Chapter V

Stay at Gubuleweyo--New Year’s Day--The Great Dance--Cattle
slaughtered--Departure of the king; the royal procession--A
dispute referred to him--Lobengula’s court.

Frank Oates remained at Gubuleweyo or in its immediate neighbourhood some time--from December 5th 1873 to January 26th 1874. This was considerably longer than he had originally intended, but he was partly detained by the weather, which, besides being close and oppressive, was for a long time very wet and unfavourable for travelling, and partly that he might see the Great Dance, which took place in the early part of January. After this some trouble with his servants still further delayed him, as the case of one of them had to be taken before the king. He was able, however, meantime to make some additions to his collections of birds and other objects of natural history, though owing to the state of the weather he attempted little hunting; indeed, near the kraal, large game was invariably scarce and wild.

The incidents of the first part of his stay--until the end of December--were apparently of little interest. After that came the preparations for the Great Dance, which took place on the 8th of January. The following day dancing was again continued, though with much less ceremony, and the 10th was the day appointed for a state slaughtering of cattle--one of the annual customs gone through at this season. This over, the king took his departure next day for a neighbouring abode of royalty. Commencing with the new year, the entries in the traveller’s Journal, with some particulars of the above events, stand as follows:--

“_January 1st, 1874._--Intensely hot, as yesterday was, and as they say it will be till the rain falls. Sent bullocks to fetch wood for making a scherm, having engaged John Jacobs and two Kafirs by the day. Rode over to Thomson’s to dinner (two and a half miles) and lost myself amongst the kopjes. The fine hot day and the luxuriantly green country and rapidly-growing Indian corn make it seem more like June than New Year’s Day to me. Petersen, Fairbairn, and Mandy went to Thomson’s in cart, and we sat down to a most excellent dinner--roast and boiled mutton, potatoes, cabbages, and turnips, plum-pudding, and mince-pies. Such dinners as this and my Christmas dinner at Petersen’s are worthy of notice, considering how few and far between they are. Pleasant evening just before and after sunset; moon nearly full.

“_January 2d._--Fine hot day; heat, however, by no means so oppressive as it has been for the last day or two, on account of a pleasant breeze. Unpacked the front-box of my waggon. King called, and asked for his bottle of brandy and some large shot. He afterwards sent a boy for the brandy, whom I accompanied back to the king’s, and having given the brandy and shot, offered him six muskets I had been hoping all this time to sell him, and without any trouble got four fine elephants’ teeth for them, about 150 lbs. of ivory altogether.

“_January 3d._--Moonlight night--full moon, I think. Looked out early; the moon was still gorgeously bright, and surrounded by a halo of light in a violet sky, studded here and there also with a star. In the east was the deep red of approaching sunrise. Morning at first slightly overcast and tolerably cool, but the day soon became very hot, though tempered somewhat by the wind. Decided to have a new sail made for the waggon. Myers working at the old framework, patching it up. Having things out of the waggon, and also out of the tent (as I was rearranging the latter), I stayed about a good deal, not trusting John. A lot of cheeky ‘majachas’ (warriors) about. Whilst one of them was selling me honey, a lot came in, and I saw one abstract a knob-kerry of rhinoceros horn from under the waggon, and throw it out of the scherm.[27] He then ran away, seeing himself detected, but did not go far, and afterwards came and stayed outside the scherm, asking for a ‘tonso’ (present). However, this must have been mere bravado, as he was too much on his guard to give me a chance of thrashing him, and when I removed a bush for him to come in, only came in a foot or two, and bolted when at length I approached him. I bought guinea-fowls’ eggs, some tobacco, and a dancing-stick. The second of the two sheep bought for a cotton blanket and a shirt was killed this morning. It is wonderful what a lump of fat the tail is. A miserable little famished boy, who, they say, was picked up in the veldt and belongs to the king, came into the scherm on being invited, and had food. He speaks by nodding his head. He is a pitiable object, and coughs.... Wind rose high at night. Mutton and guinea-fowls’ eggs for supper. There are plenty of ‘majachas’ here now. They are everlastingly dancing. This seems to be their whole drill.

