE AND TROUBLES DURING MY RESIDENCE IN UNYAS NYEMBE. I BECOME ENGAGED IN A WAR.
I received a noiseless ovation as I walked side by side with the governor, Sayd bin Salim, towards his tembe in Kwikuru, or the capital. The Wanyamwezi pagazis were out by hundreds, the warriors of Mkasiwa, the sultan, hovered around their chief, the children were seen between the legs of their parents, even infants, a few months old, slung over their mothers' backs, all paid the tribute due to my colour, with one grand concentrated stare. ”

“ And then the city of Ujjayini was joyful, full of the sound of festive drums and music, littering shouts of delight. Thus he obtained the mighty rank of a king, and gradually conquered the whole earth, so that his foot was worshipped by all kings, and with Bhadrá for his consort he long lived in happiness with those wives of his, who were content, having abandoned jealousy. Thus resolute men when fortune favours them, find their own valour a great and successful stupefying charm that forcibly draws towards them prosperity. ”

“ You are intelligent, brave and good; and you have, with me, become familiar with the civil duties. You are the most suitable person, and you must be governor; where the happiness of the people is concerned, anger, vindictiveness, and similar trifling hindrances, must not dare to raise their heads in such a heart as yours.'
'My dear uncle!' said the yielding Arwed, and kneeling down before the bed, he kissed the invalid's wasted hand. ”

“ Being inured from youth to exercises and athletics of all sorts, and living fearlessly under the eye of their peers, among whom there exists a high standard of courage, generosity, honour, and every good and manly quality—what wonder that they should have become, so to speak, a law unto themselves; and, while taking an elevated view of the goddess Ydgrun, they should have gradually lost all faith in the recognised deities of the country? ”

“ A barbarian of that profession should be pointed at. Observe Ayto Engedan, (who came at that very instant into the room) there is a young man, said I, who, with the bravery, has also the humanity and gentleness of my countrymen that are soldiers," Engedan fell on his face before the king, as is usual, while the king went on seriously — "War you want; do you, Yagoube? war you shall have; it is not far distant, and Engedan is come to tell us how near." ”

“ And she looked at the King with a smile, while Yogeshwara in his ambush laughed to himself for joy: saying to himself: She is utterly deceiving him, by telling him the very truth. But the King said: O wrinkled, grey-haired Guru, sure I am, that the King thy master could not possibly have entrusted the matter to a more irresistible negotiator than thyself, whose years are a guarantee for thy incomparable dexterity. ”

“ She had strong faith in the efficacy of trust upon an honourable mind, and though it was evident that Owen had, in his own eyes, greatly transgressed, she reserved the hope that his error was magnified by his own consciousness, and admired the generosity that refused to betray another. She believed his present suffering to be the beginning of that growth in true religion which is often founded on some shock leading to self-distrust. ”

“ For peace is a beautiful thing, and men may lie down in their huts and fear nothing of their using. Also, they may go out to their hunting and fear nothing as to their return, for their wives will be waiting with food in their hands."
"Lord," said a little chief of the N'gombi, "even I, a blind and ignorant man, see all this. Now, I swear by death that I will hold the King's peace in my two hands, offending none; for though my village is a small one, I have influence, owing to my wife's own brother, by the same father and of the same mother, being the high chief of the N'gombi-by-the-River." ”

“ Marama had picked up his goggles and was making ready to go over the side, when a saying of my uncle's flashed across my mind. "Never let one of your men do a job you're afraid to do yourself!" Then all at once I knew that I should have no peace unless I acted quickly. ”

“ A guru is the spiritual guide of the Hindoo family: a kind of father confessor.
[3] A woman who goes to meet her lover of her own accord.
[4] The deception of Yogeshwara was all the more likely to deceive the King, in that it was based on Hindoo traditional maxims. Manu says: [vii. 147] "Let the King, for secret council, ascend to a mountain-top, or a lofty terrace, or repair to some lone wood, where there are not even any talking birds." ”

“ From one age to another the gloom grows thicker and darker, till error gets established by general opinion; but whoever attends to perfect goodness, and remains under the melting influence of it, finds a path unknown to many, and sees the necessity to lean upon the arm of divine strength, and dwell alone, or with a few in the right, committing their cause to him who is a refuge to his people. ”

