274 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

all they had witnessed, and it would of course be much more readily believed when coming from them than from a foreigner, and creating a much greater respect in their minds towards foreigners than at present exists, would produce a far more favourable opinion of us in the minds of the people generally.

'As already indicated, Mtesa is by no means an absolute monarch, nor indeed could any king of Uganda be so under the existing regime ; the real power lies in the hands of the chiefs. And if a favourable feeling were created in their minds toward Europeans, it would do more towards opening up the country to civilisation than the favour of any number of successive kings merely. For while Mtesa has always been, from various motives, . anxious to have Europeans in his country, the leading chiefs have always been more or less opposed to . them, principally from fear that they would take \ Uganda from them, a fear which was increased by 'the near approach of Egypt. It was, consequently, with a view to producing this change of feeling towards us that we had favoured the idea, first suggested by Mtesa himself, of sending ambassadors to England. This, of course, was bitterly opposed by the Zanzibar traders, who, jealous of all European encroachments on what they looked on as their preserves, were determined to do all in their power to thwart us.

After being several times mooted and again put