412 
INVASION OF THE HAVA'S. 
[chap. XV. 
superior to tlie tribes on the north of the Nile in general 
intelligence, had no idea of a Supreme Being, nor any 
object of worship, their faith resting upon a simple- 
belief in magic like that of the natives of Madi and 
Obbo. 
Some weeks passed without a reply from Sliooa to 
the letter I had forwarded by my men, neither had 
any news been received of their arrival; we had 
relapsed into the usual monotony of existence. This 
was happily broken by a most important event. 
On the 6th September, M'Gambi came to my hut in 
a great state of excitement, with the intelligence that 
the MVas, the natives of Uganda, had invaded Kamrasi s 
country with a large army; that they had already 
crossed the Kafoor river and had captured Mrooli, and 
that they were marching through the country direct to 
Kisoona, with the intention of killing Kamrasi and of 
attacking us, and annexing the country of Unyoro to 
M'tese’s dominions. My force was reduced by four 
men that I had sent to Shooa—thus we were a party 
of twenty guns, including the Turks, who unfortunately 
had no ammunition. There was no doubt about the 
truth of the intelligence; the natives seemed in great 
consternation, as the MVas were far more powerful 
than Kamrasi s people, and every invasion from that 
country had been attended with the total rout of the 
Unyoro forces. I told M'Gambi that messengers must 
be sent off at once to Shooa with a letter that I would 
write to Ibrahim, summoning him immediately to Ka- 
ruma with a force of one hundred men.—At the same 
time I suggested that we should leave Kisoona and 
march with Kamrasi s army direct to Karuma, there 
to establish a fortified camp to command the passage 
of the river, and to secure a number of canoes to pro¬ 
vide a passage for Ibrahim's people whenever they 
could effect a junction ;—otherwise, the MVas might 
destroy the boats and cut off the Turks on their ar¬ 
rival at the ferry. Kisoona was an exceedingly dis¬ 
advantageous situation, as it was a mere forest of trees 