“_January 4th._--Cool cloudy morning; a little drizzling rain. There are caterpillars here of many very pretty varieties. Old well-known forms both of caterpillars and moths are reproduced in this country, with a change. The king sent me a caterpillar lately--green, with green moss-like horny tufts; a flesh-coloured stripe on each side; on the back a row of snow-white spots, circled with rich blue, and white spots also along the sides. A long string of people came this morning from Inchlangin for the dance. Macloule called on me soon after his arrival; and again in the evening, when he asked me for a blanket, saying he had lost a child through going with me, and had missed the time for burying it. I sent him away till to-morrow. The day has been cloudy and cool, but fair and delightful.

“_January 5th._--Hot day, and though there was a good deal of wind I felt the heat. Gave Macloule a cotton blanket. Myers and Hendrik working at my waggon sail. Took Hans, and went to king’s. Dance going on, consisting of the men of two large kraals, forming a circle, ‘marking time,’ and waving sticks, whilst the king, with rhinoceros-horn knob-kerry, acted as bandmaster. There was also singing. Nina[28] requested me to stand up and join, which I did. Every now and then a man rushes out into the space in the middle, shaking his shield and brandishing his assegai, enacts his fighting, and shows how many he has killed, whilst loud shouts are raised on all sides. The usual dress consists of a head-dress of black feathers, and a bunch of monkeys’ tails round the loins, with white frills of ox-tails on the arms, and (in the case of veterans I suppose) a long solitary feather to top all, and a piece of fur round the head. The king had on a broad-brimmed black felt hat, a huge bunch of monkeys’ skins round his middle, and carried an Elcho sword bayonet (my present) and a rhinoceros-horn knob-kerry. When the dancing and singing was over, the men defiled past the king in companies, singing a monotonous but not unmusical chorus, which they accompanied by rapping their shields with their sticks, producing a dull heavy sound. Strings of girls bore huge calabashes of beer, under the weight of which some of them staggered, to the kraal. For the most part they were magnificent specimens of shapely young Kafir women. A tall handsome girl, who has been sometimes begging at my waggon, was a looker-on, and presented a fine picture of a well-developed savage woman. She seemed fully aware of her own striking appearance. A lot of old Mosilikatze’s wives sat watching.

“There is a good deal of wind to-night, and the moon is obscured by dark gathering clouds. To-night, after I left the king, I was standing beside a group of Kafirs cutting up the carcasses of two oxen just killed, when the king’s dogs made a set at me. Afterwards the boys came to my waggon asking a tonso for calling them off. I suspect they set them on on purpose.

“_January 6th._--Intensely hot, and though there are clouds, the rain still keeps off. Sent John with Wankee to cut a tree for a dissel-boom, and he says the axe was taken from him on the pretext that they must not cut wood now, and that the axe would be returned.... I asked if I could go shooting, and they say no, not till the dance is over.

“_January 7th._--Sky overcast, but the heat is still intense. Crowds of people about, as yesterday; difficult to keep the scherm clear. Dancing going on at the kraal. Heat insufferable. The tent was a furnace, but at sundown there was a little thunder, and it was pleasant and cool. A beautiful mild-looking rose-tinted sunset.

“_January 8th._--Day of the Great Dance. Very heavy rain fell at sunrise. As rain fell, girls bathing in rain-holes. Things in tent got very wet, and it was late before I could come out and begin to dry them. The heat soon became great, but the sun kept being more or less obscured by clouds. I learnt it was the day of the Great Dance, and hurried the drying and locking up of my things, so as to be ready to go and see it. Some majachas came out, and had a row, and bruised one another near my waggon.

“As soon as I had finished packing I joined the Thomsons, whose waggon had drawn up in front of Myers’s store, where the dancing was to be. Meantime, Thomson says, they had been going through ceremonies at the kraal, where dancing was still going on, but very shortly they expected the king and people out. However, Thomson and I went to the kraal to see, and were well repaid. In the midst of a large circle formed by warriors, four wives of the king, dressed all alike, and modestly covered, were dancing, or rather slowly pacing. Each had a checked print over her shoulders, and a black skirt reaching low down. With them was a future wife, partially clad in gaily-coloured calicos, but without skirt. The wives, Thomson says, are very nice women. As I went with him through the crowd, I could not help seeing what respect is shown him, and how all make way for him.

