and the Arabs, I was desirous of having a look at one.
It proved to be closely allied to a water-boc found by
Livingstone on the Ngami Lake; but, instead of being
striped, was very faintly spotted, and so long were its
toes, it could hardly walk on the dry ground; whilst its
coat, also well adapted to the moist element it lived in,
was long, and of such excellent quality that the natives
prize it for wearing almost more than any other of the
antelope tribe. The only food it would eat were the tops
of the tall papyrus rushes; but though it ate and drank
freely, and lay down very quietly, it always charged with
ferocity any person who went near it.
In the afternoon Rumanika invited both Grant and myself
to witness his New Moon Levee, a ceremony which
T lie .King's N1 ew Moon Levee.
takes place every month with a view of ascertaining how
many of his subjects are loyal. On entering his palace
enclosure, the first thing we saw was a blaue boc’s horn
stuffed full of magic powder, with very imposing effect,
by K’yengo, and stuck in the ground, with its mouth
pointing in the direction of Rogdro. In the second
court, we found thirty-five drums ranged on the ground,
with as many drummers standing behind them, and a
knot of young princes and officers of high dignity waiting
to escort us into the third enclosure, where, in his
principal hut, we found Rumanika squatting on the
ground, half-concealed by the portal, but showing his
smiling face to welcome us in. His head was got up |
with a tiara of beads, from the centre of which, directly
over the forehead, stood a plume of red feathers, and encircling
the lower face with a fine large white beard set
in a stock or band of beads. We were beckoned to
squat alongside Nnanaji, the master of ceremonies, and
a large group of high officials outside the porch. Then
the thirty-five drums all struck up together in very good
harmony; and when their deafening noise was over, a
smaller band of hand-drums and reed instruments was
ordered in to amuse us.
This second performance over, from want of breath
only, district officers, one by one, came advancing on tiptoe,
then pausing, contorting and quivering their bodies,
advancing again with a springing gait and outspread
arms, which they moved as if they wished to force them
out of their joints, in all of which actions they held
drum-stieks or twigs in their hands, swore with a maniacal
voice an oath of their loyalty and devotion to their
king, backed by the expression of a hope that he would
cut off their heads if they ever turned from his enemies,
and then, kneeling before him, they held out their sticks
that he might touch them. With a constant reiteration
of these scenes—the saluting at one time, the music at
another— interrupted only once by a number of girls
rl a n ring something like a good rough Highland fling whilst
the little band played, the day’s ceremonies ended.
6th and 7 th.—During the next two days, as my men
had all worn out their clothes, I gave them each thirty
necklaces of beads to purchase a suit of the bark cloth
called mbiigii, already described. Finding the flour of
the country too bitter to eat by itself, we sweetened it
p