homely scene—the mother holding np her pride, her son,
before the state officers-—melted my heart at once. I
laughed as well as they did, and said it pleased me excessively
to see them both so happy together. I t was well
the hi rig had broken through the old-fashioned laws of
Uganda, by sitting on an iron chair, and adopting European
dresses ; for now he was opening a road to cement
his own dominions with my country. I should know
what things to send that would please him. The king
listened, but without replying; and said, at the conclusion,
“ I t is late, now let us move; ” and walked away, preserving
famously the lion’s gait. The mother also vanished,
and I was led away to a hut outside, prepared for my
night’s residence. I t was a small, newly-built hut, just
large enough for my bed, with a corner for one servant;
so I turned all my men away, save one—-ate my dinner,
and hoped to have a quiet cool night of it, when suddenly
Maüla flounced in with all his boys, lighting a fire, and
they spread their mbügüs for the night. In vain I pleaded
I could not stand the suffocation of so many men, especially
of Waganda, who eat raw plantains; and unless they
turned out, I should do so, to benefit by the pure air.
Mafila said he had the queen’s orders to sleep with Bana,
and sleep there he would; so rather than kick him out,
which I felt inclined to do, I smoked my pipe and drank
pombé all night, turning the people out and myself in, in
the morning, to prepare for a small house-fight with the
queen.
1 1 t h .— Early in the morning, as I expected, she demanded
my immediate attendance; and so the little
diplomatic affair I had anticipated came on. I begin the
game by intimating that I am in bed, and have not breakfasted.
So at 10 a.m. another messenger arrives, to say
her majesty-is much surprised at my not coming. What
can such conduct mean, when she arranged everything so
nicely for me after my own desire, that she might drink
her medicine properly 1 Still I am not up ; but nobody
will let me rest from fear of the queen; so, to while away
the time, I order Bombay to call upon her, give the
quinine, and tell her all that has happened, at which she
flies into a towering rage, says she will never touch
medicine administered by any other hands but mine, and
will not believe in one word Bombay says, either about
Maula or the h u t ; for Matila, whose duty necessarily
obliged him to take my servants before her majesty, had
primed her with a lot of falsehoods on the subject; and
she had a fondness for Madia, because he was a clever
humbug and exceeding rogue—and sent Bombay back to
fetch me, for nobody had ever dared disobey her mandates
before.
It had now turned noon, and being ready for the visit, I
went to see the queen. Determined to have her turn, she
kept me waiting for a long time before she would show
herself; and at last, when she came, she flounced up to
her curtain, lay down in a huff, and vented her wrath,
holding her head very high, and wishing to know how I
could expect officers, with large establishments, to be
turned out of their homes merely to give me room for one
night; I ought to have been content with my fare; it
was no fault of Maula’s. I tried to explain through Nasib,
but she called Nasib a liar, and listened to Maula who told
the lies; then asked for her medicine; drank it, saying it
was a small dose; and walked off in ill humour as she
had come. I now made up my mind to sit till 3 p .m.,
hoping to see the queen again, whilst talking with some
Kidi officers, who, contrary to the general law of the
country, indulged me with some discourses on geography,
from which I gathered, though their stories were
rather confused, that beyond the Asiia river, in the Gafla
country, there was another lake which was navigated by
the inhabitants in very large vessels; and somewhere in
the same neighbourhood there was an exceedingly high