In The Evening, M'Gambi Appeared With A Message From The King, Saying
That I Was His Greatest Friend, And That
He would not think of taking
anything from me, as he was sure that I must be hard up; that
He desired
nothing, but would be much obliged if I would give him the "little
double rifle that I always carried, and my watch and compass!" He wanted
"nothing," only my Fletcher rifle, that I would as soon have parted with
as the bone of my arm: and these three articles were the same for which
I had been so pertinaciously bored before my departure from M'rooli. It
was of no use to be wroth; I therefore quietly replied that "I should
not give them, as Kamrasi had failed in his promise to forward me to
Shooa; but that I required no presents from him, as he always expected a
thousandfold in return." M'Gambi said that all would be right if I would
only agree to pay the king a visit. I objected to this, as I told him
the king, his brother, did not want to see me, but only to observe what
I had, in order to beg for all that he saw. He appeared much hurt, and
assured me that he would be himself responsible that nothing of the kind
should happen, and that he merely begged as a favour that I would visit
the king on the following morning, and that people should be ready to
carry me if I were unable to walk. Accordingly I arranged to be carried
to Kamrasi's camp at about 8 A.M.
At the hour appointed M'Gambi appeared, with a great crowd of natives.
My clothes were in rags, - and as personal appearance has a certain
effect, even in Central Africa, I determined to present myself to the
king in as favourable a light as possible. I happened to possess a
full-dress Highland suit that I had worn when I lived in Perthshire many
years ago; this I had treasured as serviceable upon an occasion like the
present; accordingly I was quickly attired in kilt, sporran, and
Glengarry bonnet, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, the
ragged-looking object that had arrived in Kisoona now issued from the
obscure hut, with plaid and kilt of Athole tartan. A general shout of
exclamation arose from the assembled crowd; and taking my seat upon an
angarep, I was immediately shouldered by a number of men, and attended
by ten of my people as escort, I was carried towards the camp of the
great Kamrasi.
In about half an hour we arrived. The camp, composed of grass huts,
extended over a large extent of ground, and the approach was perfectly
black with the throng that crowded to meet me. Women, children, dogs,
and men all thronged at the entrance of the street that led to Kamrasi's
residence. Pushing our way through this inquisitive multitude, we
continued through the camp until at length we reached the dwelling of
the king.
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