“Suddenly the royal sister appeared, and presented a most singular, not to say magnificent, appearance. It was something like the appearance of the _prima donna_ at the opera, or the leading spirit in some gorgeous pantomime. She is very stout, and tremendously _en bon point_, and her skin is of a coppery hue. She wore no dress, and the only covering above her waist was a number of gilded chains, some encircling her, some pendent. Round her arms were massive brazen bracelets. A blue and white freemason’s apron appeared in front, and looked strangely anomalous there, though really not unbecoming. From her waist also there hung down behind a number of brilliantly-coloured woollen neck-wraps, red being the predominant colour. Under the apron was a sort of short black skirt, covering the thighs, made of wrought ox-hide. Her legs and feet were bare, but round her ankles were the circlets of bells, worn by the women to make a noise when they dance. Her head-dress was decidedly pretty--a small bouquet of artificial flowers in front, and amongst the hair, standing in all directions, feathers of bee-eaters’ tails. A small circular ornament, fashioned out of red clay, was on the back of her head. She put herself in posture for the dance, but did not move very much or energetically whilst keeping time; she suffered too much from adiposity. She held one of the large oval black and white ox-hide shields, surmounted by a jackal’s tail, such as are carried by the warriors. The wives held long slender wands upright in their hands. The men, when they dance, usually carry a carved stick, with which motions are made, whilst it is generally held upright. The girls carry very pretty brooms, which they likewise raise and move about to time; but the girls’ dances were yet to come.

“The dress of the soldiers is very striking, and suggestive of savage warfare. Over the shoulders, and continued into a sort of hood, which either surmounts the back of the head, or hangs loose behind the neck, is a large fabric of jet-black ostrich feathers. Around the forehead is a circlet of tawny fur, and a single long steel-coloured crane’s feather rises above, giving a most artistic finish to the picture. Around the loins are a collection of monkey and cat skins, dangling in long strips, together with a number of tails, some of the latter nearly large enough for those of leopards, which hang in thick bunches nearly to the ground. Around each arm is a graceful, wavy tuft of white ox-tail hair, and sometimes the same around the legs. Very little limbo is worn, unless a strip or two--usually of blue selampore or white calico, well worn and defaced--around the waist. The shield and assegais complete the picture.[29] If all were uniform in appearance the effect would be much heightened; but unfortunately the dress is not _de rigueur_. Some omit the fur round the forehead; some both fur and feather; and some of those in command have even shabby shirts or hats on, contrasting badly with the fine warrior costume of the majority. The only military evolution gone through is marching past in kraals, or what we should call companies, the men singing, dancing, and making some most unearthly and awe-inspiring noises the while. One sound is produced gutturally, and resembles the low growl of a wild animal. Another is made by striking the shields--a sound resembling distant thunder. Then they have a way of whistling, not unlike the cat-calls of a London theatre. During their dances a warrior rushes out into the middle of the circle from time to time, and goes through the pantomime of his late exploits, brandishing spear and shield, and rushing wildly about. He denotes, by repeated thrusts, the number of people he has slain, whilst the surrounding warriors shout loudly.

“Standing about are many pretty girls in most fantastic head-dresses, worn only on special occasions, and highly prized. Predominant is the pink bead, appropriated by the royal family. A small group of waggon-drivers, either those who have come up here with white men, or who belong to the doctor’s party, whose waggons accompany the king in all his movements, are dressed to the height of fashion--as near as they can manage it--in European dress, for which the stores of the place have been ransacked, and high prices paid, no matter at what sacrifice. One has a chimney-pot. These fellows are usually the greatest scamps in the country--idle, vain, insolent, and vicious. The king is dressed much like his warriors, and looks himself. He is a fine-looking man, and has an agreeable expression and a ready smile. He is one of the darkest-complexioned people I have seen belonging to this nation.

“Now Thomson tells me we must make haste and return to the waggon, as the soldiers are beginning to march out, and they are all going outside, accompanied by the king and his court. We return, and the troops march out and take up position in a huge, dense circle outside the kraal. There may be three, four, or even five thousand of them, and perhaps ten thousand people in all.”[30]

“_January 9th._--Hot day; short heavy shower in the afternoon. Dancing at the kraal--second day (or was Wednesday also a day? If so, this is the third). Different parties dancing; majachas and girls separately, though in some cases girls are introduced into the majachas’ dance. King had waggon taken out by Kafirs. Selous[31] looked at my guns. Rain came on, and he sat in my tent. He tells me how he was once lost between Bamangwato and Tati for four days. He had had a cup of coffee, and gone out hunting. That night he slept in the veldt; it was July, and the nights were very cold. He had only a shirt and trousers on, and had no matches. He used his last three cartridges in trying to make a fire. The second and third days he still wandered. I think it was the end of the second day that he lost his horse. The evening of the fourth day he came to Palatswe water, and got milk of a Kafir. He walked back next day to his waggon at Tchagani pool--he thinks about twenty miles. It was on the evening of the third day he reached a hill, by moonlight, whence he saw other hills he knew. Started before daybreak, and that night got the milk. He thinks he could have gone another day without food or water. He had nothing whatever, between the coffee, at starting, and the milk. He carried his gun, perspired profusely, and suffered much from cold at nights. He experienced a difficulty in swallowing.

