he were getting on well. That being negatived, he told
us to put our hut in order, as Kamrasi was coming to see
us. Accordingly we made everything as smart as possible,
hanging the room round with maps, horns, and
skins of animals, and placed a large box covered with a
red blanket, as a throne for the king to sit upon As he
advanced, my men, forming a guard of honour, fired three
shots immediately on his setting foot upon our side thè
n v e r; whilst Frij, with his boatswain’s whistle, piped the
-Rogues March/ to prepare us for his majesty’s approach
We saluted him, hat in hand, and, leading the way
showed him in. He was pleased to be complimentary
remarking, what Wasdja (fine men) we Were, and took
Jus seat We sat on smaller boxes, to appear humble
hls escort of black “ swells” filled the doorway'
squatting on the ground, so as to stop the light and inter-'
iere with our decorations.
After the first salutations, the king remarked the head
of a nsamma buck, and handled i t ; then noticed my
mosquito-curtains hanging over the bed, and begged for
them. He was told they could not be given until Bombay
returned, as the mosquitoes would eat us up. “ But there
were two,” said the escort, “ for we have seen one in the
other h u t That was true ; but were there not two white
men However, if the king wanted gauze, here was a
smart gauze veil—and the veil vanished at once The
iron camp-bed was next inspected, and admired; then
tke sextant, which was coveted and begged for, but without
success, much to the astonishment of the king, as his
attendants had led him to expect he would get anything
® as ^e(i ^or- Tilen tiie thermometers were wanted and
refused.; also table-knives, spoons, forks, and even cook-
mg-pots for we had no others, and could not part with
them. The books of birds and animals had next to be
seen, and being admired were coveted, the king offering
one of the books I first gave him in exchange for one of
these. In fact, he wanted to fleece us of everything; so,
to shut him up, I said I would not part with one bird
for one hundred tusks of ivory; they were all the collections
I had made in Africa, and if I parted with them my
journey would go for nothing; but if he wanted a few
drawings of birds I would do some for him—at present I
wished to speak to him. “ Well, what is it ? we are all
attention.” “ I wish to know positively if you would
like English traders to come here regularly, as the Arabs
do to trade at Ear ague ? and if so, would you give me a
pembd (magic horn) as a warrant, that everybody may
know Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, desires it ? ”
Kamrasi replied, “ I like your proposition very much;
you shall have the horn you ask for, either large or small,
just as you please; and after you have gone, should we
hear any English are at Gani wishing to come here, as
my brothers are in the way we will advance with spears
whilst they approach with guns, and, between us both,
my brothers must fly—for I myself will head the expedition.
But now you have had your say I will have mine
if you will listen.” “ All right, your majesty; what is
i t ?” “ I am constantly stricken with fever and pains,
for which I know no remedy but cautery; my children
die young; my family is not large enough to uphold my
dignity and station in life; in fact, I am infirm and want
stimulants, and I wish you to prescribe for me, which,
considering you have found your way to this, where nobody
came before, must be easy to you.” Two pills and
a draught for the morning were given as a preliminary
measure, argument being of no avail; and to our delight
the king said it was time to. go.
We jumped off our seats to show him the way, hoping
our persecutions were over; but still he sat, and sat, until
at length, finding we did not take the hint to give him a
parting present, he said, “ I never visited any big man’s
house without taking home some trifle to show my wife