COLONEL DE BELLEFOND'S REPORT 731 



making the trees shake their leaves and branches, so that we should have 

 been wet through at the end of a walk of ten minutes, especially under the 

 plantain trees, the huge arms of which are perfect reservoirs of water, which 

 discharge themselves all at once with every blast of wind, and make perfect 

 shower-baths for the unfortunate people who have to walk beneath. The 

 natives of the Soudan are very much afraid of rain, and suffer greatly from 

 it. At nine o'clock, therefore, we set forth on the march. We had to traverse 

 many ravines where the rain water had gathered, rendering the passage 

 somewhat difficult. We waded through muddy water above our knees. At 

 the end of an hour of this experience we came up with the estates of the 

 mother of king Mtesa ; but the rain obliged us to seek a shelter. Besides 

 that, we wished to make our toilette before entering the metropolis of Uganda. 

 We therefore took possession, without any scruple, of some huts upon the side 

 of the road. 



" It was noon. The rain had ceased. An emissary from Mtesa came 

 to bring me messages of welcome on the part of the king. Our toilette was 

 complete. My Soudan soldiers produced the finest possible effect with their 

 red tunics, their cartridge-cases made of leopard-skin, and their white trousers. 

 We passed in column along the high road, the trumpets and the drums beat- 

 ing a lively movement. In front of us the Mtongalis echoed this with their 

 nogaras, and waved their flags. A population of more than ten thousand 

 people surrounded us, running hither and thither, singing, shouting, and 

 dancing about. The effect produced was one of the most extraordinary I 

 had ever seen. We went forward along an avenue with a breadth of from 

 thirty to forty metres, the population still accompanying us, cross low hills 

 and gardens. By and bye we arrived at an immense square, where a com- 

 pact crowd, some sitting, others standing, waited our approach in solemn 

 silence. Upon our arrival the nogaras, in incalculable number, united in a 

 deafening peal. We were in the residence of the Queen Mother, and mes- 

 sengers succeeded each other every five minutes to bring me the salaams of 

 Her Majesty. My own trumpets welcomed them, and it was an uproar, an 

 inconceivable charivari, which did not want the charm of originality. One 

 could see the whole country was en fete. 



" The crowd which attended our footsteps increased more and more, but 

 offered us no inconvenience upon our road ; they left the way quite free, 

 while dancing on either side of us, or flowing in tumultuous waves of huma- 

 nity across the hillocks and cultivated places. It was one of the gayest and 

 most festive spectacles to see this crowd, in the most curious and varied cos- 

 tumes, swarm all over the uplands, and then precipitate themselves like a 

 living torrent into the streets below. Along the road a multitude of women 

 were ranged in front of the houses, evidently admiring our cortege. A 

 sorcerer, covered with a thousand odd charms, came up and harangued me ; 



