Amid all the hurry and bustle the white stranger “Stamlee” (as all the Waganda now called me) was not forgotten. Commodious quarters were erected and allotted to him and his boat’s crew, by express orders from Mtesa, near the great broadway which the Katekiro constructed, leading from the imperial quarters to the point of Cape Nakaranga. [Illustration] Anxious to see what chances Mtesa possessed of victory over his rebellious subjects, I proceeded along the road over the mountain to a position which commanded a clear view of Ingira Island, whither the rebels had betaken themselves, their families, and a few herds of cattle. Considered as being in possession of some twenty thousand savages, whose only weapons of war were the spear and the sling, Ingira Island presented no very formidable obstacle to a power such as the Emperor of Uganda had amassed on this cape, only 700 yards from it. In length it was barely a mile, and only half a mile in width from the base of the mountain which confronted the cape to the water’s edge on the Uvuma side. The mountain rose on all sides with rather a steep slope, but was easy of ascent to the nimble-footed and deep-chested natives. The Wavuma, however, were not without allies to assist them in averting the punishment that Mtesa threatened them with, and the common danger, as well as a common hate of the dread monarch, had drawn together, for one strong effort to win their freedom, the inhabitants of Ugeyeya and Utamba Islands, as well as Kitenteh—famous in the annals of Uganda for its long but unfortunate struggle with the Emperor Suna, the father of Mtesa. The people of the entire coast of Usoga from Nakaranga to Uganda had voluntarily enlisted in the cause of Uvuma, and had despatched over 150 large canoes fully manned to the war. The confederates, in arranging their plan of action, had chosen Ingira Island as the rendezvous of the united fleets of canoes. Mtesa’s plan was to capture this island, and to cross over from Ingira to the next, and then to Uvuma, when, of course, only immediate and complete submission would save them; and I rejoiced that I was present, for I was in hopes that at such a period my influence might be sufficient to avert the horrors that generally attend victory in Africa. Though I had no reason to love the Wavuma, and for the time was a warm ally of Mtesa, I was resolved that no massacre of the submissive should take place while I was present. The redoubtable Sekebobo, commanding twenty-four Watongoleh, or colonels, and a force of about 50,000, occupied Namagongo, and the fleet of Mtesa was under his charge, waiting orders to cross the bay with them.