24th of October.—Mr. Clifford went along with me today
for the purpose of sketching the bridge, which, though
not above three hundred yards from the landing place, the
chiefs have always objected to our examining. We took
Jeeroo with us without telling him our object, which he no
sooner discovered than he became quite alarmed, and sent
off for Madera, who came to us immediately, and upon
learning that nothing further was proposed than a mere
examination of the bridge, he said that we might go o n ;
having first made us promise solemnly not to go any further.
While Madera was binding us down in this way, I expressed
some little impatience at his doubting our simple declaration
of nothing more being intended than what we avowed; but
his duty I suppose was imperative, and he would not leave
us till the matter was arranged in his own way. As soon
as he was satisfied on this point he said something to Jeeroo
and left us; but turning back again, he came up to Mr.
Clifford, and whispered, 44 captain no sulky ?” meaning, we
supposed, to express his apprehension that I had been angry
a t the stipulations so positively required by him. Mr. Clifford,
having assured him that I was not sulky with him,
detained him to ask him what it was he feared P what he had
seen in us to excite such dread of our going near the town ?
He replied, “ Loochoo woman see Ingeree man, Loochoo
woman cry !” He then returned ; and Jeeroo, who remained
in a boat close to the bridge while I wai employed measuring
it and drawing it stone by stone, was greatly interested
by Mr. Clifford's account of the great age of our
venerable Sovereign, and the number of his family, which
excited his astonishment and admiration. He conversed
freely while the subject was the King of England, but the
moment the slightest turn in the discourse was made towards
the King of Loo-choo he drew up, and became impenetrable.
44 He did not know,” he said, 44 how old he was,
nor how many children he had in short he seemed scarcely
to admit that he had ever heard any thing about him.
From Mâdera, however, who had no concealments, we
learnt afterwards that the King has only one wife, but has
twelve concubines; he is an old man, and has seven children.
I t is curious that none of the chiefs will inform Captain
Maxwell whether or not the Prince who visited the
ships yesterday has any children ; it is hardly possible that
they can be ignorant of the fact; but either they are kept
strangely in the dark as to what passes in the palace, or
they carry their reserve on royal topics to a singular length.
From the bridge we went to the top of the hill above
the well, where Jeeroo sung several songs. On the way up
we stopped a t one of the large horse-shoe tombs mentioned