第68章

TheonlyexcitementwasproducedbythesuddenrushofKabbaRega’sguards(bonosoora)withbigsticksamongthecrowd，whomtheybelabouredandchased，generallypossessedthemselvesofthebestgarmentsofthosewhowerecaptured，withwhichtheyreturnedtotheirquarters，aslawfulprizes。

Thisdaringsystemofthievingwasconsideredasgreatfunbyallthosemembersofthecrowdwhohadescaped；andtheunfortunateswhohadbeenreducedtonuditybythelossoftheirgarmentswerejeeredandridiculedbythemobwithtrueUnyorowantofcharity。

Thesebonosoorawereanextraordinarycollectionofscoundrels。

Thereadersof”TheAlbertN’yanza”mayrememberthe”SatanicEscort，”

withwhichIwasfurnishedbyKamrasiformyjourneyfromM’roolitothelake；thesewerebonosoora。IcouldneverlearntheexactnumberthatformedKabbaRega’scelebratedregimentofblackguards，butIshouldimaginetherewereabove1，000menwhoconstantlysurroundedhim，andgainedtheirlivingbypillagingothers。

Anyslavewhoranawayfromhismastermightfindanasylumifhevolunteeredtoenlistinthebonosoora。Everymanwhohadcommittedsomecrime，orwhocouldnotpayhisdebts，couldfindarefugebydevotinghimselftothepersonalcareoftheyoungking，andenrollingwithintheranksoftheroyalguards。Thegeneralcharacteroftheseruffiansmaybeeasilyimagined。Theyloungedawaytheirtime，andsimplyrelievedthemonotonyoftheirexistencebyrobbingpassers-byofanythingthatattractedtheircupidity。

Umbogobelongedtothiscelebratedcorps，andheinformedmethathardlyanightpassedwithoutsomepersonbeingmurderedbythesepeople，whowouldalwayskillamanafterdark，unlessheyieldeduphispropertywithoutresistance。ThegreatnumberofvulturesthatcontinuallyhoveredoverMasindiwereproofsofUmbogo’sstory，asthesebirdsgenerallydenotethepresenceofcarrion。Mymenhad，onseveraloccasions，foundbodieslyinginthehighgrass，neatlypickedtothebone，whichhadonlyrecentlydied。

TherewasmuchtobedonebeforethebrutalcustomsofUnyorocouldbereformed：andIwasbynomeanssatisfiedwiththeconductexhibitedbyKabbaRega。Hehadpromisedfaithfullythathewouldsendalargeforcetoclearawaythehighgrassbywhichourstationwassurrounded；thiswasneverfulfilled，neithercouldIengagethenativestoworkforhire。

IhadobservedforsometimepastthathispeoplewererapidlyextendingthetownofMasindi，byerectingnewbuildingsuponbothourflanks，which，althoughonlyafewyardsfromourclearing，werehalfobscuredbythehighgrass；thusitappearedthatwewerebeinggraduallysurrounded。

Sincethedepartureofthepostwithmyescortandtheirregularlevy，nothingwasdonebythenatives，excepttheusualloungingbyday，anddrinkingandhowling，withdrumsandhornsasanaccompaniment，throughoutthenight。

KabbaRegahadalwaysdeclaredthatthenativeswouldworkformeandobeyeveryorderwhentheslave-huntersshouldhavebeenexpelledfromthecountry。Althoughthepeoplewhowerelatelyaportionoftheslave-hunter’scompanyhadnowbeenenlistedintheserviceofgovernment，notonemanremainedinMasindi，asIhadsentthemallawaytoFatiko，atthepartic

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