As to the lake, for want of a native name, I christened it the
Little Winderemere, because Grant thought it so like our own
English lake of that name.
It was one of many others which, like
that of Urigi, drains the moisture of the overhanging hills, and
gets drained into the Victoria N'yanza through the Kitangule
river.
To do royal honours to the king of this charming land, I ordered
my men to put down their loads and fire a volley. This was no
sooner done than, as we went to the palace gate, we received an
invitation to come in at once, for the king wished to see us
before attending to anything else. Now, leaving our traps
outside, both Grant and myself, attended by Bombay and a few of
the seniors of my Wanguana, entered the vestibule, and, walking
through extensive enclosures studded with huts of kingly
dimensions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which the
Arabs had built as a sort of government office where the king
might conduct his state affairs.
Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged on the ground
Rumanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji, both of them men of
noble appearance and size. The king was plainly dressed in an
Arab's black choga, and wore, for ornament, dress-stockings of
rich-coloured beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper.
Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high pretensions, in addition to
a check cloth wrapped round him, was covered with charms.
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