270 
KATGHIBA IS APPLIED TO FOR RAIN . [chap. x. 
I had promised Ibrahim that I would use my in¬ 
fluence with the King of Unyoro to procure him the 
ivory of that country—I had a good supply of beads, 
while Ibrahim had none ; thus he was dependent upon 
me for opening the road. Everything looked fair, and 
had I been strong and well I should have enjoyed the 
future prospect, but I was weak and almost useless, 
and weighed down with anxiety lest I might die and 
my wife would be left alone. 
The rains had ceased, and the wild grapes were ripe; 
the natives brought them in great quantities in exchange 
for a few beads. They were in extremely large bunches, 
invariably black, and of a good size, but not juicy—the 
flavour was good, and they were most refreshing, and 
certainly benefited my health. I pressed about two 
hundred pounds of grapes in the large sponging bath, 
but procured so little juice, and that so thick, that wine¬ 
making proved a failure ; it fermented, and we drank 
it, but it was not wine. One day, hearing a great 
noise of voices and blowing of horns in the direction 
of Katchiba’s residence, I sent to inquire the cause. 
The old chief himself appeared, very angry and excited. 
He said, that his people were very bad, that they had 
been making a great noise and finding fault with him 
because he had not supplied them with a few showers, 
as they wanted to sow their crop of tullaboon. There 
had been no rain for about a fortnight. 
“'Well,” I replied, “you are the rainmaker; why don’t 
you give your people rain?” “Give my people rain !” 
said Katchiba. “ I give them rain if they don’t give me 
goats ? You don’t know my people; if I am fool 
enough to give them rain before they give me the goats, 
they would let me starve ! No, no ! let them wait—if 
they don’t bring me supplies of corn, goats, fowls, yams, 
merissa, and all that I require, not one drop of rain 
shall ever fall again in Obbo ! Impudent brutes are my 
people! Do you know, they have positively threatened 
to kill me unless I bring the rain ? They shan’t have 
a drop * I will wither the crops, and bring a plague 