“A letter from Mandy, at Inyati, to-day, states that he saw a crocodile there the other day, which got hold of his dog, and pursued himself in his bathing hole. It was ten or twelve feet long, he says.

“Dancing in little parties going on all day; the girls very lively in their dance. Bought a goat for about three quarters of a pound of beads.

“_January 10th._--Very cloudy day, inclined to rain. Went up to kraal, where slaughtering was going on. I had heard nothing of it, but the number of bullocks slaughtered this year must have been next to nothing compared with former years. I saw a dozen or twenty down, or being assegaied. The bullocks are driven together, one out of the number being intended for slaughter. The opportunity is watched for to hurl the assegai, which sometimes remains in the ox, who runs some distance before he falls, bleeding at the nostrils, and soon dies. They are stabbed in the region of the heart and lungs. The first thrust is often not successful, as it is not easy to hit the victim in the right place when he is in a state of excitement. I went to see the king, who was looking very sulky. There is no dancing to-day. It appears the king is very angry at the fighting of yesterday.

“_January 11th._--Heavy rain very early; a little bright sunshine about breakfast-time, when I partially dried the things that had got wet in the tent, causing me considerable discomfort. It soon came on to rain again, however, and rained more or less during the day. I was to have taken my things out of Myers’s store and packed the waggon, but the rain prevented me. In the morning I heard the king was inspanning to go to some neighbouring abode of royalty, and hurried to take him his horse. After handing it over to him, and being told to give it in charge of Petersen, I asked him if he would buy a saddle and bridle, to which he replied, these were always supposed to go with the horse, the saddle being part of its back. However, I hope he won’t insist on this any more, and, indeed, I may go away without seeing him again, unless I do so voluntarily. Piet, who interpreted for me, told me that the king is very angry about the disturbance, and will probably kill a number of the people, and for this they think he is going away in such a hurry. There were twelve black, or nearly black, bullocks in the royal waggon, and, when it started, the throne was carried--as it always has to be done--on a boy’s head. It is a straight-backed, substantial, and extremely plain, green chair, with red daubs on it. Over the back and seat is stretched a piece of lion-skin. The dogs rushed off with the waggon, the second waggon started, in the back of which I could see a lot of meat and two young lambs or kids trying to keep their pins amongst the miscellaneous cargo inside; the majachas started, and the royal procession was on its way. Busy a good deal in Myers’s store. Unpacked and packed boxes there, and watched the rain. Terrible soaking wet evening and night. I managed, however, to keep dry in bed.”

From this time for some days the weather continued so persistently and miserably wet, that it seemed out of all question to think of commencing the return journey to Tati, which the traveller was now preparing to undertake. The heat, at the same time, was also so intense that any exertion was laborious, and even the occupation of writing was a task. About the 18th, however, there was some improvement, and two days after this he was ready for a start, when the dispute with one of his servants above referred to necessitated his seeking a fresh interview with Lobengula, whom he followed to his present quarters, but a few miles off, on the evening of the 20th. This dispute arose from Frank Oates’s dismissal of the Kafir driver Dick, who had come up with him from Natal; the latter maintaining his right to retain the services of the young lad Jacob, whom he had originally brought with him for engagement in Pietermaritzburg, and who still accompanied the party. The two appeared to bear no relationship to each other, and Frank Oates would have been glad to keep Jacob in his service, but the latter seemed afraid to come, and it was agreed to refer the question to the king. The Journal of this time continues:--

