To Which He Replied, It Was Only The Poor Who
Thought So; And As He Now Saw We Were In Want, He Would Set Apart
One Of His Cows Expressly For Our Use.
On bidding adieu, the
usual formalities of handshaking were gone through; and on
entering camp, I found the good thoughtful king had sent us some
more of his excellent beer.
The Wanguana were now all in the highest of good-honour; for time
after time goats and fowls were brought into camp by the officers
of the king, who had received orders from all parts of the
country to bring in supplies for his guests; and this kind of
treatment went on for a month, though it did not diminish my
daily expenditures of beads, as grain and plantains were not
enough thought of. The cold winds, however, made the coast-men
all shiver, and suspect, in their ignorance, we must be drawing
close to England, the only cold place they had heard of.
16th. - Hearing it would be considered indecent haste to present
my tributary offering at once, I paid my morning's visit, only
taking my revolving-pistol, as I knew Rumanika had expressed a
strong wish to see it. The impression it made was surprising - he
had never seen such a thing in his life; so, in return for his
great generosity, as well as to show I placed no value on
property, not being a merchant, I begged him to accept it. We
then adjourned to his private hut, which rather surprised me by
the neatness with which it was kept. The roof was supported by
numerous clean poles, to which he had fastened a large assortment
of spears - brass-headed with iron handles, and iron-headed with
wooden ones - of excellent workmanship. A large standing-screen,
of fine straw-plait work, in elegant devices, partitioned off one
part of the room; and on the opposite side, as mere ornaments,
were placed a number of brass grapnels and small models of cows,
made in iron for his amusement by the Arabs at Kufro. A little
later in the day, as soon as we had done breakfast, both Rumanika
and Nnanaji came over to pay us a visit; for they thought, as we
could find our way all over the world, so we should not find much
difficulty in prescribing some magic charms to kill his brother,
Rogero, who lived on a hill overlooking the Kitangule. Seating
them both on our chairs, which amused them intensely, I asked
Rumanika, although I had heard before the whole facts of the
case, what motives now induced him to wish the committal of such
a terrible act, and brought out the whole story afresh.
Before their old father Dagara died, he had unwittingly said to
the mother of Rogero, although he was the youngest born, what a
fine king he would make; and the mother, in consequence, tutored
her son to expect the command of the country, although the law of
the land in the royal family is the primogeniture system,
extending, however, only to those sons who are born after the
accession of the king to the throne.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 142 of 403
Words from 73984 to 74514
of 210958