officers on duty opened and shut it for us, jingling the big
bells which are hung upon them, as they sometimes are
at shop-doors, to prevent silent, stealthy entrance.
The first court passed, I was even more surprised to
find the unusual ceremonies that awaited me. There
courtiers of high dignity stepped forward to greet me,
dressed in the most scrupulously neat fashions. Men'
women, bulls, dogs, and goats, were led about by strings;
cocks and hens were carried in men’s arms; and little
pages, with rope-turbans, rushed about, conveying messages,
as if their lives depended on their swiftness, every
one holding <his skin-cloak tightly round him lest his
naked legs might by accident be shown.
This, then, was the ante-reception court; and I might
have taken possession of the hut, in which musicians
were playing and singing on large nine-stringed harps,
like the Nubian tambira, accompanied by harmonicons!
By the chief officers in waiting, however, who thought fit
to treat us like Arab merchants, I was requested to sit on
the ground outside in the sun with my servants. Now,
I had made up my mind never to sit upon the ground
as the natives and Arabs are obliged to do, nor to make
my obeisance in any other manner than is customary in
England, though the Arabs had told me that from fear
they had always complied with the manners of the court.
I felt that if I did not stand up for my social position at
once, I should be treated with contempt during the remainder
of my visit, and thus lose the vantage-ground
I had assumed of appearing rather as a prince than a
trader, for the purpose of better gaining the confidence
of the king. To avert over-hastiness, however—for my
servants began to be alarmed as I demurred against doing
as I was bid-K-I allowed five minutes to the court to give
me a proper reception, saying, if it were not conceded I .
would then walk away.
Nothing, however, was done. My own men, knowing
me, feared for me, as they did not know what a “ savage’
king would do in case I carried out my threat; whilst
the Waganda, lost in amazement at what seemed little
less than blasphemy, stood still as posts. The affair ended
by my walking straight away home, giving Bombay
orders to leave the present on the ground, and to follow
me.A
lthough the king is said to be unapproachable, excepting
when he chooses to attend court—a ceremony
which rarely happens—intelligence of my hot wrath and
hasty departure reached him in an instant. He first, it
seems, thought of leaving his toilet-room to follow me,
but, finding I was walking fast and had gone far, changed
his mind, and sent Wakungu running after me. Poor
creatures! they caught me up, fell upon their knees, and
implored I would return at once, for the king had not
tasted food, and would not until he saw me. I felt
grieved at their touching appeals; but, as I did not understand
all they said, I simply replied by patting my
heart and shaking my head, walking if anything all the
faster.
On my arrival at my hut, Bombay and others came in,
wet through with perspiration, saying the king had heard
of all my grievances. Stiwarora’s hongo was turned out
of court, and, if I desired it, I might bring my own chair
with me, for he was very anxious to show me great respect—
although such a seat was exclusively the attribute
of the king, no one else in Uganda daring to sit on an
artificial seat.
My point was gained, so I cooled myself with coffee
and a pipe, and returned rejoicing in my victory, especially
over Suwarora. After returning to the second tier
of huts from which I had retired, everybody appeared to
be in a hurried, confused state of excitement, not knowing
what to make out of so unprecedented an exhibition of