“_January 20th._--Fine, bright, windy morning; a few clouds in the sky. Finished what was left to be done to the waggon, and was going to trek early when Jacob came and claimed his wages, and I decided to go away to the king’s to-night, and thence start on my journey. A Kafir woman has also claimed Jacob as her son. Though Jacob asked for his wages and said he did not wish to leave Dick, he half admitted directly that it was only his fear of Dick that made him say so, and that he really wished to go with me. After the waggon was loaded, I waited some time for Jacob’s return, he having gone with his would-be mother to the king. He did not come back, and I inspanned for the king’s. After about ten minutes’ delay in getting off--unruly bullocks and bad trek-gear--started fairly about half-past five, and in about an hour and forty minutes got to where the king is, meeting Jacob with the woman going to Gubuleweyo. Jacob turned back with me. The king has said the woman is not to claim him. It seems she gave Jacob some locusts and milk when he was hungry, for he and Dick have fared badly of late. She then professed to see a likeness in him to her lost child, taken in the war, and he did not deny it, and afterwards she insisted on keeping him. Jacob still says he wants to go with me, but is afraid of Dick, and also wishes for his wages, as Dick urges him to get them, though he knows Dick will appropriate them. He will let it be arranged before the king, he says. The sun set as I trekked, and the peculiar aloe-like trees of this country had a fine effect against the glowing sky. I should say this trek is four and a half or five miles pretty direct. The last two days have been fine drying days, but still there are some very soft places in the road. Supped with Fairbairn on some excellent beef, and had a long chat with him. Cool, starlight night, with heavy dew.

“_January 22d._--Fine hot day, but with slight clouds, and at night a heavy shower. Fairbairn had a row in trading with the king, who had chaffed him a good deal last night. A large quantity of ivory had come in (Fairbairn was here by the king’s express desire, to trade), and a small tooth had been put down before him. He had made his offer for it, which did not satisfy the king. Fairbairn said, ‘It is a small tooth.’ ‘Did you ever shoot as large a one?’ asked the king. This is considered a poser. Then a hot argument ensued between Fairbairn and the king, through John, the king maintaining that Fairbairn would show unequivocal signs of fear at the sight of an elephant. Fairbairn said white men were not afraid of them; whereupon the king cited, H----, a big man, who had not even shot a little calf; W----, ‘Where are the elephants _he_ shot?’ Many white men had said the same as Fairbairn, and where were the elephants they had killed? Then Fairbairn referred to Selous, a small man; he had not been afraid, he said. ‘Would he tell if he had shown signs of fear, or were you there to see?’ asked the king. Then the king told Fairbairn that he was getting rich and did not want his trade. Fairbairn got angry, and the result was that this morning he had a row. The king sent some large decayed teeth, which Fairbairn bought, and then some other teeth, which he could not buy, and which were sent to Gubuleweyo and sold; but in the meantime the king had offered Fairbairn two small teeth for a double-barrelled gun, less than cost price, and Fairbairn had left the king in disgust.

“Went to the king’s kraal with John, and greeted the king, who was lying in his waggon, but as, after greeting us in return, he took no further notice of us and remained lying, I went away and had a nap in my waggon. Fairbairn afterwards had tiffin with me, and then we went together to the king, but he was still in his waggon--if not asleep, lying invisible; put out, I think, about Fairbairn. We waited long outside the kraal, and at length, near sundown, an induna came in white man’s clothing, and with a shield, wearing feathers on his head hanging under his hat, and accompanied by warriors. He, to call the king, began shouting out compliments in a loud voice, amongst which the words ‘Mosilikatze’ and ‘Incose’ (king), were frequently repeated, and a request made that the king would treat him kindly. This referred to beer and beef, which of course he would get. At last he finished, and went away unnoticed by the king, who, however, soon came out, and Fairbairn, John, and I, went to him, Dick and Jacob following. It was so late that we did little.

“Had supper on Australian meat in Fairbairn’s waggon. Rain came on, and I heard showers during the night. When we left the king, he chaffed John, and said he looked weak, as if he was hungry. Last night John had asked for meat, and he said he had no beef and his sheep were poor. He seems really not to be killing oxen at present. Fairbairn has told Nina that we are eating tinned fish. Fish is held in utter abomination by these people, and Nina said her brother ought not to let us eat it. Fairbairn says they used, when they wanted meat, to rig up a dummy fishing-rod, and march off with it, taking care to pass in sight of the king, and the moment he suspected fishing, he would send them a large piece of meat.

“One sees all shades of colour in these people. The Makalakas are much darker as a rule than the Matabele, who are usually coppery red or sometimes yellow. The king, however, is black, and, I believe, about as black as any of his race, and far more so than most. He deserves his epithet of ‘black king.’ The dogs are a great source of fear at present. They are constantly attacking people, and lately half, if not altogether, killed an induna. Fairbairn says the king showed him his own trousers torn the other day, as proof that even their master was not exempt.

