He Desired Me To Rest Myself And Eat Abundantly,
For, Being A Great Man, I Must Feel Tired; And He Took Good Care
To Give The Means Of Doing So.
All the people in these parts are
exceedingly kind and liberal with their food, and Katema was not behindhand.
When he visited our encampment, I presented him with a cloak of red baize,
ornamented with gold tinsel, which cost thirty shillings,
according to the promise I had made in going to Londa; also a cotton robe,
both large and small beads, an iron spoon, and a tin pannikin
containing a quarter of a pound of powder. He seemed greatly pleased
with the liberality shown, and assured me that the way was mine,
and that no one should molest me in it if he could help it.
We were informed by Shakatwala that the chief never used any part of a present
before making an offer of it to his mother, or the departed spirit
to whom he prayed. Katema asked if I could not make a dress for him
like the one I wore, so that he might appear as a white man
when any stranger visited him. One of the councilors, imagining that
he ought to second this by begging, Katema checked him by saying,
"Whatever strangers give, be it little or much, I always receive it
with thankfulness, and never trouble them for more." On departing,
he mounted on the shoulders of his spokesman, as the most dignified
mode of retiring.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 717 of 1070
Words from 205456 to 205708
of 306638
