CHAPTER IX. 



T 



A NATIVE FISH-CREEL. 



AT KAMPALA. 



H E king of Uganda resides on a hill 

 called " Mengo," and for this reason 

 some call the capital of Uganda Mengo. 

 Kampala hill was obtained by Lugard 

 as a concession from King Mwanga, and upon 

 it he built his famous fort, thereby laying 

 the foundation-stone of British supremacy in 

 Uganda. The increased and increasing staff 

 of Government officials, the large building 

 in which the legislative native council hold 

 their " baraza " or parliamentary proceed- 

 ings, the Soudanese market, the busy Svvahili 

 settlement, show that Kampala has now ac- 

 quired a wider sense. In the same way that 

 London has gradually absorbed adjoining districts, Kampala has 

 absorbed Nakasero and other hills. 



Kampala, used in the wider sense, is the capital of Uganda 

 and the heart of the Uganda Protectorate, causing its adminis- 

 trative influence to be felt far and near. 



In 1894 the officer in command at Kampala had to be in- 

 valided to the coast, and Her Majesty's Acting Commissioner 

 selected me as the temporary successor, pending the arrival of 

 some newly-appointed administrative officers. During the four 

 and a half months I held the appointment I was absolutely 

 single-handed, and had to perform all the duties which now are 

 subdivided amongst quite a number of officers and clerks. I 

 had to combine administrative, military, and medical duties ; I 

 had to act as magistrate and as commandant ; I had charge of 

 the prison and of the police ; I was paymaster and postmaster ; 

 I was collector and registrar; I was store-keeper and book- 



