Stanley's African Convert [pp. 445-451]

448 APPLETONS' JO URNAL.
tiger-grass. Within the inclosure, the lines of huts
were joined together or partitioned off into courts
with walls of the same grass. Here most of Mtesa's
three or four hundred women were kept. Passing
from court to court a motley crowd were seen, with
little pages hurrying along apparently with most im portant messages. The' king was impatient to see
the stranger. A point of etiquette had, however, to
be arranged. Speke was told that he must sit on
the ground during the interview; he insisted upon
sitting in a chair which he had brought with him.
The matter was compromised, and an informal re ception took place.
The king, a tall, good-looking young man of
twenty-five, was seated on a small platform of grass.
He wore a new robe; his hair was cut short except
on the top of the head, where it was brushed up in
a high ridge like the comb of a cock. The inter view over, the king went off to breakfast. Leading
a little dog, the emblem of royalty, he strode off in
a manner intended to be very majestic, flinging his
legs in a wide sweep, thus "walking like a lion," as
they phrase it; but, to Speke's eye, the majestic stride
was very much like the awkward waddle of a goose.
Speke was not long in ascertaining that a great
river issued from the lake at a distance of some
twenty or thirty miles from the capital. This could
only be the Nile, and his one object was to obtain
leave to go to the river and follow it down. For
various reasons, chief among which was probably
that Mtesa wanted to keep him until he could get,
by way of presents, all of the valuables of his guest,
it was nearly six months before this permission was
accorded.
We pass over the numerous instances which
Speke records of the frivolous petulance of the
king; of his constant tricks to get presents; his incessant importunity for "strengthening medicines,"
and the like. We shall present, greatly abridged,
some of the leading incidents which go to illustrate
the ferocious side of the royal character.
M.arch 23d.-Mtesa was greatly delighted at an
exhibition of Speke's skill in shooting with one of
the guns which he had presented to the king. Loading another, Mtesa handed it to a page, and told
him to step out into the court and shoot somebody.
The urchin went out in high glee, and when he
came back the king asked him, "Did you do it
well?" "Oh, yes, capitally," was the laughing reply, just as though he had made a good shot at a
bird. Nobody seemed to think that this little episode was at all out of the way. April 4th.-An old
man and a young girl were brought in for judgment.
The complainant said that the girl belonged to him,
had run away, and been found in the old man's hut.
Mtesa, without listening to a word in defense, ordered the culprits for execution; they were not,
however, to die at once, but they should be chopped up
bit by bit for many days, as long as life lasted, and
the fragments fed to the vultures. April 6th. —The
king held a grand levee for rewarding some of his
officers. One of them, who had received only a
single woman, asked for more. Mtesa, in a rage,
called him an ingrate, and ordered him to be cut in
pieces, which was done on the spot. April I2th. A beautiful woman, at once wife and sister of Mtdsa,
was led out from the palace for execution. A fort night before, a significant paragraph appears in
Speke's journal, to the effect that hardly a day passed
in which he did not see one or more women of the
palace dragged out to die. April I 5th.-There was an
incident quite out of the common course. A boy of
seventeen had threatened to kill the king because he
put people to death unjustly. Mtdsa laughed, and
sentenced the boy to pay a goat by way of fine.
Speke was quite unable to account for such an act
of lenity. April 2oth.-Thirty women were brought
up for punishment, and a number of them were
sentenced to death. April23d.-The king went out
for a day's shooting, leaving word for Speke to fol low him. Just before he came up, he heard the
sharp report of a rifle. Mtdsa had come across a
woman whose hands were tied for some offense.
Without a word, he had shot her, killing her on the
spot. April 26th.-Speke accompanied the king and
a number of his wives on a sort of picnic. The
whole were walking among the trees, picking fruit,
and apparently enjoying themselves amazingly, until one of the women plucked a fruit and offered it
to his majesty. Mtesa fell into a most towering
passion, saying that this was the first time a woman
ever had the impudence to offer him anything, and
ordered the pages to seize her and lead her off to
death. The other women, including Lubinga, his
pet wife and own sister, interceded for their companion. The more they begged, the angrier he grew,
until at last he seized a club and began to beat her
on the head. Speke ventured to interfere. Seizing
the king's arm, he demanded the woman's life.
Something in this unwonted pluck seemed to strike
the fancy of the barbarian. He laughed, and ordered the woman to be released. April 29th.One of the pages made a slight mistake on delivering a message from Speke. Mtdsa ordered the ears
of the boy to be cut off, so that he might in future
make better use of these organs. May Ist.-A
grand review was held of a body of troops who had
just returned from an expedition against Kamrasi,
King of Unyoro. Each commander in turn presented his report of what he had done, and how his
men had behaved themselves. Those who had done
well were rewarded; those who had misbehaved
were sentenced to death. When the fatal sentence
was pronounced, a terrible scene ensued. The condemned struggled against the executioners, who
dragged them through the crowd, bound hand and
foot. When all was over, the king invited Speke to
enter the palace, and began to beg earnestly. for
"strengthening medicine."
Perhaps it may be because Speke grew weary of
recording them, but for the next two months the
bloody entries in his journal, though by no means
wanting, are less frequent. He was all the time
urging for permission to descend the river; his great
argument being that if it should really prove to be
the Nile, direct intercourse would soon be estab
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APPLE TONS' JO URNA~.