“_January 23d._--Wretched rainy and gusty morning. Nina in Fairbairn’s waggon, as she was also a good deal yesterday. She is very fond of him, as of other white men; and is said to wish to marry a certain white trader here, who has left for a time--hoping, I believe, that she may be married when he returns. She can’t marry till the king takes his wife from whom the future king is to be born. His present wives have nothing to do with it.

“John Lee’s waggon arrived to-day, to my great pleasure. I had just returned from visiting the king, whom John and I had found standing at the entrance of his kraal in a Mackintosh coat. Dick and Jacob joined us, and the case of Jacob was discussed, Dick also urging the hardship of his own dismissal, in which the king seems partly to agree, and says it would be better not to leave him in _his_ country, but where we can try the case with our own laws. At length the king went to his hut, saying this case would take a long time, and it was not a day to discuss it. Certainly the weather was against a law-suit being carried on in the open air. In the evening I went again to the king. Lee was sitting on the front-box of his waggon, and went over my case with him, and thus I got a decision quickly. The king said his decision had been that I was to take Dick _and_ Jacob, but I had refused to do this, so now I must pay the wages of the boy, as he considered Jacob, having been brought by Dick, was under his protection. I sent for them, and paid the money to the king, who promised to keep it for Jacob as far as he could, though he said if they left the country he must then give it up. Supper again with Fairbairn.

“_January 24th._--More promising morning, though cloudy and showery. Fairbairn, Lee, and I, to the king. Fairbairn does a good trade with him after the row. Nina and her friends were eating a large dish of excellent vegetable marrows. The smoke got into my eyes, and Banyai kindly motioned me across the hut. John Lee killed a lung-sick heifer of the king’s, and opened her chest with a saw, taking out the liquid which accumulates in the cavity of the lungs during the sickness. With this I helped him to drench some young cattle of the king’s. Each has about a small beakerful. Lee says he never lost one that he drenched in this way.

“_January 25th._--Lovely morning. Rose and dressed leisurely. The heat soon became intense, and of that moist character that seems to make it far worse to bear. Felt quite prostrated by it. The wife of Lee’s boy, who tried to leave him, and is now undergoing punishment after being tried before the king, came crying to my waggon. Lee drove her away. It appears that the boy had to pay Lee £6, which the girl owed the latter, before he could have her, both being in Lee’s service, as well as the father-in-law, mother, and sister of the boy. The boy told Lee he had paid the money to the king. This was a lie, so Lee demanded the money of the king in the presence of the boy. Thus the offence was shown to be against the king, and Lee told the king it was for him to punish it. The two indunas present seized the boy, and he was half throttled, and much knocked about. They would have killed him there and then, had it been Lee’s wish. The king said, ‘Is he to be thrown out?’ which means put to death. Lee, however, said he should be satisfied by the boy being tied up, which was done.... Went with Lee to the king’s afterwards. More drenching was going on. I saw the boy tied up; he could neither sit nor stand, but squatted on the ground, his arms nearly on the full stretch, fastened on either side to one of the poles that support the large wooden structures on which meat is piled. When the sun set Lee was told, if he did not give the word to have the boy taken away, he would rot where he was. The king and the indunas then chaffed the poor wretch, as, Lee having consented, he was cut down. He was told that he had been kicking Mosilikatze’s bones.

“The scene, with the king sitting on his front-box, would make a picture: the setting sun; the dark green trees beyond the kraal, and the green walls of the newly-erected kraal; the yellow beehive-like huts; the yellowish trodden grass in the space; the herds of goats and sheep, with lambs and kids, and pack of dogs, crowding round the king’s waggon; the group of natives, some all but naked, some adorned with feathers, some with a single article of European dress, as a hat, crouching on their haunches, forming the court of the black king; tusks of ivory lying about. To complete the picture, a white trader or two should be introduced, not above crouching before his sable majesty, who sits there in his broad-brimmed black felt hat, pipe in mouth (a small briar-root, worth perhaps 2d. at home), cotton shirt not over clean, unbraced baggy trousers, and large clumsy shoes, a benignant smile generally on his black face.”

The day after this the king took his departure for another place, John Lee left for Mr. Thomson’s, and Frank Oates started back to Tati.