“ A little further in the opening to the river Mariam, I found myself in the middle of about twenty persons, three or four of whom were upon mules, in long clean white clothes, as if in peace, the rest apparently soldiers; this was Engedan's brother, Aylo, whom I was passing without recollecting him, when he cried, Where do you come from, Yagoube? this is not a night for white men like you to be alone ”

“ The different sub-tribes or clans of the Mpongwé are ruled by their headmen, the principal chief of a district being dignified with the title of king. Dignity has, as we all know, its drawbacks as well as its privileges, and among the Mpongwé it has its pains as well as its pleasures. When once a man is fairly made king, he may do much as he likes, and is scarcely ever crossed in anything that he may desire. But the process of coronation was anything but agreeable, and utterly unlike the gorgeous ceremony with which civilized men are so familiar. ”

“ A man of considerable age, he did everything the state or his great establishment required himself. All the men of his district clapped their hands together as a courteous salutation to him, and the women curtsied as well as they do at our court—a proof that they respected him as a great potentate—a homage rarely bestowed on the chiefs of other small states. Ukulima was also hospitable; for on one occasion, when another chief came to visit him, he received his guest and retainers with considerable ceremony, making all the men of the village get up a dance ”

“ On arriving at the city, we were met by the Governor, Unaloplo, and two of Yeyema's brothers. The former extended us a ready welcome in a quiet, unostentatious manner. Notwithstanding the high position Yeyema held among the rulers of the continent, and his unquestioned popularity, yet at none of the centres we visited was there any demonstration on the part of the people. ”

“ Ah, Yagoube, says the king, take care what you say. That is indeed more than Guebra Mascal will do at that distance; but take great care; you don’t know these people; they will lie themselves all day; nay, their whole life is one lie ”

“ Thus, when my uncle actually returned, there was a species of revengeful satisfaction in making my profession interfere with his views, when he had made it the only one eligible for me. How ill I behaved—how obstinately I set myself against all mediation—how I wrapped myself in self-approval—you know better than I do. My conceit, and absurdity, and thanklessness, have risen up before me ”

“ My own score of men, besides the stouter masons, carpenters, and serfs, will be fully enough to make the old serpent of the wood rue the day, even without the aid of the burghers. Not a word against it, dearest mother. None is so wise as thou in matters of peace, but honour is here concerned.”
“My question is,” persevered the mother, “whether honour be not better served by obeying the summons of the king against the infidel, with the men thou hast called together at his behest? Let the count do his worst ”

“ MASKED DANCE AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
304In the male sex the transition from childhood to the status of fully-qualified maturity is a single, definite process, though extending over a long period. The memory of rejoicings and sufferings experienced in common is preserved henceforth among the men by means of a free, voluntary association known as the “age-class.” All those who have passed through the unyago in the same year stand by each other till death severs the connection. This connection, however, must be thought of in terms of African conditions ”

“ Boys and girls, as a rule, reach the age of eight or nine, perhaps ten, before any event of importance interrupts the even tenor of their lives. Then the assembly of the men, which when the harvest is over, meets daily in the baraza, decides where the unyago is to be celebrated in the current year. Since all the adjacent districts have now taken their turn in bearing the expense of the ceremony, it is a point of honour that our village should invite them this time. ”

“ And those who are already converted are regretting that step; for these men concern themselves so entirely with getting rich in the shortest possible time, to which end they are continually planning and undertaking every means which seems to them best suited to attain that object—even though it may be contrary to your Majesty's commands and prohibited by the laws of the kingdom and the ordinances of the Yndias, and though it may be injurious and prejudicial to those whom they were charged, by the authority of your Majesty, to make free, and to secure from all those wrongs. ”

“ But I had no power of make compliments—nay, my English heart recoiled in anger at their making such an outcry, whether of blame or praise, at what seemed to me the simplest thing in the world. The courtesy and consideration were perfect; as soon as these people saw that I was really abashed and distressed, they turned their attention from me. My husband was in the meantime called to be presented to the Duke of Enghien, and I remained for a little while unmolested, so that I could recover myself a little. ”

“ For our King's family and thine are hereditary enemies, and there are some matters to be settled of extreme delicacy, such as can only be adjusted by one, in whose especial care the honour of the family is placed. And there is but one, qualified to deal with this affair, and it is, as thou hast doubtless anticipated, no other than the Guru [2] of the King: to whom, therefore, I am commissioned now to lead thee. And Yogeshwara paused, for a moment, and he said: Maháráj, it is known to thee, who art versed in affairs, how important, in matters of this kind, is absolute secrecy. ”