Stanley in Africa: The Wonderful Discoveries and Thrilling Adventures of the Great African Explorer, and Other Travelers, Pioneers and MissionariesBoyd, James P. (James Penny)
History
Stanley in Africa: The Wonderful Discoveries and Thrilling Adventures of the Great African Explorer, and Other Travelers, Pioneers and Missionaries
Boyd, James P. (James Penny)
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904
Directly north of Victoria Nyanza is Uganda or the country of the
Waganda,[1] over which King Mtesa presides. Stanley struck the country
on the next day after his adventure with the Wavuma. It was a revelation
to him. He fancied he had, in a night, passed from Pagan Africa to
Mohammedan Europe or Asia. Instead of the stones and spear thrusts of
the Wavuma he met with nothing save courtesy and hospitality. In place
of naked howling savages he now saw bronze-colored people, clean, neatly
clad, with good houses, advanced agriculture, well adapted industry, and
considerable knowledge of the arts.
[Footnote 1: NOTE:——In Eastern and Central Africa, from the Lakes of the
Nile to Hottentotland the native races belong to the Bantu division of
the African stock. They are not so dark as, and in many respects differ
from, the true negroes of the Western or Atlantic coast. Throughout this
entire Bantu division the prefix “U” means a country. Thus U-ganda is the
country of Ganda. So “Wa,” or in some places “Ba,” “Ma” or “Ama,” means
people. Thus Wa-ganda means the people of Uganda. So would Ba-ganda,
Ma-ganda, or Ama-ganda. “Ki” means the language. Ki-ganda is the language
of the Uganda. “Mena” means the prince of a tribe. By recollecting these,
the reader will be much assisted.]
The village chief approached attired in a white shirt, and a fine cloak
of bark-cloth having over it a monkey skin fur. On his head was a
handsome cap, on his feet sandals. His attendants were clothed in the
same style, though less costly. He smilingly bade the strangers welcome,
spread before them a feast of dressed kid, ripe bananas, clotted milk,
sweet potatoes and eggs, with apologies for having been caught unprepared
for his guests.
Stanley looked on in wonder. It was a land of sunshine and plenty——a
green and flowery Paradise set between the brilliant sky and the pure
azure of the lake. Care and want seem never to have intruded here. There
was food and to spare growing wild in the woods or in the cultivated
patches around the snug homesteads. Every roomy, dome-shaped hut had its
thatched portico where the inhabitants chatted and smoked. Surrounding
them were court-yards, with buildings which served as barns, kitchens
and wash-houses, all enclosed in trimly kept hedges. Outside was the
peasants’ garden where crops of potatoes, yams, pease, kidney-beans
and other vegetables grew of a size that would make a Florida gardner
envious. Bordering the gardens were patches of tobacco, coffee,
sugar-cane, and castor oil plant, all for family use. Still further
beyond were fields of maize and other grains, and plantations of banana,
plantain, and fig. Large commons afforded pasturage for flocks of goats
and small, white, harmless cattle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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