■with ripe plantains, and made a good cake of it. The
king now, finding me disinclined to fight his brother
Rogero, either with guns or magic horns, asked me to
give him a “ doctor” or charm to create longevity and to
promote the increase of his family, as his was not large
enough to maintain the dignity of so great a man as himself.
I gave him a blister, and, changing the subject,
told him the history of the creation of man. After
listening to it attentively, he asked what thing in creation
I considered the greatest of all things in the world;
for whilst a man at most could only live one hundred
years, a tree lived many; but the earth ought to be
biggest, for it never died.
I then told him again I wished one of his sons would
accompany me to England, that he might learn the history
of Moses, wherein he would find that men had souls which
live for ever, but that the earth would come to an end in
•the fulness of time. This conversation, diversified by
numerous shrewd remarks on the part of Rumanika, led
to his asking how I could account for the decline of
countries, instancing the dismemberment of the Wahuma
in Kittara, and remarking that formerly Karagud included
Urundi, Ruanda, and Kishakka, which collectively
were known as the kingdom of M<iru, governed by one
man. Christian principles, I said, made us what we are,
and feeling a sympathy for him made me desirous of
firing one of his children to learn in the same school with
us, who, on returning to him, could impart what he knew,
and, extending the same by course of instruction, would
doubtless end by elevating his country to a higher position
than it ever knew before,—&c. &c. The policy and
government of the vast possessions of Great Britain were
then duly discussed, and Riimanika acknowledged that
the power of the pen was superior to that of the sword,
and the electric telegraph and steam-engine the most wonderful
powers he had ever heard of.
Before breaking up, Riimanika wished to give me any
number of ivories I might like to mention, even three or
four hundred, as a lasting remembrance that I had done
him the honour of visiting Karague in his lifetime, for
though Dagara had given to coloured merchants, he would
be the first who had given to a white man. Of course
this royal offer was declined with politeness ; he must
understand that it was not the custom of big men in my
country to accept presents of value when we made visits
of pleasure. I had enjoyed my residence in Karagtid, his
intellectual conversations and his kind hospitality, all of
which I should record in my books to hand down to
posterity; but if he would give me a cow’s horn, I would
keep it as a trophy of the happy days I had spent in his
country. He gave me one, measuring 3 feet 5 inches in
length, and 18f inches in circumference at the base. He
then offered me a large sheet, made up of a patchwork of
very small N’yera antelope skins, most exquisitely cured
and sewn. This I rejected, as he told me it had been
given to himself, explaining that we prided ourselves on
never parting with the gifts of a friend; and this speech
tickled his fancy so much, that he said he never would
part with anything I gave him.
8th and 9th.—The 8th went off much in the usual way,
by my calling on the king, when I gave him a pack of
playing-cards, which he put into his curiosity-box. He
explained to me, at my request, what sort of things he
would like any future visitors to bring him—a piece of
gold and silver embroidery; but, before anything else,
I found he would like to have toys— such as Yankee
clocks with the face in a man’s stomach, to wind up behind,
his eyes rolling with every beat of the pendulum;
or a china-cow milk-pot, a jack-in-the-box, models of men,
carriages, and horses—all animals in fact, and railways in
particular.
On the 9th I went out shooting, as Riimanika, with his